Monica worked magic and I looked human…well, Asgardian…again by the time we got out there. The shoot went well.

Why did she look so good? I decided not to either worry too much or hope too much. Maybe Odin wasn’t going to let her die.

It would be like him to scare her. Or to test her.

Definitely a test. But he might let her die as a test if he…if he wanted her soul for something else. I shuddered. I hoped I’d never become quite that ruthless. Could I let Kanesha die?

Probably not. Maybe that meant I wasn’t ready to be a goddess or had forgotten how to be one. But even knowing that she would be okay, I still couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let her be hurt like that.

The fall from the dragon flickered into my memory. I could see myself becoming used to that kind of thing happening to me. To somebody I cared about?

No. Definitely not. I didn’t want Monica to die. I left the shoot with a lot to think about, walked alone along the sidewalk. Autumn chill was starting to set in for real.

Hunin landed on my shoulder. “Siglaugr.”

The name felt right, but I was not going to stop letting people call me Jane. Especially people who couldn’t pronounce it properly. “Hello…Hunin.”

“You’ve learned to tell us apart, I see.”

“Or remembered how.” More likely remembered.
“You pulled my tail feathers once.”

I laughed. “Was I a toddler?”

“Of course. Hatchlings do things like that.”
“So. I’m worried about Monica.”

“You don’t want to watch her die.”

“No, I don’t. Maybe I’ve gone soft, but I can’t quite get with the idea that death isn’t a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal. But sometimes it’s a necessary part of the journey.”

“She’s getting dreams.”

Hunin nodded his beak. “Yes.”

“I take it that’s supposed to happen, then.” I didn’t ask why her. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the answer. That the answer would have something to do with me attracting his attention to her. That if…

She was going to die, and she was going to… “Can we at least go something easy on her?”
“No. Trust me, if you don’t trust my master. We can’t go easy on her…”

“Or on Kanesha,” I whispered.

“On that part, trust her.”