A Shot Through The Heart (Book 1 of Love, Monsters and Magic.)

Chapter 35

Natasha

“Did you miss me, Agent Romanoff?” He said with a smirk.

“Oh, you would be so lucky.” I retorted sharply, slipping my gun free of its confinement on my hip, pointing it towards Loki's feet.

“Please tell me then that you are here to appeal to better nature.”

“No, I'm not, in fact the exact opposite.”

“It appears that I have broken your mind, dear Natasha. The one thing you love is slipping slowly through your hands, what can you do? Who is to be blamed?” He began in a wide circle around me like a lion circling its prey, taking long strides and trying to intimidate me. “You, Agent Romanoff, you are to blame. You did not heed my warnings; your rebelling actions are what put him where he is now. It won't be long before you have lost him; it won't be long now until he has passed through your fingers. When it happens, you won't have anyone, you will be so hopelessly alone. Hurt and broken, what can you do? Your broken mind cannot possibly rise above it so instead it will stay, unmoving from the thoughts of your lost love and you will be stuck in an impossible trance as your world and everything else that you have ever know burns around you. And then, once your world is ashes, then you will succumb to me. You will join me and become my queen. The best rulers always have a detailed history and your past will indeed be a memorable one.” As I had anticipated, Loki tried effortlessly to creep his way into my mind, to slip between the cracks in the barrier that confined my mind and if I hadn't been prepared he would have succeeded in reducing me to a snivelling wreck.

“Agent Barton isn't going to die and it will not be my life that is reduced to ashes; it will be yours. You can't win this time, Loki. Not now, not ever. There is no throne for you here, no reward to claim, and no trophy. Nothing. All that awaits you here is getting your ass kicked once again by Earth's mightiest heroes where the end outcome is you bound in metal and returned to Asgard where I am sure this time you won't escape. And even for a God, you can't be working alone. But you have no army or allies. You failed the Chitauri, your home of Asgard won't help you. You killed your father, King of frozen lands of the Jotunheim. So, here you stand, alone against my world. You have little chance of success.” I pointed out. Loki looked taken aback by my statement but quickly regained his composure. From his initial expression, he merely confirmed my beliefs, he was alone in this fight, he had no chance. He started moving towards me with that smile that was enough to have woman falling at his feet, stretched broadly across his face. When he was only a few strides away from me, he reached out for my face to cup it in his hands in a feeble attempt to win over my mind.

But his hand never reached my face. As his and stretched towards me, I dropped down to my knees and swung my leg around in a circular motion, taking Loki's feet out from beneath him. Catching him off guard, he crumpled to the floor and I dived back and sprung back up to my feet. I peered down at Loki, who was lying on his back with his eyes closed. I wondered when the team would make an appearance sometime soon, not that I needed them, I had things under control. Or, so I thought. My legs were kicked from below me and I fell to the ground, my back colliding harshly with the concrete. Loki was on top of me, his legs straddling on either side of me, as he pinned me down and snarled viciously in my face.

“You dare touch me, you harlot!” He snapped. “I am a god!” He only received a twisted smirk in response. With my gun still in hand, I pressed it to Loki's side and pulled back to trigger with a quick flick of my finger. A loud bang ricocheted around the peaceful park, sending birds that where hiding in the foliage around to disperse into the open skies. The 8mm bullet lodged itself somewhere in Loki's stomach and he rolled his eyes back into his head momentarily. Gripping my shoulders tightly, he slammed my black against the solid concrete with godly strength which caused my muscles to tremble and my bones to ache with the impact. The pain was intense but nothing I couldn't deal with and certainly didn't even hold a candle to a bullet wound. Lunging my head forward, it hit with some force against Loki's causing him to reel back which allowed me a chance to get away from him. I stumbled back a bit as Loki rose up to his feet clutching his side as he continued his advance towards me.

“Now it is time for me to break your body.” Loki leered as he lurched towards me but a white burst of light erupted right where he stood and I threw myself back to avoid the blast.