Page 244 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

The bearded god glared at me as if he couldn’t understand my audacity either. I doubted very much anyone talked to him like this, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut no matter how hard I tried. He needed a reality check in the worst way.

“I’d watch your tone with me, girl. I’ve killed gods for less.” He rose in height as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring me down in an obvious intimidation tactic I met in kind.

He wasn’t the only one with powers now.

“I’m sure you have,” I agreed. “I also know that you don’t have the time to deal with this. I’m killing myself to figure this out with zero knowledge of your world. I wasn’t a god, I was a human. You were all fictional characters to me before all this. Now here I am cleaning up the mess of gods.”

His lips twitched in amusement. I was fucking lucky he found me amusing and didn’t smite me where I stood.

“As far as I know, you’ve already been told how to close it. Was there not a prophecy?” Of course he already knew about that as well.

“Oh, you mean a riddle that told me nothing useful?” We lost our angry stances and relaxed.

I didn’t let my guard down, though, I was dancing over the line and his patience was likely to end swiftly.

“Prophecies are not meant to tell you step by step how to do something. You’re meant to be smart enough to figure it out.” He walked closer to the portal and peered inside, shuddering slightly before stepping back. “It seems Helheim approves of you. That’s something.”

There was a pulse of magic, as if the realm was backing up the god’s words.

Odin studied me for another long moment, and I stared right back, head held high, refusing to show him anything but confidence. I very much doubted that simpering and bowing at his feet would solve anything.

“I have one question. And it might determine your fate,” Odin said. I didn’t doubt the threat in his words. “Do you resent the realm that you were given?”

My answer was immediate, I didn’t even have to think before the words fell from my lips.

“No. I may have had to die to become what I am, but even I’m not naive enough, or stupid enough, to disregard what Helheim has given me.”

It saved us all in our own ways and gave me far more than this world ever had. Sure, it came with a few extra responsibilities, and I hadn’t quite wrapped my mind around immortality yet. Most days, I was barely treading water.

But it wasn’t like I didn’t have literal centuries to figure that shit out. Even with as little time as I spent there, I could see the importance of this balance and what the realm stood for.

Helheim wasn’t a prison, it was eternal life and a place of peace for those who’d earned it.

Odin said nothing else. He studied me as if reading my thoughts and nodded once before disappearing altogether. The courtyard descended into silence again and the sudden change left me shook, but proud.

I had a strong feeling the god’s intentions were never to put a stop to this. He could easily destroy this world if he wanted to, I had no doubt he had the power to do so.

I didn’t want that and neither did he.

Odin wanted me to fix this and run Helheim, not resent it. Apparently, the gods were ready for a few changes and I was the first phase of that.

His approval was humbling. I’d already accepted Helheim and my fate, but now I was positive I could do this.

Closing the portal would come to me eventually, like it had before. Now I wasn’t alone, I had my pack back, and the realm behind me.

Failure was never an option, but even less so now.

Soft footsteps had me turning away from the blazing portal to find Hiro approaching. His eyebrows were drawn and he offered me his hand, which I quickly took, intertwining our fingers together.

“Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I admitted. “Odin paid me a visit.”

“That would explain why I couldn’t open the door,” Hiro said dryly. “You’re still standing here, so I take it the meeting went well?”

I snorted at that. “Shockingly, I think it did. My lack of filter might have gotten me killed on a bad day, but he let me live this time. Or whatever you call this version of living.”

Hiro picked up a strand of my silver-blonde hair and let it fall, a cloud of dust billowing from it. “It might be a bit dirty, but I’d still call it life.”

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