Book 1: Mirage [Thor]

Chapter 14

"Do you enjoy the view?"

Anya whirled around coming face-to-face with Loki. He smirked at the mortal before him in satisfaction. Her assumption had been correct that the madman hadn't gone far.

"A perfect place to watch the fall of mankind," he said. "A worthless race."

"You don't give us enough credit," Anya said.

"Hmm," Loki mused, slowly moving forward. "Maybe I don't. You've certainly piqued my interest. You fought back. Mortals recoil in fear to those who are stronger, above them. It's cowardly. Very few show strength and yet those who are weak will follow those who have a strong will like sheep. How pathetic... and yet useful. It will be easy to rule over this race."

"We are all strong in our own ways, even if we don't show it."

"Now that we do not agree on. They are cowards because they are weak."

"And you're saying you're not one yourself?"

His eyes narrowed into slits in warning. Anya refused to show her panic, standing her ground. Still, the next words had to be chosen carefully to not outrage the god. He could easily crush the young woman.

"You dare imply that I am?" he questioned.

"You are only doing this for the monster who gave you that scepter and the Chitauri at your disposal," Anya said.

Loki gave a dry laugh. "Ah, yes, Thor–"

"And what if it was him who told me what happened?" Anya cut him off. She could hear the blood pumping in her ears from their now close proximity. There was nowhere for her to go with the glass pressed against her back.

"You so easily trust him. How do you know he is not lying?"

"He hasn't given me a reason not to trust him. You tried to kill me, remember?"

"Ah, all in good fun," his smirk returned.

Anya slapped him. So hard it made the god's head turn having not expected such a mundane blow. Testing the jaw by prodding the skin Loki snickered viciously, turning back on the mortal. He would kill her. Slowly. Painfully. But wait until delivering the final strike so what remained of that godforsaken team of hers could watch.

"That was not–"

Loki paused, finding the space in front of him empty. Turning his eyes scanned the room. He was alone and the man smirked knowing the agent was still here. Otherwise he would have heard a door or the elevator opening. Her shoes were left behind meaning her socks would allow Anya to move stealthily.

"You're much more fun than I anticipated," he taunted. "You definitely have an intelligent mind."

Whether she took the statement as a compliment or not the god did not know. He brought around his scepter in preparation for any attack.

"Where are you?"

Slowly, Loki moved in search of movement that would give away the prisoner's position. Yet the room stayed silent, still. Even her breathing was undetectable. Truly a valued agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a reason.

"Back at that craft, that was child's play. For someone to be able to hide from me completely is rare. You were just testing to see how dangerous I was, but you miscalculated, which is how you ended up here. Now, well, I can tell you will hold nothing back." Loki smirked. "That only makes this game more fun."