When Asher came back out of the bathroom he was wearing boxer shorts and a white t-shirt. He had obviously vigorously towel dried his hair, since it was standing on end like he’d stuck his finger in a socket. The t-shirt didn’t make things much better, since it was form fitting, and the the memory of his bare torso was pretty much seared into my brain permanently. He paused in the doorway and grinned at me, “you’re still here.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I closed the door and everything, and you didn’t run. So yeah, I’m kinda surprised,” he raked his fingers through his hair and his smile grew wider, “but happy about it, don’t get me wrong.”

“right,” I ducked my head and let my hair drop over my face, hoping he didn’t realize how hard I’d been staring at his chest, like I had X-Ray vision. I couldn’t help thinking back. Had I felt like this when Trent had kissed me? Was I acting like a big skank for being attracted to Asher now? My stomach was churning, and I refused to look up as Asher continued talking. He was saying something about leaving early the next morning, but my mind had wandered back to the rebels. Back to Kari. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about, but I couldn’t stop. Trent had told me that Kari was the half sister of Asher’s father. Kari was my mother, which meant….

My stomach felt sick. I was related to him. I squeezed my eyes shut. Five seconds ago I’d been ogling his bare chest, wondering what he would feel like pressed against me. But we’re related?

“What?” Asher was staring at me, “what’s the matter? You look suddenly…spooked or something.”

“Tell me about Kari,” I said abruptly, “my mother…whatever she is. Is she really my mother?” Sudden hope sprang up in my chest. Maybe she’d lied about that too.

“Yes, as far as I know,” Asher said.

My heart sank, and I sagged back onto the pillows. So we were related for sure. Obviously I’d misinterpreted Asher, he must know we were related, so he couldn’t be interested in me. It had just been the shock of the link that had made him act that way, stare at me the way he had. I was so stupid.

“You want to know about Kari?” Asher came over and sat down on the bed beside me, making the springs squeak. He sat cross-legged in front of me, and his knees were so close that it made my heart jump in my chest. Instantly I felt revulsion course through me. There was no way I should be feeling like this when he got close. It was sick. I told myself I felt nothing for him. It’s not like I was some type of redneck. I hoped Asher wouldn’t notice my face getting hot.

“Yeah, tell me everything about her,” hopefully it would distract me, maybe make me good and mad.

“Kari is…a piece of work,” Asher said, “to put it mildly. I don’t remember much about her. She left before I was even born, as soon as my dad married my mom. She was furious with Surtr, my grandfather, for allowing it to happen. She’s always been thoroughly racist against the frost jotun, thinks they’re scum,” he picked at the comforter between us, and my eyes were drawn to his hands. His fingers were long and slender, his nails short and square. Clever hands. I wondered if he played an instrument. I could easily imagine him playing the guitar or the piano…

Mentally I shook myself. Asher was still talking.

“She screamed at my grandfather, said she wasn’t going to stand for it, went on and on before she stormed out. No one took her seriously at the time,” he sighed, “I think that’s why she did it…started the rebellion I mean. Because nobody ever really took her seriously. Dad says she was always weird, he thinks she tried to kill him a couple times when he was child. Him and his sister, my aunt. Course, my grandfather denies it. He’s really angry with her of course, but she’s still his sister…kinda.”

My heart leapt, “kinda?”

Asher laughed, “oh man, you wouldn’t believe the stuff she tells those rebels. That my mother is an evil ice queen, that Charlotte – she’s our sorceress – eats babies for lunch, that kind of thing. And of course, she wants the throne, so she has to lie about having royal blood.”

“She doesn’t?” I could hardly breath.

Asher shrugged, “technically, no. She’s my grandfather’s step sister. Married into the family, so really, she has no claim to the throne. But you can bet she’s claiming that she’s my grandfather’s full sister. She gets more support that way, the rebels think she’s destined for the throne or whatever.” He chuckled.

I hoped my face didn’t betray the utter relief I was feeling. He would probably think I was totally weird if I started grinning like a loony after he’d just been telling me what a head case my mother was.

“Anything else you want to know?” Asher leaned forward slightly, and his knee actually brushed mine. My pulse jumped, and this time I didn’t try to suppress it.

“I think…that pretty much covers it,” I honestly didn’t care if Kari was a spotted giraffe at this point. I didn’t give a crap about her.

“So, you’re clear on tomorrow?” Asher said, and then he grinned when I stared at him blankly, “yeah, you looked distracted. Okay, what I pretty much said was that they’ll be hot on our tail tomorrow. We have several hotels that cater specifically to our…needs. They’ll be stationed at all of them. Waiting for us.”

“What’s stopping them from just busting in here?”

“It’s not neutral territory.  This is a safe zone, so busting in here would pretty much be declaring all out war on us. They’re nowhere near ready for that yet. They know we’d wipe them out.”

I said, “Why don’t you?”

Asher quirked one eyebrow at me, “don’t we what?”

“Wipe them out, I mean…there’s obviously way more of you then them. Why don’t you just attack them and put an end to the rebellion?”

“I think my parents would rather not do that,” Asher rubbed one thumb over the bumps in the covers, eyes flickering from me and back down, “I personally think they’re being too soft hearted. I think Kari is a nut job, she’s dangerous. I’ve…argued with my dad over it more than once. But he says that amount of violence isn’t necessary,” he snorted, “like she’s just rebelling a little bit, just a phrase…you know, like an adolescent kid that’s just going through something.” He rolled his eyes, “my mom takes it a bit more seriously, thankfully. She’s keeping an eye on Kari.”

“Well someone sure should,” I muttered, “you’re right. She’s telling everyone a pack of lies. She’s got them eating out of her hand,” instantly I got a clear flash of memory. Trent and my mother entwined on the carpet by the fire. Asher must have seen something in my face, because he reached out and brushed the top of my hand with one finger, sending tingles trailing after his touch, “Jess? Are you alright? What were you just thinking?”

I hesitated, not really wanting to tell him about Trent and I, about Trent and my mother. I ducked my head, “it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, obviously,” Asher tilted his head sideways, dark curls flopping over his eyes. He brushed them aside impatiently, then reached out and brushed my hair back, “Jess?”

Would he hate me if I told him about Trent? Would he think I was like the girls at my highschool, jumping from one guy to the next? “I…Trent…we…” I blushed brightly under Asher’s bright blue eyes. To my surprise he chuckled, shaking his head, “let me guess…he kissed you.”

Instantly I was defensive, “What? How did you know…I…” my fingers curled around the edge of the covers, and my voice sunk to a whisper, “I was such an idiot.”

Asher’s face was serious, “don’t, Jess. Don’t beat yourself up. I knew Trent…only for a little while, but he…well…” Asher shrugged and rolled his eyes, “he’s convincing. Let’s just say…he had no small amount of admirers. He likes his women, and when he saw you…well, I’m sure there was no way he could resist.”

For a second, hot anger surged through me. When I looked up Asher was staring at me intently, blue eyes locked on mine, and my breath caught in my throat.

“Take it as a compliment,” Asher said quietly. I only stared at him, and after a second he smiled and pushed himself up from the bed, “we better get a good night sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy one.”

Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be interesting, to say the least. I slid deeper under the covers. Asher turned off the lights, throwing the room into darkness, and I listened to the sheets rustle as he slid into bed. The darkness was total, and I shut my eyes and let myself relax into the mattress. My mind was practically buzzing with everything he’d told me. It would be impossible to sleep, even though the mattress felt like hot toast, and my body was butter, slowly melting into it…

Something was poking me. Persistent and annoying. I swatted at it, grumbling and rolling back over, jamming the soft pillow back over my head. The pillow was tugged out of my hands, and I finally struggled awake, blinking around in surprise. The room was dimly light by a lamp on the sidetable. Asher was standing over me, dark curls messy. He had obviously just rolled out of bed, since his face was still lined with sleep and his blue eyes were tired. He yawned, “up and at ‘em sleeping beauty. We gotta head out now, while we’ve still got the cover of darkness.”

“Ten more minutes?” I groaned.

He shook his head, “nope, I already contacted my people, they’ll be waiting for us on the other side.”

I groaned again, struggling to sit up, “other side of what?”

“our realm,” he walked back over to his bed, “Muspelheim. Once we pass the barrier they won’t be able to follow us.” He rummaged through his backpack, yanking out a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, shrugging out of the t-shirt he wore to bed.

This time I stared at his back unabashedly, until he turned, and I quickly looked away, heart beating wildly. Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice.

“You want a fresh shirt?” Asher said, “I’ve got an extra t-shirt. Can’t help you with the pants though,” he grinned at my blue jeans, “I think my pants would be a bit big on you.”

I had to resist cracks about “getting into his pants”, making sure I just nodded, “A t-shirt would be great. I think I probably don’t smell so great.”

Asher grinned, “you can have a nice soak when we get back to the castle. It’s a favorite pastime of mine.”

“What…bathing?” I could feel my eyebrows shoot up, “that’s a bit of a weird hobby.”

Asher laughed, tossing me a t-shirt and slinging his jeans over his shoulder, “you won’t think so when you see my bathtub. Big marble tub in front of a fireplace. It’s magic.”

When you see my bathtub? I was pretty sure my eyes went wide at the thought. Thankfully Asher had already turned and was heading for the bathroom, obviously not wanting to change his pants in front of me. That was a good thing, I was already having issues with seeing him shirtless, and all this talk of marble bathtubs sure wasn’t helping. I swallowed hard.

The bathroom door clicked shut, and I peeled off my dirty t-shirt, checking out the front of the shirt Asher had loaned me before pulling it on. It was a long sleeved one, with the white circle on the center, the word “Ten Tree” was scribbled in the middle. I shrugged, pulling it on over my head.

After a second Asher walked out of the bathroom. He grinned at me, “the shirt looks better on you then me, maybe you should keep it.”

The compliment made my stomach flutter, “thanks,” I changed the subject, plucking at the fabric of the t-shirt, “what’s ten tree mean?”

“It means I planted ten trees,” Asher zipped up his backpack, “or, the company did, when I bought the shirt.”

“I didn’t know Jotun were that environmentally friendly,” I shrugged into my sweatshirt, zipping it up over the baggy shirt.

“Are you kidding? We’re all about that,” he hiked the bag over his shoulder, “we’ve lived off the land for hundreds of years. We have to give back to it. Ready to go?”

He was looking at me expectantly, so I took a deep breath, partly to calm myself, “I think so.”

To my surprise Asher stepped forward and took my hand, “hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“They won’t hurt me,” I don’t know why, but I said it with utter confidence. My mother might be crazy, but she needed me. She wouldn’t kill me, “it isn’t me I’m worried about.”

Asher’s grin faltered, but only for a second, then he shrugged, “hey, I’m a trained professional, don’t worry about me. He turned for the door, “let’s do this.”