Page 28 of Elf Shot

"Wiser than you look, fae," Tor said, his voice a deep grumble as he came up the stairs with a pack of gear. His gray eyes scanned over the kitchen and landed on the frowning hunter. "Good evening, Ciara Wolf Slayer."

"Torsten," she said flatly.

The Ulfheðnar took a coffee from Bayn and placed a comforting hand on Layla's shoulder. "You feel any better?"

"Not really. What's our next move?" Layla asked.

"We need a day to collect proper supplies if we are going into Svartalfheim. Much of it is wild country, and we don't know how long it will take us to find Arne. The more prepared we are, the better," Tor replied. He held up a hand when Layla started to make protesting sounds. "I know it feels like you're losing your mind, but I'm not going to risk taking you there unprepared, Layla. You are my charge, my blood brother's mate. If I had my way, I wouldn't be taking you at all."

"You better be packing for three because I'm coming too," Ciara said, and Layla turned to her. "What? You really think I'm going to let you go off into another world with a stranger to steal from a god?"

Tor growled, folding his impressive arms and looking more imposing than ever. "I'm not a stranger, and I would never let anything happen to Layla. It's because you don't trust wolves."

"I don't trust anyone. Especially with my baby cousin who was in your care for barely a day and now look at her," Ciara snapped. "Weeping at the drop of a hat and with a fucking mating bond she didn't ask for."

Layla groaned. "You two can play who is the bigger alpha later, okay? Don't fight. I can't handle it."

"Layla is right," Bayn added. "If you two are planning on traveling together into hostile territory, you need to do it as a team, so stop your bullshit."

"Fine with me," Tor said, his eyes still on Ciara. "If you can't handle the company, Wolf Slayer, you'd best stay here."

"I have no problem. I'm here for Layla." Ciara placed a hand on Layla's arm. "Are you going to tell Kenna?"

"Only when I'm about to leave. She will just try and stop me, and I'm not in the mood to argue." Layla looked up at Tor. "A day. That's all I'm willing to wait and then I'm going after Arne."

Tor nodded. "It'll be done. I'm going to try and get some more detailed directions to Vili's old keep out of Alruna. If she doesn't know, maybe she can find out from Brök and Eydís without alerting them to what we are doing. The council forbade a rescue mission, and we don't want them getting suspicious."

"And if she can't get the information?" Ciara asked.

Tor shrugged. "Then we track them the hard way. Layla is Arne's mate. We can use that bond too if we have to."

Or we ask someone who knows Vili better than anyone, Layla thought. She knew where to go for help. It might be a fool's chance, but she was desperate enough to risk it. To get Arne back, she would risk the wrath of the gods themselves.

11

Layla had often been accused by her sisters of being the sneakiest of them all. It wasn't sneakiness she was good at; it was patience. That's why she waved Ciara and Torsten off in the morning as they went on their separate shopping trips and gave Bayn a hug before he went back to Scotland for the day. He promised he would come back that night and see them off, a frown creasing his brow like he suspected she was up to something.

With a brave smile, Layla had assured them all that she was fine, and she could use the day to sleep and rest and mentally prepare for traveling on the World Tree. Ciara only laughed, knowing exactly how much Layla hated camping on a trail.

Layla waited a full thirty minutes after they had gone before she had grabbed the keys to Freya's Audi, turned on her maps guide, and headed north.

Okay, maybe you didn't think this through as well as you should have, she admitted to herself outside of the town of Otta. It was three and a half hours away from Oslo, and Layla had made it in nearly an hour under that. She was already preparing the apology to Freya for the speeding tickets that would most likely arrive in the mail.

It couldn't be helped. Layla felt every passing second clawing at her. She was regretting not talking to Arne weeks ago, for saying no to being his summit representative, and for being too chicken shit to go for that damn drink with him months ago. She knew she liked him when she had first met him, and it was her own dumb fear and skewed self-worth that had held her back.

"You better be okay, Arne. I don't like being this stupidly emotional for no reason," she muttered under her breath.

Layla didn't know if it was the mating bond or just how she felt about Arne in general that was making her so crazy.

Crazy enough to piss off everyone by running away without telling anyone.

Otta was a pretty town, built where two rivers met. There were a lot of campers and hikers about, tourists taking photos of the picturesque mountains and red and white cottages. There was even a stave church nearby that Layla wished she had the time to see. No sightseeing for her. Only crazy hunch following that was the result of obsessive searching… all because Arawan had mentioned Odin.

Layla drove through the town and along the river, following her maps instructions before they stopped in front of a gate. The small white and blue house was built away from the others with birch trees shielding most of it from view.

"This could end so badly," Layla murmured to herself. She pulled her phone off its charger and rang Kian.

"Layla, are you okay?" he answered almost immediately.

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