Howl for Me (3 page)

He’d never been frightened of Travis. Not once had he felt any discomfort around the man he’d known since he was sixteen. But when someone mentioned Oliver Grimm in front of Travis, his expression filled with the need for Grimm’s blood. Jeff never wanted that expression turned on him, ever. Jeff figured Fen was the first step in Travis’s plan to get it. According to the old Norse prophecy of Ragnarrok, Fenris was supposed to kill Jeff’s grandfather, something Jeff couldn’t be happier about.

“What is that?” Fenris spoke clear, if highly accented, English, his Ws sounding very much like Vs. Logan must have been preparing his son for his eventual freedom by teaching him English as well as modern Norwegian. He wondered what other languages he’d taught his son.

Jeff looked toward where Fenris was pointing and shrugged. “Helicopter.”

Fenris looked at him as if he’d just said “jalapeño anal lube”.

“What? We couldn’t land the plane here. Too rocky.” Jeff strode confidently toward the helicopter and tried not to show how much it scared the bejesus out of him. He
hated
flying in the loud, rocky thing. Might as well put blender blades on eggshells and see if they flew. But Travis had been right, as usual. Anything other than the helicopter might have given Grimm a chance to catch up to them. It could go where planes couldn’t, no matter how terrifying they were.

He climbed into the helicopter, somehow not surprised when Fenris chose to curl his very stinky body as close as possible to Jeff. Jamie sat up front with Travis, who flew the chopper with an astonishing degree of professionalism. Apparently he’d flown one in ’Nam and had kept his pilot’s license up ever since.

Jeff shoved a headset over Fenris’s ears. “Someone needs a bath and some clothes pronto,” Jeff yelled into his headset’s microphone.

Fenris jumped and turned his head, no doubt wondering where the other Jeff was who’d spoken in his ear.

Jeff grinned. This was going to be fun.

“We can’t afford to stop off at a hotel. We’ll just have to throw something on him at the airport and get him out of here.” Travis flew closer to the water than Jeff felt comfortable with. If he opened the door he was afraid his jeans would get soaked in the spray.

“Do
you
want to fly home with that smell next to you?” Jamie asked her fiancé tartly.

“He’s not going to be in the cockpit, is he?”

Jamie smacked Travis’s arm.

Fenris watched the whole thing with wide, fascinated eyes. Jeff wondered if anyone had dared lay a hand on Tyr back when he’d been all I’m-A-God-Don’t-Fuck-With-Me.

Fenris scowled. “
Jeg er beklager jeg duft dårlige, men du prøver å være bundet i en hule for et par århundrer og se hva du duft som.
”

Travis choked on a laugh.

Jamie scowled back, her eyes narrowing. “Travis? What did he just say?”

Travis chuckled. “‘I’m sorry I smell bad, but you try being chained in a cave for a few centuries and see what you smell like.’”

Jamie looked like she was biting back her own laugh. “Point taken.” She turned back around. “There’s the airport.”

“I want you two to fill him in as much as you can on the way back to

Philadelphia. I’m sure he’ll have questions but I’m hoping most of them can wait until after we reunite him with his father.”

Jeff felt Fenris clasp his hand. “How?”

“How what?”

“How did you free me?”

Jeff grinned. “Chinese finger trap.”

Fenris’s head tilted, much like a dog’s.

“It’s a child’s toy that traps your index fingers.” Jeff picked up Fen’s hands and showed him, placing them tip to tip. “The more you tug, the stronger it gets.”

Fenris nodded as if he understood, but Jeff wasn’t so sure about that.

“But when you push your fingers together and gently twist, you can pull your fingers free.” He pulled Fenris’s fingers apart. “You just have to be careful not to tug or it tightens right back up again. It’s a test of cunning, not strength.”

Fenris was staring at him with those huge, dark eyes as if Jeff was some sort of god rather than a private detective who enjoyed children’s games. “
Tusen takk
.”

“Thank you,” Travis translated.

“You’re welcome.” Jeff tried to drop Fenris’s hands, but the wolf held fast. The heated smile on his face as he lifted Jeff’s hands to his lips would have made him shiver, except Fenris chose that moment to lick Jeff’s knuckles rather than kiss them.

“Ugh. Dog drool.”

Jamie giggled, the heartless bitch, and before he knew it they were at the airport. Travis landed the helicopter and handed Jeff his button-down shirt, leaving him in a plain white tee. “Make him put this on. Jamie and I will run in and get him some pants, then head to the plane. You have the passports ready?”

Jeff nodded. Logan and Travis had both “magic’d” their passports so Rina couldn’t fuck with them and stick them in Norway indefinitely, there to be picked off at his grandfather’s leisure.

“What size…? Never mind.” Jamie eyeballed the naked man. “I’ll guess.”

Travis grabbed hold of her arm and practically dragged her out of the helicopter. He turned and pointed his finger at Jeff and Fenris. “Stay put, you two.”

Jeff saluted. “Aye aye, boss man.”

Travis rolled his eyes and closed the door.

Fenris licked his fingers again.

“Stop that!” Jeff yanked on his fingers again, and this time Fenris let them go.

“
Ja kjære
.”

Jeff leaned in close, scowling, trying somehow to gain the upper hand. “In English.”

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.

“Grimm’s access to the apples has been cut off, but I’m pretty sure Frigg is using them to control other people now.” Jeff winced. “Human-type people.”

Fenris focused on the one thing that really mattered. “Vali is your ally?”

Jeff snorted. “Vali is my
uncle
.”

Fenris eyed the plane’s airlock. How much would it hurt if he jumped out of the plane? Vali was supposed to kill him during Ragnarrok. How could Jeff be allies with Fenris’s eventual murderer?

“I think that’s it, right?”

Jamie nodded. “Pretty much. Nik appeared and saved Travis and Uncle Val from jail and took a liking to the detective working the murder case.”

“Nik?” Fenris wasn’t sure he wanted to hear much more. His head was beginning to hurt as it was.

“Sorry. You’d know him as Heimdall.”

Fen nearly swallowed his tongue.

“To us, he’s Niklas DeWitt, scary-ass attorney-at-law.” Jeff patted his hand in comfort. “Don’t worry. It took me a while to get it all straight.”