Page 19 of Her World In His Hands

Moments passed and then he heard a groan, Iona twitched and shifted slightly. Her eyes fluttered open.

Njord berated himself for a fool as he met her unfocused green gaze, her eyes were so like her mother’s. He patted her cheek. “Come on sweetling, time to wake up.”

Her eyelids slid shut.

“It will take a few minutes for her body to rebuild itself. We need to get out of here before someone spots us, or the car, and calls the police.” Thor said looking up at the cliffside anxiously.

“You go now, and take the car back with you to the house. Hide it in an out building, there are plenty of barns dotted about the property. I’ll follow on with …” Njord’s voice trailed off as he stared down at the young woman on the ground.

“Your daughter,” Thor supplied giving his friend’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

“Mine and Sassa’s child. Why do you think she didn’t tell me about the girl?” There was no reply. Glancing up he saw that both Thor and the car had vanished.

He considered transporting Iona back to Ardmachree, but quickly dismissed the idea, worried he might do her some harm if he interfered with her body’s natural healing process. Hunkered down beside her, he marvelled at his daughter’s bravery, however foolish the decision had been to prove her immortality this way. The reknitting of her bones and sinews must cause her no small amount of pain, his thought reinforced by the sudden cry she gave as a particularly loud series of snapping cracks emanated from her recumbent form.

Her eyes opened but they were glazed and vacuous. Njord stroked her forehead and waited. After a while her gaze appeared to clear, her head turned to meet his questioning glance.

“How do you feel?” he asked anxiously.

“Like shit,” she said her voice husky. “I’d forgotten how much not dying actually hurts!”

“That was a damn foolish thing to do!” he admonished.

“Yes,Daddy. SorryDaddy!” she quipped sarcastically.

“Why did you crash the car like that? What were you trying to prove?”

“I didn’t think you’d believe I was immortal without proof, and then I got angry…I suppose it was a bit over the top but perhaps now you’ll believe I’m immortal,” she said sounding petulant.

“Next time, just try talking to me calmly before taking such drastic action, okay?” He gently stroked her forehead and marvelled at that fact he and Sassa had a daughter, despite the fact he’d put a block on his fertility when he had sex with her, she’d still managed to conceive. To him that amounted to a miracle. He smiled at his offspring indulgently.

She returned his smile with a sheepish grin.

He continued to stroke her forehead; he simply wanted a reason to touch her.

“I get that you’re pissed at me. I should have been around for you when you were young. I’m sorry, Iona, if I’d known you existed then things might have been different.” he explained giving a regretful shake of the head.

“You should have been around for my mother!” she retorted and struggled to sit up.

“Stay,” he said placing a hand on her shoulder, and transported them both back to Ardmachree.

Iona stared about the drawing room from the couch she now lay on. “Cool! How’d you do that? Can you teach me?”

“No, sorry it’s a Gods and Goddesses’ only thing,” he replied, amused by her enthusiastic reaction. “Your mother hates me doing that to her.”

Thor arrived.“The car is safely stashed away in a barn. I covered it and concealed it with hay,” he told Njord.

“Shit, who are you and where did you spring from?” Iona asked startled by his sudden appearance.

“Hello, it is an honour to make your acquaintance, Iona. I am, Thor and I’m at your service.”

“No shit,theThor?” she asked enthusiastically.

Thor bowed. “The very same,” he confirmed with a smug grin.

“Wow!Just… Wow!”

Njord coughed. “When you two have quite finished fan-girling, I would like some questions answered.”

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