Fate Forgotten (6 page)

Sif had finally done it. Divorced him. Freed him. But for what reason? Just to tempt him? To see him punished even further for the disobedience she was so sure would follow? He shook his head with disgust and hung
Mjölnir
back on his belt. Loki did not have the freedom to haunt Eve, no matter how much he might have liked to. Not while the other gods protected her.

“If you remain here, I’ll bring the lightning down on your head so hard you’ll never leave again. Your message has been given along with your threats. Return to Asgard.”

Loki sneered again. “We’re in Olympian lands, brother. You have no power here.”

Thor let the sky turn black. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked overhead. “Zeus wants me for his son-in-law, Loki. Do you think he would not give me a little piece of his world?”

Loki’s eyes filled with fear. Just for a moment, before it was hidden by hate and anger. Thor let lightning strike the ground an arm’s length from him, just to drive his point home, and smiled an awful smile as he thought of how much of a relief it would be to have done with the Trickster forever with another bolt.

But Loki did not test him further. He was not Aesir, or even Vanir. He did not have the courage of warriors, or feel compelled to rise to a challenge when he could not win it. Before Thor could summon another bolt of lightning to the ground at his feet, Loki fled.

Chapter Five: Present

Eve wasn’t exactly surprised when she received the phone call from her mother a few months later with the news that Mia was pregnant. Not exactly, because in the competition Mia had imagined between them, it made perfect sense that she would want a baby now that Eve had one. Mia wouldn’t want to be left behind, reproductively. Nor would she allow their mother’s interest to be taken from her by Alexandre. By becoming pregnant, Mia placed herself right back into the center of everyone’s attention.

“But doesn’t it seem odd to you that Adam would go along with this? I can’t imagine she has the maturity to raise a baby, and what I knew of him was never very paternal.”

Garrit didn’t lift his eyes from the paper he was reading, even as he ripped apart a croissant. “It’s just one more reason I’m happy they don’t live in France.”

She frowned. His disinterest could be understood, even if it was highly irritating to her at that moment. “That’s almost cruel, Garrit. I wouldn’t wish indifferent parents on any child.”

He sighed and looked up at her then. “You know that isn’t what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

He raised an eyebrow and she grimaced. These games were so much easier to play when her husband didn’t know she could read minds. As it was, any misunderstanding was always seen as willful. And for the most part, he wasn’t wrong.

“I’m only saying that if we were nearer, at least the baby would have family that cared for it,” she said.

“Somehow I don’t think I would make a very loving surrogate for any of Adam’s
progéniture
.”

“Garrit!”

He shrugged. “
Pardonne-moi
, Abby. I don’t care for the man, and I don’t look forward to his using the excuse of family to impose himself on us. Any children she has are his, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing was his idea to begin with.”

“I’ll admit that my brother is self-serving, but I have a hard time believing he’d put himself out with a child just to force us into the same room with him.” And then there was the other matter. The one she hadn’t told Garrit about. Adam’s new and complete avoidance of her. He hadn’t so much as whispered a thought in her direction since Christmas. “Are you incapable of believing even for a minute that maybe he really does love Mia?”

“I’m incapable of believing even for a minute that the man is capable of love of any kind, Abby. For your sister or otherwise.”

She frowned again, thinking of the agony in his thoughts. “People change.”

He folded his paper and stared at her levelly. “Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to risk giving him the benefit of the doubt. If he has changed, I’m happy for you both, but I can’t trust it and neither should you.”

“Do you even know what you’re protecting me from? Why it’s so important to keep us apart?”

“Because the fact that he’s manipulative and cruel isn’t enough?”

She shook her head. It was probably for the best that her family didn’t know the details of how they would all die anyway, by Michael’s hand or the child’s. And it wasn’t as if she really understood them herself. The longer she lived, the more she realized how limited the power of the Fruit really was. There were things in this world man wasn’t meant to understand.

“I’m married. Adam is married. If he couldn’t violate that covenant at Creation, I really don’t see how he could start now.”

“Changed or not, in love with Mia or not, this was always about you.”

She looked away. He had no idea how right he was and she had no intention of enlightening him. Silence was a much better alternative to explanation at the moment, and it had the added advantage of allowing him to interpret it in any way he desired. But she couldn’t forget Adam’s heartbreak as he had fled at Christmas. He wouldn’t have left if he hadn’t changed. He wouldn’t have cared about Mia’s feelings at all.

Garrit cleared his throat. “I’ll plan a vacation for the weeks surrounding her due date. We’ll go see them, if that’s what you want.”

“Without a DeLeon contingent?” She glanced back at his face, frankly surprised he was offering her the option at all.

He smiled. “Not unless Alex counts as a contingent.”

“Let me think about it. And talk to Mum and Mia.” And Adam. Though, perhaps he would be grateful for Garrit’s presence. If Garrit could be trusted to offer support instead of sneering.

“Don’t look at me like that, Abby. When have I not behaved myself in company?”

She sighed. “I just don’t want to cause Mia any extra stress. She knows you don’t like her husband.”

“If you want to go, we’ll go. Just let me know when you’ve made up your mind.”

“I will.”

Alex started to cry, and she moved to get up, but Garrit stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Finish your breakfast. It’s my turn.”

She watched him go. Having a husband interested in taking part in childcare was definitely a blessing in the modern world. Ryam had always loved his children, but his interest in them as babies was severely limited by the disturbance to his otherwise ordered household. The nursery had been at the opposite end of the manor, where they couldn’t hear the babies crying at night. But then, Ryam had insisted on a wet nurse as well, ignoring her preference to care for the children herself.

Unsurprising, really, considering everything else he’d done without her consent and against her wishes. To be fair, though, she had honestly believed she was keeping her share of secrets then.

She drank her tea and frowned at the mystery. It was unlikely she’d ever find the answers she wanted, outside of bizarrely vivid and nonsensical dreams. Odd that she would dream of Thorgrim after all these years. Odder still that she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was some connection to him she was missing.

Thorgrim had not only known everything there was to know about her history, he had outlived her. If she had learned anything in this lifetime, it was that the men who loved her would do whatever they felt was best for her future, regardless of her wishes. Couldn’t Thorgrim have told his son her story? And Owen passed it on to his own children, age after age, until his descendants found the House of Lions, with the same preserved truth.

It was a long time to remember, but not impossible. Reu’s sons proved that every generation. If it could happen here, there was no reason why it couldn’t have happened there and then.

Thorgrim had been a good man.

She shook her head and cleared her breakfast dishes away. Ruminating over past husbands was neither appropriate nor helpful at this point. Ryam’s secrets were too well kept, and Thorgrim…

Thorgrim, she imagined, would always be the husband by which she measured every other, unfair though it was. She tried desperately to take each life as it came to her, to take each man as he was, without comparison to those that came before, but the more lives she lived the harder it was becoming. She always served her purpose. Married, produced children, passing on her wisdom and genetics to the next generation. And as the world acknowledged and embraced the rights of women once more, she found love more often, too. But she had yet to meet a man capable of the love Thorgrim had shown her. Not even Garrit. Not even Ryam or Reu.

Perhaps in her next life, she would return to the North lands.

Enough. There were more important things to see to, now, than wishing for something long dead and buried. And Garrit made her happy, gave her a joy she rarely found. She couldn’t blame him for his mistrust of Adam. He hadn’t felt what she’d felt, the agony of Adam’s thoughts and feelings as he left them those months ago.

Eve slipped into the library and curled up in her favorite armchair. If she was going to reach Adam, it might as well be sooner rather than later. While he still would have a moment to himself without Mia demanding he wait on her hand and foot. She closed her eyes and made herself as comfortable as possible, breathing deeply to focus her mind.

Adam?

Startled dismay reached her and she began to withdraw. She didn’t want to cause him any problems. This was bound to be difficult for him as it was.

No, please. I just wasn’t expecting to hear from you. Foolish of me, perhaps. Anne called you?

Yes.

A congratulatory message could have been as effectively conveyed over the phone, you know. I’m sure Mia is waiting for you to call.

She sighed.
It would be awkward to discuss through Mia the feelings you left me with at our last encounter.

Ah.

I just wanted to know if you’d be bothered if we came for the birth.

She distinctly heard a mental snort.
I suppose that depends on how many Lions your husband insists on bringing along to protect you from the menace of being in the same room as my person.

Just our son.

Shocking.
But he abandoned the sarcasm quickly.
Mia loves attention, Eve. Especially yours. If you didn’t come, she’d be offended.

This isn’t just about her, Adam.

There was a flurry of emotion not unlike snow on a television signal. Too much and too quickly for her to follow any of it. But when he spoke, his mental tone was steady and almost snide.
If your husband
allows
it and that’s what you want, then come.

You’re certain?

I don’t need you to coddle me, Eve. Do what you wish.

And then he was gone from her mind.

She wasn’t sure if she should be offended, or even more concerned as she mulled over that absence. When Garrit arrived with Alex, she didn’t have time to reflect any further on the conversation. Later, she decided. And she would call Mia, too.

Not that she mistrusted Adam’s assessment of her sister. But Mia would be pleased if she asked. Her sister always liked to think she was in charge. She tried not to scowl, but she couldn’t help but wonder: how on earth did Mia get along with Adam?

Chapter Six: Future

After walking around the block half a dozen times, Adam couldn’t resist returning to the small shop the next day. There was something about her, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since Eve. He couldn’t continue his search until he understood. Adam pushed open the door and the chime of the bell gave him away.

“I’ll be right with you,” Renata called over her shoulder. She balanced on a ladder fearlessly, juggling packages of overstock.

He said nothing, leaning against the counter and watching her as she finished and then dropped gracefully from the ladder. She turned, a polite smile fixed on her face which faltered at the sight of him. “Oh.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t come looking for you after you ran out on me last night?” But he smiled to take the accusation from his words.