Deceitfully Devoted

Chapter 8

Loki glanced up, his eyes searching the sky. I tilted my head back, following the direction of his gaze.

"We have company," he stated, coolly. He lowered his head, turning to look down at me. "Your friends will be here soon. I need you to protect the doctor, at all costs."

"I understand," I declared, nodding my head once before turning to head toward the roof of Stark Tower.

"Taylor," Loki called, reaching for my arm to turn me to face him. "I need you to stay safe. Don't let them get too close to you." I looked up at the god of mischief, confusion swimming through my mind.

"I'll try my best-" I began.

"No," he exclaimed, tightening his grip on me. He leaned in closer, lowering his voice as he whispered into my ear. "I can't lose you. If things start to head south, you run. Get as far away from this city as you can. Do you understand?" I pulled my eyebrows together, staring into his eyes that were gleaming with fear. "Say you understand!"

"I understand," I nodded.

"Good," he exhaled, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against mine. His fingers raked through my hair while his other hand lifted my chin to look at him. "Be careful," he croaked, his voice barely above a whisper.

His thumb traced over my cheek as his soft lips came crashing into mine. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue parted my lips, moving slowly, romantically. He was kissing me like it was the last time we would see one another, desperately clinging to my body as if he was afraid I would disappear at any given moment if we were to allow even an inch of space between us.

"Go," he groaned into my mouth as our lips parted, sounding as if he was pained by the thought of us separating. "Now."

I cautiously pulled away, looking up to face him one last time. My hand reached out to cradle his face, tracing his skin lightly with my fingertips. Loki leaned into my touch, bringing his hand on top of mine as he slowly pulled it away, pressing a gentle kiss to my knuckles.

"We will meet again," he assured. His eyes darkened as he looked over my shoulder. The sound of engines misfiring from somewhere above made me turn my attention to the sky.

Tony Stark was hovering above the top of Stark Tower, raising his hands to fire at the machine Selvig was working on at the top of the building. He shot a blast at the Tesseract, causing an explosion from the barrier surrounding the cube. Loki and I exchanged a worried look as I took off running to check on the doctor.

I quickly made my way to the door that led to the roof, climbing the stairs at a rapid pace. I had no doubt the Tesseract was still in one piece, but without the doctor, we would not be able to complete our mission. I burst through the door and scanned the ground, searching for the man.

I looked over the edge of the building to see Tony landing and walking inside. Loki glared as the Iron Man suit was deconstructed with each step Tony took toward the door. Loki gracefully turned, exiting the balcony to meet Tony inside.

"Selvig," I yelled as I found the doctor laying face first on the ground near the machine. I turned his body over, careful not to cause him further injury.

I reached a hand out, checking for a pulse.

A faint heartbeat indicated that he was still alive, but was knocked unconscious. I began to pull him away from the machine, hoping to get him to the stairs to take him inside so he would be safe.

Suddenly, the machine roared to life, sending a thick blue beam shooting into the air above Stark Tower.

I watched in shock as the sky began to pinch together, forming a black gaping opening in the sky. The tear in the atmosphere pulsed with a fiery blue glow as thousands of aliens descended from the portal.