CHAPTER NINETEEN
One of McKenna's favorite spots in Asgard was on the balcony of their chambers, where she would sit and gaze out over the Asgard Sea. Loki lost count of how many nights he'd wake up to one of the children crying and would peer up to see McKenna sitting on the ledge, nursing, the very picture of serenity.
She had no idea how many nights he stayed awake, just lying there, watching her. She had no idea how he watched and marveled at his great fortune in finding her, in being the man she wanted to be with. Some days he still couldn't believe when he awoke and found her lying beside him, more often than not snuggled in his arms. And when he woke to find her nursing Selig or Aislinn, he found himself falling in love with her all over again.
That happened on a regular basis. Sometimes it was as simple as catching a glimpse of her smile, or hearing the silvery melody of her laughter. Other times, it happened at the most intimate of moments, when she wrapped herself all around him and he was spent and sinking into her warmth. He loved his Midgardian with a ferocity that frightened him sometimes and even now, she need only touch him, needed only to brush his hand with hers, and he couldn't breathe. The simplest of touches made his heart beat faster and when she melted against him, it was all he could do to not pinch himself to see if he was dreaming.
He sighed as he stepped out onto the terrace and walked over to the ledge. Clouds blocked most of the stars and the Asgard Sea was rough, whitecaps stretching to the edge of the realm. From his vantage point, he could make out Heimdall's gatehouse, but he'd already worn out his welcome there, as he haunted Heimdall to keep him updated on Selig and McKenna.
The marble pillar was cool against the back of his head, as was the night air. Selig's fourth birthday was only ten days out and all he wanted was his son home to celebrate it. All he wanted was for Selig to come home safe and sound.
Then he would take great pleasure in killing Grant Ward.
"My lord?"
He turned to see Eir in the doorway, with Aislinn in her arms. "Come in, Eir." He swung his legs down from the ledge and stood. "Is something wrong with her?"
She shook his head as he came over to them. "No. But I thought you might like the distraction."
Loki smiled as he took his daughter from her. "Of course. It's about time she woke up."
"This one sleeps well and you should never begrudge that, my lord," Eir scolded with a hint of a smile.
"I don't." Loki gazed down at Aislinn, who smiled up at him, and he brushed her wispy black hair back from her forehead. "Are you giving Eir a hard time, princess?"
"No, she's fine. But it's time for her dinner and I thought you might like to feed her, since Princess McKenna usually does."
Loki swished one hand and Aislinn's high chair appeared. "Of course."
"And bath?"
"I think I can manage, Eir." He grinned at the healer. "We'll be fine."
"Of course you will." Eir patted his shoulder. "If you need my assistance, you need only call me."
"I will, Eir. Thank you."
After Eir left, he brought Aislinn out to the ledge and settled back into his spot, shifting her to one arm so he could give her a bottle. As Aislinn went to work, he smiled, imagining what McKenna would say if she saw him.
"If only everyone could see you now, o'fierce God of Mischief," she'd say and she would sit beside him, her cheek resting against his shoulder. "No one would be afraid of you, if they could see you like this. Such a mush when it comes to your children."
"She's right, you know," he murmured to Aislinn. "I am a mush for you and your brother. There is nothing fierce about me now."
She blinked wide eyes at him, smiling around her bottle. Loki's throat tightened as he gazed down into her innocent green eyes. Green. Just like her mother's eyes. Damn. How was it possible to love one woman so much? How was it possible for a man who never gave a second thought to a family, who would have scoffed at the very idea of children of his own, to love a little boy and baby girl so much that it frightened him?
He swallowed hard as Aislinn pushed the bottle from her mouth. He set it down, then lifted her to his shoulder. She babbled happily into his ear, "Dada..."
A smile tugged at his lips. "Yes, baby girl. Daddy. Say Mommy now, won't you? You can surprise her when she and Selig come home."
Aislinn giggled, then let out a loud belch, which made Loki chuckle. "How about now, love? Can you say Mommy now?"
"Dada...dada..." Bracing her chubby fists on his shoulder, she pushed away from him and smiled. "Ma....ma..."
"Close enough, princess," he said, kissing the side of her head. "You'll get it eventually."
"Dada."
He shifted to bend his legs, and set Aislinn in the cradle of his lap. She smiled and clapped her hands, which made him laugh. He made a face at her and it was her turn to laugh. He didn't know how long they sat there, and he didn't care. He wanted to just lose himself for a little while, to make his daughter laugh and to try to forget exactly why his chambers were so quiet.
As the night wore on, Aislinn's eyes grew heavier and heavier, but Loki didn't want to put her down. Instead, he cradled her close, leaning back to bring her to his chest, where she closed her eyes and slowly stilled against him.
Aislinn dozed on him and Loki sighed as he just gazed down at her and smoothed a hand over her head. "I love you, Aislinn Frigga," he whispered, his fingertips stroking along her soft cheek. She smiled in her sleep, and a small dimple showed in her left cheek.
Aislinn Frigga Odinson, named for the grandmothers she would never meet. Loki didn't want to jostle her, but his neck ached from the odd position he'd been in against the pillar. Gingerly, he sat up, wincing at the sting along the right side of his neck. Aislinn cooed in her sleep, but her eyes never opened.
He brought her back to the nursery, where he set her in her crib and covered her with a light blanket. She scrunched around, made herself comfortable, and Loki smiled as he gazed down upon her. "My beautiful baby girl," he whispered, his hand lightly resting on her chest. "Sleep soundly, little one. All will be right in the world before you know it."
"My king?"
Loki straightened at Tyra's whisper. "Yes?"
"Has there been any word from Princess McKenna?"
He shook his head. "Not yet."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just keep watch over her." He gestured to Aislinn, stroking her hair again. "Careful watch over her."
"I always do, Your Highness. And Heimdall is ever more vigilant, if that's even possible. But I think the chances of someone getting into Asgard are very slim."
"I take no chances."
"Of course." Tyra came up to stand beside him at Aislinn's crib. "Lord Selig and Princess McKenna are going to come home, safe and sound."
"I know," Loki murmured, still staring down at his sleeping daughter. "And I have to keep telling myself that, because if I don't, there is no force in any of the nine realms that could keep me here instead of destroying everything that lies between me and my wife and son."
"It will happen." Tyra glanced down at Aislinn and then up at him. "I cannot imagine it ending any other way. Not with the princess down there looking for that man. I overheard Lady Sif telling Eir that Princess McKenna actually threw a fellow named Royce to the ground. Said she was so impressed by how far she's come, that she's more Asgardian than she is Midgardian now."
Loki looked over at her. "Really?"
Tyra nodded. "Oh, yes. The men have been most impressed with her as well and not only because she's pretty."
He managed a smile. "It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful, though."
"No, it doesn't. But there's more to it than that. They respect her as one of them." She touched his shoulder. "And I heard this Royce fellow apologized for some slurs he lobbed at her not too long ago."
Loki shook his head slowly as pride swelled inside him. If he was totally honest with himself, he had to admit he was surprised to hear this. McKenna always struck him as a woman who needed someone to watch over her, to take care of her, and she knew it, which was why she found herself with men such as Joe. Men who used her with no regard for her feelings or her needs and desires, but who used her only to satisfy their own whims and needs first.
For the most part, Loki liked to think he was different from those loutish Midgardian men, but the truth was, he also thought she needed to be taken care of and watched over. He humored her in allowing her to learn from Sif and from Coulson, but until now, he never believed she would ever do anything with what she learned, aside from occasionally tossing him over her shoulder.
But he was wrong. He'd underestimated her as much as anyone else did. McKenna was strong in ways he couldn't even begin to hope to be, and the truth was, she was no more helpless than he was.
"I heard another member of the Royal Guard came to the princess's defense."
"Everyone knows it was you, Your Highness." Tyra offered up a sly smile. "Your princess knows you far better than you think."
Loki managed to smile. "I can fool anyone else, but never her."
"She knows you too well, I'm afraid."
He turned away to lean back against the side of the crib. Folding his arms over his chest, he said, "Did I make matters worse for her?"
"You would have, if you were anyone other than you. No one is fool enough to anger you, Your Highness." Tyra sighed as they stepped away from Aislinn's crib. "But at the same time, the princess also took care of him. I daresay she's learned a few tricks from you."
He managed a chuckle as they walked toward the door. "I wish there were a few more tricks I could teach her."
"I'm sure she wishes there were as well. Especially when this little one grows a little more and she and her brother are playing pranks on her, the way you used to do."
He glanced over at her. She wasn't much older than him. "Eir told you, did she?"
"She did. When Selig was last in the infirmary, he amused himself by hiding things on me. Eir told me you used to do the same thing when you were a boy."
Loki reached up to rub his eyes as that infuriating helplessness settled over him again. "I did. And I still do, when I'm bored enough. Ask McKenna."
"She mentioned something about car keys that went missing once."
He nodded. "One of many things I've hidden on her."
They left the nursery and stepped into the quietness of the hallway. Loki sighed again. "I'm going to go sit with the Allfather for a while. Come get me if there's any trouble with Aislinn."
"Of course."
He nodded and made his way to Odin's chambers, where two of the Royal Guard stood silent sentry outside the doors. They bowed and opened the doors for him, closing them silently when he passed by.
Odin lay on his immense bed beneath a golden mist that shrouded him entirely. The last time he fell into the Odinsleep was when Loki confronted him about his true parentage. The last time he sat at his father's bedside, his mother sat across from him, calmly explaining why Odin chose to lie to him for all those years.
Now, the room was quiet and Frigga's chair was empty.
Loki settled in his, sinking low and letting his knees fall wide as he propped his head on his fist. "There's still no word from McKenna. Or from son of Coul," he said, knowing Odin could hear him. "Which I am taking as a good sign. Things are relatively quiet all throughout the realms. To be honest, what I wouldn't give for a good dustup on Svartalfheim or Jötunheim. Anything to take my mind off how maddening just sitting and waiting can be."
He sighed, his left leg jumping. "I should never have allowed either one of them to leave without protection of some sort, but McKenna... McKenna is stubborn and she's having a difficult time adjusting to her new role. And I indulge her, perhaps a bit too much.
"When they come home, I am not letting them leave Asgard. At least not without a guard of some sort. And then, you'd best awaken because I am going to Midgard and the man who has Selig is going to suffer all the agonies of Hel before I kill him."
***
The silence woke McKenna and her eyes snapped open as if someone shouted in her ear.
She sat up, rubbing her eyes with one hand and smothering a yawn with the other. A light tap sounded on the door and Sif poked her head in. "Are you all right, Princess?"
"Sif, please stop calling me that. At least when we're alone." McKenna gestured for her to come into the room. "I'm as well as I can be. Are we in Philly?"
"We touched down about fifteen minutes ago." Sif came in and perched on the edge of McKenna's cot. "Who were you talking to before?"
She smiled. "Loki. He showed up for a few minutes."
"How is he?"
"As well as I am. But, I have to admit, he's much calmer than I would have thought."
"He's learned much from the Allfather these last few years. A good king keeps a level head. I have the feeling that, had the Allfather hadn't gone into the Odinsleep, Loki would be here blasting everything in his path."
McKenna nodded as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Has Coulson heard from Ward?"
Sif shook her head. "I don't think so."
But with that, Coulson appeared in the doorway and rapped on the door before coming in. "Sorry to interrupt, but we're ready to move."
Butterflies came to life in McKenna's stomach, and the fluttering made her feel slightly nauseous. A sour taste flooded her mouth no matter how hard she swallowed. Still, she rose onto unsteady legs. "I'm ready."
"Do you have your gun?"
She nodded, moving to the small bag on the table, where she kept the Glock nine-millimeter handgun she'd been given. "It's right here."
"If we can take Ward alive, we will."
She shook her head. "No. Didn't he get away from you once already?" She waited for Coulson to nod, then added, "I'm not taking any chances. Loki should've killed him when he had the chance. I'm not letting that chance get by me, not giving him a chance to come after anyone else in my family, Phil. It ends here and now and I don't care."
"Sif, would you give us a moment, please?"
Sif's eyes narrowed, but at McKenna's nod, she said, "Very well. I will be right outside."
"I'm not going to hurt her, Sif. I just want to talk to her."
Sif glared at him, but left them, closing the door behind her. Coulson closed the space between him and McKenna and caught her by the shoulders. "McKenna, have you ever taken a life?"
"No, Phil. I was a bartender before I met Loki and since then, I've been a wife, a mother, a lady and apparently a princess. I've never been an assassin."
"You have no idea how difficult that decision will be to make and how little time you will have to make it,"
"He tried to kill me once. He has my son." She shook her head as she fit the holster about her waist and slid the Glock into the clip. "I don't think it'll be that difficult."
"Is there any way you can have Loki join us? He has more experience with this."
She glared at him. "And that's why you hunted him all the way to Point Pleasant, remember? Eighty people in two days, I think it was? Clint Barton. Erik Selvig. Stuttgart." At his long look, she sighed and shook her head. "No, Phil. He can't. He can't leave Asgard right now, not until Odin awakens."
"You are to stay with me or May the entire time."
"Wait, I thought I was going in on the second wave?"
He shook his head. "No. I promised Loki I would keep you with me."
"When did-" She shook her head and turned toward the window. "He showed up in your room?"
"In the conference room. He's worried about you. Wanted to make sure we all knew exactly how worried."
"Wonderful."
She peered over her shoulder at him as Coulson said, "We assured him nothing would happen to you or Selig. So, you'll stay with me or May. Cynthia is going to go in on the second wave instead."
Her hands trembled and that tremble slowly crept through her entire body as she sank back onto the cot. "Phil, I'm scared. Terrified, actually. What if Ward-"
Coulson sat down beside her and took her hand between both of his. "It's okay to be scared. He's your son. But I don't think Ward will hurt him. Not as long as he can use him."
"Selig knows magic, Phil. Just like Loki. And I told him not to do it, but he's just a little boy. It wouldn't take much for Ward to coax him into showing him, if he even suspects Selig has the gift."
"Does Selig listen when you tell him not to show off his gift?"
"Usually. He knows he's only supposed to use magic at home or in Asgard. But-"
"Then trust him as well. Now, it's time to go. Are you ready?"
"No. And yes."
Coulson smiled. "You're ready."