“Um, Karen,” Caroline said.
I shook my head, running my binoculars back across the tree line. He couldn’t have just vanished. People don’t just vanish.
“Karen, uh...”
I frowned as I turned to Caroline. “Did you just see a—”
The words died in my mouth. The man in the black suit was standing next to my car, smiling. He was tall, way too tall, with icy, feral eyes. I felt a surge of cold panic and stepped backward, banging my thighs against the hood of my Subaru.
“Karen, this is my husband,” Caroline said, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Sorry about the, um, awkward introduction.”
The man smiled at me, showing his teeth, and I was unpleasantly reminded of the alpha of the Leopold pack. 457M.
“What the fuck?” I hissed, pressing a hand against the hood of my Subaru to keep from falling backward.
“Hi,” he said, nodding at me with that disturbing smile.
Then he bent to Caroline and their lips met. His hands ran along the curve of her stomach as they kissed. I turned away, took a deep breath, and brushed the gathering snow off my binoculars. When I turned back they were still pressed together, her arms around his hips. It was suddenly difficult to watch the way his hands caressed her stomach, the way their bodies bent together.
He had been good to me, when I was pregnant, I thought, and my heart ached. For all the shitty times we had before, and for all the shitty times we had after, Barry fucking Richardson had been good to me when I was pregnant.
I coughed discretely to get their attention. My phone rang. I blinked. I didn’t even think I got cell phone service out here. It took me a minute of fumbling with the pocket of my flannel lined jeans before I could pull out my phone. The screen flashed Diana.
What the fuck?
I swiped the screen and bringing the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“I don’t want him here,” Diana said.
“Excuse me?” I turned to Caroline and the fucking creepy guy in the black suit. They were both watching me with wide eyes. “I think you dialed the wrong number. This is Karen, Karen McDonald from MSU.”
Diana made a sharp, impatient noise. “I know who you are!” There was a pause, and she exhaled loudly. “Bring him to me,” she said, and she hung up.
Very slowly, I put the phone back in my pocket. I felt like the world had just begun to tilt. Caroline’s husband laughed.
“She’s charming, isn’t she?” he asked.
“Who’s charming?” I said, frowning at him.
“Forgive me,” he said, extending his palm towards me. “I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Loki Laufeyiarson.”
“Excuse me?” I did not take his hand. “Low... Key?”
“Loki,” he said, dropping his hand. “You know, they used to name cities after me.”
“One city,” said Caroline.
Loki turned to her, smiling. “It’s a nice city.”
“More of a town, really,” she said.
Loki brushed her cheek with his hand and then looked up, his eyes on the southern horizon. “You’re right,” he said. “Something’s gone wrong here.”
“Hang on,” I said, raising my hands as I looked up and down the empty highway. “Where did you come from? How did you even get out here?”
“Let’s talk about that in the car, shall we?” Loki said, opening the passenger door. “Diana is expecting us, is she not?”
The world tilted again as I climbed in the driver’s seat. Caroline and Loki both sat in the back seat, their hands intertwined. Somehow that just made everything worse, more surreal and disturbing and impossible. I adjusted the rearview mirror so I wouldn’t have to look at them as I guided the car onto the snow-gusted highway.
Loki.
Something about that bizarre name tugged at the edges of my mind. I reached for the thought, and it was gone.
Snow was coming down heavily now, coating the road, and my hands tightened on the steering wheel. The Absaroka Mountains loomed in front of me as my Subaru climbed toward Cooke City, and I had the distinctly uncomfortable feeling that I was driving into a box canyon. With no exit.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Diana’s little log cabin nestled in the mountains outside Cooke City, a summertime tourist destination town that was almost entirely deserted in the winter, aside from a handful of survivalist nuts. Nuts like Diana. Conditions on Route 212 got progressively worse as my Subaru edged into the gloaming. At least the slick road conditions made it slightly easier to ignore Loki and Caroline whispering to each other in the back seat. In a language that didn’t sound much like English.
It was completely dark when I reached Diana’s long, windy road. Pine trees loomed over her driveway, dark and foreboding. I cut the engine, and my car flooded with the noise of Diana’s hound dogs baying through the windows.
The cabin’s front door swung open. Diana stood in the entryway, silhouetted in her yellow porch light. Her dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and her arms were crossed. She did not look happy to see us. I reached for my door handle and hesitated. I’d only been to Diana’s house once before, and that was just a ten-minute stop to verify a reading on one of her satellites. We weren’t exactly BFFs.
But hadn’t she wanted us to come here? Biting my lip, I forced myself to open the car door and step out.
“Hi, Diana,” I said, raising my hand in a tiny wave.
Diana turned to her dogs and made a noise like a small explosion deep in her throat. The hounds fell silent. My voice died in my mouth when I saw her hip. She was wearing a holster, with an actual gun. And not a hunting rifle either. A real fucking pistol. I froze halfway between my car and her front door.
Loki walked past me and extended his hand toward Diana, his palm up. He said something in a language I couldn’t understand. Diana shook her head, scowling.
“You do not enter my dwelling,” Diana said.
“You’ll entertain us in the snow, then?” Loki asked, sweeping his hand toward her driveway. “You’re the one who requested my presence, after all.”
“You showed up on my doorstep, Lie-smith,” Diana growled.
Diana and Loki glared at each other. A low growl echoed off the trees, and I wasn’t sure if it came from the dogs or Diana.
“Karen!” Diana called.
I jumped. “Me?”
“Do you know how to find Jake’s Grill?” she barked.
“What?” I asked.
Diana tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, for the love. Look, it’s a restaurant on Main Street. There’s only two restaurants on Main Street, and one of them is closed right now. I’ll meet you there.”
She turned her back to us, slamming the door closed behind her. Her porchlight snapped off, and I blinked as my eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. Then a low, deep rumble ripped through the night air, and I jumped again. Seconds later a single headlight split the darkness and an enormous motorcycle tore past me, headed down the road. I caught a glimpse of Diana’s long hair streaming out from under the rider’s helmet.
“Oh,” I said, weakly. “I guess Diana has a motorcycle.”
I followed Loki back into my car, trying to ignore how violently my legs were shaking.
“Jake’s Grill,” Loki said from the backseat. “Ah, now that sounds regal.”
I started the car and edged out of the snow-covered driveway, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel as I followed the single tire track of Diana’s motorcycle.
“So, is this where you tell me you’ll answer all my questions at dinner?” I asked.
Loki laughed. “Oh, what fun would it be if all your questions were answered?”
Caroline’s hand squeezed my shoulder, and she gave me a little smile through the rearview mirror. “I know this is all a little...much,” she said. “I apologize. I wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t important.”
I sighed. “Let me guess. You’re not really a professor.”
Caroline huffed from t
he backseat, and Loki laughed again. “Yes, I am a professor,” she snipped. “I wasn’t referring to my career.”
“And there is something weird here,” Loki said. “There’s certainly something wrong.”
That’s what Vali said, I realized. Suddenly, I felt very cold.
THE PARKING LOT AT Jake’s Bar N’ Grill was empty, save Diana’s massive motorcycle. One sad, pale lamp flickered above the front door, its bulb already half obscured by falling snow.
“Regal,” I muttered.
I swung open the door, and a tired, older waitress gave me a passing glance. “Meeting your friend, are ya? Go on in,” the waitress said, hooking a thumb at the empty dining room.
Diana was sitting alone in the dining room under an impressive assortment of stuffed animal heads and a disturbingly graphic oil painting of Custer’s last stand. The ferocity of her gaze made my steps falter in the doorway. Loki pushed past me and sat down across from her. I was reminded again of the Leopold pack’s male alpha, 457M. The way he and Vali had bared their teeth at each other, circling and growling. The waitress followed me to the table, handing us plastic-laminated menus after Caroline and I sat down. Mine felt sticky.
“Drinks?” she asked.
“Just water for me,” Caroline answered. She looked tired under the restaurant’s fluorescent lights.
“I’m good with beer,” I muttered. “Whatever’s on tap.”
The waitress nodded and turned to Loki.
“Do you happen to have a wine list?” he asked, with a wide smile.
The waitress frowned at him. “We’ve got both kinds,” she said. “Red and white.”
“Wonderful. I’ll have a glass of the red.”
Diana said nothing. The waitress shrugged and left. Aside from the faint sounds of country music drifting out of the swinging kitchen doors, the dining room was completely silent.
“You’re making a mistake,” Diana finally said, her voice low and threatening as thunder.
“Oh, I know,” said Loki. “I’m sure the wine will be terrible.”
I snorted a laugh at that and tried to turn it into a cough. “So,” I said, turning to Diana. “You know this, uh, Loki?”
“Regrettably,” Diana said. Her stony frown told me I wasn’t about to get any more information out of her.
“Yeah, about that.” I forced myself to turn to Loki. “How did you get here? I mean, did someone just drop you off in the middle of the Lamar Valley? Because that’s not a safe stunt to pull. The conditions out there can be really dangerous, and if you’re not prepared—”
Loki started laughing. My voice trailed off. He leaned back in his chair, and the air around him flickered and shimmered, like the edge of a candle flame. His face changed, shifted, became longer and more predatory. His red hair rose to float above his shoulders like fire, burning and dancing.
I shoved back against my chair. “Oh, my God,” I gasped.
Caroline cleared her throat. “Norse, actually,” she said. “Norse gods.”
Oh, shit. I screwed my eyes shut. That’s where I’d heard his name. The Norse gods. Odin. Thor.
“And Loki,” I whispered, forcing myself to open my eyes.
Loki was looking more or less human again, thankfully. He raised an eyebrow at me. “At your service.”
I tried to suppress my shudder. “I don’t know what you’re supposed to be the god of.”
“Charm, good looks, and wit,” Loki said. “Of course, you may wish to inquire into your friend’s true nature as well.”
“You’re fucking kidding me,” I hissed, turning to Caroline. She didn’t look especially Nordic, not with her black hair and Roman nose, but what the hell did I know?
Caroline’s cheeks flushed a deep red. “Oh, not me! I’m from San Diego,” she stammered.
A shiver ran the length of my body as I turned from Caroline to Diana. She was tall, Diana. Tall and strong and beautiful. Perhaps a little too tall, too strong, and too beautiful.
“Diana,” I said. “Ah, damn. That’s the moon, right? The moon goddess?”
“Among other things,” Diana said coolly. “The moon. The hunt. Childbirth. And all wild creatures are under my purvey.”
Loki snorted. “I’m sure that’s a great comfort to their barely sentient little brains. But don’t fool yourself. He’s no more a beast than you or I.”
Another shiver worked its way down my spine. “Why are you here?” I said.
“Yes,” Diana echoed. “Why are you here, Loki?”
“Because he broke free,” Loki said. “In August. He escaped the prison.”
Cold settled over my arms and legs as heavy as ice. August. Vali’s face burned in my mind, his golden eyes and wide smile as the wind lifted his hair from his back.
You did this? he said. I knew you were special.
“I’ve been tracking him for ages,” Loki continued. “This is the first time he’s ever broken the prison.”
Diana leaned forward. “And did it ever occur to you he’s been running away from you, you selfish son of a bitch?”
“I’d say that’s been quite obvious for at least the last century. And don’t insult my mother.” Loki gave Diana a smile that showed all his teeth.
“Who?” My voice sounded very small. “Who broke free in August?”
Loki and Diana glared at each other across the table. Caroline’s cheeks burned, and she appeared to be studying the horrible oil painting very intently.
“Who?” I asked again. “Who are you talking about?”
“Salads,” the waitress said from behind me, making me jump. She leaned across the table, handing out bowls of what looked like shredded iceberg lettuce. Then she gave us each a tumbler glass filled with ranch dressing.
“Dinners’ll just be a minute more,” she said.
Caroline took a few, tentative bites from her bowl of lettuce as the waitress retreated.
“It’s no matter,” Diana said, finally. “You won’t find him.”
“Of course I will,” said Loki. “We’ve got something he wants.”
All three of them turned to look at me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” I stammered. “I’m just here because she,” I gestured to Caroline, “wanted to see Yellowstone.”
“Really?” said Loki. The air in front of him shimmered and rippled. His face shifted, flickering like a flame.
And then I was staring at Vali. Handsome, impossible Vali, with his long, dark hair and high cheekbones. His golden eyes. He was sitting just across the table, painfully close to me. I almost reached for him, almost sank my fingers into his hair and pulled those soft lips to mine—
“You’ve never seen me?” Loki’s voice came through Vali’s lips.
Adrenaline spiked, and my heart leapt, clattering against my ribcage. My muscles tensed as my whole body cried out to run.
“Who the hell are you?” I hissed, gripping the edge of the table as if I could somehow force reality to go back to normal by squeezing something really fucking hard.
“I am Loki, father of Vali. And I’m trying to free him.” He paused. “It’s time for him to come home.”
“No.” I forced myself to my feet. “I won’t help you find him. If he’s running from you, there’s a reason.”
Diana gave a smug smile. “Thank you, Karen. Lie-smith, you are most unwelcome here. I suggest you depart. Immediately.”
Loki turned to me. For a heartbeat his face flickered; something deep and angry flashed in his eyes. “Please,” he said, the word falling like a stone from his lips.
I shuddered. I’d run away from him too.
“No,” I said.
Loki’s expression did not change, but he seemed smaller somehow. Caroline took his hand. She was still staring at the painting, although it looked like she was about to cry.
“Karen, you may stay with me tonight,” Diana said. “The road to Bozeman will be impassable.”
“Thanks,�
� I muttered. “But, Caroline - your flight leaves tomorrow morning, right?”
Caroline glanced around the empty restaurant before speaking. “I don’t actually have a flight,” she said. “I don’t really travel that way anymore. And don’t worry, we’ll pay for your dinner.” She turned to Loki.
And they fucking disappeared.
One minute, Caroline was sitting in front of me, saying something crazy about not having a flight home. The next, I was alone with Diana in the empty dining room of Jake’s Bar N’ Grill, staring at the glassy eyes of stuffed deer heads on the wall.
“Whoa,” I said, sinking back into my seat. “This is quickly turning into the craziest night of my life.”
Diana stood. “I’ll see you shortly.”
I watched as she disappeared through the front door. Snow swirled into the dining room behind her. The low growl of Diana’s motorcycle thundered through the dining room and faded, leaving me listening to the clatter and hiss of the kitchen. Somewhere, someone was singing about whiskey for their men and beer for their horses.
“Hey, you want a to-go box or somethin’?” the waitress called.
I turned to see her standing by the kitchen doors with a tray, holding four untouched dinners and a pitcher of piss-pale beer.
I forced a big, happy smile. “Sure. Boxes would be great.”
I REALLY DIDN’T WANT to drive back to Diana’s house.
For a second, as I pulled my Subaru away from Jake’s Grill, I thought there was a chance I could make it back to Bozeman if I just drove really slowly and carefully. But after skidding out at the one and only stop sign in Cooke City, I had to admit Diana was right. The road were impassable, and snow was still coming down. The Park Service had probably lowered the gates over Route 212, meaning I really did have nowhere else to go. I sighed and turned onto the road to Diana’s house. The single tire track of her motorcycle was already filled with a thin layer of fresh snow.
Diana’s door swung open when I pulled into her driveway, and a fresh round of barking and howling greeted me as Diana stepped into the driveway. She still looked angry, with her arms crossed over her formidable chest, but at least she wasn’t wearing her gun this time. I glanced at the four take-out boxes on the passenger seat, had a brief vision of myself getting knocked into the snow by Diana’s pack of enormous dogs, and decided to leave them in the car overnight. They’d probably freeze solid.
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