ENTANGLED (#2 The Valkyries)

Chapter 22 - Let's Make A Deal

None of us picked up the glasses of alcohol.

Nabu smirked, eyes glinting. "If I wanted to kill you, I certainly wouldn't waste my favourite scotch to do so. You would never have made it to my office."

Although the slightly mocking tone had my back stiffening, I knew he wasn't wrong. I reached forward, took the scotch and sipped. A smoky wood and hint of nutty sweetness met my tongue and sipped again. Kara and Thor also picked up their glasses.

"So what brings an Elven sea god and two Asgardians to my door?" Nabu asked, looking at each of us in turn.

"We'd like passage to and from Muspelheim," Thor said.

Nabu blinked twice, then frowned. "Why?"

"I'm aware we can't travel to Muspelheim without permission. We do not want to break the long-held treaty between us," Thor said.

Nabu uncrossed his leg and leaned forward. "Why do you want to travel to Muspelheim?" His voice had deepened, a hint of threat in the low rumble. His eyes had narrowed in suspicion.

"We are looking for a missing Asgardian who we believe may have been accidentally transported to Muspelheim," Thor explained.

Accidentally. I kept my snort internal. Nabu likely knew who we were talking about and I seriously doubted there was anything accidental about it. Still, Thor was playing the diplomatic game well.

Nabu's eyebrows rose for a few seconds, then he returned to his previous relaxed posture and recrossed his leg. "There is nothing in the treaty preventing me from offering you a deal to cross to and from Muspelheim."

"What are the terms?" Kara asked.

Nabu smiled at her, even as something about his expression had the hair rising on the back of my neck. "The same as they are for everyone, my beautiful goddess. A five year work contract on Muspelheim."

She leaned forward. "What kind of work?"

Was Kara considering this? No way. Thor wouldn't trade her for Mist. She knew that. Or was she just trying to get more information?

Nabu's smile widened, white teeth appearing fully human yet not hiding the predator in his eyes. "Sex or combat."

"You'd force me to prostitute myself?" Kara asked, glaring at him.

"No, not at all. It is simply a choice of where to work. You would be the one to choose. Either the fertility temples where you'd agree to accommodate one patron a day for the term of your contract, or combat as a member of the palace guard or warrior for arena battles. Although, as a warrior in the arena, you run the risk of not surviving the full term of the contract as most battles are to the death." He sipped his scotch, relaxed and clearly in his element. Nabu knew he held the upper hand, damn it.

"Five years is too long. What about a trade of goods instead?" Thor asked.

Nabu shook his head and waved it off with his glass. "You have no goods that we require or can't already obtain ourselves."

We were at an impasse. There was no way we could go to Muspelheim for five years without knowing for certain Mist was there. Nor would Thor agree to that even if we were sure. His mortal wife would be dead in the fifty years that would pass here on Litaui. She'd never know what had happened to him or what left his two kids fatherless.

Still, perhaps one of us?

"Five years is too long. What can we offer for a shorter time?" Thor asked.

Nabu smiled, a cold glitter in his eyes. "Five years is the term. There is no negotiation."

"The Prince of the Aerial Kingdoms owes me. He knows he does. If you can't offer them a better deal"—I indicated Thor and Kara beside me—"then perhaps discuss my passage with him to see if I can go to Muspelheim without the five-year term requirement."

Nabu's eyes narrowed, pinning me in place, then he slowly inclined his head. "I will discuss it with him."