Joran looked at Fenrir’s lifeless body as Riannon struck him with bolts of lightning again and again, trying to restart his heart. He blocked out the entire world and the fighting to listen, too, hoping for that rhythm more than he hoped to return to Asgard.
“Come on, brother,” he muttered under his breath. “You can’t die like that! Not on a carpet in some—room! You were supposed to have a glorious return to Asgard, remember?”
Riannon charged his sibling again, his back arching as if he could feel something, but the next moment, Fenrir fell back to the floor, breathless and still.
“Again!” Joran ordered, and the Queen of the Western Kingdom gave him a stern glance.
“There is no use—” she said, pursing her lips.
“Do it again! Harder!” he ordered. “He is not a mortal. He needs more than
