Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) by S.T. Bende

make
myself useful and gather as much intel as I can—find out who she’s
working with, what she’s planning to do with
Fenrir …she
really wants that dog. Be careful—I have the distinct impression
that if you show up wherever I am, you’ll be walking right into a
trap.
    Elsa, surely you know that I am
un-trappable . Tyr’s
arrogance made me smile.
    Of course. You focus on steering clear of
Tosk, and whoever else he’s working with. When I’ve gathered as
much information as I can from Runa, I’ll find a way to get out of
here and track you down. If you guys happen to find me in the
meantime, we can catch the next Bifrost out of here.
    Tyr’s
view narrowed as he furrowed his brow. Sorry, Sis, but
finding you trumps everything else. He spoke his next words out loud. “Forse, amend
your scan to include all towers in Svartalfheim over twelve meters
in height, surrounded by water. Don’t worry about looking for
Elsa’s trace; she says the tower’s cloaked in enough dark magic to
render the locator useless.”
    “What the Hel?” Forse swore.
    “I know. But that device can still track the
towers themselves. We’ll isolate all potential hostage locations.
And since there are only three of us, Forse, you’re going to port
us to each one until either that locator or our god hunt tracks
down my sister.”
    “With pleasure.” Forse put his hands on
either side of my brother’s head and pulled him close. Now his
emerald eyes were just inches from my vantage point. They burned
with an intensity that was equal parts adoration and agony. “We’re
going to get you out of there, Elsa,” he vowed. “And then I’m never
letting you out of my sight again. That’s a promise.”
    My energy fluttered, and I willed Tyr forward
so we could kiss the bridge of Forse’s nose. But my brother’s
audible groan, coupled with his vigorous removal of Forse’s hands
from his temples, thwarted my plan.
    Tyr, I complained.
    “ Both of
you need to remember that you are talking through me, ” Tyr growled. “And
this is getting weird. Elsa, knock it off. Forse, get to
work.”
    “Fine.” Forse stepped back. He pulled the
locator out of his pocket and set up shop beneath the rocky
outcropping at the base of the mountain. He drew his shoulders
back, set his jaw, and began pressing buttons like a god
possessed.
    You know he’d do anything for you. My brother’s voice sounded inside his
head.
    I’d do anything for him , I said wistfully. Tell him I miss him.
    You can tell him yourself when we pick you
up . Förbaskat, Elsa, I can’t
believe they pulled one over on us. Again. How are they getting
through? I knew Tyr
closed his eyes because the screens went dark.
    Freya was—well, we’d never seen an attack like that before.
And we’ve never seen anything like the crystal Runa ingested. It
gave her powers, Tyr. Powers. We don’t even know the extent of
them. Did you know it could generate magic like that? I asked.
    If I did, I’d never have taken it out of the treasure
vault, much less put it in dark elf hands. We don’t need to give
them any tools that might help them bring about the fall of Asgard.
The Norns have been following the Ragnarok prophecy, but they don’t
see the end of days coming for decades, maybe centuries. Though
they’ve been wrong before …Tyr’s screen brightened as he opened his eyes to stare at
the sky.
    Don’t go there ,
I cautioned.
    It’s my job to go there , he growled. But Ragnarok aside, these monsters are getting
around us, Elsa. We’ve got to tighten up or…or …
    He didn’t have to say it. I could see the
flashback from inside his mind.
    Stop , I
ordered. We
aren’t our parents. I’m going to be just fine. You guys will get
me, and we’ll head back to Asgard, and everything will be exactly
the way it was.
    That’s not good enough , Tyr rumbled. The way it was got a lot of gods killed. We’re
going to get you out of here and so help me, Forse and I are going
to make Runa and Tosk