Page 6 of Loki

“Wait.” Thor reached for Elle’s hand.

Val removed his hand from Elle’s. “No. No waiting, Odin’s son. We are leaving.”

Loki stepped forward, ready to defend Val from Thor if necessary. Not that she needed protecting.

“Thank you for your kindness, Thor, Odin’s son,” said Elle.

Now that was the kind of woman Loki would have gone for in the past. Soft-spoken and eager to please. But the way Elle’s eyes remained downcast, and the timid way she stood, was nothing compared to the way Val’s fiery spirit called to him.

Val pulled her away and strode down the street. Loki went to follow them, but Val turned to him and brandished her dagger again. He held his hands up before putting them in his pockets. Didn’t matter. He’d find her whether he followed or not.

“When do you work next?” Thor called.

Elle turned over her shoulder. “I work every day.”

Val said something to her, and Elle continued down the cobblestone street and into the mists beyond.

Thor rubbed his fingers together.

Oh, Odin! Thor had it bad.Frigg had been right in her prediction.

Loki clapped him on the back. “Has the mighty Thor finally found a match?”

Thor eyed him. “And what about you? You seemed in unusually bantery form with Elle’s friend Val.”

Loki gritted his teeth and focused the direction the women had gone. He didn’t like that Thor had read his intentions. He didn’t need word getting around of something going on between him and Val. Or did he? If others thought Val was his, they would leave her alone.

“Business, nothing more.”

Thor snorted and pulled Mjölnir from his jacket pocket. “You keep telling yourself that, cousin. Are you fighting tonight?”

“Yes,” said Loki. “I promised Baldur a rematch. Again.”

Thor nodded. “Then I’ll see you at the Throne.” He lifted his arm to the sky and jumped.

Loki watched Thor disappear and then peered down the darkened street. His body yearned to go after Val. To press her against the balcony of his house overlooking the city and take her. But that wasn’t going to happen. So, he’d do the next best thing.

He waved his hand, and his clothes changed from his suit to a kilt and a white tank. The shirt would be ruined in the ring, but he had an unlimited supply. He only cared about taking his pent-up tension and confusion over Val out on Baldur.

He debated whether Baldur would ever tire of losing to him. Didn’t matter. Either way, Loki wasn’t going to ease up on him. And when he finished, he’d try something he’d not done in a thousand years. He was going to dream walk into Val’s dreams.

Loki clapped Baldur on the back as he pulled him to his feet. “This makes what? The two thousandth time you’ve tried to pay me back for what happened so long ago, I don’t even remember?”

“You tricked my brother Hödr into killing me.”

Loki chuckled. “Oh yeah. What does it matter now, though? We’re all here in the Underworld together.”

Baldur growled. “Exactly.”

Loki handed Baldur a towel for his bloody nose and walked him to the arena’s edge. “Come on, Baldur. You were the favorite. Everyone loved you. You were so damned annoying. And it was a joke gone wrong. I didn’t think Hödr could make the shot, you know, being blind and all.”

“A joke? I died.” Baldur’s eyes flickered with anger.

Loki sighed. “Yes, you did. And every time we are in the cage, and you try to make me pay for what I did, you are the one who is paying—reliving it all. I don’t see Hödr in here trying to kick my ass every month. Why don’t you let it go? Move on. Find a woman. Settle down. Raise chubby cute babies and... live?”

Baldur stared at Loki, and Loki thought he might take the advice. But Baldur shoved the towel into Loki’s chest and stormed off. Loki shook his head. He knew how it was to live in the past. To remember the old slights and quarrels, but in the Underworld, it all seemed so trivial. Thor hating Surtr. Baldur hating him. Val hating him...

He jumped to the floor and wiped the sweat from his face. Val... He’d only gotten into the ring to mitigate his aching for her. Both had given him the same high in the old days, whether fighting or screwing. But somehow, having gone a few rounds with Baldur barely scratched the surface of what stirred inside him for Val.

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