Wanted Man (Loki Fanfiction - Book #1)

Chapter Three

No matter how she tried, McKenna just couldn't sleep. Not with Loki and his magic sleeping in the next room. Even from her bedroom, she could see the faint green glow emanating from the front door. Sealed with magic. Unbelievable.

She tried not to think about what happened in New York. It didn't help. She still couldn't sleep.

What sort of help could a god need from her? Shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, he was a god and she was, as he liked to put it, a Midgardian. He originally came to Earth with the intention of ruling over them. He killed something like eighty people in two days.

And now he was crashing in her living room.

Terrific.

Cinder padded into the room and startled her as he jumped onto the bed. Nonplussed, he curled into a medium-sized ball of gray fur and closed his eyes. Nothing kept him from sleeping. Not even a murderous god just down the hall.

Her iPhone was in her purse. Unfortunately, her purse was on the kitchen table, along with the mail. She had another cordless in her room, but the one Loki vanished into nothingness was the main unit, and he took the base as well. So much modern technology and it was all out of her reach.

"But maybe he's asleep. And I can just sneak into the kitchen, grab my phone, and get him out of here," she whispered to Cinder, who didn't even open his eyes.

Her mind made up, McKenna kicked off the sheet and smothered the yelp when her bare feet hit the cool floorboards. The A/C was set for sixty-five degrees at night, which made the apartment cold enough for her to sleep with a blanket, but it also made the floors as cold as they would be in the winter.

Mindful of the one creaky board in front of the linen closet, McKenna crept, her back pressed flat against the wall, toward the kitchen. As she neared the living room, she heard the sounds of deep, even breathing. Mr. Loki was asleep. Thank God. She felt ridiculous for sneaking about her own apartment, but truth be told, he scared her to a certain degree and she didn't think anyone could blame her.

The faint green glow around the door gave off enough light to make out his outline on the sofa. He sat up, his head back against the cushion, his eyes closed. His hands lay on his stomach, fingers intertwined, rising and falling with each low breath.

She rounded the corner, sucking in a sharp breath as her pinky toe caught the corner of the wall and pain exploded through her entire foot as if she'd stepped on a hot coal. Tears gathered in her eyes and she bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling out the multitude of swear words bursting through her brain.

Still, Loki breathed evenly. Deeply. Still asleep.

When she was able to move again, she reached down to rub the aching toe, and then continued sidling into the kitchen. The table was on the far side of the kitchen, up against the window, where the morning light was pure and bright and she would sit and sip her coffee while Joe read the sports page.

Sure. Why couldn't this guy have landed here when Joe was still here? He'd probably get rid of him no problem.

But Joe wasn't there. Some of his things still hung in the closets and the one dresser was held a bunch of clothes he didn't wear any longer, but other than that, he was completely moved out. He was supposed to come by yesterday and take out the rest of his clothes, but knowing him, he just figured he'd do it when he got around to it and she'd be there to let him in.

She frowned. If there was one thing Joe was good at, it was taking her for granted.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light, although that weird glow helped a little as well. Her purse was right where she'd left it, atop the slanted stack of white envelopes she'd tugged from the mailbox.