The Ides of July // Loki - Book 1 ✓

Chapter 29: Volunteered

THE BLACK BAG jerks off Anna's head as abruptly as it was put on, her eyes adjusting to the sudden influx of light. Blinking wildly as her vision adjusts, she takes in the two men in body armor sitting on either side of her, guns resting casually across their laps. Her eyes widen when one of them makes eye contact with her, so she snaps her gaze forward to land on Loki's unconscious form.

There's no way four men took out an Asgardian god, she realizes, so there must be more men following them. Any chance of escape is dwindling, not that Anna could do much on her own anyway with her hands zip tied behind her back. The plastic cuts into her wrists as she squirms, testing the pressure of the bonds before giving up.

"Loki," she whispers, inching toward him.

A thick strand of black hair covers his face. His expression is almost peaceful, no trace of his omnipresent smirk anywhere, and she would assume he is dreaming pleasantly if it weren't for the large red gash down his left cheekbone, seeping blood. If not for the whole "kidnapped" thing, Anna would probably be surprised to discover he bleeds red.

"He won't be awake for some time," A voice draws her attention from the front passenger seat, and Anna glares at him before it dawns on her.

"Eren," she whispers.

Eren gives her a sad smile, pushing himself out of the seat and squeezing into the back of the van. He kneels in front of her, his eyes landing on the blood-stained bandage wrapped around her injured bicep. Everything in her tells her to twist away, hide the weakness from him, but she can't cover it with her hands tied behind her.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," he tells her, gesturing toward the wound. "Once we heard you were in Istanbul, we had to act quickly."

Anna's eyebrows furrow together, "What do you mean? How did you know we were here?"

"That is a story for another time," Eren replies. "For now, let's release those bonds, shall we?"

He motions to one of the statuesque guards, who leans forward and flicks out a knife to cut Anna's hands free. She jerks away from him, rubbing her wrists carefully, before turning back to Eren.

The Asgardian crumpled next to her shifts, and alarm flashes in Eren's eyes. The rest of the guards tense, guns suddenly trained on Loki, and Anna quickly moves to brush the hair out of his eyes.

"Loki?" She murmurs, praying to see his emerald green eyes stare back at her.

He moans, twisting uncomfortably. Anna sees that heavy metal chains bind both his hands and feet. They clang loudly against the floor of the van, and she frowns. Eren seems to relax ever-so-slightly, glad that the god of mischief isn't awake before they arrive at their destination. He nods at the guards to lower their weapons.

"What the hell is going on here?" Anna demands, blue eyes blazing at Eren. "What did you do to him?"

"It's all part of our plan," Eren tells her. "We talked about this."

"Kidnapping?" Anna scoffs.

He shakes his head, "Neutralizing the threat."

Anna seethes in anger, her fists balled up tightly next to her. Part of her wants to launch herself at Eren, but with so many armed guards she would hardly be able to lay a finger on him before being incapacitated - perhaps permanently. She glances down at Loki, the man who killed her fiance, and a pang of guilt tightens in her chest.

"This isn't what we talked about," she spits out. "This wasn't the plan."

Eren laughs, "What did you expect? That we'd send flowers and friendly messages to persuade the Avengers to disappear? Don't be naive. Whether you were aware of it or not, this was always the plan."

"You..." she stutters, grasping for words. "You lied to me. I didn't think anyone would get hurt. I thought you wanted to stop them. Implement some sort of control, some--"

"We never lied to you," Eren cuts her off. "You heard what you wanted to hear. Our goal was always to disassemble the Avengers, whatever the cost."

Her thoughts flash to Pepper Potts, the woman who was so kind to her during her short stay at Stark Tower. She had been taken to manipulate Tony, no doubt by Restitution, which meant she was probably still in custody. Once they had Iron Man, letting her go would only give him motivation to escape. Keeping her, however, would ensure that Tony Stark would do whatever they wanted.

"Jane," she whispers, her eyes wide. "You were tracking me. I didn't really pass out, did I? You drugged me, did something to me."

Eren nods, "We injected a nanotracker into your forearm, yes. It was vital that we follow your every move, waiting for you to lead us to the rest of the Avengers."

Tears well up in the corner of her eyes, but Anna forces them away. Restitution must have Jane in order to manipulate Thor, otherwise they never would've been able to hold the god. Bruce Banner escaped, which gave her hope, but there was little he could do alone to help the others. She didn't meet the other three Avengers in New York - Captain America, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye - but she knows that with both Thor and Iron Man taken, the team must be suffering.

"You used me," Anna hisses, rage boiling inside of her. "How dare you? How could you do this to--"

The van stops and the doors swing open to reveal Magnus, his eyes narrowed at her. One hand is tucked in his pocket, the other removing the earpiece that matches the one in Eren's ear. He's obviously been listening to their entire conversation.

"No, my dear," Magnus tells Anna. "You volunteered."

Now playing: Painting Greys by Emmit Fenn