Not until the Old Man had been dealt with once and for all.
Jeff woke up to the feeling that he’d gone three rounds with an elephant and lost. Everything hurt, from his hands to his eyeballs. Hell, he was pretty sure his fingernails hurt, but with everything else aching he wasn’t quite sure. He also wasn’t sure when he’d become human again. Last he remembered he’d been in dire need of a depilatory.
“God morgen, min kjærlighet.”
Jeff couldn’t even smile, though he wanted to. “I got ‘good morning’ out of that.”
A soft kiss pressed against the nape of his neck. “Good morning, my love.”
Jeff sighed. Hell, he liked that, probably more than he should. “Why do I feel like hammered dog poo?”
“Do you remember nothing of yesterday, elskede?”
Jeff shifted his legs and immediately wished he hadn’t. “Ow.” He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was his hands. It looked like he’d put them through a lunchmeat slicer. “What the fuck?”
Bits and pieces of memory began to float through the fog of sleep and lack of caffeine. “My grandfather did this, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” Another feather-light kiss landed on the nape of his neck. “I’m so sorry, elskede. I should have stopped him.”
Something else was nagging at him. Something important. His blood ran cold as more and more of the events of yesterday unfolded. “Oh fuck. Dad.”
Fen’s arms tightened around him. “He died trying to save you.”
Jeff’s hands clenched despite the pain. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.”
“Get in line.” He felt Fen jump behind him as Kir’s voice washed over them, echoing with power. “Hey, Jeff.” Kir settled on the bed next to them, his hand rifling through Jeff’s hair. From the storm clouds gathering in Kir’s eyes, it was obvious Baldur had risen. Light flashed through the room, and Jeff realized there was a thunderstorm brewing once more over Philadelphia, the result of Kir’s anger. “You had a busy day yesterday, didn’t you?”
“You could say that.” Jeff winced as Kir took hold of his fingers, checking them with a frown on his face.
“We had no idea the Old Man would move quite that fast once Kir and I were gone. We’d never have left if we had.” Logan moved behind Kir, one hand on his lover’s shoulder. “We’re so sorry, Jeff.”
Jeff nodded, though it hurt incredibly. He didn’t blame either Logan or Kir—
he blamed Grimm. “Did you find my brothers?” Morgan and Magnus would need to know Dad was… Was…
Hell, he couldn’t even bring himself to think it.
“No. Nik caught us on the bridge and told us what had happened. He opened a portal for us to come back. He said he’d try and get word to them to come home as soon as possible.” Logan looked toward the door. “I’m going to go strengthen the wards and check on Jordan.” He winced. “She’s not doing well.”
Jeff tried to sit up but the flaring agony forced him still. “The babies?”
Kir smiled gently. “They’re fine. Jordan’s grieving. She got to say good-bye, though.”
Which was more than Jeff, Morgan or Magnus would get. “I want him to hurt, Kir. I want him to hurt the way he’s made us hurt.”
“Not possible, kiddo. You have to love before you can grieve.” Logan kissed the top of Kir’s head. “Be careful, Blondie.”
“I will.” Kir smiled up at Logan. “Go on now. She needs you.”
Logan nodded. “Fen. If you wish to collect blod gjeld for your mate’s injuries, I’ll be waiting.”
“Logan.” Kir’s voice was sharp, the clouds racing across his irises darkening to near black.
Jeff chuckled. “The only one who owes blood debt is my grandfather, you masochist.”
“I agree.” Fen’s hand stroked down Jeff’s side, lightly brushing the sutures.
“You have paid enough blood, Pappa. You did the best you could. The one who owes blood is Odin.”
“He did it again, you know.” Jeff looked up at Logan. “He disappeared right under Fen’s claws. How the fuck does he do that?”
Logan grimaced. “I have no clue. I can’t do it and neither can any other Jotun I know.”
“The Aesir can’t either.” Kir rubbed his chin. “Last I checked we need to travel the old-fashioned way.”
“What about the Vanir?” Jeff wiggled the tiniest bit, trying to get even closer to Fen’s warmth. Fen responded by moving closer, cradling him a little bit tighter. “Has anyone asked Travis?”
“The Lios Alfar can bend light around them, making it look like they’ve disappeared, but it’s exhausting and not something done lightly or for very long.” Kir and Logan exchanged a long, speculative look. “Could he be doing that?”
“Not sure, but it’s possible.”
Fen was shaking his head. Jeff could feel it against the pillow they shared.
“No. His scent was gone, disappeared from in front of me. I thought he’d moved into another room and followed it, but he wasn’t there.”
“Was he in shadow when he disappeared?” Jeff watched the expressions on Kir’s and Logan’s faces closely. “If the Lios Alfar can make themselves invisible, could the Dökk Alfar somehow manipulate shadows? Even move through them?”
“Son of a bitch,” Logan breathed. “You might be right.”
“Do we know any Dökk Alfar?” Kir’s fingers brushed against the pendant at his neck.
“Yeah. Nik.” Logan stormed from the room, flames dancing along his skin.
“That son of a bitch. We were just there, damn it. He’s the one who told us to hightail it back here.”
Kir rolled his eyes. “Here we go.” He brushed his hand over Jeff’s hair.
“Take it easy today, all right? I’ll have Travis bring Toni over once she wakes up.
Maybe between the two of us we can help your healing along a little bit more.”
“Thanks, Uncle Kir.” Jeff grinned when Kir shuddered, but the clouds in his eyes had lightened up. Kir was still pissed, but Jeff had managed to calm him somewhat with his joke. Perhaps Jordan and Logan would be able to take care of the rest.
For all he’d called Thor an asshole, the man had been Kir’s brother. Kir had to be grieving too.
“Pain in my ass.” Kir waved good-bye and followed his lover out of the room.
“How is the pain, elskede?”
Jeff grunted as Fen shifted position behind him, moving the mattress beneath Jeff and thus moving Jeff. “Let’s just say that you may be glued to my backside for the foreseeable future.”
There was silence for a moment before Fen huffed out a laugh. “This is bad why?”
Jeff chuckled again. Damn, that hurts. “Because it means you’re not going walkies for a potty break.”
Fen licked his neck, right where he’d marked Jeff. “I can live with that.”
Jeff barely restrained his shudder. How could something feel so good when everything else hurt so bad? “Fen. Ix-nay on the ex-say. I’m really not up for it.”
He took Fen’s hand and brought it to his flaccid cock. “See?”
“I want to share blood with you.”
Jeff blinked. “Ah. I see the train has stopped in Wacky Land once more.”
“Hmm?”
“Never mind. What the hell is that supposed to mean, anyway?” He shifted his legs to get more comfortable and hissed as the stitches pulled.
“You’re still mortal, Jeff.”
“And?”
Fen sighed. “We think that, though I marked and changed you, you remain mortal, which is why you haven’t healed the way I do. If I share blood with you, there’s the possibility all of your wounds will disappear.”