"WHAT I'M ABOUT TO ASK of you is treason of the highest order. Success will bring us exile and failure shall mean our death," Thor tells is his friends slowly.

They are sitting around a table in the darkness of a secluded tavern within the city, all of them clad in cloaks in order to mask their identities until they arrived. Lady Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, and Heimdall all watch him closely.

"Malekith knew the Aether was here. He can sense its power. If we do nothing, he will come for it again, but this time lay waste to all of Asgard," the god of thunder continues.

He's already spoken to Heimdall, asking his friend and the guardian of the Bifrost to aid him in his ridiculous quest, even though it is of the highest risk. Even now, speaking to four of his closest friends on Asgard - with Heimdall standing in the shadows behind him - Thor realizes that they might reject his plan. Part of him hopes they will, but he knows they will not. This is the only option, he has come to realize, and he is desperate enough to bring it into fruition.

Thor sighs, "We must move Jane off-world."

"The Bifrost has been shut down and the Tesseract locked away in the vault," Lady Sif objects.

Heimdall nods, "There are other paths off Asgard. Ways known only to a few."

"One, actually," Thor replies, staring at his hands.

Fandral clasps his hands together in shock, while Volstagg's eyes grow wide at the realization.

"No," the large warrior whispers.

*****
Loki

Even from a distance, Loki could recognize the footsteps as they echoed through the prison. A lifetime of pranks had equipped him with unusually sharp hearing, and he could always distinguish the slow and heavy thudding of his brother's boots hitting the ground. Sighing, he clasps his hands behind his back and approaches the forcefield at the front of his cell as he stares into the darkness of the prison.

"Thor," he says as his brother steps into the light and approaches Loki's cell. "After all this time and now you come to visit me."

Thor stops in front of him, his blue eyes peering into the cell without any visible emotion, and it makes Loki's blood boil. His thoughts immediately go to Frigga, to the guard who informed him of her death, to the whispers floating through the dungeon of her funeral. The funeral he had been denied attendance. The goodbye he would never be allowed to utter.

"Why?!" Loki hisses, leaning forward. 

His mask of composure threatens to slip in his rage, but he contains himself and smirks, "Have you come to gloat? To mock?"

"Loki, enough," Thor interrupts, ignoring the venom lacing Loki's every word. "No more illusions."

Straightening, Loki's eyes grow wide at the realization that Thor has seen more than he thought possible. The blundering fool who fell prey to so many of Loki's schemes, who nearly got himself killed in Jotunheim, has pierced through Loki's facade. Until now, only Anna has been successful at seeing through Loki's charades, but even then he was successful at driving her away. No, Thor will not leave. Loki can see the determination etched on his features.

He closes his eyes, nodding ever-so-slightly, and allows the illusion to fade away. 

Rippling away from the center of the forcefield to the edges, Loki is no longer standing proudly in front of his brother but is sitting against the back wall of the cell. The contents of the small room are in shambles, furniture upended and smashed in a fit of rage, with black marks adoring the otherwise pristine white walls. Even the floor is marred of its purity, and it is covered in debri - food, paper, and broken glass - and scuff marks, along with the vibrant crimson blood that trickles from a wound on Loki's foot. In his rage at his mother's death, he lost all control and allowed himself to succumb to that which Anna insists he is not.

He became a monster.

"Now you see me, brother," his voice is hollow. 

All color has since left his face except the dark red circles around his eyes. His raven locks are no longer tamed in their usual manner but are matted with blood and sweat and tears. Thor looks upon Loki with concern, an emotion that he instantly hates seeing in his brother's blue eyes, as he moves from the front of the cell to the side.

"Did she suffer?" Loki asks, tracking his movements.

"I did not come here to share our grief," Thor replies gruffly. "Instead I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

Loki tips his head to the side, his emerald eyes blazing, "Go on."

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do," replies Thor. "You help me escape Asgard, and I will grant it to you. Vengeance. And afterward, this cell."

Turning away from his brother, Loki's eyes land on the last books his mother sent him. It was not long ago that she stood here in the cell with him, even if it was a projection of herself, and he told her that he did not claim her as his mother. His heart aches to go back, to take back the words that he knows caused her pain, to at least be granted the opportunity to beg for her forgiveness.

A piece of him wants to beg for Anna's forgiveness as well, to cling to the purity that her soul brings to his life in order to remain in the light. Ever since word of Frigga's death reached him, he could feel himself slipping into blackness. Plunging back into the void over and over again, where there is no hope, no joy, no love.

He must push Anna away, however, to protect her. Thanos might return at any moment, and Anna is now the one thing in his life worth holding onto at all costs. Even so, his fury burns within him like an all-consuming fire. Let Thanos come. He shall have his revenge on the beast that killed his mother even if it takes his last breath.

The thought makes him laugh, the corners of his mouth turning up in a half-crazed grin, and he sighs, "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?"

"I don't," Thor quips, pacing along the shimmering golden forcefield that separates them. "Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with the glimmer of hope that my brother is still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."

"Hmm," Loki smirks. "When do we start?"

Now Playing: "Chains" by Torres.

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Another day, another chapter. I'm getting so excited about what's coming, not just because of the movie storyline, but because ANNA IS COMING BACK SOON. Plus, this book will not end with the movie. 

Oh, I'm sorry, you didn't know that there is more to this story than Thor: The Dark World? Soon enough you'll be surprised, my lovelies. In the best of ways.

I'm hoping to update again tomorrow, but you might not hear from me after that until I'm back from England on July 11th. 

Be sure to follow me on social media for updates from my trip! Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook - my username is always @jandralee.

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