Baldur stared into the camera, his gentle smile never wavering, as the pot he'd been holding quivered. A sprig of green appeared, rapidly growing in Baldur's hands until a perfectly formed white lily opened its trumpet-like flower. Behind him, all of the bushes sprouted tiny flowers as well, blue with white centers, just like Baldur's eyes.
It was a miracle, since those bushes were obviously yews, and incapable of flowering. This meant that it really was Baldur standing there, and not some imposter like Grimm had been telling the gods for centuries. The magic of the Jotun, even Loki's, couldn't fake a true miracle.
"These flowers have bloomed to mark both an end and a beginning.” Baldur's blue and white gaze was
glued to the camera. Val couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring right at him. You barely noticed Loki standing behind him, somehow in shadow.
Val groaned. Baldur was glowing. It was his shadow his lover stood in.
"You all forgot something, you know. I am a God of Spring. I bring peace, hope, joy, et cetera.” He waved his hand, careful not to knock over the lily. Val could hear Loki's snort of amusement behind Baldur, noted the first hint of warmth to enter those cold eyes. “Just as you have given me no peace, now I give you no peace.” Those sky blue eyes darkened until the white pupils glared out of a circle of navy.
“No gardens shall bloom, no sun shall shine for you. Winter is in your hearts to stay until justice is served, both for the torment you've given Loki and myself and the injuries you've done to our families."
At that point, Loki leaned forward, placing one hand on Baldur's shoulder. “By the way, Frey? Thor?
Jordan's fine. We're keeping her safe.” That devil's grin that had gotten him into so much trouble over the centuries was on his face. “And we've decided to just plain keep her."
Oh, shit. Val watched as the familiar YouTube scrolling screen appeared, asking people to rate the video. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
No wonder Grimm was ready to blow a gasket.
Frey and Thor would probably start bellowing like bulls, knowing that Jordan was in Loki's hands. It wouldn't matter to them that she was also in Baldur's hands, since they probably still believed Baldur was an imposter. He wondered how many phone calls Grimm had already gotten from them.
And he wondered how Frigg would take the news that her son was still alive.
He blinked, startled, as his hands left the keyboard. He'd just emailed the link to each and every one of the Aesir and Vanir in his address book.
Damn it, Loki! What the hell do you think you're doing?
But deep down, he knew. He just hoped Jordan didn't get any more hurt than she'd already been. If she hadn't leapt to Logan's defense, she never would have gotten hurt in the first place. He'd aimed the shot to miss by just a hair, a hair Jordan had stepped into. Damn it.
There was a gasp from outside his office. Stepping out to see what was going on, he saw plants withering and dying. And from the gasps and yelling he could hear, all of the plants in Grimm and Sons were doing the same.
The true meaning of Baldur's curse hit home.
He turned and went back into his office, trying to hide his snicker behind a cough.
Damn, bro. Way to make your point.
God of Spring, indeed.
The incessant pounding on the door had Logan groggily getting to his feet. Kir was sleeping in the bed with Jordan, making sure she didn't need anything, while Logan had stayed up all night working. He'd just fallen asleep on the sofa after a long bout of research, both on the computer and in some of the more
esoteric books he owned.
It had been two days since they'd brought Jordan home, with orders to see to it that she got physical therapy. If Logan was right, though, she wouldn't need it.
He opened the door to a small, pissed-off redhead. Her wild curls danced around her head in their own fiery halo. Her foot was tapping a staccato beat as she glared at him. “Where's Jordan?"
"Good morning to you too, Jamie.” He blinked sleepily, scratching at his naked chest as he yawned. It was too damn early in the morning for this. “Jordan's sleeping."
Her pixie eyes narrowed. “Where?"
He couldn't help it. He leered down at her. “In my bed. With Goldilocks."
She took a deep breath. “Jordan! "
He winced and fought the urge to cover his ears. She had a set of lungs on her that would make an opera singer proud. “Fuck, shut the hell up. You want to wake the whole damn floor?” He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her through, ignoring her gasp when the wards flared up around her. Something about that bothered him, but he was too damn tired to figure it out. “Jordan was shot. She's just out of the hospital and needs her rest."
She growled up at him, cute as a kitten. “Exactly. Moron. Which is why I'm here."
"What's up?” Kir stepped out of the bedroom, all rumpled and warm, his black sleep pants full of wrinkles. Logan wanted to just slurp him up, especially when he yawned and rubbed his six-pack abs.
Jamie growled again.
He pointed with his thumb at Jamie. “The Chihuahua here wants to know where Jordan is. Ow.” He leaned over and rubbed his shin, glaring at Jamie. She'd actually kicked him, and now stood there, glowering at him. “Down, tiger."
" Where is my sister? ” Jamie was actually shrieking, stamping her foot, her face turning beet red.
Kir looked at Logan and grimaced. “She's in bed, sleeping."
"Not anymore.” A sleepy, grumpy-looking Jordan stuck her head out of the doorway. “Morning, Jamie.
I see you haven't had your coffee yet."
"Jordan? You okay? Tweedledum here didn't want to let me in."
"I opened the damn door, didn't I?” He limped into the room, ignoring Kir's rolling eyes, and headed right for Jordan. He kissed her on top of her sleep-rumpled head. Her hair was sticking up, and it tickled his nose. He pouted down at her. “She kicked me."
"Poor baby.” She patted him on the head, yawning again. “Go make coffee, will you?"
"Work, work, work.” Logan paused by Kir long enough to exchange a quick kiss before he headed into the kitchen, grumbling.
"Cinderfelly, Cinderfelly, night and day it's Cinderfelly,” Jordan sang as she headed back into the bedroom, presumably to get dressed.
Logan stopped, stunned. He put his hands on his hips and turned, not surprised to see Kir collapsed against the doorframe, laughing his ass off. “Very funny, dickhead. Why don't you go deal with the evil stepsister while I put coffee on, okay?"
He caught the look of suspicion on Jamie's face as he headed into the kitchen, but at least some of the anger had left her eyes. Good. I don't want Jordan upset. And having her baby sister fussing would upset her, big time.
Calling Jamie hadn't been in their plans, but Jordan had begged and pleaded for them to call her family.
So they'd called Jeff, figuring he'd be the calmer of the twins. Poor Jeff had been stunned to hear what had happened, but he was out of town on a case and couldn't get back very quickly. He'd offered to call his brothers, Magnus and Morgan, but Kir had talked him out of it, saying Jordan wanted to talk to them herself. He just hoped little brother had listened, or he'd wind up with two pissed-off gods on his doorstep. Dealing with the twin, full-blooded sons of Thor was not on his to-do list today, thank you very much.
Apparently Jeff had opted to call little sis instead, who'd decided it was a good idea to show up at the ass-crack of dawn.
Wait. Two women, one of them pissed off, together in our condo. Neither one of whom has had caffeine.