The Ides of July // Loki - Book 1 ✓

Chapter 26: Truth + Lies

"WE MUST GO," Loki snaps at Anna, nearly pushing Jane over to snatch his overcoat from the bed.

He pulls it on over the remainder of his armor in one swift motion, his tall form instantly more imposing by the addition of the long, black and green leather coat adorned with metal. Anna watches him with a sense of fear and fascination, both intrigued by the Asgardian god in front of her and completely frightened by who he is and what he's done - let alone what he is capable of doing in the future.

"Go where?" Anna asks, stepping after him into the hallway, still clutching her bullet wound as it screams with fresh pain.

News that The Avengers are being hunted down comes as a shock to her, something she never expected - nor wanted - to happen. Her thoughts flash back to Restitution, to the man in the suit - Magnus - and Eren, and what they said. What they told her.

----Flashback----

"You want me to go to New York? Confront Iron Man?" Anna spits out incredulously, staring at Eren in shock.

He nods and takes a few steps across the room to sit next to her on the bed, taking her hands so they no longer fiddle with the edges of the comforter.

"You're frightened, Anna," he replies. "You should be. We all should be afraid. Not simply because of Iron Man, but of all of The Avengers. They're an epidemic, seeping through society like a poison, slowly destroying the foundation of all that we hold dear. Peace. Security. Democracy. Who are we to have a voice when gods among men can enforce their will with an iron fist?"

She shakes her head, "They have no reason, no--"

"Power is far more intoxicating than any drug," Eren interrupts. "It corrupts even the most honest of men. Like Caesar, who began simply leading the Romans in many successful battles and introducing reforms widely popular with the general public, his reign foreshadowed the imminent death of the Republic."

He drops her hands, running his right hand behind his neck, and stares at the ground while Anna is left processing his words. Surely, they don't mean to do to The Avengers as was done to Caesar. Society has progressed, and the public would never allow such a thing to happen.

"All we ask is for your presence in New York - in the tower," Eren reassures her, drawing her out of her thoughts. "We need eyes and ears, nothing more."

Anna wrings her fingers together tightly, thinking back to Rifat's body hitting the streets of Istanbul and the photo of his daughters, Kalila and Miriam, immortalized in a smiling photograph only to lie dead in the ground far before their time. She had to do something - anything - to keep herself from going mad. Her life had been a whirlwind of tragedy, and she could hardly hold herself together. Instead, she continued moving, just as she knew she had to do now.

----End Flashback----

"What the hell do you intend to do?" Anna questions, her voice low, to keep Jane from overhearing them in the hallway.

Loki doesn't respond.

"Loki?" Anna's voice is hesitant. "What is your plan? The Avengers are in shambles. If the World Security Council is calling for their deaths, I can only imagine what the powers that be want for you."

He turns to face her, anger and pain flashing in his emerald eyes, and she is taken aback by the realization that he is just as upset by the possibility of his brother's death as Jane. The two of them stand close in the corridor, merely an arm's length apart, and she can see the conflicting emotions playing across his face even in the shadows.

"You're worried about your brother," she says softly.

"He's not my brother," Loki snarls. "His death would bring only joy to me."

Anna scoffs, "You might want everyone else to believe that - hell, you might even be trying to convince yourself of that - but you don't fool me."

He frowns, crossing his arms in front of his chest as she hazards another step toward him. His green eyes flicker down to her injured bicep, a hint of concern crossing his forehead before flashing back to indifference, as she lifts her chin and stares at him defiantly. Anna stands at least six inches below him, but she pulls herself up to her full height as she analyzes him.

"You're lying," she says, barely above a whisper. "All of this - it's a lie."

Loki inhales deeply, his chest rising as he struggles to maintain composure as the woman across from him so accurately sees through his facade. He is concerned for Thor's well-being, more than he'd like to admit, and the concept of The Avengers facing death unsettles him greatly. While they had fought bitterly in New York, a piece of him still clings to the belief in the sanctity of innocent life, and his instincts tell him that this is only the beginning.

Now Playing: "Hollywood Horror" by Dropout.

*****
Author's Note

Do you ship it? (You should. This boat is going places!)

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