BOOK 3. Trapped in Asgard after Odin's apparent death, Anna chooses an unlikely ally in her attempt to find Loki. While the realm is sealed from the rest of the Nine Worlds, her strange dreams lead her to the one place she'd never expect.
To him...
Loki's breath is warm against her ear, the cold of the void seeping into her skin even through her clothes. His arms are wrapped tightly around her, holding him against her chest as if she might slip away at the slightest movement, and her face is pressed tightly into the skin of his neck. She can smell him - that familiar scent of fresh snow with a lingering hint of spice - despite the tang of blood and sweat and dirt from countless unending days of torture. Breathing deeply, she commits it to memory along with everything else about this moment.
His touch. His voice. His taste.
"Anna," he repeats, this time with a bit more urgency.
One hand slowly releases his grip on her waist to trail up her body until it cups her chin gently. He tilts it upward and uses his thumb to stroke along the side of her jaw, and Anna smiles briefly at the gesture. Oh, how she missed those emerald eyes.
"You need to leave," Loki says.
The moment is shattered, and Anna pulls back from him an inch. Reality comes crashing back around her while she remembers where they are. In the void - Thanos' void - with Loki chained to the rock. They're not safe here, and she cannot be lured into a false sense of security just from his proximity.
Anna shakes her head, "I'm not leaving you. I'm getting you out of here."
"Anna, my love," Loki protests, but she frowns.
"No! Don't 'my love' me," the brunette brushes his hand away from her chin to grasp his fingers tightly with her own. "You left me. I've been stuck in Asgard all this time - alone, I might add - and it wasn't until Sigyn h--"
Loki's eyes spark warily, "Sigyn?"
"Yes, Sigyn," she challenges. "She's my friend, and I trust her. She's helped me in more ways than one, especially after you abandoned me. Which, by the way," Anna prods his chest with a finger, "I haven't forgiven you for doing. As it is, getting you out of here is a higher priority."
"I didn't abandon you," he frowns.
"No? So three months of being stuck in your chambers thanks to that stupid barrier wasn't you?" Angry, she begins to pull away as she continues, "You hurt me, Loki. You came back with that fruit, and it's like y--"
"What fruit?" Loki asks. "Anna, I was taken from you after we..."
His voice trails and she blushes whilst remembering how they'd made love. So much of that time was clouded by the events immediately following it - the way Loki treated her roughly when he returned, his hatred of Odin, the nightmarish visions of the Void, everything - and she'd nearly forgotten the way he'd held her that night. He'd worshiped her body in more ways than one, and it all seemed so distant now like a hazy dream.
He runs his hand over the back of her neck, pressing his lips against her forehead, before looking back down at her.
"I would never leave you," Loki promises. "Surely you know this."
"But you did," Anna's voice sounds small, and she hates the weakness in it.
Over the past few months, she'd used her anger to become stronger. She was already an independent woman, but the loss of Loki smarted in a way that left her vulnerable in the cracks and crevices of the armor she'd erected around her heart. It seems he still knew the best path around it, even after all this time.
Loki hesitates, unwilling to admit his own flaws. His pride has always been one of his downfalls, and - even with the woman he loves - he is unwilling to be exposed to his own failures.
"It was Thanos," he tells her. "Thanos took my place. He manipulated you to torture me because he knew that I would do anything to keep you safe. He knew you had become my greatest weakness, and he exploited that."
Loki pauses, relishing in the feel of her skin beneath his fingertips before resting his forehead against hers, "This is why you must leave."
"Not without you," Anna promises. "You don't know what I've done to find you. Every night, I've dreamt of this place. Every night, I've searched for you."
"I am not worthy of your dedication."
"Perhaps," she smiles up at him. "Everyone is worth saving, Loki. Even in your darkest moment, there is still light in you. Call me crazy, but I won't give up on that light."
Loki kisses her softly, murmuring against her lips, "As you wish, crazy."
Anna laughs, kissing him once more, and allows herself a single moment to get lost. It's sweet instead of passionate, his mouth pressing gently against her own, and the cool feeling lingers even after she separates from him a second later.
"What's the plan then?" Loki asks after a moment, clearly annoyed that she'd pulled away from him. "I'm assuming you have one."
"More or less," Anna laughs, bending down to check the shackles binding Loki's feet. They're painfully tight, and there's no way she'll be able to break them free - a fact that he reminds her candidly. "I've got a few friend who I might be able to convince to help me."
The god of mischief groans, "Oh no. Not your precious Avengers. Anything but that."
"Beggars can't be choosers, Loki."
"They most certainly can," he replies.
Anna snorts, standing quickly to her feet, and the ground shifts beneath her. She sways for a moment, and Loki's smile disappears as he grasps her shoulders gently to keep her upright. A jolt of nausea shoots through her as everything continues to spin, and she barely manages to pull away from him as she retches.
Loki tries to catch her as she stumbles, but the blackness rushes to greet her before she can understand the ghost of his words ringing in her ears.
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