A Midwinter Fantasy - Leanna Renee Hieber [90]
Odin grunted. “Only if she wears my ring.”
Vidar stilled, acutely aware of the slave ring on his little finger—a more effective jail than any cell.
Odin pulled the enchanted gold ring Draupnir from his finger and laid it on his palm. The metal jumped and flexed. A second gold band grew out of the original before separating with a pop. Odin tossed the new ring to Vidar, who snatched the cursed thing from the air and clenched it in his fist.
“You don’t want to press a human into your service, my lord.” He would not allow Odin to ruin Sonja’s life as his own had been ruined.
Odin bent to pet one of his wolves. “She’s only half human. No one could accuse Troy of having humanity.”
Despite Troy’s fearsome reputation, he had more humanity than Odin. Vidar’s grip tightened on the ring.
“Give Draupnir’s progeny to Troy’s daughter,” Odin commanded.
Vidar’s breath grated in and out of his lungs. Once Sonja slid his father’s ring on her finger, she would never escape the old man’s control. “Consult the runes first.” He crouched to gather up the wooden pieces he’d kicked aside. He dropped them back into the bag on his father’s lap.
“Let me put it on. I can take it off again later,” Sonja whispered.
Vidar cast her a look of dissent that he hoped would keep her quiet.
Odin stirred the runes in his bag, grabbed a handful, and scattered them on the ground. He bent forward to examine them; his face screwed into a frown.
With Huginn and Muninn also engrossed in the runes, Vidar backed up, taking Sonja with him. All he had to do was get her out of Iceland and she’d be safe from Odin.
“Have you got the sleigh here?” she whispered as the distance between them and the throne widened.
Vidar put his finger to his lips.
Odin’s attention lifted from the runes. Familiar agonizing pain shot up Vidar’s arm from the slave ring, slicing through bone, spearing along muscle. He slammed down the shutters on his link with Sonja as his legs buckled and he collapsed to his knees with a cry of pain.
When the torture ceased, his bones throbbed and his muscles ached. Sonja was on her knees before him clutching his shoulders. “Vidar, what’s the matter?”
Troy had been right to cut her off from this world. If only Vidar had stood up to his father and refused to invite her to Iceland, she would not be in danger. “Go,” he grated between clenched teeth. “Ride Gleda back to the resort.”
She framed his face in her hands. “I won’t leave you like this.”
“Get away from me. I don’t need a human’s help.” He infused his voice with savage contempt to make her leave.
Her hands dropped away from his face, her expression uncertain. But she’d missed her chance. Huginn scampered up and pinned her wrists behind her back.
“Flipping heck, not you again.” She struggled but was no match for the wiry strength of the raven-men. Vidar longed to reach out to help her, but his abused muscles wouldn’t obey.
Muninn snatched up the ring intended for Sonja that Vidar had dropped and pushed it onto her finger. Vidar closed his eyes, and his head fell forward. Now Sonja would be trapped in Iceland forever.
Chapter Five
Once the gold ring was on her finger, Odin beckoned his two creepy henchmen back to him and left through a door in the wall behind his throne. The two massive wolves trotted out at his heels, leaving Sonja and Vidar alone in the huge echoing ice chamber.
Vidar remained on his knees, head bowed, breath ragged. His naturally tanned skin had lost its usual golden hue. He looked pale, defeated.
Tugging the fur coat tighter around her body, Sonja crouched before him, trying to control her chattering teeth long enough to speak. “Can you get up?”
His gaze rose to her face. “Why didn’t you escape?”
All her life Vidar’s loving presence in her mind had given her the strength to cope when times were tough. How could he believe she would run away and