Finding Fenrir (Underworld Chronicles Fanfiction)

Hunter

Chapter 27:

I awoke in Forseti's bed, wound in tangled sheets and limbs. I smiled as I looked up at him, snoring quietly into the pillow. He seemed worn out and the thought made me chuckle as I brushed my hand through his hair. I'd never tell him, but I thought I could outrun him now. He mumbled something at my touch and I made a gentle shushing noise. "Mm-where'reyougoing?" he asked, in a sleepy slur.

I leaned in and kissed his jaw. "I'm hungry...and sticky." I told him, and he grumbled. "Keep sleeping. I'll manage." I added, and he sleepily nodded.

"I'll be there in a minute." he said with a yawn, rolling to stretch. I reeled in the urge to nibble along the curve of his backbone as he stretched. Apparently, Hades' assessment of my libido was much more accurate than I knew.

I sighed and rose out of the bed, padding barefoot toward where I smelled soap and other toiletries. The bathroom was expansive, in one corner was a tub large enough for several people, let alone one, and the entirety of one wall was occupied by jets that would release water at various pressure. Due to an instant distrust of the automated water cabinet, I wandered toward the tub and started filling it with water. I sat in the tub as it filled, not minding that the water was cool, using the washcloth to rinse my skin clean. I didn't even let the tub totally fill before I turned off the water and continued to clean up with the washcloth and a bar of soap.

Once I was clean, I drained the water, got out of the bath and dried off, wrapping a towel around my waist. I went into the bedroom and found a pair of loose pants and a tank top to pull on before I went to the kitchen. I paused in the kitchen, looking around, then opened the refrigerator. I realized after a moment that I hadn't chosen my own meal in centuries. The thrill of even so simple a thing as intoxicating.

I grabbed a container of yogurt and a handful of grapes, turning toward a breakfast nook area nearby, then immediately freezing in my tracks. A beautiful woman was sitting in one of the chairs, watching me.

She had one long leg crossed over the other and she was dressed in a sleek black dress that fit her body like a second skin and left just enough skin bare to spark imagination. Her face was heart-shaped and her full lips were painted stark red against her alabaster skin. Rimmed with long black lashes, her eyes were deep pools of empty blackness that shimmered like obsidian glass.

"Good morning!" She greeted cheerfully and I just stared at her.

"...Good morning." I replied, thinking that I was finally losing my fucking mind.

She was about to say something else when Forseti came in, wearing a pair of black pajama pants and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt. He was rubbing his eyes sleepily as he approached and I started to say something to him when the woman laughed quietly. He heard the sound and froze, then let out an exasperated sigh before he said, "Did you really need to show up right now, Viv?"

"I couldn't help it, I'm excited!" The woman said, pouting.

"What...is happening?" I stammered, taking a step back from both of them.

They were friends.

This woman set off all the red flags in my head and screamed danger. Suddenly all of the paranoia and uncertainty started closing in on me again. Was any of this real? Was this all a lie? Was this a setup? Did he do this on purpose to mess with me?

I sat slowly, my eyes carefully watching both of them now. Forseti saw my caution and looked a little stung by it but made no comment. I was certain that a conversation about hiding things and my deep anxiety about it would follow the woman's departure.

The woman giggled, seeming to squirm in her seat slightly. "He's so cute!" She said happily and Forseti shook his head with a quiet sigh.

"You could have at least let him have breakfast before you freak him out." Forseti grumbled. "Fenrir, this is Viviana." Forseti motioned toward the woman who smiled and waved the fingers of one hand toward me in a playful greeting.

"N-nice to meet you." I said, growing more alarmed by Forseti's calm and his awareness of how freaked out I was. "I'm sorry to be rude...what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you in person. I've been watching for so long...I just wanted to finally see you in person." Viviana answered, looking pleased with herself as she clapped her hands with excitement.

I frowned, my concern sharpening into a keen knife of wariness as I gazed at the woman. "You've been watching me?"

"Oh yes! You were one of the first I felt when I woke up. I heard your voice as you struggled in Vanaheim...and more recently I felt you as you stood at your sister's side." She sighed, shaking her head. "I wish I could have come sooner, but...building power and establishing a home for everyone takes time!"

I frowned, still not understanding what she was talking about.

"Viviana is the person that provided me with all the evidence I needed to prove not only your innocence but also the treatment you've withstood over the years." Forseti said with another sigh. "She was a witness without any ties to the Nordic pantheon whose statement made your freedom a simple matter."

She smiled again. Her black eyes were warm and her lips turned up with impish glee.

"O-oh." I stammered, then nodded politely, yogurt cup in hand. "Thank you."

She made a sound like a squeak as she seemed to hug herself. "He's so cute I could just squeeze him!" She said with another happy giggle and again I stepped back in alarm. She quickly un-hugged herself and put up a hand to calm me. "Oh no, I won't. I know you don't like to be touched." she said, then glanced over at Forseti. "Most of the time anyway."

Her smile became cat-like and my face became hot as I flushed with embarrassment.

Forseti rolled his eyes. "Cute," said the judge. She giggled again. I wanted to hide.

I moved to sit and carefully opened the yogurt, mindful of my shaking hands. "Why are you really here?" I mumbled to the woman. "You aren't here just to meet me. There is something you want." I couldn't let go of the tension I felt. It had the hairs on my arm lifted with discomfort and my skin crawled with it.

Her smile fell, slowly wilting like a plucked wildflower. "You're very perceptive." She mumbled and her hands crossed in her lap.

Forseti sighed and stepped into the kitchen to start boiling water for tea. I remember that he was always making tea to calm himself.

I scooped yogurt from the cup,  took a moment to savor it before I swallowed and said, "I grew up with Loki for half of my life, then with the lack of him for the rest of it." I lifted the spoon up thoughtfully. I knew a spoon wasn't the best weapon, but in a pinch, anything would do. "I know when someone wants something from me." I let my focus rest on her from over the edge of the spoon. My wariness of her felt like a knife resting on my skin. "So you might as well just tell me."

"Fen..." I heard Forseti reprimand softly from over the bar as if aghast at my critical tone but I didn't even look at him.

"I'll talk to you later." I said without turning my head, still focused on the woman who was now looking at me with her head tilted and her mouth turned up in a smile once again. It was still a feline smile, but in the sense of a tiger among kittens. It didn't make me feel any better. "So again...what do you want?" I prompted and this time the woman laughed.

"Oh, he's precious." She said in an amused, dismissive tone. She sighed and waved a hand as though dispersing the tension away from her like an irritating moth. "You're right, though, I do want something from you." She said finally and I nodded, silently urging her to speak her piece. "This whole time, everyone calls you a killer, but that's not what you are, is it? You're a hunter." I frowned, irritation and confusion now making me want to throw the yogurt into her pretty face. She shifted in her seat and folded her hands into her lap before she lifted her eyes to mine and said, "I need you to find me a killer."