“Jeez, this place is like Wes Craven’s wet dream.”
“It’s like he wants to be a cartoon villain when he grows up.” Jordan shook her head. Flames danced in her eyes. “Are you sure you got the address right?”
Jamie grimaced. “It’s not like I have spectral On-Star, now is it?”
They stared at the rotting husk of a house, and all three echoed the same thought. “It’s a trap.”
Jamie tapped her teeth with her fingernail. “Bet the door’s booby-trapped.”
“Windows set to blow.” Jordan blew her bangs out of her eyes.
“Floor sawed partway through.” Jeff stared at the lawn. He swore he could see really old dog poop. “And I don’t even want to think about what he did there.”
“He probably threw the earring into the building thinking we’d be stupid enough to go in after it.” Jamie turned and glared at the desolate landscape.
“Travis might.” Jordan smirked. “Logan would be too busy laughing his ass off.”
Jeff began peeling off his clothes, much to the vocal disgust of his sisters.
“Shut up! I can’t shift in jeans.” Fenris might be able to perform that little trick, but Jeff had to do it the old fashioned way: naked. He turned wolf, letting his senses drink in the surrounding area.
Hell, there wasn’t even a rabbit nearby. But there were lots and lots of ravens, just sitting in a tree, staring at them. He shifted and pulled on his pants.
“Don’t look now, but I think the trap found us.”
Jamie glared at the birds and half of them went sailing through the air to land in an ungraceful, bone-breaking heap. “Hmph.”
That was when all hell broke loose. It was like something out of The Birds.
Ravens flew in from every direction, swooping and attacking, clawing at their heads and faces. Jamie screamed and immediately tried to protect her face.
Jordan, pissed as hell, tried to fricassee every bird that came in contact with her.
The stench of burning feathers filled the air.
Jeff shifted and wiggled out of his jeans, but by the time he was free, bloody gouges had been dug into his sides. He began snapping at the birds, grateful for the fact that Fen’s healing had taken hold. The bloody strips the birds took out of his hide hurt like hell but healed almost instantly.
Poor Jordan didn’t have that. She looked like someone had gone after her with a knife. Blood began to pool at her feet and she swayed, her fire flickering.
Jamie let out a shriek of rage and began to glow so brightly Jeff couldn’t even look at her. The birds around her exploded in a shower of sparks and guts. She whipped her arms around and light swirled, destroying every bird it touched.
It wasn’t enough. They were covered in cuts and gore, and still more came. A raven clawed his hip and Jeff went down.
“Holy shit! Jordy?”
But Jordan couldn’t answer. She was down, her hands over her head, whimpering as she pressed her belly into the dirt in a desperate attempt to protect her unborn children. Her fire was almost out, and Jeff was petrified.
Something inside him began to move, stirring within his will. Jeff looked up at his sister and stared at the bands of light she was wielding like a scourge.
Jeff got back to his feet and let out a howl that echoed all around them, rattling the windows of the derelict house and disorienting the birds around him.
From the expression on his sisters’ faces he’d done something to seriously freak them out. He looked down at himself and gasped.
He was a wolf made of pure white light.
An answering howl, stronger and deeper, assaulted their ears. Fen was here, and he was pissed. Fenris loped out of the woods behind the derelict house and waded into the fight. Instead of the giant wolf Jeff was used to seeing, Fen was in a half-man, half-wolf form, and he was terrifying. He lay about him with his claws, ripping birds out of the air and crushing them in mighty fists. Behind him Logan lobbed fire at the sky, leaving gaping holes in the canopy of black feathers.
The fire Jotun slowly made his way to Jordan, standing over her and taking down anything that came too close to his wife. Uncle Val was swinging with a huge axe. The more blood that covered it the brighter it shone. Beside him was Travis, glowing bright as the sun and swinging a sword that moved like an extension of his arm.
And above it all, clouds swirled and darkened. Light flashed between them as Baldur raised his hand, the Godspear held tight in his fist. Wind swirled around them, strong enough to knock Jamie on her ass and damn near blow her away.
Oh fuck. A fucking tornado was forming above them. Had Kir lost his damn mind?
“Careful, Blondie!” Logan bellowed over the wind.
Kir’s only answer was a nod. The funnel dipped and swayed, almost but not quite forming.
A bird flew in front of Jeff’s face, jerking his attention away from the holy shit moment happening over his head. He batted at it, blinking in surprise when it…disappeared. No shower of sparks, no blood and gore, just a flash of light and a single feather blowing in the wind.
Jeff grinned and began flailing about like Kermit the Frog on a caffeine bender. Before he knew it he was in the middle of his own little tornado made of feathers.
“Neat trick!” Logan bellowed, blowing another swath of birds away with staccato bursts of flame.
“Woof!” Jeff replied, forgetting for a moment he had a snout instead of lips.
Logan snickered and blew more feathered friends to hell. Beneath him Jordan tried to rise to her feet, but Logan pushed her back down.
Jamie raced across the yard to Travis and practically crawled into him. The two lights blended together, one softer than the other, until Jeff couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
A low bark got his attention. He looked up (and up) at his mate and whined.
Fen looked furious, his lips pulled back in a snarl, his claws dripping blood. Jeff rolled onto his back and bared his neck to his alpha.
I’m totally turned on right now. What does that say about me?
The funnel above their heads began to descend. Soon it was black with the bodies of the ravens. It didn’t take long for Kir’s magical vacuum cleaner to clear the sky of ravens, but he was dripping with sweat when he was done.
Even over the howling winds Jeff could hear Fen’s growls. Oddly enough they were directed at the derelict house. Then the huge werewolf was off, running across the dead lawn at a speed he wasn’t sure he could match.
But hell if he didn’t try.
Fen kicked in the rotted door and tore through the broken-down building, hunting the elusive smell that belonged only to Odin.
There. Staring out the window as if he hadn’t a care in the world, his golden hair dimmed to a dull light brown in the darkened house. A contemptuous smirk curled his lip. “I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.”
Fen took a step forward and icy agony radiated up his leg.
“Have I mentioned who the trap was really for?”
Fen was stunned to see the ice covering his foot and calf. It slowly crept up his leg, an icy caterpillar cocooning him.
“I can’t allow you to kill me. I have things to do, gods to slay. You know how it is. There’s never enough hours in the day.” Odin didn’t even bother looking at him, his attention still focused on something outside the house. “I wondered how long it would take you to find me, especially after I killed that family.” Odin sighed. “I honestly thought Tyr would take you out for me when he found the wolf fur, but then Jeff had to fuck things up by mating you.” Odin shot him a quick, disgusted glance. “Who knew my own flesh and blood would be into…furries?” He shuddered.