Modern Goddess: Trapped by Thor (Book One) Read Free

different, those gods –
they were far humbler, far nicer. They were also far less likely to
take a chunk out of your desk or threaten you with a lightning
bolt.
    I offered a bare smile then hid it with a
cough. “What is your reason for visiting, god of Barely
Enough?”
    “ I’m visiting a refugee
camp.”
    My heart quietened. “Work,
then?”
    “ Work,” Tolus confirmed with a
nod that saw his thin head jut forward too fast.
    “ You agree to obey the
rules?” I asked softly.
    “ Oh yes. I respect the right of
every being to choose their own path. I will offer comfort and
solace where they are sought – I will not intervene directly,” as
Tolus spoke, his eyes widened, his lips spread a touch, and his
thin hair brushed against the top of his head. It was always the
details like those I noticed.
    Details made the picture. If you noted – if
you immersed yourself in every second, in every line, in every
color, in every stroke, in every feature – you could reconstruct
reality from the bottom up.
    “ Very well. Please sign this
binding contract, and you will be on your way.” I pushed the sacred
scroll towards him.
    As Tolus signed it in his shaky scribble,
the scroll came to life. Every time a god or goddess put their name
down to a binding contract, they breathed life into it. They signed
their name to it, and in doing so, everything that god stood for
poured into the contract. They ratified it with their own divine
power.
    “ Good luck.” I smiled at
Tolus as he got up to leave. I meant it, though I shouldn't have
been saying it. To me, every god should be a detail on a contract.
If the facts aligned, I let them in. It was a simple system. I
should treat them all the same and have no particular like or
dislike for any one of them.
    I stowed the freshly signed contract in
one of the drawers of my desk and watched the god of Barely Enough
walk through the door, back hunched, but head held forward, his
watery eyes staring ahead with determination. For all the gods of
victory who passed through my office, the difference in Tolus' gaze
was so distinct it sent a shiver down my spine. Tolus stared at the
world with the determination and knowledge that whatever came, he
wouldn't defeat it – he would survive it.
    It left a chill in my belly and a thoughtful
expression playing across my face. An expression which froze as I
heard a commotion in the hallway.
    “ Make way,” a triumphant
voice boomed.
    I knew that voice, oh god (and any god
would do), I knew that voice!
    I jumped up from my desk, my half-full cup
of cocoa spilling, and I ran to the door. My worst suspicions were
confirmed when I saw a god marching down the corridor towards my
office. Thor, Zeus, Jupiter – whatever you wanted to call him. The
god of lightning. The god of victory. The god of being a bloody,
self-righteous annoyance of divine proportions.
    He sauntered towards my door dressed today
like Thor – his Viking helmet glittering as if trapped within was a
galaxy of stars. His chest puffed out so much the sparkling golden
breastplate appeared to pop from his torso. His footfall was heavy,
his boots clapping against the glass floor with all the dramatic
commotion of an army of beating horse hooves.
    Tolus, unfortunately for him, didn't get out
of Thor's way fast enough, and soon the Nordic god of thunder
crashed rudely right into his back. “You there,” Thor thundered,
literally, “Get out of my way.”
    I gritted my teeth and walked forward,
pushing my thick black-rimmed glasses up my nose. “Excuse me,” I
said officiously before Thor had a chance to whip out Mjollnir –
his sacred hammer – and bop Tolus right on the head. “We do not
permit...” I paused, not sure what I was going to say next. Running
in the corridor? Shouting like a football coach outside of people's
offices? Carrying a hammer with you to a meeting with your
immigration officer? The truth was, I couldn't say any of those
things because they were all permitted