Maybe somebody else needed it more. I was halfway to her throne when I heard the sound of a commotion on the other side of the wall.
“Or, perhaps, I didn’t come here alone.”
She stood and turned, then hissed through her teeth. “Loki. This isn’t over.”
She snapped her fingers and vanished, leaving her thugs looking at the space she was and then at me, confused.
“Go home,” I told them, striding towards the wall. Well, there was a door. I opened it to find Loki untying Mike.
“Thanks. Did she…”
“She kissed me.” Mike made a face.
“At least she didn’t do more than that.” That was as close as I was willing to come to voicing my real concerns about what she might do or have done to poor Mike. “But she was using you as a bargaining chip.”
“What did she want?”
“Me and Thruor to leave the city and get out of her way.”
Mike grinned. “She’s scared of you.”
“Yeah.” Which meant, perhaps, she wasn’t as powerful as she pretended. It meant I was a threat to her. “I also think she grabbed you because she’s not happy with Thruor.”
“Oh, she isn’t. That’s what she told me it was about. She said she was going to…” He blushed.
“But I showed up before she could get past kisses.” I was relieved. Then I realized my phone was still on. “We’re all square here, Kanesha.”
“I heard. You going to kill her a few times or what?”
“Oh, I think I’ll come up with something.” I hung up at that point. Loki had finished untying Mike.
“It could be worse. She could have decided to turn into a guy first.”
Mike shuddered. “No offense to those who do swing that way…”
I shook my head. “Let’s get out of here. I’m not sure what the thugs she hired are going to do.”
“Nothing stupid. I think they’re just street mercs,” Mike said. “Nobody high end. I wonder if she’s on the outs with the boss and can’t get proper support.”
“I hope so,” I said fervently.
I also hoped that her killing Mike after she was done with him was what Monica had foreseen. Then it would be over. Done with. With no loss to worry about.