Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) by S.T. Bende Read Free Book Online Page B

black stuff. If you find
yourself in one of those, or if Tyr gets captured, call for me.” I
looked at each of my friends. “So far as I know, Tyr’s is the only
head I can press my thoughts into, but I can hear anyone who
consciously opens their mind to mine. If you do that, it’ll be a
one-way communication, but at least you’ll have a way to reach
someone.”
    Brynn turned to Tyr. “So we’re clear on
strategy?”
    “Yes,” Tyr confirmed. “Forse, keep physical
contact with Elsa until it’s time for you to make the exchange. At
that time, Elsa, stick close to me and Brynn, and do your calming
thing on the dark elves. If everything goes well, we’ll be home in
time for dinner.”
    “Promise?” Mia turned to Tyr. With her head
buried in his chest, I couldn’t see her face, but fear radiated off
her back, filling the air around her with a quivering energy.
    “ I wish I
could.” Tyr rubbed his thumbs just above Mia’s hips. “But I can promise to return as
soon as I can. I love you, prinsessa . Henrik, take care of my
girl.”
    “I will,” Henrik vowed. “And don’t worry,
War. My girl will take care of you.”
    When Tyr rolled his eyes, Henrik winked at
Brynn, and motioned for Mia to follow him to the porch. They stood
together, waving with a calm I knew neither of them felt, while Tyr
glanced at Forse, Brynn, and me.
    “Are you ready?” he asked.
    “As we can be,” I said honestly.
    Tyr
nodded, and I knew he understood. As much as I wished I had more
time to practice, being of Asgard meant you learned a lot of things
on the job. Trial by fire was a way of life. And retrieving the
perp who’d committed the crime, from the realm populated by the darkest souls in the
cosmos, with only a partially trained Unifier to keep things from
going downhill…we were definitely walking headfirst into the
flames.
    My brother raised his head to the sky and let
out a yell. “Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!”
    The next moment, a brilliant rainbow shot
down from the sky, engulfing us in its luminescence. The colors
bounced off each other, the vibrations of each shade emitting a
different level of energy. I stepped into the golden hue and pulled
Forse close to me, knowing the color would soothe his anxiety. He
wrapped his arms around me and tucked me to his chest, shielding me
from the fierce wind that howled while the Bifrost sucked us
upward. I clung to the corded muscles of Forse’s back and willed
away the nausea that coursed through me. We shot through Midgard’s
atmosphere, past its moon, and through the cosmos, en route to the
black realm. Having my bones nearly sucked through my skin in an
intergalactic rainbow vacuum made me inordinately queasy, though
I’d take the Bifrost every day if it meant Forse would hold me like
this.
    As I
pressed my cheek to Forse’s chest and committed the sensation to
memory for extremely frequent future use, the Bifrost shifted. We started our
descent. I bent my knees and prepared for the impact, but before I
felt the familiar jolt, there was a pressure at the back of my
legs. Instead of stumbling across an unfamiliar field when we
touched down, I found myself cradled safely in Forse’s arms, my
hands around his neck and my forehead pressed against his. He rose
slowly from his landing crouch, but he didn’t let me go.
    “ Well, hei there, you.” I smiled up at him.
    “ Hei . ” Forse lifted his head just enough to scan the
area, then turned his attention back on me. “I thought, you know,
in case it was an ambush, I should hold on to you so I could port
us out of here.”
    Porting was Forse’s gift—he could
instantaneously transport himself and two passengers to any
location within a realm. It came in handy when moving perpetrators,
since Asgard’s enemies were often tailed by bounty hunters, rival
criminals, or co-conspirators hoping to take out the justice
god.
    “You’re sweet.” I reached up to touch his
cheek with one finger. Then I turned my head to study