“Yeah, that sounds like a bad idea.” Pandora’s brows lifted. “You want help?”
“You know how to close ancient Norse runes by writing their opposite over top of them?”
Pandora shook her head. “Not even a little bit.” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll go with Hank. See you guys at Alice’s.”
Titus waved. “See you there.” He turned to Jenna. “We’ll get him next time.”
“I hope so.” She went to the first rune. This was typically the job of the seer, but as a fell maiden, she knew the runes. It had been a long time since she’d used them. Really long. She had to think hard to remember which rune closed each successive rune.
Finally, she had them all finished. “Okay, we can go.”
Titus was looking around as they started walking back to the house. “Is he still out here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. But if I had to guess, I’d say probably not. He’s more likely to seek out Sola at this point. Especially if she’s got him enchanted to keep him from turning corporeal.”
“If she does, and the coven strips her of her magic, breaks the spells we’re under, and removes her control of Ingvar, what happens to the spell she’s protecting him with?”
“It’ll go away.” Jenna already knew his next question. “So then what becomes of Leif?”
He nodded.
She smiled. “He becomes a lot easier to kill.”
“Hold still.” Titus dabbed at the scratches on Jenna’s cheek with a gauze pad soaked in hydrogen peroxide. She sat on the counter in his bathroom.
She pulled away. “I don’t like the fizzing.”
He slanted his eyes at her, trying not to chuckle. “That’s what you don’t like? The fizzing?”
“It’s like having tiny bees on my face,” she protested.
He stopped trying not to laugh. “Imagine that. Jenna Blythe, wraith-killing valkyrie, transporter of men’s souls, sword-wielding warrior…bothered by fizzing.”
“I haven’t killed the wraith yet, but go ahead, yuck it up, Merrow. It’s just more fuel for me to beat you in that 10K.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You’re adorable. Sweetheart, I’m a wolf. You know what we’re really good at? Running.”
“So are valkyries. You’ll see when you watch me cross the finish line ahead of you.”
“Well, if you’re in front of me, at least I’ll have a nice view.”
She snorted and swatted him on the arm.
“Hey!” But he snickered, catching her and pulling her in close for a second kiss, this one on the mouth.
When it ended, she held on to him. “Does this mean I’m all healed up and ready to go?”
He inspected her cheek. “I can still see the scratches, but they’re definitely looking better.”
“Good. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He sighed contentedly. “We should get going.”
“We should.” She seemed as reluctant as he felt. She smoothed the front of his shirt. “Funny, but I care a lot less about having our spells removed than I do about how Ingvar’s going to come out of all this.”
He liked that Jenna wasn’t so concerned about their spells being lifted. But he understood her concern for her fellow valkyrie. “She got the short end of this, huh?”
“She really did.” Jenna hopped off the bathroom counter and glanced at her face in the mirror. “I really hope she’s okay. I want my friend back. And not just so she can tell me how Sola pulled this off.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “Ingvar is in good hands. Come on, let’s go see how the coven is progressing.”
He drove, and while he did, she reached over and took his hand. “Thanks for everything. You’ve been really amazing about this whole mess, and I know I’m not easy to live with. So…thanks.”
He smiled at her. “You’re very easy to live with. You only rearranged my fridge once.”
She laughed. “I have some organizational issues.”
“Some might say it’s a gift to be that organized.” He chuckled. “And some might say you need therapy, but I’m cool with it.”
“Good thing for me.”
He glanced at her and was surprised to see she didn’t look all that happy. “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “It was nice having coffee with you in the morning. Nice having a beer with you at night too.”
She was bummed about leaving? He was bummed about it too. “You should just stay tonight. It’s already eleven o’clock. By the time we get through with the spell removal, who knows what time it’ll be? Just crash at my place this evening. You’ll have plenty of time in the morning to pack up. Plus, we could hit the hot tub one last time.”
“That would be nice. I might have to get one for my house.” She smiled. “Okay. I’ll stay.”
He pulled into the drive to Elenora’s estate a few minutes later, feeling much better about the evening. Cars filled the large circular drive on both sides. The coven was definitely in session. That was good. It was all good. And yet he had some trepidation about the removal of the love spell. What would that do to them? Would it take them back to square one, like an emotional reset? Or would they still be crazy about each other?
He found it hard to believe they wouldn’t be. They were pretty perfect for each other. But the chance that things would go back to how they’d been…that bothered him. There was nothing he could do but hope for the best.
He found a spot, parked, and glanced at Jenna. She seemed lost in thought. “Hey. You okay?”
She looked at him and nodded. “We’re still going to like each other, right? I’m okay if we aren’t in love. That takes time, and it’ll come back if it’s meant to be, but I’m worried we’re going to go back to square one, and I don’t want that.”
He laughed. “I just had that same thought. I think the fact that
