Kanesha and I sat in the teen zone of the MLK library. We had all of the Norse mythology books out.

“Okay. Surtur is the king of the fire giants and the ruler of Muspelheim,” Kanesha was saying. “And in some version of the myth he, not Loki, is blamed for Ragnarok.”

I nodded. “From what Thruor said, that’s somehow more accurate, although Loki’s been in burn the world mode a couple of times when he’s talked to me.”

“I’m not sure I like the idea that Loki likes you.” She looked at me seriously.

“He likes you too.”

“Crap.” She paused. “I’m going to be pranked, aren’t I.”

“Probably,” I admitted. “At least the fairy got bored and left.” For now, anyway. “Okay. The question is just how powerful this guy is.”

“Powerful enough to challenge Odin. Ruler of one of the Realms. Fighting him isn’t going to happen. In fact…”

“…fighting him is how we start Ragnarok.” I looked at her. “He wants me. If he really decides to come for me and I fight back, the world ends. Brilliant.”

I hadn’t been scared before, but I was now. Loki’s interest in me. Him asking me if I was sure about roads I wanted to go down. My plan might be the only way to resolve this. “But Thea said I have to be older.”

“And older by…” Kanesha sighed. “I mean…uh…”

She didn’t want to say it any more than I did. “Don’t…worry about it.” But I could tell she did, the way she was looking at me. “My point is that he’s probably not going to try and drag me off by my hair just yet. And if he does, I’ll just make sure I have a knife in his bedchamber.”

“You, marriage bait. Maybe you’re Odin’s daughter?”

I shook my head. “I don’t…” Wait. Thea didn’t lie. She sometimes hid the truth, but she never said anything that wasn’t true.

She had said I had Aesir blood. She had implied I wasn’t purebred. At the same time. “I think I need to talk to the Old Man. But I don’t know how to get His attention.”

He was the King. I was…who knew what I was. Not a commoner, though. Maybe I was a princess…but that really was nothing next to everything else I was or might be.

“His ravens have been around. Maybe an appropriate…”

“You mean bribe two beings that are basically minor deities in their own right with treats?”

“They’re still ravens,” she pointed out.

The idea made me laugh, but I didn’t have a better one. Still, I was terrified of Odin, bluntly and utterly so. Any sane person would be. At least any sane person who knew he existed.