0765332108 (F) (50 page)

“He sojourned with—” Loki’s heart was not subject to what mortals referred to as a myocardial infarction, but it might as well have been. “He is
inside
you?”

“Only his body is gone.”

“And he … speaks to you?”

“He is a part of me.”

Loki collapsed. Dainn caught him and eased him into the chair. Loki shook him off and scraped at his cheeks.

“Is he fully aware?” he asked at last.

“Yes. He shares my mind.” Dainn closed his eyes. “When it seemed that the beast was in control, and that I had killed Danny with my magic, I had actually done something very different. I had unconsciously taken his soul, his … being into myself to save him from Odin. He was lost in my mind, but Mist found him again, and kept him until I understood what I must do.”

“And the beast?”

“It is in Mist’s keeping.”

“How is that possible?”

“After the … incident, Odin had me bound and condemned. I was in a state of shock, unaware that Danny’s spirit had joined with mine. Mist refused to accept that I would kill my son, even as the beast. She released me and entered my mind, taking Danny and the beast from me, but I did not understand. I let Odin’s men catch me.”

“And she helped you escape again.”

“She was ordered to execute me at dawn this morning. She showed me that Danny still lived, and they … they arranged to set me free.”

“Mist and Danny?” Loki said with a short laugh. “Her loyalty is to the All-father.”

“Her loyalty is torn,” Dainn said, sadness in his voice. “She defied Odin for my sake, but she was careful not to let him see what she did. She does not yet know the part Odin played in Danny’s supposed death.”

“I warned her,” Loki said. “But would she listen to me?” He folded his arms across his chest. “How did she manage to get you away without exposing herself?”

“The storm,” Dainn said.

“You mean the freakish weather that cut the power to over half the city?”

“Mist was responsible.”

At least, Loki thought, he had grown beyond the tendency to experience unpleasant shocks where Mist’s abilities were concerned. “Odd,” he said, “how things turned out precisely the opposite of what you predicted would happen if I warned Mist of Freya’s intentions.”

“Even
I
underestimated her,” Dainn said, “but if Odin still does, it will not be for much longer. I do not know what proof Mist left of my death, but Odin is not entirely a fool.”

“And what did
he
think of the storm?”

“Eventually, he will guess it was her doing. Even now, I do not believe that he is fully aware of her capabilities.”

“Her hero has feet of clay. Whatever he expected to find in Mist, it is not what he discovered when he came to Midgard. Will you wait until he comes to fear her so much that he takes direct action against her?”

“A great deal has changed since he and the Einherjar arrived, and she was relieved of much of her authority among the allies. I was confined when she fought Hel at Odin’s side, but she experienced many shocks during the battle that troubled her greatly.” His gaze hardened. “How many did you send your daughter to kill, simply to provoke the All-father?”

“I didn’t…” Loki lowered his head and stared at Dainn from under his eyelashes. “
I
didn’t send her. She decided to freelance.”

“Then you cannot control your own children.”

“It won’t happen again.” Loki shook off his anger. “How did you get here?”

“We teleported.”

“Then if you can borrow Danny’s magic whenever you need it, you should be able to find a way to get Mist a message without putting Danny at risk. A manifestation, perhaps…”

“Danny holds his own spirit alive inside me,” Dainn said. “If he is too often distracted by such efforts, I do not know how long he can maintain his separate existence.”

“You mean he’ll just … disappear?”

“I know only what he fears. We must find another body, one that can contain his magic and has no soul of its own, and find a way to transfer his mind and spirit.”

“No such child exists!” Loki exclaimed.

“Perhaps. But neither I nor Danny will permit him to return by means of destroying another living being, as Freya would have done with Mist.”

“Why didn’t the boy seer tell you what Freya planned?”

Dainn’s hand snaked out and grabbed Loki by the neck. His grip was perfectly calculated to hurt but not damage, and Loki knew the slightest change in pressure would snap his spine.

As fast and deadly as the beast, Loki thought, but
not
the beast. This was something colder. And far more ancient.

“Why did you try to kill Ryan after we found Sleipnir?” Dainn asked.

Gripping Dainn’s wrists, Loki tried unsuccessfully to free himself. “It was a test,” he squeaked.

“Of what?”

There was little point, Loki thought, of keeping the secret now. “To see … if
you
had the Eitr. If you could heal him when he was at the very edge of death.”

Dainn’s grip eased. Loki gasped.

“If you had been wrong,” Dainn said, “Ryan would have died.”

“But I was … not wrong.” Loki gagged. “When did you … know you could access it?”

“I wondered when Danny first manifested it in this house,” Dainn said, “but I was not certain until Odin insisted upon acquiring it from me.”

“He … knew you had it.”

“And he knows that Danny has it as well. But you—” He tightened his grip again. “How long have you suspected?”

“Since”—he coughed—“Danny revealed his ability to wield it. I knew that ability had to come … from one of us.”

“Why do I think you are lying?” Dainn asked.

“There was another time, when you helped defeat Danny’s manifestation of Jormungandr. Do you remember how you made yourself a part of him and attacked him from within? Could you have done that with ordinary elven magic?”

“Why
then
? How could I not have known?”

“You were too busy fighting the beast.”

Abruptly Dainn let Loki go, and Loki fell against the chair. He braced his arms behind him, watching Dainn’s inscrutable face, ready to run. But Dainn was no longer looking at him.

“Odin told me,” Dainn said, “that when I came to Asgard, I burned with the light of the Eitr. I have no memory of it, but I would think he destroyed any such ability when he released the beast.”

“It was not destroyed,” Loki whispered. “And you
did
shine. As Danny did, before—” The thought that came to Loki then erased all the pain in his throat. “You said we would need a body to restore Danny to full life,” he said. “I think there may be another way.”

30

Dainn’s gaze swung back to Loki. “Explain,” he said.

Loki took a deep breath and opened his right hand, revealing a swollen palm leaking watery blood. “It has not healed. Has yours?”

Slowly Dainn opened his hand to reveal the identical wound. “No,” he said.

“I told you that it would always bind us. It is
your
Eitr that imbues these wounds, though I did not realize at the time why they would not close.” He met Dainn’s gaze. “You possess knowledge of the ancient Runes?”

“Why?” Dainn asked coldly. “Do you know how to break this bond?”

“It isn’t for us,” Loki said. “It’s for our son.”

“How?”

“You and I created Danny, whether or not you wish to acknowledge it,” Loki said. “Your connection to the Eitr lives in Danny, as it lives in these wounds.”

“Speak plainly,” Dainn said.

“Perhaps … we can restore Danny, body and all. Together.”

Dainn stared into Loki’s eyes. His fists clenched. “You still hold some Eitr within you,” he said.

“I had it before Danny was conceived,” Loki said, “because Freya and I obtained it from you at a time when you were completely unaware of the magic you possessed.”

A tense silence fell as Dainn digested what Loki had told him. “Obtained,” Dainn said. “
Stole
. I had no knowledge of this.”

“Because you lacked the memory and understanding to see yourself as you really were.”
And still do,
Loki thought.

“Is that how you opened the first bridge to Midgard?” Dainn asked.

“And how Freya controlled the Aesir in the Asgard Shadow-Realm,” Loki said, warily keeping his distance. “Obviously we made a very small dent in your supply. If Danny was the creation of your Eitr, he was also partly of mine. I believe that the mingling of our blood, aided by certain spells…”

“No.”

At first Loki wasn’t certain that he’d heard Dainn correctly. “No? Do you crave his power for yourself?”

His head snapped back as Dainn struck him. Loki moved to strike back, but his hand froze in midair as if caught in an invisible grip.

“Never suggest such a thing to me again,” Dainn said, his eyes utterly black. He gestured, and Loki found his hand free.

Rubbing his jaw, Loki laughed. “Was that you, or Danny?”

“
He
would not hurt you. Not in that way.”

“Even if you asked him to?”

Dainn’s eyes unfocused. “No,” he said, in a completely different voice. “I want to.”

Danny,
Loki thought. “What do you want?” he asked softly.

“I want to stay with Papa.”

“Danny,” Loki said. “If you don’t leave Dainn now, you could be hurt. You could be—”

“He will not do it,” Dainn said, his voice his own again.

“Ymir’s bones,” Loki swore. “Why not?”

“He will not tell me,” Dainn said, blinking slowly. “He will reject any spell we attempt.”

“Then what do you want of me?” Loki shouted.

Dainn told him. Loki sat down again.

“You want to … ally with me?”

“For the sole purpose of defeating Odin.”

“You consider Odin worse than me?”

“Only your methods differ. I detest everything you are. But Odin is prepared to sacrifice any number of mortal lives to defeat you, and you are obviously prepared to do the same. Neither one of you can win without destroying the very world you wish to rule. Despite your evil acts, I know that is not your ultimate intention.”

“It isn’t Odin’s, either.”

Dainn sighed. “In the crack house, Ryan spoke of a vision. ‘You have to be together,’ he said, and he included me, Mist, and you in his prophecy. I know he fears the consequences of transmitting such information, and I do not think he would have risked it if he did not firmly believe that such an alliance is necessary.”

“Or maybe
you
think I’ll be easier to control when Odin is defeated?”

“I am not so foolish as to believe that you will give up your own quest for power. But we will deal with that when the battle is over.”

“And Mist knows nothing of this … proposed alliance?”

“She will soon recognize the necessity.”

Dainn met Loki’s eyes. “When Mist realizes what must be done, I will be ready to support her.” He leaned over the chair. “I know you will try to betray us. It is in your nature, as it is the nature of a cockroach to shun the light. But if you care for Danny, you will help us defeat Odin.”

“Gladly, as long as you do not insist that I treat the All-father with mercy when he falls into my hands.”

“I expect no mercy from you, and I want Odin dead.”

Loki almost shivered. “I believe you,” he said.

“Then we are agreed,” Dainn asked. “You will keep complete control of Hel and Fenrir, but there will be no disregard of mortal lives. Mist will have final command until Odin is defeated.”

Loki offered his hand. His scar was swollen and seeping blood. Dainn raised an equally gory hand. Blood mingled with blood as it had done at the making of the oath. Loki felt the shock of the Eitr pass into him and vanish.

“A kiss to seal the bargain,” Loki said. Dainn turned his face aside, and Loki’s lips brushed his cheek.

For now, it was enough.

“I have one suggestion,” Loki said when Dainn stepped quickly out of reach. “If you and Danny feel up to it.”

“What is this suggestion?” Dainn asked, deliberately wiping his cheek.

“Find the missing Treasure. Find the Gjallarhorn. With it, we may be able to control when the great battle begins.”

*   *   *

Traffic had come to a stop, dozens of mortals climbing out of their vehicles to point and stare. Late-afternoon pedestrians had dropped shopping bags, purses, and suitcases, forgetting everything but the astonishing sight of the man on the eight-legged horse and the army that marched behind him.

Mist walked just behind Sleipnir, trying not to see the onlookers the same way mortal pedestrians pretended they didn’t notice the vagrants begging for money on the sidewalk.

“You will stand with me,” Odin had said—not in anger, as she had expected, but with the calm confidence she had always expected of him … before. “You will not leave my side, and when I require it, you will summon a storm as you did before.”

She’d known it wouldn’t do any good to ask him why he didn’t use his powerful Galdr to summon a storm himself, let alone try to explain that her magic could all too easily get out of hand.

Odin wouldn’t care. Today he would make his first daylight strike at his enemy, without regard to Loki’s defenses or the incredulous mortals around them. He had no patience for the games Freya had played, and during the past two weeks he had made very clear that he wasn’t going to continue with skirmishes and raids and back-alley fights. Nor would he bother with the political machines Loki had built.

No, Mist thought grimly. He was going to make an
impression
. He knew he couldn’t destroy Loki with a simple, open assault on his place of residence, but that mattered less to him than the declaration of intent. Loki’s subtlety would be of no help to him now.

Once, it was what Mist had craved herself: plain, honest combat, without subterfuge or trickery. She’d hated the administrative duties that came with organizing mortals into a fighting force, despised the glamour she’d had to use to acquire those mortals. Give her a sword and a Jotunn to fight, and she was in her element.

Even when she’d known that kind of fight was no longer possible, she’d clung to the ideal. But reality didn’t match what she’d thought she wanted. Odin had ignored her experts—the men and women who had worked so hard to research Loki’s allies, the weak points in his strategies to control the city, the logistics of raids on his illegal facilities. All Odin’s focus had been on training every mortal in the camp to fight, even if they didn’t have the talent for it and wouldn’t be ready for weeks.