The Ides of July // Loki - Book 1 ✓

Epilogue

ANNA FIDDLES with the silver bracelet on her wrist. It's been a month since she returned to Earth with Thor, a month since she admitted she loved Loki, a month since Odin separated them and sent his son back to the dungeons.

It feels like it's been years without him.

She still can't remember what happened when she left Asgard nor does she remember arriving at the Avengers Tower in New York. Apparently, Thor realized that he and Tony had been manipulated by that bastard Magnus in the same way Loki was - through the ones they loved. She doesn't know when, but Restitution took advantage of her - manipulated her, tortured her, and implanted a kill switch loaded with a deadly virus in her - all for what? Some stupid cube? It still doesn't quite make sense, but Tony insists that it does.

After all, Thor would never have agreed to Restitution's terms. Even with Jane at risk, it would be far easier to manipulate Loki - the broken brother - than the god of thunder. No, the endgame with Thor and Tony and the rest of the Avengers was simply to get them out of the way.

Lucky for Restitution, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were both running around the East Coast doing something that had to do with Steve's old war buddy, Bucky Barnes. She saw the footage on TV, the destruction in DC. Some curvy redhead, a journalism student at George Washington University, was interviewed by CNN about the whole ordeal. Anna even caught a glimpse of Natasha - her sister, according to Magnus - standing on the street at the end of the chaos with some kind of a rocket launcher on her shoulder. She was arrested with two men, one of whom Anna didn't recognize, and a girl with purple in her hair who looked absolutely out of place. Part of her would much rather have dealt with Magnus' shit than whoever caused that colossal mess in DC.

Sighing, Anna shakes her head and walks into the restaurant where she's supposed to meet her parents for lunch. Tony didn't want her to go back to London, but she couldn't bear to stay in New York longer than necessary. After he did what he could to revive her, she booked the first ticket back home...or rather, Pepper did. Guilt racked her entire body every time she looked at the strawberry blonde and the bruises that speckled her pale skin, and she could no longer bear the presence of the people she had betrayed. Somehow it all went spectacularly wrong, and now here she is. Alone. Broken. Afraid.

Tony's one requirement was the simple silver bangle around her wrist. It had a distress signal built into it, activated by a codeword that only Anna knew, that would send out a homing beacon to Tony should Restitution find her again. The chances of it happening are slim, given the fact that the Avengers took great pleasure in demolishing their base, but it is still a possibility.

It matches the knotted silver ring on the middle finger of her right hand, which she twists nervously. The feeling of the cool metal against her skin is soothing, and it reminds her of Loki's cold lips pressing against the burns from Magnus' torture. She squeezes her eyes shut at the memory, pushing away the longing deep within her heart, and reopens her eyes as she follows the maître d' through the restaurant to where her adopted parents are waiting for her.

Her eyes land on a familiar brunette several tables in front of them, nervously chattering to a cute guy in a navy jacket.

"This was so fun" she hears the woman say, watching as she jumps up from her table and nearly collides with Anna.

"Jane?" Anna asks, her lips curving in a small smile for the first time in a month.

"Oh my god," Jane throws her arms around her, squeezing her friend tightly. "Anna? You're okay! I'm so glad you're okay. Did Loki--"

Anna's smile disappears, "Um...I..."

Jane sends an awkward smile at the man she left at her table before glancing at the exit. "Can you come with me?" She asks. "Please, please say yes."

The maître d' taps his foot, annoyance etched all over his face, and Anna can see her parents watching her from across the restaurant with timid smiles on their elderly faces. Exhaling, she nods at Jane. The astrophysicist giggles with delight, latching onto Anna's arm, and begins to drag her out of the restaurant.

"Where are we going?" Anna asks, not feeling the least bit guilty at the sound of her parents calling after her. Jane knows Thor and Thor knows Loki, so naturally Anna decides this is her best chance at finding her way back to him. She has to get back to him. Her heart leaps into her throat at the thought.

Jane grins, "There's an anomaly." 

Now playing: "Jump Into The Fog" by The Wombats

TO BE CONTINUED...

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