Read Online Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) by S.T. Bende - Free Book Online

fell open. “It worked! The
charm blocker worked!”
    “Of course it worked.” Henrik rolled his eyes
without breaking his run. “When has a piece of my tech ever not worked?”
    Now was probably not the time to
remind him about our initial model for the nano-molecular particle
accelerators. Odin’s pear orchard stood as testimony to our failed
attempt at advancing implosive technology.
    “Henrik Andersson.” I ran at his side. “You
are, quite simply, the most brilliant scientific mind of our day. Nobody is immune to elf charms. Nobody. I’m not even going
to ask what you put into these things.”
    “Yeah, don’t.” Henrik slowed to a walk. I
followed suit. He wrapped long fingers around my wrist, circling
the bracelet. My eyelids fluttered. Stop it, Brynn . “Take
this thing off the minute we Bifrost out of here. I didn’t have
time to study the long-term effects.”
    “Fair enough.” Goosebumps still peppered my
skin where he touched me. I let out an involuntary shiver, and
Henrik ran his other hand over my arm.
    “You cold, sötnos ?” He pulled me
closer and slipped his arms around my back. It was a comforting
gesture, one intended to create warmth. And it did create warmth.
Just not the kind my elf-magnet friend probably
intended.
    “I’m okay.” I rested my cheek on the board
that was his chest and let my mind wander as Henrik slowly moved
his thumbs along the muscles of my back. The motion smoothed the
knots that had tripled in size since Freya’s disappearance.
    Freya’s disappearance…
    My mind tried to push out the mental pictures
of the last time this happened—the waiting, the searching, the
gut-wrenching terror as we prepared for the inevitable, and
finally, shortly after Freya was returned, the official visit from
Odin’s guard. His announcement of what we’d lost nearly ripped my
soul in two, with a tear so deep there was no question of it ever
fully healing—mitigation was the best I could hope for. I’d
silenced all thoughts of those hellish weeks in the aftermath where
I’d struggled to stay afloat; when I’d accepted there would be hole
in my heart from then to eternity. I’d buried that agony deep in
the emotional vault to be lost forever. But as I rested my head
against Henrik’s torso and allowed myself to relax in his embrace,
a jolt of pain struck my gut. Get it together, Aksel. Now. I
jumped out of Henrik’s arms, slamming the door against the flood of
memories that threatened to undo my perfekt control. It was
the blessing and the curse of being immortal—I had all the time in
the world to understand why things had to happen the way
they did, but I’d drive myself to madness if I allowed the sheer
weight of centuries of memories to pull too heavily on my
consciousness. I was really good at letting things go.
Really good. But every once in a while, a figment from my past came
back to haunt me.
    Even though I gave that figment a Viking
funeral long ago.
    “Brynn! Wait!” Henrik’s voice sounded far
away. I hadn’t realized I was running, but now I found it almost
impossible to stop. My legs moved without a conscious connection to
my brain. My feet pounded against the soft clovers, the pace
matching the pulse of blood against my ears. I ran and I ran until
I sucked in air and my chest felt raw. The burn in my muscles was
searing, punishing. It grounded me in the physical realm, tearing
me away from the anguish in my mind. Never go back .
    “Brynn!” Henrik’s hand on my arm jolted me
back to the present. He whirled me around, and I was so
discombobulated I fell right into him. He wrapped a heavy arm
around me, holding me firmly in place. I threw my arms around his
waist and squeezed, anchoring myself to him. “Brynn?” Henrik leaned
back, lifting my chin with one finger. Grey-blue eyes bore down,
looking so intent I thought he might be able to see right through
me. “What just happened?”
    “Nothing.” I hiccupped. I wanted to look
away, tear my eyes from