Page 16 of Thor

“When do you get off?”

“I finish work at five.”

“Five? Great. I’ll pick you up here at six.”

“Sounds good.”

Thor nodded and stood awkwardly for a moment.

“Are you going to wait here until six?” she asked.

“Uh... no. I’ll come back. I have a few things I need to do first.”

She nodded. “Then you better go. I need to return to my shift.”

“Of course.” He turned and headed for the stairs but stopped and looked back at her.

She gave him a small wave and waited until he’d disappeared before she blew out a long low breath and fell back against the wall.

A smile crossed her face and then fell. What was she doing? What was she thinking? She had to tell Thor. She had to tell him who she was. It wasn’t fair to keep that kind of secret from him.

She’d tell him tonight when he took her out. That’s when she would tell him.

CHAPTER6

Thor swallowedhard and opened the door to The Raven Weaver’s purgatory entrance. The familiar scents of Asgard hit him like a punch to the kidneys. He wasn’t sure how Frigg had reproduced the smell exactly, but she had. The scents of burning wood, ale, and vanilla permeated every surface and brought back memories long since buried.

The good times with his brothers and friends. The bad when he’d lost people he cared about. And the worst— when Surtr had destroyed it all. He gritted his teeth and pushed the feelings aside. Tonight wasn’t the night for such memories. Tonight he had one goal in mind— find out who Elle was and why she affected him the way she did.

Thor walked past the rustic oak tables and chairs where various patrons drank and ate and laughed. One by one the patrons eyed him with wary suspicion.

Except for Frigg’s pub and Odin’s burlesque club with the fight club in the basement, both of which were more than popular in the underworld, there was no doubt he and his relatives hadn’t exactly been welcomed into the fold in purgatory. But over the last century they’d been accepted if nothing else.

When Odin had suggested the move from Valhalla Thor hadn’t been sure, but honestly, he’d been more comfortable with the demons of the underworld than he ever had with the angels and fanfare in Valhalla. In the underworld he’d found the one thing he’d always wanted— peace. And when things got too quiet, he was able to go to the fight club and take out his frustrations, usually on his dad or brothers. But occasionally there was a demon or some other dumb soul in purgatory wanting to challenge the Mighty Thor— always to their detriment.

“Thor?”

He turned before he got to the portal up to Midgard.

Frigg glided toward him, her long green gown reminding him once more of the trees of Valhalla.

“Elle isn’t quite done with her shift.”

Thor checked his watch. Five forty-five.

“I thought she got off at five.”

“She was. But Pixie didn’t show up for her shift and there’s a huge crowd up there. The local football team won a super dish thing.”

“I’ll wait.”

“I’d be happy to pour you a drink.”

“I’ll wait upstairs.”

Frigg looked like she wanted to say something but instead she smiled and put her hand on his arm. “Try not to start any trouble tonight, please. The humans are all worked up about a football team.”

“Trouble? Me?”

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