Megan raised her head from his shoulder, pale brows raised, “I’m impressed. Throwing fireballs already!”
“Thanks,” I shuffled my sneakers over the floor, embarrassed, “Asher told me how.”
Loki looked surprised, then he gave his son a wide grin, one that Asher returned. Someone behind me snorted, and I turned to see one of the silver haired advisors, the man, step forward, arms crossed over his chest, “and what of the rebels?” he said sharply, “shouldn’t we be asking her about that?”
Loki held up one hand, “I was going to, Harkin. Thank you.”
“They want her for the link,” Asher promptly volunteered, and I shot him a look, alarm making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Both advisors looked startled, exchanging a look, eyebrows raised. Loki leaned forward in his chair, “really, so you do have it? I half expected it was just a myth.”
“It’s not a myth,” Surtr growled at him, “I told you that. Your great great great great…”
“Uncle Howard, yes.” Loki waved one hand at him, “honestly , dad. I thought you’d made him up.”
Surtr grimaced, “why would I make up Uncle Howard? What do you take me for?”
Asher grinned and rolled his eyes, “off topic here, guys…”
“Right,” Loki folded his arms over his chest, looking up at Megan he said casually, “she has the link.”
Megan smiled at him, “I heard.”
“What should we do with her?”
My stomach plummeted. What were they talking about?
“Maybe she could be an unstoppable fighting machine, killing all our enemies,” Megan twined her fingers through her husband’s dark curls, “who do we want dead, darling?”
Loki pursed his lips, apparently thinking, “the guy who makes those taco stand commercials on TV?”
Megan nodded thoughtfully, “You’re absolutely right, and people who talk during movies. Them too.”
Okay, strange senses of humor, but obviously joking. I relaxed back into the chair. Loki and Megan now appeared to be gazing deeply into one another’s eyes. Asher protested this loudly, “guys, really…yuck.”
Harken’s voice was winter cold, “For once, I must agree with your son, not to mention, you’re clearly not taking this seriously,” his dark eyed stare was giving me shivers, “the girl is dangerous. If she falls back into the hands of the rebels…”
“That won’t happen,” Asher said firmly, “she’s here now, there’s no way…”
“Don’t underestimate that woman,” Harken snapped.
Charlotte moved from the wall, and both advisors instantly turned to look at her, expressions wary. Something told me they didn’t get along, the three of them, “I have wards all around the castle. There’s no way any of the rebels can get inside these walls.”
“You put too much faith in magic, witch” the woman, Ondrea, came forward, eyes glittering with suppressed anger, “not everything can be solved by a simple spell. You and your apprentice think you can just wave a wand and everything will be fine, but there are ways of getting around magic, and Kari knows them.”
Something told me there was more going on here than this particular disagreement. The way the advisor had spat the word “witch”, she wasn’t merely stating Charlottes’ occupation.
YOU ARE READING
Fire
Fantasy**Completed**Can smoldering resentment and attraction exist at the same time? Jess Parker has made a number of mistakes. The first was burning her school to the ground. The second, getting caught by the handsome, yet maddening boy who calls himself...
