ENTANGLED (#2 The Valkyries)

Chapter 7 - The Maze

"I can believe that about them. They definitely have that—" A viscous splat behind me had me pausing.

A woman walked through the gate behind us, grumbling under her breath. I bit my lip not to laugh when I turned to look at her. Long dark hair was dripping with orange spunk. With jerking movements, she wiped it out of her eyes, flinging wet globules to the ground as she stomped towards a wash station. At each of the half-circular wash stations along the far wall, females were soaping down to remove white, orange, and pink fluids from their bodies.

"Blessed Danu," Bloudwedd said as she caught sight of the female, her yellow eyes widening. "I see what you mean, Ethan. What type of demon does that?"

Ethan's grin was wicked. "I think I'll let you ladies discover that on your own."

"Hey!" I put my hands on my hips and glared. Or attempted to. The vision was too funny and I couldn't blame him. Frankly, it was something I'd have pulled if I could.

We followed him into the residence and we filled our plates with the food provided. But recalling the well-dressed demon's remarks about the meat market, I stuck to salads, cheeses, and bread. Ethan led us to a table and we sat with another Atlantean and two Midgardians.

"This is Marcus, Candy, and Marnie," Ethan said, introducing us. "And I see you know to avoid the meat. They do actually have a small amount of livestock on the planet, I'm told, but still, you just never know."

"The fish and seafood are okay, though," Marcus added. "They have plenty of aquatic life within their freshwater and saltwater seas. Since they prefer meat, they feed us the fish and seafood."

Candy tossed her pale blond hair, then ran a pink-toned hand down her curvy body. "Yeah, and you'll get hungry too. I've never eaten so much, yet I never seem to gain any weight. It's so different from Texas."

Marnie snorted and rolled brown eyes that matched the rich brown of her skin and dark hair. "Those Texans might ride you hard, hon, but these demons can fuck them right into the ground. If it wasn't for the healing creams and drinks, I think they'd have crushed my pelvis by now. We humans are just nowhere near their fighting weight."

"So they have aftercare products in the infirmary?" I asked.

"You'll find creams at the wash stations, as well as in your drawers. If you need something more substantial, it's in the infirmary," Ethan said.

"Where are you from?" Marnie asked, looking between Bloudwedd and I.

"The Summer Realm," said Bloudwedd.

Marnie nodded. "That's cool. We have"—she counted on her fingers—"six other light elves here. I'm from Mexico, a country on Earth if you aren't familiar with our geography. Ah wait... you call our planet Litaui, right?"

Bloudwedd nodded and took a bite of her salad.

"What about you?" Marnie asked, meeting my gaze as she sipped her drink.

Ordinarily, we were forbidden from revealing the existence of Asgard to mortals. It was to protect them from the immortal realms and dangers they couldn't comprehend. Yet the proverbial cat was definitely out of the bag with these Midgardians. Still, I debated the wisdom of giving them further knowledge.

Ethan touched me on my shoulder to gain my attention, an eyebrow raised in question.

"What happens when they"—I inclined my head at the mortals—"return to Midgard and start talking about their experiences here on Muspelheim?"

"I've been told that the memories become hazy, except for the occasional dream to allow the mythology to persist on Litaui and so they'll encourage others to enter into demon deals," he said.

"Midgard? Are you... are you an Asgardian?" Marnie asked in a hushed whisper, eyes wide.

"Like the movies?" asked Candy, looking up from her food. "That guy that plays Thor is just so dreamy. I could lick him up all day and never get tired."

She demonstrated with her fork, and I winced. The princes were more like brothers to me, especially with Loki having one of my best friends, Shannon, as one of his consorts in a triquetra soulbond.

Those damn movies, while amusing, were way off base in so many ways. As if Asgard was this bizarre chunk of a planet with water pouring off the side. Midgardian science was far behind ours, but even they should know that didn't make sense. But really, it was Thor and Loki's fault for playing somewhat bizarre versions of themselves and partaking in mortal acting careers, even if we wanted to maintain a presence on the little planet. Having mortal identities helped them move through modern Midgardian society seamlessly. It was getting harder and harder for immortals like my parents to reinvent themselves with the mortals' current technological advances.

"Yes, but both Prince Thor and Prince Loki are married, so you'll have to lust after them from afar," I told her.

Candy's blue eyes turned half-lidded. "Mmm."

Both Marcus and Marnie opened their mouths to speak and our wrists chimed. With a tap, we activated the schedules and they guided Bloudwedd and me on scrolling through our patron options for the evening. Not only did it provide a name and image, but also the race and favourite kinks.

My list had the choice of four patrons.

The first was a lion demon, Felix, who liked bondage. Handsome, with his mane of golden hair and matching eyes, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to be tied down until I trusted the protections in place here. Still, he had a very pettable upper body covered in a short tan pelt.

A minotaur, a bull demon by the name of Maximus, who preferred the bar setting was the second option. That was a definite possibility. Like all Asgardians, it took a lot to get me drunk. He was big though. Broad across the shoulder, with large horns and a bovine nose and mouth, Maximus was solid muscle. I did like strong males.

Next on the list was a fire demon, one of the dragon races. Shown in his humanoid form, Chikao had ombre hair that started black at his scalp to yellow then red tips in a spiky style that highlighted his oval face and dark skin. He was leaner than the others, not as bulky through the chest and shoulders, but still muscular. He'd listed one of the suspension rooms and a preference for kinbaku. My eyes widened at that. Erotic bondage to that extent required more trust and communication than I was prepared for at this point. Chikao was a definite no.

My fists clenched when the last name came up. Basmu. Guess he wasn't lying when he said he wanted me. Still, I wasn't about to give in that easily. Not after his deception. Scrolling back to the top, I selected Felix and confirmed.

Basmu was going to have to work for it if he wanted me.