Fenris grinned, his fangs showing, his eyes glittering with dominance. “Yes, dear.”
It took everything Jeff had in him not to back down, but fuck if some overgrown Pomeranian was going to make Jeffrey Grimm cower. “I’m not your dear.”
The amusement on Fenris’s face merely grew. “Du er mitt.”
From the hot look Fenris cast over him, Jeff was pretty sure he could figure that one out. “I’m not yours, either.”
Fenris snarled, the sound deep, feral and far from human.
Jeff snarled back, knowing he sounded more like that overgrown Pomeranian than Fenrisùlfr ever would.
Fenris’s head flew back in shock before the man collapsed in laughter.
“It’s not that funny.”
Fenris hunched over his belly, barely breathing.
“Seriously. It’s not.”
Fenris nodded, unable to speak.
“Don’t make me break out the rolled-up newspaper.” Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and sat back to have himself a good, old-fashioned pout.
“He’s free.” Oliver Grimm, aka Odin, one-time ruler of the Aesir and Vanir, stared, horrified, at the unbroken fetters that had once held the mighty Fenrisùlfr. “Shit. How the hell did those idiots manage that?”
Rina, her gun pointed toward the mouth of the cave, didn’t even bother to turn around. “I have no idea. He tugged on that damn thing for centuries.” She frowned. “You think Tyr figured out how to undo the bindings?”
Grimm snarled. Of course. Tyr. Gods be damned Tyr probably had figured it out and freed the werewolf. After all, he was now allied with Loki and Baldur, and Loki had been sobbing into his soup about his hideous brats for centuries.
“This is a fucking mess.”
“I’m still not sure how they managed to elude Hugin and Munin.” Rina bit her lip.
“Jotun magic. Loki probably gave them something to throw them off the track.” The ravens had led them on a merry chase until Grimm decided to go with his gut rather than his usually reliable ravens. He backed slowly out of the cave, Rina keeping careful pace beside him. “They’ll take him back to their home.”
“Where we can’t get in.”
They exchanged a quick glance. Loki had his entire condo complex locked down tighter than a nun’s twat. “Let’s get to Sleipnir. I have a few ideas, but we’ll have to discuss which one to implement.”
She preened, despite the weapon. Rina loved that he was coming to rely on her more and more, and Grimm was enjoying the perks she continuously gifted him with.
Who knew taking her off the elixir would make her even more loyal? Hell, even the sex was hotter now that she’d detoxed.
A soft neigh sounded from just down the beach. “Sleipnir’s waiting, lover.”
Grimm smiled at the sight of the huge, eight-legged horse. If Loki became an even bigger problem than he was now, Grimm had every intention of using one of his “children” against him.
And who better than the sweetest, most docile, most harmless of the lot?
He reached out and stroked Sleipnir’s gray mane. He didn’t want to lose the beast, but he would if it came down to winning or losing this most important battle. “You’ve always been the best horse in the world.”
Sleipnir whinnied, but Rina looked thoughtful. Perhaps she’d picked up on where his thoughts were heading. She’d become remarkably perceptive where he was concerned. He lifted her into the saddle first. “Up you go, my love.”
He mounted behind her, securing her with his arm around her waist.
Sleipnir ran down the beach, leaping into the sky with a powerful thrust of his four back legs. Together they thundered through the sky, the storm clouds Sleipnir threw up with his hooves hiding their location to all but the gods themselves.
Chapter Two
“Could you repeat that, please?” Fenris was very careful with his English, pronouncing everything as clearly as possible, because obviously someone had misunderstood him. There was no way the story they were telling him could be true.
Then again, he hadn’t thought humans could conquer flight, but here he was, flying through clouds in a metal contraption not even the Dökk Alfar could have created . Fenris was fascinated and horrified at the same time, and the twins were obviously trying to distract him with fairytales.
“Okay. You want the Cliff Notes version? I can do that.” Jeff leaned back in his chair and crossed his long legs. “Logan and Kir went to my sister, Jordan, to get her to help them prove that Odin had framed Loki for the murder of Baldur, blah blah blah. They decided the best way was to boink her into submission. Ow!
Damn it, Jamie.” Jeff rubbed at his arm where his sister had hit him. “Fine,” he huffed. “They convinced her to help them. Is that better, Madame Critic?”
Jamie sniffed. “It’ll do.”
Fenris wondered how they’d lived this long without killing each other.
“They’d already figured out long ago that Idunn’s apples could be used to cloud people’s judgment, making them susceptible to suggestion. Odin, apparently, is really good at making suggestions, so hey! The rest of the hungry hungry hippos followed him merrily to Assholeville.”
The little hand gestures that accompanied that explanation were beyond cute. Fenris wanted to plant Jeff in his lap while his mate told his story just so he could kiss him every time he did something so adorable.
“Which stop is that for the Wacky Train?” Jamie giggled at her brother.
“About two past Dysfunction Junction.” Jeff laughed back at his sister, and Fenris knew why the twins hadn’t killed each other yet. They loved one another the way Fenris loved his brother and sister, and would have loved his half brothers if he’d been given the chance.
“So Grandpa Odin, he makes with the happy juice and has everyone do things they’d never do ordinarily, except your father and apparently Uncle Val were immune somehow. Even Travis was affected to the point where he wasn’t really a god of justice anymore, if you know what I mean.” Jeff shook his head.
“Anyway, he made sure everyone, including Frigg, got their daily dose while he became Supreme Dickhead of all he surveyed, except Loki fucked up his ultimate plans by taking Baldur’s place and preventing his death. Your father hooked up with Baldur and the two ran for, what, centuries? They convinced Jordan to help, which dragged in Tyr, which dragged in Morgan, Magnus and Uncle Val.” Jeff’s demeanor changed, becoming hard. “Then Grimm grabbed Jamie.”
Jamie reached out for her brother, taking his hand in hers. “Grimm tortured me, knowing Logan would never allow anything to hurt Jordan. While he beat on Logan, Uncle Val got me out and to a hospital, then went back and tried to kill Grimm.”
“But the S.O.B. lived and got away. The Old Man tried to pin his own murder on Travis and Uncle Val, but the detective on the case smelled a rat.” Jeff patted Jamie’s hand. “So Grimm took Jamie again, only this time she was able to protect herself a little better. She’d gotten your father’s ability to heal, and Travis’s ability to, um, glow.” Jeff’s brows drew together. “Yeah. Still not sure what that’s good for, other than reading at night. Grimm got away, again, and Travis volunteered to be the one to free you while Magnus and Morgan hunt down the Norns and Logan, Kir and Jordan speak to Hel.”
Fenris smiled. His father was visiting Hel? Fenris looked forward to being able to see his sister again. He wondered how she’d fared over the centuries. It had been so long since he’d seen either of his siblings he was no longer certain he’d recognize them, or they, him. They, at least, had been able to move freely within their prisons. Fen had been forced to hobble.