Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) by S.T. Bende

It’s the most
demanding, but also the most rewarding job a goddess can have.
Well, a non-titled goddess,” I corrected. “We get to protect the
gods who do Odin’s work. We’re responsible for making sure the
titleds—the gods who influence the fate of all the worlds—are safe.
We get to choose the human soldiers with valor and ære worthy to ascend to Asgard. And when we reach captain rank, if
we’ve served well and kept our focus on protecting the realm, then
the Goddess of Love will reward us with our perfekt match.
If we haven’t devoted ourselves to the work, well, then she leaves
it up to us to figure out our path. And hunt down our
partners.”
    Mia coughed, and I opened my eyes. “Shut the
front door. If you work hard and don’t screw around, she’ll hand
over your soul mate? Forget overprotective parent, she sounds like
a fairy godmother! That’s an amazing deal!”
    I wrinkled my nose. “It’s a good deal in
theory . But remember I’m immortal. Which means it could be tens
or hundreds of years before I get promoted to captain. And
that is a freaking long time to not date. I haven’t even kissed a
boy in over a century.” Until this morning’s debacle. But I was so not counting that as a kiss. Not out loud. Not ever.
    “Oh, Lord.” Mia leaned back in her chair,
deflated. “That’s a long time.” She sat up again and picked up a
brush. She dipped it in blush and applied it to my cheeks. “What
about Freya? Is she allowed to date?”
    “She can date.” I nodded. “But she can’t give
her heart away. If she gets too close to a guy, her obligation to
the Norns requires she break things off. Otherwise, she’s too
emotional to oversee her duties. She took a vow to remain neutral
in all things.” My eyes narrowed as I recited Freya’s mantra from
memory. “You can’t have perfekt control if you’re crazy in
love.”
    Mia handed me a mascara wand. She held up her
compact so I could do my lashes. “And that’s why she won’t let you
date until you make captain. She’s afraid you’ll lose control—put
whoever you fall in love with ahead of the realm.”
    “Exactly.” I finished the second coat and
handed back the wand. “It’s not a huge deal. I knew this when I
signed on for the job. And all things considered, Freya’s moved me
through the ranks really fast. I was a domestic valkyrie seventy
human years ago—I had to bring titled gods their groceries, just
like Mist is doing for you guys. And after that I joined a junior
squadron, a senior squadron, and served three tours—two in
Muspelheim, one in Jotunheim. When I was assigned as Tyr’s second
bodyguard a few years back, it was a really big deal. Nobody’s been
made second without at least two hundred years of service, well,
ever.”
    Mia zipped up her makeup bag and glanced up
the stairs. “You think Tyr had anything to do with that?”
    “Maybe.” I shrugged. “We were like family
growing up. It makes sense we’d work well together. Or…” I stared
at my cuticles.
    “Or?” Mia prompted.
    “Or maybe Freya felt bad for me. My folks
weren’t exactly thrilled when I joined up. They’ve made no secret
about wanting grandbabies.”
    Mia laughed. “Mine do that to me and Jason
too, though they’d die if we dropped out of college to start
a family. Well, either way, it looks like you’re tracking to move
up faster than most. So maybe your happily-evah-aftah is coming
sooner rather than later.”
    “Maybe.” I shrugged. I wasn’t sure what
scared me more—the prospect of living another hundred chaste years
in the convent of Saint Freya, or the day she presented me with my perfekt match. I’d always imagined it would be Henrik. But
after today, it seemed pretty clear that wasn’t happening.
Even if he had kissed me back, one look at his ex and I knew for
sure I wasn’t his type. Leggy fairy I was not.
    But I was a scrappy little warrior. And it
was time to rebuild that black box and compartmentalize my