“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?”