Eye of the Beholder

by Dana Marie Bell

Travis reached for the bags, only wanting to hold them so she could catch a nap, but she growled and clutched them to her chest. With a laugh he held up his hand. “Right, do not get between the pregnant lady and the food.”

  When the three of them stared at him, shocked speechless, he realized exactly what he’d said. Crap. “Um, what I meant was—”

  “We’re pregnant?” Kir’s hand immediately went to Jordan’s stomach, rubbing protectively over where the baby was. His eyes turned to spring skies instantly, white clouds drifting lazily across brilliant blue. “He’s right. We’re pregnant, Logan. Two weeks along.”

  Logan took a deep breath, his eyes riveted to Jordan’s stomach. His hands clenched on the leather seats as he gulped. “Holy fuck.”

  Exactly. What had they expected with a fertility god? How Logan hadn’t wound up pregnant over the years was still a mystery to Travis, as Logan, an expert shapeshifter, hadn’t only been in male form over the centuries. Travis cleared his throat. “Maybe we should get her home.” He glanced over at Jordan to see a dazed, terrified look in her eyes. “Yeah. That might be good.”

  “Twins.” Kir’s voice deepened as Baldur roused, the feel of his child under his palm making the fertility god smile. “I can feel them. One born of me, one born of you.”

  Travis smiled. He wondered if he and Jamie would eventually have twins. From the look of things, if he ever got her into his bed and his life, the odds were good he’d have to think of two baby names instead of one since Odin’s line seemed to be chock full of them.

  The two men looked at each other, hope and fear warring with the shock on both their faces.

  Logan turned to Jordan. “You’re out of the fight.”

  That got a reaction out of Jordan. “Logan—”

  “I am not losing another child to Grimm!”

  Travis shut his eyes, but the overwhelming scent of burning leather nearly choked him. He opened the passenger side window to let some fresh air in and hopefully calm Logan down.

  He turned back to find both Kir and Jordan had hold of Logan and were stroking him. Logan was shaking like a leaf.

  Travis got out of the car and walked around to the driver’s side. He pulled open the door. “Out.” He tugged until a wild-eyed Logan stood, shoving the other man into the back seat with Kir and Jordan. “Keys.”

  They were handed to him by Kir with a nod of thanks. Travis watched as the three curled around each other in a big knot with Logan tucked in the middle. He shut the back door and climbed into the driver’s side. He pulled out his cell phone and called Magnus, then Morgan. “Change of plans. Meet me at hothead’s, fifteen minutes.” He shut the phone and dialed Val, giving him the same message before pulling out into traffic.

  “Don’t call either of my fathers.”

  He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jordan stroking Logan’s hair. Kir was soothing Logan, stroking his back. After the way Fred Grimm and Adam Grey had tortured Logan, Travis wasn’t surprised she still wasn’t speaking to them. He nodded once and turned back to the road.

  It was time to set a few things straight. Time to help Logan release his living children from Grimm’s bondage.

  “How did you know?” Kir’s eyes were still that eerie spring day, inhuman and beautiful and staring at him with a mixture of confusion and determination. “I knew something was different, but I didn’t know what. And I’m a God of Spring, in charge of fertility.”

  He grimaced as he turned toward Rittenhouse Square. “I promise I’ll explain after lunch. I only want to tell it once.”

  Travis ignored Kir’s long, thoughtful look, and hoped the man would be able to handle the truth.

  Chapter Five

  Grimm walked into the police station, smiling and waving to his co-workers. Rina had laughed her ass off when he’d first explained this part of the scheme, loving the simplicity of what he had in mind. She’d been extremely useful in hiding Solberg’s body, freezing it solid, then watching as he shattered it into a million pieces. She’d swept up the debris and dropped it into a nearby lake, claiming the fish would appreciate the snack. She was certain that Travis and Val would be toast once he got a hold of them. Her faith in him was a hell of a turn-on, almost as much as her viciousness. “Did we get anything back on those forensics yet?”

  Detective Mancinelli nodded. Her cold hazel eyes held a hint of the hunt, that lure that pulled people into police work and kept them there. “You’ve got good instincts, Solberg.” She rifled through some papers, stopping when she reached the one she wanted. “Seems the Luminol test showed large amounts of blood on that fun-room floor.” She shook her head. “What the fuck did they do to that man? There was spray pattern all over the fucking place. Just from the way the drops fell, it looks like he was stabbed and slashed repeatedly.”

  He hid his triumphant grin, plastering a look of intense concentration on his face. “Has his wife reported him missing yet?” Thank you, Rina, for calling in the missing person report. Without that even he would have had a hard time convincing the police to investigate his murder.

  “No, but the bitch took over the company not four weeks ago. Man, her lawyer was pissed when we called with that warrant.” She closed the papers, her expression hard. “I wanna talk to her, find out where she thinks the darling hubby’s at.” She smirked. “How much you wanna bet she gives us some song and dance about him bein’ off with his mistress? ‘Oh, Officer, boo-hoo, he left me, now I get to live off all this money and fuck my boy-toy into next week. Whatevah shall I do?’ ”

  The amused cynicism in the detective’s voice as she batted her lashes at him had him laughing out loud. Oh, she was going to be a pleasure to tame. Too bad she seemed resistant to his persuasive powers. He sighed. If he could just get into her head, he’d have even more pleasant diversions to look forward to than watching one hot, dedicated cop take down the banes of his existence. He might even be able to explore whatever it was in her ancestry that gave her the ability to resist him.

  Snapping fingers in front of his face brought him back to the present. “You payin’ attention, Danny-boy?” He looked up to find her staring at him in amused disdain. “’Cause my eyes are up here.” She pointed to her face with the sheaf of papers, before shaking her head and slapping them against his chest. He caught them on pure reflex as she turned and walked away from him. “Want to work on gettin’ the warrant for poor old Mrs. Grimm’s place?”

  “I don’t know. I’m leaning more toward the son and his friend, Travis.” She stopped, turning to frown at him. “Rumor has it the old man had a fight with both of them not long before he disappeared.” A couple of other phone calls had made sure she heard those rumors too. “There’s no indication that Mrs. Grimm was anything other than happy with Mr. Grimm.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Tell you what, get search warrants for all three places.” She turned and headed back for their shared desk, her hips swaying enticingly.

  “Sure, no problem.” He smirked. Damn, he liked watching her walk away. When all of this was over, he’d have to make sure to enjoy the good detective for a while. From the gleam in Rina’s eyes the first time she caught sight of Detective Mancinelli he didn’t think she’d object to a little fun herself.

  He sat at his desk and dialed the phone. “Hello, Judge Foster? I need to discuss some search warrants with you.” He smiled, infusing his voice with just enough power to get exactly what he wanted. He’d already gotten the judge to issue the warrant for Grimm and Sons. This, with actual evidence, would be a piece of cake.

  Jamie grinned when her brothers Magnus and Morgan showed up at the condo for lunch, sniffing the air appreciatively.

  Ah, the lure of the Philly cheesesteak. She bit into her sandwich, slapping Jeff’s hand away when he reached for her hot peppers. “Get your own,” she mumbled around a bite of gooey, cheesy goodness.

  Magnus just shook his head at her as he settled on the floor in front of the coffee table. Her love of hot peppers was something of a legend in the
family, as was Jeff’s attempts to steal them. He popped the tab on a can of soda and took a healthy drink before unwrapping his sandwich. “How’re you feeling, munchkin?”

  “Like I was run over by a truck.”

  Magnus winced, unable to keep from visibly tracing her bruises.

  “I don’t blame you, Mag.”

  “Don’t matter. He blames him.” Morgan sat next to his twin and unrolled his sandwich. “Hell, I blame me too.”

  “The only one to blame is Grimm, and you know it.” Travis sat next to her on the sofa, his can of soda right next to hers. He had a bowl of chips cradled in his right arm. He waved away her attempt to take it from him, placing it between them after he’d set his soda down. She’d never had the chance to watch him so closely before. Seeing how he handled his lack of a right hand had been something of an eye-opener. Things she took for granted, like holding her phone and texting her friends at the same time, Travis had to find work-arounds for. But not once had she ever heard him complain or seen him act uncomfortable. More than once her fingers had twitched, wanting to help him button his shirt, but she’d held back. He didn’t need her help, and frankly she didn’t have the right to touch him that way.

  “Here.” A hand reached around and gave Travis his sandwich.

  “Thanks, Jeff.”

  Her twin slid onto the third spot on the sofa next to Travis. “Welcome.” He bit into his sandwich with a happy moan. “Mmm. Geno’s.”

  “Heathen,” Magnus coughed.

  “Pagan.”

  “Children.” Kir joined the brothers on the floor. “Play nice.”

  “Or what?” Morgan asked, balling up and tossing his empty wrapper at Jeff.

  “Or Logan will keep all the cheesecake for himself.” Logan helped Jordan into the chair, handing her a soda and a sandwich before heading off into the kitchen again.

  Jeff frowned. “Since when do you drink Sprite, Jordy?”

  “Since today.” She took a sip and made a face. “Blech.”

  “Gimme, I’ll drink it.” Jamie stood to take the can of soda from her sister.

  Travis pulled her gently back down. “Let her be.”

  What the hell? “I was just gonna switch drinks.”

  “Sit.” Travis’s eyes narrowed, but something about his expression was off. He was hiding something from her, and she didn’t like it one little bit.

  “Woof.” Jamie matched Travis’s glare, but it was hard. At least most of the swelling was finally gone, so glaring at him was no longer painful. Of course, now she looked like a goth Rainbow Bright, all greens and purples in unattractive places.

  He sighed. “Trust me. Don’t switch drinks.”

  “Why not?”

  “Yeah, why not?” Jordan stood, but got put back in her seat by Logan, who sat on the arm of her chair.

  Logan stared down at Jordan, a frown on his face. “Do you want me to tell them why not, or would you rather tell them?”

  Jeff was watching them, speculation in his eyes. “You’re pregnant.”

  All sound ceased as Jamie and her brothers stared at Jordan.

  Jordan rolled her eyes, and pandemonium erupted. It was so loud Jamie barely heard the doorbell ring.

  “I’ll get it. Stay put.” Travis got up and answered the door, letting Uncle Val into the condo.

  Seriously, what do these guys eat? ’Cause I want me some. It suddenly shocked her how good the men in her family looked. Uncle Val could have been a model. Admittedly, he’d be selling guns or motorcycles, but still. M’row. She bit down on her cheesesteak with a grimace. And ew for thinking that. Uncle Val had to be in his mid to late forties by now. Instead, he looked like a man in his late twenties or early thirties.

  She frowned. Come to think of it, how old is Travis? He had barely changed at all since the first time she saw him nine years ago.

  She blinked. How the fuck old were Magnus and Morgan, for that matter? She stared at her brothers, visions of vampires running through her head. They hadn’t aged, either.

  Not one. Damn. Day.

  She swallowed hard, the steak nearly choking her. Oh hell.

  She looked over at Jeff, who was frowning at her. What? he mouthed.

  She turned back to Magnus and Morgan, watching them devour their second set of steaks. Okay, maybe werewolves? How long does the furry set live for, anyway? Her big brothers were serious carnivores.

  “Hey, pumpkin.” Uncle Val leaned down to give her a hug, and she winced. “Did I hurt you?”

  The genuine concern on his face helped ease some of her fears, but not all of them. Couldn’t vampires hypnotize people with their eyes? “Um, no.”

  Those icy eyes of his narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

  She bit her lip, wondering how to head him off. Uncle Val was like a bulldog when he thought something was wrong with any of his nieces or nephews. “Nothing.”

  He studied her intently, joined by Travis. The two men looked like they were trying to see inside her soul.

  Are two vamps stronger than one vamp? She didn’t know, but she wasn’t eager to find out. She squeezed her eyes shut. It was a stupid gesture, she knew that, but it wasn’t like she could go running down the hall for the elevator and freedom.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? Someone slip magic mushrooms onto your sandwich?”

  She opened her eyes to see Jeff frowning at her curiously. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.” She gave him a weak, sickly grin, signaling with her hands that he should drop it.

  “It’s finally worn off.” She looked over to find Travis grimacing and exchanging a loaded glance with Uncle Val.

  “We knew it would.” Uncle Val picked up a sandwich, but the easy expression he’d walked in with had turned hard. It was his game face, the one he showed when he was about to get down to business. On anyone else that expression would have terrified her. But this was Uncle Val, who wouldn’t harm a hair on her head.

  Would he?

  “We knew what would?” Jeff stood off and faced his uncle and friend, his hands clenched at his sides. He’d angled his body between hers and theirs, protecting her, his expression fierce.

  Travis held up his hand. “Down, boy.”

  Jeff held up his hands, but she could tell her twin had hit the limit of his patience by the way his whole body tensed up. He was about two seconds away from losing it. “Look, nice as it is to know, you didn’t call a family meeting to tell us my sister is pregnant. So what’s up, and how does it affect Jamie?”

  “The last person on the face of the earth I would ever hurt is your sister, and you know that.” Travis gestured back towards the sofa. “Sit down, Jeff. I promise, we’ll explain everything.”

  “Wait. Jordan’s pregnant?” Uncle Val turned with a happy smile to hug Jordan, ignoring the way Logan scowled at him. She knew the two of them had some issues with each other in the past, but she thought they’d been resolved.

  Jeff ignored Val, his focus on Travis. “Everything?”

  Travis nodded. “I give you my solemn oath that any question you or Jamie asks me within the next hour I will do my best to answer honestly.”

  Logan gasped. Kir looked shocked. Magnus and Morgan winced.

  And Jordan nodded.

  That was the reaction Jamie was most interested in. Jordan was calm, her hand firmly clasped in Logan’s, Kir scooting back to rest his head against Logan’s knee. Whatever it was, Jordan wasn’t concerned at all.

  Logan snorted and looked down at Kir. “Think they’re done enough for plan A-1?”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Jeff’s roar got everyone’s attention. “My grandfather is suddenly a psychopath, my uncle, who used to kiss said psychopath’s ass, is now my co-worker, my sister has gotten knocked up by two guys, my other sister got nearly beat to death, my boss is acting…okay, he’s the only one of you freaks acting normal.” Jeff huffed out a breath and glared at them all before wearily rubbing his eyes. “He’s always been a secretive son of a bitch. My big brothers are no
t beating the shit out of the pervs for knocking up Jordan.” He scrubbed his hand through his hair, frustration practically vibrating off of him. “When did I ride the Wacky train to Dysfunction Junction?”

  She couldn’t help it. She started giggling. She’d watched the frustration ratcheting up inside her twin with each day she spent in the hospital and knew it was only a matter of time before that hidden temper of his flared up. Jeff hated being kept in the dark more than anything. It was why he’d decided to become a PI like Jordan and Travis.

  “You haven’t.” There was a strange timbre to Travis’s voice, a deep, almost echoing quality that stopped her giggles. Travis had his eyes closed, his head tilted back, as if he was listening to something that only he could hear. “You’ve asked me what the fuck is going on. Old Man Grimm will stop at nothing to kill Kir and Logan, including harming you, your sisters, your brothers and anyone else who stands in his way.”

  “Why?”

  “For rule of the Aesir and the Vanir, and for prophecy.”

  Jamie blinked. “Wait. Aren’t the Aesir the Norse gods?” She was half-Norwegian. Her father had practically spoon-fed her stories of the might of Thor, Odin and the Aesir.

  “Yes.”

  That deep timbre to his voice was beginning to send shivers down her spine. She leaned forward. “Okay, why would my crazy grandfather think he needs to rule a bunch of myths?”

  “They aren’t myth, and he was their ruler, up until recently.”

  “So, basically, you’re telling me that Odin tried to kill me.”

  “No.”

  She sagged in relief.

  “His plan was to torture you in order to lure Logan, Kir and Jordan to him. I have no idea whether or not he planned on you dying.”

  Oh. Well then. That made it so much better.

  “Toot toot! All aboard the cuckoo train!” Jeff pumped his arm in the air like he was pulling on a train whistle. “Next stop: Asgard.”

  Travis bit his lip, obviously stifling laughter, but was silent.

  Jamie ignored her insane twin and turned her attention back to Travis. “My grandfather is Odin?”