Then abruptly the demons drew back from me, around Tyz’vel.

 

He was running.

 

I had not seen what Surtur had done, but maybe it was something else that had caused him to retreat.

 

No, he was not running. He had seen me. “Watching to see who wins?”

 

Surtur looked like he was about to stab the demon in the back.

 

“Making sure the fight is fair.” I smiled at him.

 

“Ah, so you like that one. How does your girlfriend feel about that?”

 

I laughed. It was a release of tension. “Nah, I hate both of you.”

 

“And this place will make a fine annex to Hell.”

 

“No it won’t.” I kept my tone even. “Because if you continue with this, then…” I tailed off. I did not want to voice the threat, but I sensed another presence now.

 

My father.

 

“Then he will deal with the situation.”

 

Tyz’vel looked past me. “The trickster.”

 

“Odin’s brother.” It wasn’t something I wanted to bring up.

 

“Has no jurisdiction over me.”

 

“Has jurisdiction over the Nine Realms. Which is where, by the way, you are.” I kept my tone even. “You will win only destruction. Of course, you might rather like that.”

 

“I would like to win it. And I would like to win you.”

 

He tried to kiss me. I twisted away, put my elbow in his gut, and got myself to a distance. “You lost me from day one, Tyz’vel.”

 

“It was worth a try. But if this place is mine, then your father can’t destroy it, can he.”

 

“Yes,” I said evenly. “He can.”

 

“And you would rather that.”

 

“I would rather none of this had happened.” Destroy the village to save the village? I was bluffing to a point.

 

No, I was bluffing altogether. I was less sure about Loki. He would not bluff.

 

And the barriers were getting thinner still. But there was something more to Hell getting here than that.

 

Something…

 

How had he got here. “How did you even get here?”

 

“Hell can walk anywhere a mortal soul does.”

 

I glanced at Kanesha. She was pale. “So if she leaves, you…”

 

“If you take her to the dwarven realms, I will follow. If you take her back to Earth…well…” He smiled. “Can’t keep us from there.”

 

There was no answer to that. And then Surtur got tired of the entire thing.

 

I did not warn Tyz’vel about his charge. I just got out of the way.