Page 71 of Last Thrall of Asgard

I looked down. “Oh! A note!” I snatched up the newly appeared message, which must have been sent back in exchange for the hand.

I crumpled it into a ball as soon as I read it.

“Thenerve.”

“What? What did it say?”

“Never you mind.”

As if Heimdall needed to be as childish as writing:

Told you so.

Hehadbeen right. And yet, sometimes, I wondered if I was enough for Oli.

“Are you sure you’re all right spending so much time away from your family and friends?” Oli asked.

But that was when I decided I must be enough, because Oli worried he wasn’t enough for me. “I visited them all before leaving.” I shrugged, staring at the empty stump. “And yes, I apologized to all of them too. Even the children I’d been avoiding.”

And the ones I never avoided, like my sweet Hel, who’d kissed my cheek and said she was happy for me, like she’d known all along how things would end. She likely had.

I saw Odin and clasped his arm in friendship.

Mimir, who’d been busy with histreebut was more comfortable in his skin now.

Tyr, who I’d ribbed about the hand and might have made some barking noises in his direction, but he’d earned that!

Thor, who’d hooked me around the waist with one arm, lifted me off my feet, and said, “Just you wait for our next adventure!”

Balder, who’d forced me to more openly enter Asgard, much to the surprise of many lesser gods, because he was back in the throng of the people and letting them love him again. Perfectly, imperfect Balder.

Freyr, who I’d caught with his pants down—and that raven-haired elf’s pants down beneath him—so I’d left it to a sorry and fare thee well, friend!

And Heimdall, who’d never quite resented me enough to need to forgive me, but who promised he’d have celebrations in his hall again soon and would miss that I wouldn’t be there. For now.

Time worked differently in the other realms, so while Oli had lost almost no time between when I snatched him away and then returned him to Midgard, I’d had plenty of time to say my goodbyes before I joined him.

“It was awful, by the way,” I said. “Balderhuggedme. In front of people! Mortifying. But don’t you fret. This will only be one mortal lifespan, and they could probably use a break from me while adjusting to their new lives. You might need a break from me as well after a whole mortal marriage together. It’ll feel longer for you, you know.”

“I know.”

While Fenrir bounced around our feet, wondering where his toy had gone, and Jorm slithered out from inside my sleeve where he’d been napping, Oli held out a hand to me.

“But I don’t think I will need a break. You’ll have to accept me as part of your life in Hel too, or any other realms you whisk me off to once my soul leaves Midgard. Assuming you like the sound of that?”

“If this is a proposal, I already married you.”

“Apact. Do we have a deal?”

I eyed Oli’s hand, almost expecting a…

Trick.

“One condition,” I said.

“Oh?”

“When we do see the others again, they don't get to share you. Not unless mutually agreed upon with me involved. Assuming that’s okay with you… free man?”

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