Heart of a Mortal (Loki Romance)

Chapter 11

I stayed beside him, forgetting my hunger with the knowledge that he needed me. It seemed to be about a half hour later, when the morning had warmed and the mist had dissipated from over the trees that he woke up. I brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Hey." I whispered.

"Hello." He mumbled. I smiled sympathetically, trying to reassure him but unsure how.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He didn't speak for a few minutes and I figured he just wanted me to hold him. "They were all standing around me." He whispered finally. "Staring and screaming. All of them, yelling at me. I couldn't fight back and they just beat me, screaming all sorts of things."

"Who? What did they say?"

He shuffled closer and buried his face in my neck. He whispered against my skin but only a few words came to me. "Monster. Bastard. Fool."

"Who?"

"Everyone. Even mother. She never gave up on me; she always loved me and now look at what I've done to her. Betrayed her trust, tried to kill her son. She can't forgive me. Odin laughed at me. I was a fool to believe he could ever be proud of me." He laughed but it was humorless. "The god of lies, fallen for the biggest lie of all. But they're right. All of them. They're right. And that's what scares me. And then I woke up and I tried to kill you and oh gods... I'm so sorry."

I pulled back and made him look at me. He'd returned to his natural form, unable to control it while all these emotions raced through him. I hesitantly touched his face, making sure he had enough control to keep from hurting me. I traced the half-circle on his forehead and the vein-like lines that traveled up his cheek. "You're not a monster. You're hurt and confused and you just didn't know how to handle that."

"I am a monster. The strange child of Odin that was never wanted nor understood. They will never know me any other way."

"You're a Giant to the Asgardians and an Asgardian to the Frost Giants. They only see you in one light and so it limits all that you could be in their eyes. But Loki, what people think of you does not define who you are. You're letting your past define your present and destroy your future. You're letting them tell you who and what you are rather than deciding for yourself. As long as you let them do that, whatever you do now is their fault. You can't take responsibility for being something you claim they created.

"Until you take responsibility and define who you are, you will never come to grips with this. Odin was wrong. But so were you! You have to recognize that. You can either be the monster they're afraid of or become a man they never imagined possible."

He stared at me, his tearful eyes doubtful and hurt. I pushed him. "Stand up."

"Why?"

"Stand up!" He stood and I faced him. I shoved him hard in the shoulders, trying to shake some sense into him. "You are Loki Laufeyson of Jotunheim, raised as an exalted son of Asgard by King Odin, Allfather. You are the queen's beloved child, a master of Asgardian Magic, more cunning than anyone imagines. You're a good man! A friend! And yes, you're stuck here on Midgard with a stupid human, but dammit Loki, this human is proud to know you and that should speak for something!"

One small, choked laugh escaped him. He smiled. Satisfied, I pushed him again for good measure. "Good. Now I'm making breakfast, what d'you want?"

"Anything will do." I turned to walk inside but stopped as he called me. "Ebony." Turning, I waited for him to speak again. His grin turned to a soft smile. I watched his skin return to normal. It seemed to shrink towards his hands, disappearing in the tips of his fingers, where his power seemed to reside. "I am proud to know you as well."