Page 95 of Valhalla is Full of Hunks
EPILOGUE
IOLA
Things moved fast after that fateful—get it?—day on the fabulous rainbow bridge.
My bosses were unsurprisingly supportive of me putting in my notice with Ancient Olive and moving from Athens to the north easternmost island in the Stockholm Archipelago. They’d even offered to put in a good word for me with Ellin and the cloudberry Swedes, if I needed a job, but I politely declined.
I’d rather choose myownpath from here on out, thank you very much!
However, Ihadmade some important promises during my Scandinavian adventure and shamelessly used my connections to put things right.
It turned out the extreme cold affecting the cloudberry harvest was because of Hel's attempts to escape her icy realm. At my request, theNornspaid a little visit to Asgard. The next day, the goddess of the underworld was miraculously allowed to leave Helheim whenever she pleased.
Granted, she had to wear a veil around unsuspecting mortals, but she spent most of her time on Midgard visiting us on the island, anyway—where she could be herself.
Where weallcan.
Leia visited often—no surprise—along with the Dragon Express and whichever monsters couldn’t bear to let her out of their sight that week. At first, it felt strange to say goodbye to my bestie, knowing I couldn’t just hop on a boat and be at her mystical island in under an hour. It was good for me, though. While my ride-or-die was still my number one bish, it was time for me to start livingmylife—free from someone else’s shadow.
And free from my own emotional crutches.
Oddly, my visions settled down once again, despite my newfound proximity to the three men I’d been sent here to guide. Maybe it was because they kept me fucked to the point of exhaustion or—as Hel had suggested—I was only meant to help them find peace.
And we’ve all found that.
Together.
When I did experience a vision, it was way less dire, and I could actually control when it happened. So, of course, one of the first things I did after settling in was to initiate a sex magic orgy to send my naked ass straight back to Sinmara’s cave—where I handed Laevateinn to the giantess to lock up for good.
Nine locks ought to do it.
It wasn’t easy for my Big Grumpy Giant to stop pining for Valhalla, but he kept his word totry.I now knew the rune on his chest wasThurisaz,which represented conflict, resistance, and finishing the fight. But it also stood for breaking down barriers and recreating something new, and Surt had—bravely—done just that.
It was a powerful lesson for all of us, and after some education from Scholarly Sven, I decided on a trio of runes for myself. The most obvious wasLaguz,for dreams, psychic powers, and the astral plane. Next wasBerkano,for rebirth and safety. The last wasPerthro,the rune of fate and probability.
Of course, I asked my guys to come with me to Stockholm so they could witness me getting my symbolic armband tattoo. It seemed fitting, since all three felt like integral pieces of my journey.
The runesandthe monsters who inspired them.
It was wild to see my men out in the wild. While they could now seamlessly shift between their two forms, just knowing I was in the company of monstrous mates disguised as human hotties gave me a thrill.
And they’re mine, all mine!
While on the mainland for my tattoo appointment, we also returned Fen’s books to the Stockholm University library and stopped for afikabreak withkanelbullar—to celebrate our lives no longer feeling so… rushed.
Since the world is nowhere close to ending.
Jör wore a brand new pair of sexy lederhosen for the occasion—along with my Malibu Barbie fanny pack—which drew appreciative glances from both men and women walking by. My sweet little snake barely noticed. He was too busy pouring entire boxes of cinnamon Red Hots down his throat, while Fen made sure he didn’t choke.
Daddy has something different for you to choke on, pet.
I could sense a lightness in Fen that hadn’t existed before. He no longer had to play mediator between two opposing sets of desires, while never addressing his own needs with the same amount of care. He still doted on Jör and me, but I fussed overhimin return.
This second chance we’d all been given was a gift—free of vague prophecies and expectations, and full of a sense ofpossibilitywe’d all been lacking before. I was determined to not letanyof us forget just how loved and worthy of love we were.
Especially those of us determined to disbelieve it.
Surt and I were both learning to be vulnerable, which wasn’t easy for a couple of stubborn, suspicious assholes like us. First, I made sure my grump understood we’d all chosenhim,so he could let down his guard, go with the flow, and trust in this path we were on together.
