Free Tro (Elsker Saga Book 3) by S.T. Bende Page B

cast to Midgard, the other guarded in Asgard. But when the time comes, they will break their entrapments. And they will be ready.”
    The giantess’ eyes glazed, and I saw the ember of excitement begin to glow. “So it begins,” she whispered with a crooked smile.
    “So it begins,” the man confirmed.
    The room filled with an air of evil, a sick joy passing between the cloaked figures. I drew my knees to my chest and curled up against the side of the cupboard. Then I pulled myself out of the vision, willing myself back to my happy place. I tunneled through the blackness with enough force to propel a rocket. My overwhelming anxiety filled me with a sense of dread. Whatever the monsters had been plotting, it hadn’t sounded good for my family.
     
    I dragged my eyelids open and turned toward a familiar smell. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I buried my face into the taut muscles in front of me. Ull woke with a start, pulling me close and brushing his lips against the top of my head.
    “Sweetheart. It is okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
    “No, it’s not!” I wailed. “They’re in Asgard! Or they were. Or they’re going to be. I don’t know what I saw. Or even when it happened. But it’ll be terrible. And I didn’t stop it!”
    “Shh,” Ull soothed. He stroked my hair while I cried myself out. My tears came in heaving sobs, the undignified kind one should never emit in front of others. But Ull didn’t judge me. He cradled me between the ridges of his biceps while my eyes poured and my nose ran all over his impeccably perfect torso. When the muscles between my ribs hurt too much to cry anymore, my wails gave way to whimpers. Eventually I felt numb.
    “Oh, Kristia.” Ull reached with one arm to tuck a sheet around me. “You are freezing.”
    “I’m f…f…fine.”
    “Your teeth are chattering. Here.” Ull lifted my chin with his forefinger. He pressed his lips gently to mine, holding perfectly still while I struggled to do the same. “Oh, sweetheart.” Ull squeezed me gently, the thick muscles of his arms wrapping around the thin fabric of my nightie. I felt so safe pinned to him, the heat of his body coursing against my skin. It wasn’t long before my jaw stilled and my breathing slowed to match Ull’s rhythmic heartbeat. When a full minute passed, Ull pulled his head back. Then he brushed two fingers against my temple. “You look like you have seen a ghost. What happened in that head of yours?”
    “I have no idea,” I admitted. “One minute I was here, and the next I was in some…” My brain fought against itself. It felt like something was blocking the path to my vision. I tried to push around the obstruction, wanting to remember every trivial detail of my time in that disturbing dream. But the only things I could remember were the feelings—fear; desolation; anger; and finally, joy. None of it made any sense.
    “Where were you?” Ull pressed.
    “I can’t remember,” I admitted. “It was a big room, I think. But I don’t remember what it looked like, or what was outside the windows, or even why I was there. But I remember a conversation. Something terrible was planted in Asgard. And whatever it was, it’ll be the end of everything.” I tried to bury my head against Ull’s shoulder, but he held my chin lightly between two fingers.
    “Try to remember. Did it feel like the past? Present? Do you remember who was in the room with you? You said something was going to be the end of everything. What do you mean?”
    My head moved back and forth. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “I just know that something awful is about to happen. I wish I could remember more.” Tears pooled in my eyes. Ull wiped them with the pad of his thumb before they could overflow.
    “This is twice in two weeks that you have not been able to remember your visions. It worries me.”
    “I’m the worst goddess ever! I have one job, and I’m failing miserably.” The tears began anew.
    “Shh. That