Page 46 of Baldr's Secret Mate

Baldr swallowed hard, his mind a tangle of emotions that threatened to spill over our bond. I didn’t get a chance to make sense of them before he regained control, and I was too tired and sleepy to think much of it.

“I love you too,” he replied at last, his voice raw with emotion.

With those words ringing in my ears, I smiled, and drifted into a world of lovely dreams that for the first time ever, had the potential to become reality.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Baldr

Iawoke with a start, sitting straight up with a gasp. However, instead of happily snuggled with Mist under the trees of Asgard, I found myself sitting in a field of snow. However, instead of the glimmering white I expected, it was streaked with crimson.

The air was sharp with the metallic tang of blood, and my breath hung in front of me in frozen puffs of cloud. The world was eerily silent, save for the whisper of a distant wind that carried the faintest echo of something like a scream. My heart pounded in my chest as I looked down at myself. My hands were trembling, bare against the cold, but what froze me more than the chill was the sight of them—stained red.

I staggered to my feet, my knees crunching into the snow below me. The field stretched endlessly in every direction, vast and empty save for the crimson streaks that painted grotesque patterns across its surface. Something about those patterns unnerved me; they weren’t random splashes or chaotic smears—they formed lines, symbols almost, though none I could recognize.

“Mist?” I called out hoarsely, my voice cracking with panic. “Mist!” There was no reply.

I spun around, desperate for any sign of life. And that’s when I saw him.

Tyr.

He was standing there in the snow, his chest heaving and his Alpha form covered in blood from head to toe. In his remaining hand he clutched a ragged piece of paper. Upon further inspection, I realized it was the other half of my mother’s spellbook.

“Thanks for the help,” he growled, holding up the book before tossing it away. “None of this would’ve been possible without you.”

I glanced back down at the blood on my hands, realizing that it was only through me that Tyr had been able to get this far.

“Where is everyone?!” I cried. “Where is Thor and Loki?!”

Tyr glanced off to the left, then the right. I followed his gaze both times, my heart nearly coming to a stop in my chest. There, lying frozen and bloody in the snow, was both of my brothers, their chests torn open and their hearts lying on the ground beside them. Fear was the expression their faces were locked into in death. I let out a choking sob, but I couldn’t force myself to take a step toward them. I didn’t want to see any more.

“Everyone you love is dead,” Tyr snarled, inching closer all the time. “And now I think it’s time to deal the final blow.” He lifted his bloody claws toward the sky, chanting under his breath. “Then you can live alone and sad for the rest of your days!”

Fiery red magic coalesced in his claws before he aimed it directly at my heart. However, at the last moment he swung his arm to the left, and I finally saw who his target truly was.

It was Mist.

The world seemed to go silent as the spell raced toward him. I saw his eyes go wide and fill with tears as he stared at me, a plea on his lips that he didn’t have time to speak. Before I knew it, my wolf took over and I raced through the snow at an almost inhuman speed. Without a second thought, I threw myself in front of him, the spell colliding with my chest and exploding outward.

There was a white-hot flash of pain and my world went dark.

???

I awoke with a gasp, bolting upright. This time, the ground beneath me was warm, soft leaves, not snow. The icy bite in the air was gone, replaced by the gentle caress of a summer breeze that carried the scent of wildflowers. My heart raced, confusion crashing over me like waves against the shore. My hands flew to my chest, expecting to feel searing pain or a gaping wound where Tyr’s spell had struck—but there was nothing. Just smooth skin without a single blemish, though I could still feel an ache deep inside, like a phantom echo of what had happened.

“Easy,” came a low voice behind me. Soft but steady. Familiar.

I turned sharply and saw Mist sitting nearby, sprawled out naked in a patch of sunlight without a care in the world. His eyes were fixed on me with a mixture of relief and lingering worry. “You okay? You were mumbling in your sleep.” He tilted his head to the side. “I tried to see what you were dreaming through the bond… but it was blocked from me.”

“I… I was having another one of my visions,” I replied, shaking my head. “One I’ve had quite a few times, actually.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

I shook my head again, a streak of anxiety twisting at my stomach. “No. Not really.”

Mist stretched and got to his feet, coming over to our makeshift bed and snuggling up next to me. I felt his warm flesh press against my skin, the feeling reassuring me that not only was he okay, but I was still very much alive. Although, for how much longer I would be, I wasn’t sure. It seemed as if the end was quickly approaching.

“Baldr,” he said softly, running the back of his finger of my shoulder in a slow circle. “You know you can talk to me, right? I realize we haven’t been together long, but you’re my oldest friend and I trust you. I hope you can feel the same about me and I’d like to help you with your visions if you’re okay with that.”

I let out a long sigh. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” I replied quietly, unable to meet his gaze. “It’s just… not a good vision. I haven’t told anyone about it. Not even my brothers.”

---