Now goeth Hlödyn’s glorious son
Not in flight from the Serpent, of fear unheeding;
All the earth’s offspring must empty the homesteads,
When furiously smiteth Midgard’s defender.
The sun shall be darkened, earth sinks in the sea,—
Glide from the heaven the glittering stars;
Smoke-reek rages and reddening fire:
The high heat licks against heaven itself.”
Skye lifted her tearstained face from Morgan’s shoulder. Kir, whom she remembered as Baldur, looked sympathetic, the bright god’s inner self far more beautiful than his outer. Logan—or Loki—held Baldur’s hand, their fingers twined tight as Jordan snuggled between them. Vali the Avenger nodded once as Tyr, known as Travis, smiled.
And the twins. Magni’s expression was grim, but it was Modi who held her attention, promised to make everything all right again. “I remember. May the gods help me.” Because everything she’d ever believed about herself had been a lie.
Chapter Five
“Tell us what happened.” Morgan led a rattled Skye to the white sofa and settled her down. It killed him to see the tears still on her cheeks, so he wiped them away. It was a travesty to see anything other than a smile gracing her face. “Can someone get her some tea or something?”
“I’ll take care of it.” Logan headed for his kitchen, his sanctuary. He’d surprised them all with his domesticity. He was an incredible cook and had fed them all on numerous occasions.
“Thanks.” He turned back to Skye and wiped away her tears. “It’s okay, Skye. Just tell us what happened.” What had caused that look of grief and despair just before she began to speak the prophecy?
“I changed something. Something I wasn’t supposed to.” She sniffled, the sound oddly endearing. The tip of her nose was red, her cheeks blotched, and her eyes were bloodshot.
She was so strong, so beautiful, and despite her fears she’d tasted divine. There was no way he was going to be able to resist taking her to bed. She brought out every protective instinct he had. Through everything that had happened to her she hadn’t collapsed, but her fragility was evident in her shaking hands and continuing tears.
He had to get her to see that she was safe. He wouldn’t allow anything to harm her, and once he and Magnus had Mjolnir he would be more than capable of enforcing that vow. “Shh. It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not.” She accepted the tissue Magnus held out with a watery smile. “But thank you.”
“What exactly happened? Can you tell us what exactly you changed?” Travis spoke quietly, like you would to someone who’d been involved in a horrible crime. As a one-time PI and the god of justice, Travis was used to speaking to victims.
She made a cute face that made him want to pull her into his lap and cuddle her. She looked like a confused little puppy, endearing and lost, and he wanted to kiss her again so badly he ached. “Our job is to set the fate of gods and men, not to interfere in it.”
“And the Norns under you carry out your edicts.” Morgan took over. No one else, not even Travis, would question his Norn.
She looked up at him and he saw the sad knowledge that was the burden of a Norn. “Yes. For good or ill, to alter fate is to alter the fabric of time itself. What must be will be, and it is not my place to change it.”
“But you did.”
She nodded, her face crumpling once more.
Morgan couldn’t stand it. To hell with propriety. He pulled her onto his lap, ignoring her squirming to get free. She was his, and they both knew it, even if they hadn’t spent a single day alone together. It was about time he made his claim to her clear, to her and to everyone. “You aren’t going anywhere, sweetheart. Just tell us what we need to know.”
She sighed at the endearment, relaxing marginally against him. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
“When Odin summoned me I spoke the prophecy as I saw it at that time. I told him about the death of Baldur, the great war that was coming. I told him all about Ragnarrok, and his own doom.” Skye continued her tale, her words oddly formal. She was Skuld for the moment, the Norn of the Future, and she’d been tasked with delivering information to them.
He silenced everyone with a look. He would be the one to ask her questions, at least for now. She was still far too stiff for his liking. “I bet it wasn’t what the Old Man wanted to hear.”
She chuckled darkly. “No, it was not. He was enraged, and then he was cold.”
Morgan held tighter as she shuddered. He remembered all too well his grandfather’s cold wrath, and the usual end result. Jeff bore the physical scars. “He left, and you went back to Yggdrasil.”
“Yes. I watched, and I snipped the threads of men. And then…”
“Yes?”
No one else spoke to Skye. They watched, silent, enraptured, as Morgan coaxed the story out of her. “And then Loki took Baldur’s place, and almost died for him. It was both the most horrifying and beautiful thing I had ever seen.” She glanced over at Logan. “You loved him even before he loved you.”
Logan nodded once, sharply, but for just one brief moment Morgan saw the longing, the pain of loneliness in his gaze. Logan had suffered just as Morgan had, loving someone he couldn’t have. Except Logan had gone after what he wanted and to hell with the consequences, earning both Kir’s devotion and Jordan’s love.
Kir kissed Logan’s forehead, but he was paler than usual. Apparently he didn’t like remembering that time any more than Logan did. “When I realized what was going on, what Logan was doing, I struggled to get free, but he’d bound me too tightly. I couldn’t save him.”
“You saved each other, Kir.” Jordan stroked Logan’s cheek, but her eyes remained on Skye, waiting for her to continue her story.
“She’s right. We did, Blondie.” Logan pressed a soft kiss to Kir’s lips before turning back to Skye, Jordan snuggled close to his side.
Morgan turned his attention back to Skye. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t always understand the prophecies. I believe it happened the way it was meant to.”
Shit. If even Skuld couldn’t tell them what the prophecies meant, they were screwed.
“Odin sought to prevent Ragnarrok by altering what was supposed to be. He chained up Fenrisùlfr, but he could not do so without chaining Járnsaxa’s other children as well.” She shrugged, suddenly Skye again. “Balance, everything having a price, something like that. So he bound Jörmungandr to the sea, and Hel to Helheim, without realizing what he’d unleash by doing so.”
“And my other children?”
Morgan didn’t blame Logan for interrupting. He’d want to know too.
She was Skuld again, the change so quick Morgan wondered if Skuld and Skye would ever again be one person. “Bargaining tools to be used to keep you in line, and when he realized the time of Baldur’s death was coming, he took the opportunity to place the blame upon you. That was the sole purpose of it, to keep you tied up so that you could not free Fenrisùlfr.”
“I was supposed to free Fenris?” Logan sounded both pleased and shocked.
Skye smiled sweetly at Logan through her drying tears. “And you did. You sent him Jeff, told him what to say to get the wolf to trust again.”
“I—” The sound Logan made was somewhere between unbearable pain and the realization that he’d been ultimately responsible for freeing his son.
Fenris murmured to Logan softly in Norwegian, but Morgan didn’t pay attention to the lilting words of his homeland. His attention was still focused solely on Skye, who’d turned back to him. “So the Old Man’s plan was to stave off Ragnarrok for as long as possible.”
“I believe so, yes. He felt if he controlled the players—”
“You control the outcome.” He could see it, how Grimm had taken the prophecy to see how he could manipulate it, and everyone involved in it, to his own ends. The idea was brilliant, but it had a fatal flaw. “
But you can’t stop fate.”
“No, you can’t. And that’s where my arrogance led me.” His expression must have shown his confusion, because Skye patted his cheek. He leaned into her touch, enjoying her soft sigh as her touch lingered. “I saw the sacrifice Loki was willing to make, and could no longer sit by and watch.” Her hand dropped back into her lap, her fingers curling around one another. He doubted anyone but he could see how they strained together. “I changed one of the key elements of the prophecy, knowing that not even Odin, who’d heard the original prophecy, would be able to remember it properly.”
“I think I know which part you changed.” Kir and Jordan now cuddled close to Logan as he rubbed his hand over Jordan’s stomach.
Some of Kir’s color had come back as they moved on from Logan’s sacrifice, but Logan held Kir’s hand tightly in his free one, staying connected to both his lovers. Kir looked at something over Morgan’s shoulder, and Morgan realized it was Fenris. “The wolf.”
“Yes, Pappa. I believe you are right.”
Skye bit her lip. “I’m not sure if that was the one or not. My memories are jumbled, mixed between Skylar Kincade and Skuld.” Skye took a shuddering breath. “Gods, not even my parents were real, were they?”
“It’s all right, sweetheart.” Morgan kissed the top of her head, her sweet scent filling his senses. “We’ll figure it out together.” And whether she became both Skye and Skuld, two minds in one body, or if Skuld only came to speak of Ragnarrok, Morgan would accept her either way.
“I was supposed to kill Odin, but I failed. He healed everything I did to him.” Fenris didn’t sound angry, just thoughtful.
“Has the prophecy changed?” Magnus shrugged as everyone turned to him. “Uncle Val could still be right. If a wolf is supposed to kill Odin, then it just means Fenris isn’t the killer. For all we know, it could be a normal, Fate-touched wolf that makes the kill.”
Logan shook his head. “There are other werewolves, ones not descended from Fenris. It could be one of them.”
“Travis told me. We should be looking for them, Pappa.”
“There are more than you might think, scattered all over the world.” Logan’s gaze was glued to his son, but his hand kept moving over Jordan’s stomach. The talk about his children had probably upset him more than he was willing to show, and he responded by making sure the children he and Kir had started with Jordan were safe. “I’m not sure we could find them all no matter what we did.”
Magnus started pacing in front of the window, his quicksilver brother unable to keep still any longer. “It’s possible that the reason Fenris failed was timing. He wasn’t supposed to kill Odin yet, so he couldn’t.”
Skye tilted her head, and spoke.
“Now comes to Hlin yet another hurt,
When Othin fares to fight with the wolf,
And Beli’s fair slayer seeks out Surt,
For there must fall the joy of Frigg.
Then comes Sigfather’s mighty son,
Vithar, to fight with the foaming wolf;
In the giant’s son does he thrust his sword
Full to the heart: his father is avenged.
Hither there comes the son of Hlothyn,
The bright snake gapes to heaven above;
Against the serpent goes Othin’s son.
In anger smites the warder of earth,—
Forth from their homes must all men flee;—
Nine paces fares the son of Fjorgyn,
And, slain by the serpent, fearless he sinks.”
“So Grimm was supposed to die before Dad, but he didn’t.” Jordan grimaced and pushed her glasses up her nose. “Shit. This so is fucked up.”
“The wolf isn’t specifically named.” Morgan pushed gently at Skye’s head until she sagged against him, resting against his shoulder. The tiny, nearly silent sigh of relief she gave was his reward. Skye didn’t realize it, but she needed him, needed to feel safe. He’d give her that, and so much more if she’d allow it. “I do think Uncle Val is right. It’s not Fenris.”
“Or me.” Jeff sighed behind him, but with his arm full of Skye, Morgan couldn’t see his brother. “But that means it could be anyone.” Jeff chuckled. “Okay, any werewolf.”
“They might come if we call, elskede.”
“That could be dangerous, wolfman.”
“Or it could give us our answer.”
There was silence as they waited to see what Jeff replied. That it was his brother, rather than Fenris, making the decision should have surprised Morgan, but it didn’t. Morgan was certain Fenris would swallow the sun if his lover asked it of him.
And Jeff made the decision he’d known his little brother would. “Hey, Logan? Think we can handle an influx of furries?”
Skye suddenly relaxed completely against him, like she’d been holding her breath and now could let it go.
“You were hoping they’d decide that.”
She nodded, her hair tickling his chin. “Yeah, I was. If they’re right, then this might be the only way.” She shrugged. “What was meant to be shall be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help it along.”
“Why didn’t you remember who you were?” Kir’s question was a good one, a question Morgan had meant to ask.
“I’m no longer the Norn of the Future; another will take my place soon. By changing fate, I defied that which defined me. I can still speak prophecy, and I’m still a Norn, but I will no longer live beneath Yggdrasil, no longer drink from the Well. And because of my interference, I will not be assigned to mortals as other Norns are.” She snuggled closer into Morgan’s embrace. “What I am now, what I have been forced to become? It’s my destiny.”
Morgan would see to it that she didn’t regret one single moment of it.
The silence that followed her pronouncement was absolute, so when her phone rang it startled the hell out of her. Skye reached into her pocket to pull out her cell, wriggling in Morgan’s lap and bringing to her attention exactly how happy he was about that. “Hello?”
“H-hello?”
She frowned. The voice on the phone was unfamiliar, yet something about it tugged at her senses. The voice sounded hesitant, young.
Terrified.
“Who is this?”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re Skuld, right?” It was a masculine voice, light but raspy, as if the speaker had a sore throat.
“Yes.” She darted a glance at Morgan, who was frowning.
Put it on speaker, he mouthed at her.
She nodded and hit the speaker button. “Who is this?”
The caller sighed. “Listen to me. Odin, he’s going to do something to you. Something bad. I don’t know what, but he’s consulting with the Norns and he looks really happy. They’ve mentioned your name several times.”
She held up her hand to make sure no one else spoke. She didn’t want to spook the caller. “How do you know Odin?”
The caller made a frustrated sound. “I just do. Please, I don’t have a lot of time. He’ll be coming for me soon, and when he does we’ll be… Never mind. Just don’t leave the place were you are now, and everything should be fine.”
“Are you safe?”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
A snort answered her declaration. “You only think you are, but he’s coming for you. He doesn’t want you to tell the others what you know, and he’ll kill you to silence you. He’s done it before.”
The prophecy. “He knows I’ve remembered who I am?”
“He suspects, yes, and that’s all he needs.”
She shivered hard. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because…” The caller sighed wearily. “Because I want to be free, and if the only way to do that is to die for doing the right thing, then so be it.”
The voice was definitely male, youngish sounding and more frightened than any voice she’d ever heard before. She had to help him. “No one has to die. Just tell us who and where you are, and we’ll come help you.”
“No one can help me. I was given away, and now I’m stuck here forever.”
Logan’s breath stuttered in his chest, his eyes going wide with horror. “Sleipnir?”
“Remember. Odin will be coming for you.” The voice was even shakier after Logan’s outburst.
“Sleipnir!” Logan practically leapt off the ottoman. “Tell us where you are. I swear, I will come for you.”
“Like you came for Fenris? Or Hel? Like you noticed me all those years, left me with Odin like I was nothing?”
“He did come for me.” Skye glanced over at Fenris, who was staring at the phone as if he could reach through it and pull his brother to safety, his expression as equally horrified as his father’s. “Pappa did come for me, and cried over me, just as he has for Hel and Jörmungandr.”
“But he never cried for me.”
The sorrow in that young, raspy voice nearly had her crying.
“I did cry for you, more than you’ll ever know. I didn’t…Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you shift for me? If I had known you were…” Logan took a deep breath. “If I’d been aware that you knew what was going on around you, that you were just like Fenris and Jörmungandr, I would have never left you there. Never.” The agony Logan was exhibiting was tempered by his very obvious guilt. The fire Jotun was practically dripping with both.
“If you’d known I was just the same as them then Grimm would have known. I would have been banished along with the others. That’s why I didn’t tell you. If I had shifted, there would have been no hiding from him, ever. I…” Sleipnir’s voice was shaking so hard Skye had to strain to understand him. “I’m not strong enough to be alone.”
Logan whimpered, reaching for the phone as if he could touch his son through it. “Please, Sleipnir. I couldn’t save you before. Let me save you now.”
The other side of the line was so quiet that for a moment she feared Sleipnir had hung up, before that raspy, hesitant voice returned. “You can’t save me, but I can save you. The wolf, the one meant to kill Odin? It’s closer to you than you think.”
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