I’m used to waking up to the sound of birds chirping, or Dave singing in his off-key baritone in the shower. Instead, that morning I woke up to the dull repetitive thumping of someone’s headboard against the other side of the wall. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my gritty eyes, the room swimming blurrily into focus. I couldn’t have slept for more then four hours last night. I did not feel alert, or ready to face danger and espionage. Not in the least.

            I sighed, my stomach roiling uncomfortably as I shuffled over to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. Everything was still the same. My hair was still three shades too light, my eyes too blue. Part of me dreaded going to see Erik, but mostly, I needed to know what the hell was going on. I was going to get answers today.

            The stream of hot water felt good, in spite of the hotel’s lousy water pressure, and I shut my eyes and let myself relax for a second. When I finally stepped carefully over the lip of the tub into the steamy exterior of the bathroom, I felt slightly more human. Only, isn’t that just hilarious? I guess I’m not human. I snorted, scrubbing at the condensation on the mirror, which did little but leave a trail of smears. Well, never mind makeup anyways. This wasn’t a beauty contest. I was going to meet a Frost giant for sandwiches. I groaned, even the thought sounded ridiculous.

            I was just struggling into my jeans when a low knock from nearby made me freeze. Was someone knocking on my door? Heart beating furiously, I stayed absolutely still, listening intently. A clicking sound, and then a voice murmured from next door. I let out a breath. It was the people next door, not someone knocking on my door. I grabbed one of my boots and started to yank it onto my right foot. A voice from the hallway, sounding slightly muffled said,

            “Hi, I’m Steven Wilkinson. I’m a private investigator working for the police.”

            I froze again, heart in my throat, chest tight. The voice continued, “We’re looking for a young girl. We think she may have been kidnapped. Now, we last traced her cell phone to this room. Do you mind if we take a look around?”

            My breath was coming in short, sharp gasps now. The person next door murmured something in a low voice I couldn’t hear, but they must have let the detective in, because heavy footsteps moved from the hall into the bedroom next to me. There was someone else looking for me now? A million confused thoughts raced through my head as I crouched there with one shoe on. Could my step parents have hired someone to come find me? That was possible. It was obvious that the cell phone tracers they’d used weren’t fool proof, since they were checking the room beside me. Perhaps they just picked up on a general area. Maybe he really was a cop.

Another possibility was that it was a Fire giant. I remembered Loki mentioning something about the Frost giants having a firm foothold in the police. It stood to reason that the Fire giants would too. So maybe this wasn’t a cop, maybe he was working for Loki’s people.

            Quietly I laced up my boot and began to stuff my foot into the other one. It probably wasn’t one of Erik’s people, since clearly; he was the one they’d sent. The guy next door was either a cop, or a Fire giant, and I didn’t want either one to find me.  Luckily I’d shoved all my stuff back into my bag right after my shower. I pulled the knit cap out of the bag and jammed it over my bright hair. Then I slipped my knap sack over one shoulder and hooked the strap of my purse onto the other. Creeping as quietly as I could to the door I paused to listen, hand on the door knob.

            The low voice of the detective was saying, “I hope you don’t mind. This is just a routine inspection. Do you mind if I check the bathroom?”

            Another voice, deeper, murmured something in the positive, and the heavy footsteps moved further along the wall. Now was my chance.

            I slipped the door open a crack as silently as I could. The hall was empty. The door next to mine was open, a thin sliver of light fell onto the dingy carpet.

            “Well,” the detective’s voice said, “It looks good. You haven’t seen…”

            The voice faded as I crept down the hallway as fast as I could, darting into the elevator and jamming my finger into the down button repeatedly. The doors started to close, inching towards one another with all the speed of an iceberg.

            The footsteps entered the hallway now, and the detective said, “Well, thank you for your time, sir.”

            Footsteps down the hallway in my direction. The hallway was still visible through the elevator doors, which were inches apart now. My teeth ground together as the footsteps grew closer. I slid over to the far wall of the elevator. A voice said,

            “Say, do you mind holding…”

            The doors slid shut with a woosh that matched my breath of relief, the neon button indicated the floors sliding past. My knees felt like jello, nearly giving out when the elevator lurched to a stop at the lobby. I staggered out, threw eighty dollars in cash at the surprised woman at the desk, and rushed out the front doors. I was halfway down the street, merging with a crowd of shoppers when I finally felt myself relax.

            The sandwich shop was lit-up and cozy looking from the outside, but still, I paused with my hand on the door. Could I trust anyone? What if I chose not to meet Erik though, what then? Escape to Brazil and get plastic surgery to change my features? That was hardly an option. It didn’t seem like I had a lot of choice in the matter. Right now, Erik was my best bet.

            I pushed through the doors, ignoring the cheerful ringing of the bell above, darting a suspicious look around at the customers. No Loki, no fake police detective. No Erik yet either.

I walked over and slid into an empty booth at the back, pulling the knit cap down over my tell-tale, crystal blue eyes, keeping my back to the wall, keeping the street within sight. The mouth-watering smell of sandwiches and soup was getting to me, and I promised myself a massive sub as soon as he got here. That made me think about the miniscule amount of dates that I’d had with boys. We’d gone out to eat and I’d always picked at a salad, fearing I would look like a pig, or accidently spit food at the boy or something. Well, screw that. I was hungry. I was going to shove mouthfuls of sub into my face right in front of him, and if he didn’t like it he could kiss my ass.

The door jingled again, and I looked up from under the hat. There was Erik, surveying the shop, looking for me. He was outfitted casually, in torn jeans and a blue open-collared shirt. His brilliant blonde hair was tousled, and his sharp jaw bristled with the start of a blonde beard.

I mused to myself. He would probably look like some kind of Norse Viking if he let it grow. He spotted me now, and his smile warmed his features instantly. He strode closer,

 “Amora, I’m so glad you came. I wasn’t sure if you would.”

I gave him a reserved smile, “Well, I was sort of rushed out of my hotel room anyways.”

His smile slid away, “Did something happen? Are you alright?”

            “I’m fine,” I said, “there was a detective snooping around. At least, he called himself a detective.” I studied Erik’s face. I’m fairly certain the Frost giants had nothing to do with it, but I had to be sure.

            Erik folded his arms and leaned back in the booth, frowning “Interesting. That can only mean that your human parents have sent someone after you, or that he has found you.”

            I leaned forward, “Loki, you mean? What’s his deal? He wants to kill me?” My heart was suddenly beating in my ears, and my chest felt constricted. I so badly wanted him to say no.

            Erik nodded, and my stomach sank, “The sons of Muspell would have sent someone after you. They know you’re valuable to us, and they’ll stop at nothing to take everything from us. They hate us.”

            My voice was small, “So he…he really would have tried to kill me?”

            Erik’s face was full of sadness, “I’m sorry, but it’s likely.” He shook his head, and the look of pity he gave me made me grimace at him, “Why do you look at me like that? What?”

            He said gently, “Loki got to you, didn’t he? He made you trust him?”

            I bit my lip and nodded, feeling small, and incredibly foolish.

            “Don’t blame yourself,” Erik said, and for a second his rested his hand on mine. His fingers felt surprisingly warm. He sat up, hesitated and then pulled away, “Loki is a trickster. He plays havoc with emotions. He’ll get anyone to trust him and he does whatever he wants, takes whatever he wants.”

         His gaze was probing, and I sat up with a jolt of shock when I realized what he thought, “No! Oh my god, no. We didn’t…he didn’t…I mean…” I was blushing furiously now, my face felt like it was on fire. Then I remembered lying in bed with Loki, holding his hand, and his arms around me as he showed me how to freeze the water in the basin, and my face grew even hotter.

            “I’m sorry,” Erik actually looked embarrassed, “forgive me, I didn’t mean…”

            “It’s fine,” I said quickly, eager to change the subject and move on.

            There was silence for a few seconds, and then I stood up, “I’m going to…going to order a sandwich.”

            “Yes,” Erik said, rubbing the back of his neck and staring at the table top, “good,” he attempted a grin, “I hear the sub sandwiches are very good.”