And why should I believe you? You joined your mother and stayed with her instead of returning to Asgard.
I refused to explain myself to a cat. “Do as I’ve instructed, furball, or I’ll come for you. You might enjoy spending a few centuries in Helheim. I have a feeling that dagger is more than what it seems.”
Of course, it is.
“Care to tell me what it is?”
In your dreams, Dragon. I wouldn’t trust you if you were the last animal in Midgard.
“What if I’m the new king of the gods?”
The cat laughed so hard she rolled on the ground. That’s a good one.
I would love to see her face when she found out. “Ask your mistress about me. I’m like her brother. I even brought Witches to protect her when Immortals attacked her a few weeks ago.”
Still doesn’t make you a good person. You’ll still fight the gods with your mother’s army. Go on. Your business is done, scaly.
Chuckling, I opened a portal for Celestia’s room. When I glanced over my shoulder, the cat had shifted into a normal size and was sleeping on Raine’s chest. “Don’t worry, furball. I have no intention of harming her.”
So you say. Just in case you get any ideas, I’m on duty 24/7, and I fight dirty.
“Just keep her and the dagger safe.”
The cat let out a string of words and glared at me. All I caught was good riddance.
~*~
Coffee woke me up the next day. Celestia was in her chipper mood, which told me she’d recovered. She asked more questions about my berserker powers, the runes Maliina etched on me, and the dagger, while we ate breakfast. We always came back to the dagger. Luckily, it was just the two of us. Her father had already left for work.
“They caught the two thieves before they entered the house. Dad said it’s better to get them on B&E than murder one.”
“What is B&E?”
“Breaking and entering. So did you talk to Raine?”
“No, I talked to her cat.”
“You talked to her cat? Seriously?” Celestia bust out laughing.
Her laughter packed quite a punch, and I grinned. “Seriously. She is a magical cat from Asgard, one of Goddess Freya’s. She projects her thoughts, so you hear her voice in your head. When she shifts, she looks like a panther, sleek and beautiful, but much bigger, until the annoying furball starts talking. She’s rude and foul-mouthed.”
Celestia laughed harder. “I want to meet her. What’s her name?”
“I don’t know. I called her furball, and she hated it. Menace would be a perfect fit for her. Before you meet that ornery cat, I want you to meet Raine. In the meantime, we are going to the hall or Mother will send a pack of Grimnirs to find me.” I nudged her inside her closet. “Change.”
“Now? I just want to crawl back in bed and make out. Hayden will bring my homework packets this afternoon, then I won’t have time for us.”
I cupped her face and studied it. “We’ll always make time for us. What’s wrong?”
“Everything. I’m begging you to make out with me.”
I wasn’t buying it. She was reluctant to go home with me. Why? I dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Change or I’ll do it for you.”
She closed one eye, then the other. “Who are you? What have you done with my Eirik who’d never dare bully me into doing things I don’t want to do.”
“And my Celestia doesn’t pout and hide behind ‘just tired.’ Go. Talk to me about whatever is bothering you when you are ready. Right now, Mother is waiting.”
She stuck her tongue out and entered her closet. I pulled out my artavus from inside my boot, leaned against the wall, and waited. She took her time putting on her winter boots and coat. Everything she did was graceful and riveting. If I didn’t know her, I’d say she was a dancer.
“You are staring,” she said.
I grinned. “I love watching you, and if you were honest, you’d admit you love it.”
She laughed. “Let’s go.”
“Does that mean you agree?”
“It means I want to know what your mother wants. In fact, I’m getting nervous thinking about it. Did she sound angry when she asked for me? Anxious?”
“She misses talking to you.” I opened the portal and stepped aside to let her walk ahead. “I saw that.”
“What?”
“The eye roll.” As usual, we weren’t the only ones arriving in Helheim, but the Grimnirs surprised me by focusing on Celestia. They all wanted to know how she was doing. Quite a few had seen us take her home unconscious and word spread fast in the hall.
Modgie shifted to human size and gave Celestia a long hug while Garm ran around and pawed the snow until she patted his cold nose and rubbed his fur. The hound licked her. She was still wiping the drool from her cheek when we passed the gate.
“I meant to ask you something. Do you have plans for tomorrow afternoon?” I asked.
“Homework packet Hayden is dropping off this evening. Why?”
“Can you take a break? I was thinking of bringing Trudy for a visit.”
“Oh, that would be fun. We could swing by the mall and catch a movie. Or go shopping. She’d love that.”
“I just wanted her to come and hang out at your place.”
“My place is boring. She needs to see what we have to offer. Leave it to me. I’ll tackle some of the packets tonight and tomorrow morning, and there’s always Sunday.”
Surprisingly, Trudy wasn’t ready to pounce on Celestia when we arrived. Mother was. She studied Celestia intently as though looking for residual wounds or signs of pain.
“She’s fine, Mother,” I said, my arm around Celestia. I nudged her forward and took Mother’s arm. “You two want to hug it out and get it out of the way.”
Mother chuckled while Celestia blushed.
“Run along, you impossible boy. Tell Maera to bring us something to drink and eat. We’ll be in the den. But first, I want her opinion on something. Come, dýrr mín.”
“You want me to leave you two alone?” I asked. “I don’t think so.”
“And what could she possibly do to me?” Mother asked. “I assume your concern is for me. If it’s not, I would be very insulted.”
Celestia grinned.
“She has a weird sense of humor, doesn’t she?” I said. “If she’s mean to you, let me know, and I’ll deal with her. You two behave.” I took off, but glanced back, expecting them to still be where I’d left them, but they were already headed toward the family quarters. Mother must have said something funny because Celestia’s laughter rang around the hall. I smiled as the effect of her laughter rolled over me. This place needed her just as much as I did.
I headed to the kitchen. As usual, there were Grimnirs in their hall eating. Since they reaped all over the realms, the kitchen was open 24/7. I searched the faces for Echo and Rhys, but they didn’t appear to be in the hall.
“Where have you been?” Maera asked when she saw me.
“With Celestia. Did you miss me?”
“Always. No one appreciates my meals like you do. Did you bring Celestia back this time? Trudy has been beside herself with worry.”
From her expression, Trudy wasn’t the only one. “I brought her, but she’ll be heading back home in a few hours.”
“This is her home, if you ask me. This constant back and forth between Midgard and Helheim cannot be good for both of you.”
I agreed. “She has school and her father.”
“She can learn here just as well, if you ask me.”
That was something to think about. “I’ll bring her to see you before she leaves. Can Trudy go with me to Celestia’s tomorrow afternoon?”
Maera blinked. “Why?”
“I promised her an outing. She and Celestia can do some shopping and maybe catch a movie and dinner.”
Maera didn’t mask her concern. “Do you think my baby is ready for that?”
“Trudy? There’s nothing that girl isn’t ready for.” Maera beame
d with pride at my words. “Celestia already has a list of places she wants them to visit. I have a feeling I’m going to regret suggesting this, but she was great in Nidavellir, Maera, and deserves an outing. She is ready. And I owe her.”
Maera chuckled. “You don’t owe her anything. She loves having people around her age to do things with. It doesn’t mean I don’t worry. You have no idea how important she is to me and… and… She is very important.”
“I know. Chief Skavnir mentioned it in passing.”
“Then you know that nothing should ever happen to her. Our people would be very angry.”
“I’ll guard her with my life,” I said, leaned down, and planted a kiss on her cheek. Even though she stood on a stool, she still came only to my chest. “I give you my word.”
“Thank you.” She sighed. “Of course, you’ll take good care of her. You are honorable. She can go with you tomorrow or any other day as long as it’s okay with your mother, and you give us a day or two to mentally prepare. Her father worries about her. She’s so impulsive.”
Mother wasn’t going to object. There were female workers—Dwarves and Jötnar who could sub for Trudy. “Thank you. Mother wants something to drink and eat delivered to the den for her and Celestia.”
Maera clicked her tongue. “She already told me that hours ago. From the way she’d gone on and on, you would have thought she was expecting her long lost child. I had to bake fresh pastries because you took so long to get here. How about you? Do you want something to eat?”
“Always. I had breakfast at Celestia’s place, but that was, uh, thirty minutes ago. Don’t bother sending it back to my quarters. I’ll pick it up on my way there. I just need to check on a few people. And no fattening foods for Celestia,” I added. “She is perfect the way she is.”
Maera laughed, her chest heaving. I left her and headed for the Grimnirs’ quarters. While most of them had homes on Earth, they also had private sleeping quarters in several endless hallways. The senior quarters were in the North wing. The Idun-Grimnirs’ was separate from the rest of them. Even though Rhys was an Idun-Grimnir-in-training, he still stayed with the seniors.
Most of the doors I passed had a name and/or a rune for each Grimnir, depending on their strengths or characteristics. Others just used their nicknames or family names, but the majority preferred unique bind runes.
I stopped outside Rhys’ room and knocked. I’d only been here once before. No one answered. I knocked again. A door opened down the hall and Nara stuck out her head.
“He’s out,” she said.
I moved closer to her. “Out as in outside the realm?”
“Out as in I snapped his neck again,” she said, not masking her annoyance. “He and Echo healed and went back at it again this morning. I looked for you to knock some sense into them, but you were gone.” She shook her head. “Idiots. Dev is not worth all this aggravation. We have a lot more things to worry about.”
“Like what?”
“Maliina is back.”
Damn. That evil soul had escaped the realm by hijacking a Grimnir and messing with the poor girl’s head and abilities. She’d also etched dark runes on Cora and me while working for Norns.
“I thought you already caught her?”
“No, she disappeared once she got back to Earth. We tried to find her, but the trail got cold. Then we heard rumors from Grimnirs reaping in Europe. She didn’t even bother to possess animals like most runaway souls. Instead, she’d gone straight to Mortals, landing a lot in psych wards across the continent. Now she’s back in the US. Echo is going to go ballistic when he finds out she’s escaped.”
“Not a smart move keeping this from him.” Maliina had imitated Cora and later tried to kill her. “Who let her escape in the first place?”
“No one let her escape,” Nara snapped. “I was training two rookies and took them to the boat to introduce them to Oskrud. It wasn’t their fault Maliina chose to possess the girl. She took off toward the cave, we thought meeting Oskrud spooked her.”
I chuckled when the whole situation was anything but funny. The Jötun had a nasty battle scar across the right side of his face and one useless eye, which was bulgy and tended to roll in its socket.
“He should wear an eye patch.”
“I know. His useless eye fell, and he was pushing it back in the socket, so I assumed the stupid girl was spooked. Turned out Maliina had already jumped into her body. Once she recovered from the possession, we kicked her off the program. She’s helping souls inside the hall now, and that’s where she’ll stay until I say so. Don’t mention any of this to Echo.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Outside your parents, you and Syn are about the only ones in the hall who go toe-to-toe with him. I was surprised Rhys did. My cousin is usually more diplomatic. Anyway, I need to hit the gym if I want to be ready when he wakes up again.”
I checked on Echo, but he wasn’t at his place either. Annoyed, I left the Grimnir quarters, stopped by the kitchen, where Maera insisted on carrying the food to my quarters.
“You don’t ask me to do your job, and I won’t have you do mine,” she insisted. A group of Grimnirs walking by overheard her and laughed. One of them was the big guy I fought when I started training in their gym. “You’d better not be laughing at me, Jeff, or no extra dessert for you,” she threatened.
“No, ma’am. We think it’s funny Baldurson is arguing with you. You never lose an argument.”
Maera nodded. “That’s because I’m always right. You’ll get your special dessert tonight after all, Jeff.”
“Tomorrow night, Maera. I’m going off the realm on a date.” The big guy grinned. “I think she’s the one.” Maera congratulated him and asked to see a picture, which Jeff promised to bring tomorrow. His friends teased him as they continued out of the hall.
“That’s good news. I like seeing young people happy.” She sighed. “If only my oldest would find someone. Lead the way, Rising Star, and I’ll follow with this.”
I heard her, but my focus was on a lone Grimnir seated at a table. “I think I will join Echo, Maera. He and I need to talk.” I headed his way and took the chair across from his. He didn’t look up. Maera, who’d followed me, placed a tray of sandwiches, a pitcher of juice, and a tumbler in front of me.
“Son, you are too young to be so gloomy,” she said, eyeing Echo. “Find me after your meal.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Echo said dutifully, but it was obvious he wasn’t too thrilled about it. The Dwarf might joke around with the Grimnirs, but she ran the halls. She was a mother figure to most of them and the person they went to when they needed to talk or had complaints. When she gave an order, they listened. I watched her push the trolley away. She stopped at other tables to chat.
“Do you sit alone because people don’t like you, or because you don’t like them?”
Echo studied me with an expression hard to read. “I like my own company, which is my way of saying get lost.”
He was still in a shitty mood. “I need answers.”
Echo looked around the hall at the other Grimnirs, who weren’t hiding their interest in us, before focusing on me. “Why me?”
“One, your table was emptier than most. Two, you’ll give me a straight answer, no matter how unpleasant it is. The others”—I glanced around the room—“will have a problem doing that. Three, my info people are missing.”
“Rhys,” he spat out.
“Who is Dev and why do you dislike him so much?”
“None of your business.”
I grinned. His smile was cold.
“Had a fight with Cora?”
He stopped smiling, and the look he gave me said one more word and he’d slug me. “What do you want, junior?”
“Call me that again and I’ll throw the first punch, because it’s obvious you are looking for a fight.”
His eyes lit up at the prospect. “Do it.”
“I have more important things to do than wreck th
e hall. You are a Druid and your people were pretty magical, right?”
He went quiet for a long time, but the expression on his face said it all. He didn’t want to answer my question. Maybe he had a fight with Cora, or maybe he just hated talking about the past.
“Maybe you can’t remember. I know you are kind of old, probably senile, and you might look like you are in your”—I studied him, ignoring the glow in his eyes that says he was getting pissed—“twenties, but your mind must be going downhill.”
Echo closed his eyes and muttered, “One more word out of you, and I’ll rip you apart, Eirik.”
He wouldn’t stand a chance against me, but we might destroy the hall and piss off Mother. “Then, answer my questions and I’ll leave.”
He opened his eyes, and I was happy to see they were back to normal. The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Fine. We were magical. Now go away.”
“Did you have necromancers among your people?”
Rage flashes in his eyes. “If this is about Rhys and his plans for Dev, then this conversation is over.” He got up.
“This is about Hayden, and how she brought Tammy back.”
Tension left him and interest sparked in the depth of his eyes. He sat down, his eyes narrowing. “She shouldn’t have done it. Necromancy is one of the worst things a Witch or a Mortal should dabble in. She got lucky Tammy’s soul was close by. In most cases, you end up with soulless beings, zombies and Draugar. ”
“I don’t think Hayden is evil. She brought her mother back to find closure. Are there other ways of bringing back the dead that doesn’t involve a spell?”
Echo continued to study me, frowning. “Yes, but that kind of gift is rare.”
“What gift is that?”
“The ability to channel nwyfre or life force into another and heal them or seal their spiritual and physical form. Even my people, who were about the most magical people in the world, only had one person with that ability when I was growing up. He was the healer and people came from all over the land to seek his help, but there was one thing he rarely did, and that was bring back a dead person to life. We believed death was just part of a life’s process. You died and your body was burned along with your staff, runes, and other personal magical talismans, so your spirit could continue on with the power, knowledge, and wisdom these things gave you when you were alive. To channel your life force into a person is a selfless act and very few are lucky to have the gift. I’d seen our healer do that once and it took him weeks to recover.”
Gods Page 10
