Annika couldn't tear her eyes from the man striding towards her through the crowd. Everyone in his path stepped aside as though repelled by an invisible force field.
This man—her father—didn't even appear human. His skin glowed, and an aura of elemental danger surrounded him. She stepped back into the relative security of Tyr's arm, even though she wasn't completely sure she could trust him either.
So intently did she watch her father's face, she only registered his ostentatious scarlet brocade coat and the froth of lace at his throat when he reached her.
"Tyr the Valiant." Vali's softly spoken words held little inflection but drove through her with the cold thrust of a blade. He stared at Tyr with lacerating intensity. Then his gaze dropped to Annika and he smiled. His change of expression was as unexpected and shocking as the sun flaring bright at midnight.
"Annika, daughter, this is an unexpected pleasure."
She'd thought her father might ignore her or be rude to her. She hadn't expected him to be pleased to meet her. Her brain stalled, and she couldn't get a single word out of her mouth.
His eyes softened as his gaze flicked over her. His hand rose, his fingertips softly brushing her check. The tension in her body fell away. A moment of perfect peace sang through her before the reality of the situation filtered back and the blissful sensation faded.
Her resemblance to her father was amazing. After Tyr's comment she'd expected him to have blue eyes and blonde hair, but even the shape of Vali's features was similar to hers, if with a strong masculine cast.
"Why…why haven't we met before?" Why did you abandon me?
Her father angled his head to stare at Odin, who resembled a tramp, hunched as he was on his grubby throne, with his straggly gray hair and crumpled clothes. "Ask our host," he said in a lethally soft voice.
Tyr's body stiffened behind her. Annika glanced over her shoulder to see his jaw clench. "What does he mean, Tyr?"
Her question hung unanswered. The crowd had fallen silent and backed away from them so they stood in the center of a circle of curious spectators.
"Let's talk about this later," Tyr said. His arm tightened around Annika.
Vali's gaze flicked down to where Tyr held her before returning to his face. "Take care of her, old friend." Then he pivoted away and started walking back towards the woman who wore birds and butterflies as accessories.
"Wait!" Annika pulled out of Tyr's grip, her hand raised as if she could summon her father back. She had so many questions she wanted to ask. "Can I see you again?"
With fluid grace, Vali swung back towards her. Regret flashed across his face, replaced immediately by determination. "No."
The word reverberated around the room. He turned his back on her again. After a few seconds of mortified shock, her gaze skated over the onlookers, who stared back at her as if she were a freak.
Vali had been pleased to see her. She was certain. So why had he rejected her—so publicly. Her throat tightened. She had to get out of the room, away from the pitying eyes.
"Annika, wait," Tyr said. But she didn't want to speak to him right now. He was the one who'd dropped her in the middle of this nightmare. She hurried towards the door, jostling people out of her way. She barely spared a glance for the female soldiers in the entrance hall.
When she burst outside, she gasped lungfuls of frigid air. The tiny fairies from the Christmas trees swarmed around her head, chattering and laughing and she covered her face.
She hadn't expected her father to welcome her with open arms, but she hadn't expected to be publicly humiliated either.
***
"Skitur." Tyr cursed as Annika dashed away through the crowd. Her distress strummed along his nerves. He clenched his hands and resisted the instinct to follow and comfort her. He could not leave the Yule Fest until he was sure Vali wouldn't cause trouble.
He paced after Annika's father and caught up with him before he rejoined his group of friends. "We need to talk," he said.
Vali wheeled around, his hand reaching over his shoulder for the sword strapped to his back. He gripped the sword hilt but didn't draw. "We agreed Annika would be told nothing of our world. I did not want her tainted by our families' conflict."
Frustrated anger twisted Tyr's guts. "I would have adhered to the agreement. Odin's to blame for this."
"Odin's always to blame." Vali slashed a glance at the grizzled old man hunched upon his ice throne. Odin's good eye was fixed on them, the other hidden behind an eye patch.
Vali released his sword hilt and raised his hand, throwing a light dome around himself and Tyr for privacy. For a split second his face fractured with emotion, but then his barriers snapped back. Regret rode heavy on Tyr as he recalled a time long ago when he and Vali had loved each other like brothers. Before Vali's father Loki had killed Tyr's brother and spurred Odin into an orgy of violent retribution that still echoed horror through the halls of Asgard.
"I am not the aggressor, Tyr. I never was."
"Nor I, Vali."
They stared at each other, the bad blood between their families too bitter and venomous for any hint of their friendship to have survived.
"I did my best for you when my father wrought revenge," Tyr said. "If not for me, Annika would have been put to the sword."
"Yet now she's grown you bring her back into danger?"
"She's under my protection."
"That rather negates your father's obvious threat to harm her if I don't behave."
"You know I'm as much a pawn in Odin's plans as Annika is." Tyr raised his left hand and indicated the slave ring on his finger. "I might as well be caged for all the freedom I have."
Vali's jaw tightened "I don't blame you." His gaze sought out Odin. "It's his fault. One day I'll raze this icy hell to the ground for what Odin did to my family."
Tyr's hand went to the sword hidden beneath his coat—not that it would do him any good if Vali decided to unleash his power.
"But I enjoy watching your father squirm while he awaits my vengeance. Tonight you are safe. Go after my daughter and return her to the human world. I don't want her tangled in the affairs of the gods again."
Tyr let his hand drop away from his sword. Once they had been equals, young men sparring together, learning the pleasures and dangers of the world they inhabited. Yet with the slave ring sapping his power, he doubted he could even stand against Vali in hand-to-hand combat. But he dared not show weakness. "You won't cause trouble?"
"I give you my word—for tonight."
That was the best he could hope for. He turned to go.
"Wait." Tyr glanced back at Vali's command. "Tell Annika she inherited her mother's human traits and none of mine."
Tyr gave a sharp nod. Although he'd be hard pressed to persuade her she had not taken after her father now she'd seen how alike they were.
The light dome dissolved with a pop, and Tyr strode away through the crowd, ignoring the frantic gestures of his father who would want details of his conversation with Vali. He surged out through the door into the darkness.
Odin's shape-shifter spies waited perched on the edge of a carriage in raven form, no doubt ready to follow him. Tyr balled a handful of ice crystals and hurled the missile at the bigger bird. Huginn shot into the air in a flurry of black feathers.
"Get lost!" Tyr shouted as Muninn followed his brother.
Annika stood alone near their sleigh, her arms wrapped around her body, her teeth chattering. He strode up behind her and gathered her into his embrace. "I'm taking you back to Santa's world."
"How do you know my father so well?"
When she tried to turn and look at him, he held her tightly against his chest. He should have prepared for this question. "You're cold and tired. Let's talk when we're back in the warmth." After he'd had time to come up with a story.
She didn't object as he hustled her past the sleeping snow cat and into the sleigh. At a word from him, Helga stood and stretched, flicking her tail. He pulled back on the reins. They reversed off the ice platform and headed towards the woodland where he'd left the theme park's shuttle.
Annika huddled deep in the coat he'd given her, staring at something in her hands.
"Are you all right?"
When she didn't reply, Tyr clasped both reins in one hand and used his fingers to tip up her chin. He'd thought she might be crying, but she stared at him dry-eyed, the same guarded expression on her face that Vali wore so well. She'd arrived at his office earlier that day excited and enthusiastic. In a few short hours, he'd killed her excitement and drained her enthusiasm. Bloody good job, Tyr.
He reached out his mind and let his consciousness flow around her. A cold impenetrable wall of resistance met his attempt to enter her thoughts. For the first time in her life, she'd shut him out. Had she guessed it was him who had watched over her from afar all these years? No. It wasn't possible. But he'd have to go carefully if he wasn't to reveal his role in her life. Part of him longed to tell her, but it was best for her if she didn't know.
"Annika, talk to me."
She dragged in a breath. "Dreams don't come true." She tossed away the small thing she'd been holding and he realized it was a resort logo button.
"Are you all right?"
"What do you want me to say, Tyr?"
"Tell me what you thought of your father."
"You were right. I look like him." Her voice stayed level, almost unemotional, but the protective shield around her mind wavered and a flash of misery escaped. She felt unwanted, unloved. He'd tried to ease such feelings and reassure her in the past when she'd felt rejected. He thought he'd helped, but this meeting with Vali had stirred up all her doubts and fears again.
"Your father only stayed away from you for your own good, you know."
She cast him a disbelieving glance.
"It's complicated, Annika."
"And I'm too stupid to understand, I suppose."
"That's not what I meant."
He couldn't take her back to her room and leave her miserable. With a twitch of his wrist, he changed Helga's direction.
Annika's head tilted. "Where're we going now?"
"I want to show you my favorite view."
He slowed the sleigh as they approached the flat, icy rock. The sleigh's metal runners scraped onto solid ground.
***
Despite Annika's melancholy, her curiosity stirred when Tyr stopped the sleigh and she scanned the amazing view. An occasional snowflake spiraled out of the dark sky towards the endless expanse of glittering, frost-glazed landscape below.
Tyr slid close and curved a supportive arm around her shoulders. She resisted the temptation to lean back against the warmth of his body. She had a sick sense that she was totally out of her depth. She'd come to Iceland to visit her homeland and close a business deal. Instead she'd been tossed into a weird fantasy world. She hoped she would wake up in her log cabin and discover it was all a dream.
Green light flashed across the dark sky, pulling her from her musings.
"There." Tyr pointed as the colored lights pulsed around them. "Humans call it the aurora borealis. It's really the light elves showing off."
She sensed Tyr looking at her and couldn't resist a quick glance his way. He grinned and her stomach did a strange flip. She'd never experienced such a strong connection with a man before. She'd met him a few hours ago and common sense told her not to trust him, especially as he'd taken her to the weird Yule Fest. But she felt as though on some level she knew him well, as if deep inside, her soul recognized his from a former life or something mushy like that.
"Explain what went on at the Yule Fest tonight, Tyr."
He pulled her tightly to his side and the heat from his body seeped through the fur, warming her. Streaks of green, blue, and pink shimmered across the sky.
After long minutes when she thought he wasn't going to answer, he leaned close to her ear. "Tonight you got caught up in a family feud. Just forget about it, elskan mín."
She wished she could rewind tonight and delete what had happened. But she'd met her father and she wasn't going to forget that any time soon. Even if she wanted to. "Not going to happen."
Tyr's breath hissed out and he tightened his arm around her. "I know you feel that Vali abandoned you, but he did it to protect you."
She swiveled around to see Tyr's expression. The golden glow of his eyes took her breath away each time she looked at them. His face was so close to hers she felt his breath on her skin. Her world narrowed to the man in front of her. Her fingers flexed against his chest. "Protect me from what?"
"You don't want to know," Tyr whispered. His hand slid up her back to pull off her hood. His warm palm cupped the back of her head. "Annika…"
He was going to kiss her. She should stop him. She had so many questions he hadn't answered. Yet her gaze dropped to his lips. He closed the gap between them, his mouth finding hers, hot and smooth, dangerously seductive. Her aunt always said not to mix business with pleasure. But this was way past business into uncharted territory.
The hot tip of his tongue touched her lips, and her mind blanked as he deepened the kiss. Her hand tingled, longed to burrow beneath his coat in search of skin. But it was too cold to start disturbing clothes.
She barely noticed the squawking and flapping of birds until Tyr pulled away from her and looked up. Her heart raced, wanting more of him as if she'd been waiting for him all her life, even though she knew little about him and his world scared her. The two black birds that had been circling above them peeled away and disappeared into the darkness.
Tyr cursed and rubbed a hand across his face. "They're bad news. I need to get you back to your room. Have you scheduled a flight home?"
The speed at which he moved from intimacy to getting rid of her left her breathless. "You want me to leave?
Cold bit into her at the uncompromising gleam in his eyes. "It's best."
"I left the return date open," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"Check flight times when you get back to your room. Take the first available flight to London."
"Are black birds a bad omen or something?"
"I just want you off this frozen rock as soon as possible."
No room for confusion there. Both Tyr and her father had mood swings that threatened to give her whiplash. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about her deal with the resort, but to hell with business. If her aunt wanted to make a deal with Tyr then good luck to her.