Thirty-two days. Such a short time compared to the four thousand years I'd lived thus far. Five times that, if counted by Litaui's calendar. Yet still, each day since I'd last seen Mist seemed an eternity.

I dragged a hand through my hair, tugging.

Despite the distraction of helping Shannon, Elatha, and Loki to China's shore. Despite checking on the new coral beds I'd seeded. Despite rescuing a dolphin calf from a fishing net.

None of my usual activities gave me any sense of satisfaction.

Blessed Danu. How did one tiny blue-haired curvaceous pixie embed herself within me so quickly?

With a growl, I stepped through the shimmering portal between Litaui and Tír na nÓg, nodding to the black and silver-clad Atlantean guards.

"Welcome back, Manannan Mac Lir. Do you require a resting chamber, or are you headed out this rising?"

"I'm heading out into the surface waters... Balta, is it?"

The guard's mostly dark face, with only two snowy stripes, broke into a grin and he bowed. "Yes, Sea God. I'm pleased you remember me."

My answering smile was strained. Too much. I damn well remembered too much. The feel of her warm flesh pressed against me. The tangy taste of her arousal on my tongue. Her moans more seductive than Niflheim's sirens. And her scent...

Striding quickly, I left the secured portal chamber in the outpost's heart and burst into the green bioluminescence of the Atlantean dome. I couldn't outrun the memories. I'd tried. But perhaps Maeve could give me some insight into why Mist had gone, in the span of a single day, from a passionate dynamo turning my blood into geothermal springs to freezing me out with the fury of Litaui's Antarctic storms.

If Maeve couldn't tell me, I'd try to track down Kara, Mist's best friend and fellow Valkyrie. Odd that I hadn't encountered Mist sooner, given how often Kara and I had crossed paths in the past. Although, to be fair, not recently. It was curious that Kara had chosen to revert to her birth name, instead of her better-known goddess identity. Not like I could blame her for no longer using Artemis when I no longer went by Poseidon. I'm sure she had her reasons.

Either way, catching up with the fierce huntress might be a pleasant distraction. We'd only managed a few words before they'd left to mislead the Wild Hunt for our escape. No, instead I'd been trying, once again, to get Mist to speak to me, to tell me why she'd suddenly cut me adrift. Stubborn damn Valkyrie.

Just when I'd thought we'd begun something special.

I clenched my fists.

At least I knew they'd also gotten away from the Wild Hunt. The message Maeve had sent me still made me chuckle. I could imagine the fury on Cyhiraeth, Crom, and Camulus' faces when Loki's illusion dissolved to reveal who they were fighting.

Was it a mistake to ask Maeve first? Surely Mist vented to them when they'd stayed behind to mask our departure from Tír na nÓg.

Another growl erupted and passing Atlanteans gave me a wide berth, choosing to leave the gleaming white seashell sidewalk in favour of safer grass. A part of me felt bad for the accidental intimidation, yet the rest was too wrapped in the internal storm within. As I neared the circular water gate, I attempted a polite nod for the guards. Clearly, I was only partially successful, given their cautious acknowledgments and the step back, away from me.

Fuck.

After pushing through the energy dome's force membrane into the warm water of the Ocean of Ceobhran in the Summer Realm, I shot forward with speed. The water's embrace tingled. Vitality surged through me, every cell in my body vibrating in sync with the water's energy as it stoked my godly powers. All water did, to a certain extent, but the waters of my home planet moreso. An unmistakable welcome.

Unlike the cold shoulder and icy glare from those gorgeous tri-coloured blue eyes. Damn it! By the first shell, I need to stop thinking about her. My jaw clenched, and I increased my speed, covering the distance to the nearby shore in less than an hour. As I rose from the depths, a seal slid from the rocks to join me.

"Is my daughter safe? I heard about the Wild Hunt's attack on the treaty plains. I... I had no idea of my brother's plans, I swear. Please, Manannan, you have to know I wouldn't intentionally put Shannon at risk."

I slowed and met Dylan's dark eyes as he swam beside me. "You are an idiot, but no, I don't think you'd intentionally endanger Shannon. But Dylan, you have to recognize how dangerous Llew is. This isn't the first time he's hunted your daughter."

We reached the shore, and the selkie shifted into a tall elf in a swirl of blue seidhr. Reddish-brown fur changed to light auburn hair reaching down his back, but the same round brown eyes pleaded for an answer.

I sighed. "Shannon is out of reach of the Wild Hunt at present." It was as much as I could give him, since her quest in Helheim could prove far more dangerous. And as much as I saw he cared for her, I didn't trust the sea sponge to keep his mouth shut. I'd give him no more details.

Dylan's head bobbed, relief in his expression. "Thank you."

As I stepped away to leave, his hand gripped my arm. I quirked an eyebrow, looking down at the hand, then back at him.

"The blue-haired Valkyrie that was with Shannon... her friend? Or just a protector?"

Frowning, I tried to figure out why he would ask. "Her best friend."

Brown eyes widened as his spine straightened. "Nemain... Nemain took her... on Litaui."

My knees weakened, and I grabbed the smaller male by the shoulders. "What did you see?" I asked with a throat gone tight.

"Outside Triton's home on the California coast. It's a safe cove where mortals don't bother us. The Valkyrie was coming out of the water and Nemain shot her with some kind of dart. We didn't even see Nemain arrive. She was just suddenly there. Then the Valkyrie collapsed and Nemain carried her up the cliff and away." Tears welled in his eyes, beginning to overflow. "I... I'm sorry, Manannan. Nemain is too... I didn't dare try... I can't take on the Goddess of Fear and Panic, the Winter Court's top assassin. I've failed Shannon again." Dylan lowered his head, swiping at his cheeks.

"When?" I growled, my pulse picking up as heat suffused my muscles.

Dylan sobbed, mumbling to himself, and I shook him.

"When, Dylan? When did this happen?"

"Thirty-one days ago... we fled when Nemain started up the cliff," he whimpered.

Thirty-one days. Blessed Danu. Just over five months to torture her if they'd kept her on Litaui.

I released Dylan to pace along the shoreline. Fear churned in my belly and scattered my thoughts. Yanking my hair, I forced myself to blow out a breath and focus.

But they wouldn't... Heimdall would see her if she was. Surely, Asgard knew by now. Perhaps she'd already been rescued by her fellow Valkyrie.

Unless Heimdall was distracted when she was taken, and Mist couldn't call out to him. Ice grew in my chest, spearing my lungs.

Still... Badb had to know Loki, Shannon, and Elatha would come to Tír na nÓg, to the Winter Realm with Baldur. To break Badb's death curse on little Aidan. And Badb had to be behind this. Nemain was her best friend.

A bargaining chip?

No, Freya would never let Badb bargain with the return of her son. And King Cernunnos would back his sister like he had when Odin first divorced her. Between that, followed by Baldur's death, it sparked the first war between Sidhe and Asgard. Yet Queen Mene was cunning. She'd help her twin, especially if it meant striking at Asgard.

Payback.

Loki, Shannon, and Elatha must have been successful. This had to be payback, an attempt to hurt them another way. But Mene, Badb, and Nemain would want deniability. No evidence. Stealth. They wouldn't have Mist here on Tír na nÓg when Loki would be here in person, even with the cloaking mists hampering some of his senses. Any hint of a captured Asgardian would reach the ears of the dwarves who provided so many trade goods to the Winter Realm. And the dwarves were embarrassed and pissed off over Shannon's kidnapping last year. They already owed Asgard a favour. They were sure to pass any rumour to Loki.

No, Mene, Badb, and Nemain would be cautious of underestimating Asgard's Black Prince again. No way would they have Mist here on Tír na nÓg.

I snorted. They should be more wary of Shannon. Young she might be, but she carried incredible power within her. A fitting match to Loki, and with Elatha supporting both their godly energies... Yes, the Winter Court was foolish to continue to poke that trio.

I looked up the stone steps towards the portal that would take me to the Summer Court. Was it worth seeing what Maeve knew? Shannon's mother had to have spies within the Winter Court. Of course she did. No way did the Goddess of War and Lust not have an idea of the plots she needed to defend the Summer Realm against.

But would she have information about Mist's capture?

No, not if what I suspected was true. If she did, she would have already passed it on to Asgard. I looked back at the ocean. Yet if Asgard wasn't aware of Mist's capture, perhaps Triton saw something. Or perhaps he had cameras on his property, part of his security that Nemain wouldn't think to look for if she hadn't spent time on Litaui lately. Did the Winter Court have any concept of Midgardians' current level of technology?

I smacked my thigh. Of course. Triton would have the latest technology, and possibly even blended with immortal technology. He'd abandoned care of the sea for his love of the deal so I hadn't seen him in... damn, had it really been so long?

Shaking my head, I patted Dylan on the shoulder as I returned to the water.

Lost in my thoughts, the trip back to the Atlantean outpost seemed to take no time at all. I nodded absently at the guards' cautious greetings as I emerged from the water gate to hurry along the immaculately kept paths towards the centre spire and the portal to Litaui. My stomach twisted to think what Mist might be enduring. I moved faster, barely giving the blue-white light time to expand and fill the black ring of the portal before I launched myself through.

I noted the surprise on the six Atlanteans in black and silver armour, the portal guards, and waved a hand at their polite inquiry. Too much time had been lost already. I didn't have time for pleasantries and raced out of the gleaming white tower for the nearest transport bubble fountain in the underwater city. After stepping in, I found myself fidgeting as the water bubble formed and the base opened to the water tube system. I dropped down into the current, followed the signs and took the exit closest to the water gate, emerging in the fountain above with a splash as the bubble lost cohesion.

With a glance at the green energy dome holding back the weight of the Indian Ocean, I made my way to the silver circle of the water gate, nodded to the guards, and pushed through the barrier into the cold, dark depths.

Even at my best speed, it would take me seven days to reach Triton's home on the Californian coast, but at least those were here in this spatial time. Clenching my fists, I set out, rocketing through the water, but dampening the wake behind me. I wasn't about to cause a tsunami.

Why would Mist have been at Triton and Arachne's home? It wasn't likely a coincidence but—a memory of Triton holding the hand of a little girl who shared his blue hair and eyes flashed through my mind.

Damn. She'd mentioned we'd met when she was a child, but didn't tell me her father was Triton. Amazing Mist turned out so loyal and sensible, given her parents' narcissistic personalities. I winced, imagining their response when she'd become a Valkyrie, the antithesis of her self-absorbed parents.

Still, surely Triton would pull his head out of his ass long enough to find a trace of Mist's whereabouts. I would not take no for an answer.

If Mist wasn't here on Litaui, and they weren't likely to take her to Tír na nÓg, where would Nemain have taken her? Not Jotunheim or Vanaheim. Neither of those realms wanted to piss off Asgard. It'd be a foolhardy conspirator that helped them on those planets, as they'd have to fool Heimdall's sight as well.

Kunlan? A bit of an unknown, but given the way Lu Dongbin and Ao Run had aided Loki, Shannon, and Elatha, I'd be surprised if the Winter Realm had any Shen conspirators. A pit opened in my chest as considered the remaining known realms.

Muspelheim. Niflheim.

Fuck.