The Rise to Heroism {Loki Laufeyson} Book One

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Jade?" I exclaim and gasp as the pressure of Loki's foot increases.

"Let her go Loki. She's mine now." Jade steps in, the sunlight catching her short black hair. She looks completely untouched but with a little dirt here, some scarlet elsewhere. Her black tank top sports four slashes from what looks like claws - the fabric soaked with blood, but I don't think it's hers because her body is unscathed. Not a scratch in sight. Her camo printed khakis are dirtied with dirt and green grass stains, a gun strapped to her hip on the right side. She's still the same Jade, but with the power to stop Loki in his tracks - to prevent him from killing me so soon.

"Excuse me?" I look from her to Loki, who appears just as confused as I am.

"You promised that she would die at my hand!" Loki booms.

Jade shakes her head. "Plans change. It happens. Now give the girl to me." Wait... what? They've been in cahoots to murder me? What is going on?

Loki yanks me to my feet with brute force, shoving me behind him. He has a vicious look in his eyes that seems almost possessive. "No." He growls and presses me against him from behind.

I look to Thor, who's slumped against the pillar. What if he's dead? No one can save me now, not even myself, with the little strength I have left. Gazing out the window as the two of them continue to argue over who has the honor of ending my life, I ask myself one question. Which is better, getting murdered by your best friend or your boyfriend?

"Only difference is, I'm not your best friend." Jade reads my mind as she slowly approaches me. Loki's grip tightens and I whimper as his fingers dig into my skin painfully. Okay, so not only are they planning to kill me, but she can read my mind. Has she always been able to do that?

"Hel-" Loki warns.

It clicks in. The hostile attidude toward me, the suggestion that I stand in front of the target, her ice cold skin... She's Loki's daughter. "You're Hel." I marvel, watching her.

Hel chuckles. "Smart girl."

I glare at her menacingly, stepping out from behind Loki. "What have you done with Jade?"

"Relax. Your friend Jade never existed."

I blink. "What?"

"She was merely a figment of my imagination in order to get close to you and my father. Once his interest in you strengthened, I decided to step in. When Thor injected the both of you with the serum, I decided to let you suffer by preserving your mind and erasing his." I glance over to Loki, whose face is twisted with confusion. So he really doesn't remember...

"You had no right!"

"I had every right! It was for his own good!" She shouts.

"The good of what? Furthering his animalistic instincts? Risking the genocide of the human race? In what world is that any good to anybody?"

Hel smiles, chuckling to herself. "Foolish mortal. So alert, yet so naive." Her form shimmers and reveals a beautiful woman with long black hair that reaches down her spine. Her complexion is pale like her fathers, her cheeks contoured to appear hollow and strong. Her eyes are a shade of ruby red, I notice as she looks me over with both disgust and interest. She wears a long black and green dress with slits in the sides to reveal slender legs. The sleeves drop down to her forearms and the corset is pulled tightly over her torso. A golden crown lays on her head, glittering in the sunlight streaming in from the window behind me.

"Loki-" Hel begins.

"No. If she is to die, then let it be by my hand. If what the mortal says is true, then allow her closest colleague be the one to end her life."

I look up at him urgently. "Loki-" He clamps a hand over my mouth and smiles as I bite his palm. "You bastard!" I exclaim and he smiles wider.

He pries a dagger from the sheath and presses it against my collarbone. I'm really starting to hate the knife game.

I feel a sharp pain and something trickles down my skin. My eyes trail down toward the dagger and see that he has cut me, a tear of crimson trailing down my chest.

I gasp, squirming but his grips tightens.

"It shall be over soon my darling." His voice says cooly in my ear, tickling me. I shiver, closing my eyes. He moves the blade up to my throat and plays with it, poking me with the tip then tracing my jawline and finally flattens the blade against my lips. He then slashes, slicing through my cheek and lip and I cry out. My knees buckle and I begin to slip to the floor but Loki hauls me to my feet, pressing the tip of the blade against my stomach. I close my eyes; at least my last memory would be his face, even if it was an expression of pure insanity and melancholy.

"Say goodnight, Becca." He coos.

"Goodnight, Loki." I whisper and search his eyes for any sign of the real him. Only, this is the real him. It isn't like he's brainwashed, just forgetful.

"Loki!" He stops, looking over to Thor. A trail of blood dribbles from his mouth as he speaks. "Consider what you are doing brother. If you really love this girl, then you can find yourself again. This is not you, this is Hel in your mind. Please brother, do it if not for me, than for her." His blue eyes are sad, glossy almost as he watches the two of us.

Loki turns his attention to me, only, I've managed to raise my hand and I crack it across his cheek. "I just needed to do that once more. You know, for good luck." I quip and kick him square in the stomach. He doubles over, choking and I slam my knee into his face. He roars, falling to the floor. I run over to the pole and return, raising it over my head and clashing it with Loki's scalp multiple times, screaming each time. "This is for killing Blaine, this is for kidnapping me, this is for letting me freeze in Jotunheim, this is for being your douchey self," I stop, lifting his face to mine. "And this for leaving me." I pull him against me and kiss him fiercely. Startled at first, he melts into it, kissing back harder. It stings from the wound in my lip but I'm hungry, deprived of him and his hands on my skin.

I let him go and my hands start to explore his torso, soon finding an opening in his armor. He smiles against my mouth, pressing me harder against him.

"Stop! Loki, the girl has made a fool of you. Finish the job!" Hel commands and Loki pushes me down. I slam onto the floor, breathless with my chest rising and falling rapidly. Looking up, I memorize every imperfection of his face, the way he looks at me with a mixture of hate and hesitation, his shaggy hair hanging in my face, tickling my nose. He's so perfect, but he doesn't know it. I wish I could tell him just how much he means to me, and that's just what I'll get to do now because as he swings the blade of his staff toward me, I see the light in his blue-green eyes. He notices and blinks hard at me and I smile despite the large blade threatening to stab my face.

"Like I stated before I was so rudely interrupted, say goodnight, Becca."

I pull on my game face, going along with the facade. "Please, Loki. You don't have to do this-"

"Silence!" He booms and thrusts the staff forward.

(Okay so, I have family in this weekend, along with it being my moms birthday so you may have to wait on another update. I have one more lined up and then I'm out for however long I need to be. Trust me - I can't get away from them because they won't let me alone 😒 anyway, enjoy it guys! Also,
OH MY GOD WHAT DID LOKI JUST DO?! 😏)