Monsters : I Bring the Fire Part II (A Loki Story)
Page 22
The words crash into Loki like a bucket of cool water. They are telling the truth.
Loki’s grip on Brett slackens, almost against his volition, his state of semi-inebriation affecting his control. “But why now? I’ve been calling on her for weeks...”
“She’s never been passed out drunk before,” Bryant says through gritted teeth.
“And Gerðr has told us about Asgardian morality,” Brett snarls.
Oh. Loki rolls his eyes. “Yes, I suppose some men would find Amy being unconscious a convenient accident.”
“Here we’d call it rape,” Bryant hisses.
Loki goes hot with the mortal’s insinuation. “I don’t need to get a woman passed out drunk to spread her legs. I’m not Odin!”
Letting Brett go, he steps over Bryant’s legs — and almost trips in the process. He snorts at his own clumsiness. “And besides, sex with an unconscious woman would be so...so...boring.”
Suddenly in a forgiving mood, he drops the blinding lights hovering around their eyes.
Above them the lights of Amy’s neighbors come on. A man, the fiance of Jan, Amy’s sometime dog sitter, comes out, a broomstick in his hand like a baseball bat.
Loki makes himself visible — and gives himself and Brett and Bryant the guise of police officers. Smiling upward he says, “No need to call the police, we’re already here!”
“Did someone break in?” the neighbor says.
“Tried to but, we scared him off!” says Loki with a wave.
“Uh...okay...” says the man. “You having a Halloween Party at the precinct?”
Loki leans on a leg and stares upward, his mouth open, unsure of what to make of that question.
“Yes,” says Brett quickly as he helps his brother get up.
“Go back inside,” says Bryant, grimacing in pain. “We’ll handle this and give you the rundown when we’re done.”
“This is my building!” the man says.
“Don’t want to disturb any evidence,” says Brett quickly.
Loki smirks. They must really want to keep his presence here under wraps.
“Okay,” says the neighbor uncertainly, but he goes back inside.
Loki sees lights along the block come on and hears doors and windows opening. Feeling safe enough in the police officer uniform, he turns back to Brett and Bryant and says, “No, the only thing worse than an unconscious partner is a partner who fakes her orgasms.” Shuddering involuntarily, Loki says, “It’s like the sound of cockatrice nails on steel. Can’t stand it.” He shudders again. “The worse sort of lie and I hate being lied to.”
“You’re...drunk...” Bryant says, eyes widening.
Loki shrugs. “What makes you think so?”
“Besides the monologue?” says Brett.
“You’re blue,” says Bryant.
Backing up, Loki looks down at his hands. They are still blue. “Basilisk dung,” Loki whispers.
He looks longingly towards Amy’s door. Her bed is warm and soft, but the two agents are still glaring at him suspiciously. He can’t try his luck. Turning, he’s about to leave when a thought occurs to him. Skin going hot, he says, “If you thought Miss Lewis was in such danger, why did it take you so long to come to her rescue?”
Brett and Bryant glance at each other, looking slightly abashed.
Loki sneers at them. “You both deserve broken arms,” but he doesn’t feel like administering that justice just now. Shaking his head he wills the blue to vanish from his skin. He starts to walk away, but Brett calls out, “Steve said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
Loki turns back to him. Brett stands, arm locked with his brother’s, gaze locked on Loki.
“We were defying his orders when we came in,” Brett says.
“We had a bit of an argument first,” says Bryant.
Loki lifts an eyebrow, suddenly feeling something like affection — toward Steve for understanding, or the two small scrappy mortals who would risk their careers defying orders, he can’t tell. Either way, he blames the sentiment on the alcohol.
He’s suddenly very hungry. And he’d like another drink.
Without looking back, he walks down the street towards a familiar watering hole on Taylor Street, not worried if he is being followed.
The establishment is nearly empty and just about to close when he arrives. Wet from his short trip in the rain, he slides up to the bar and orders the usual. Turning around he surveys his surroundings. A curvy brunette he’s noticed several times before catches his eye from a booth and smiles.
His eyebrows go up. Taking that as an invitation, she walks across the floor in his direction. She’s wearing a burgundy wrap dress with a deep v-neck that does nothing to hide her very generous breasts. Despite the hardness around her eyes, she has a tiny perky nose, and perfectly shaped bow lips that give her a young appearance. She’s just his type. He smirks. How interesting.
x x x x
Steve is in his new, non-magically sealed office — he stopped watching the clock around 2 a.m.. Rain from the freak storm has moved into Chicago. It has been beating on his window for hours now. Sometimes it lessens to a drizzle, but it doesn’t let up.
Leaning back in his chair, he crosses his hands over his stomach. He is glaring up at Brett and Bryant. They’re wet and shivering, Bryant’s arm is in a cast. They both look abashed, and very nervous. Good.
“We depend on Loki’s trust right now and you’ve gone a long way to destroying that trust,” Steve says, his tone clipped. He rocks back in his chair and says nothing for a few minutes, just letting them squirm.
Bryant coughs. Brett clears his throat.
Glaring at them Steve says, “There’s no ‘I’ in the word ‘team,’ Gentlemen.” It’s a cliche, but effective.
Both men shuffle their feet.
From the front of the office comes the sound of voices. Steve sits up in his chair. Director Jameson strolls in Steve’s door like he owns the place, two men in black he’s brought up from DC right behind him. Smiling down at Steve, Jameson bobs his head. “I did it, Agent Rogers.”
Steve’s breath comes out of him in a rush, and his jaw drops. Outside the office, he hears other agents who are part of Jameson’s D.C. posse shouting. “Guantanamo has been notified! They’re prepping the room. They’ll be ready for us.”
Steve half stands from his chair.
Outside in the hallway someone else shouts, “The plane with the Promethean containment cell is on its way!”
“What?” Steve says, turning to Jameson.
Jameson’s smile turns to a self-satisfied smirk and he tilts his head. “I’ve just caught Loki — and I’m going to keep him. And get some real answers.”
To be continued in “I Bring the Fire: Part III ~ Chaos”
For a sneak peek, follow me on Tumblr at: www.ibringthefireodin.tumblr.com, or email me at: cgockel.publishing@gmail.com.
Other works by C. Gockel
In the I Bring the Fire Series:
I Bring the Fire: Part I Wolves
Monsters: I Bring the Fire Part II
Chaos: I Bring the Fire Part III
I also have a short story called, Murphy’s Star.
Author's Note:
Thank you for taking a chance on this self-published novel and seeing it to the end.
Because I self-publish, I depend on my readers to help me get the word out. If you enjoyed this story, please let people know on Facebook, Twitter, in your blogs, and when you talk books with your friends.
Thank you again!
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Other Works & Author's Note