Morgan's Fate (2 page)

“Silence, Loki.” The Trickster glared at Odin, unflinching, but Odin was unmoved. “Allow Thor to deal with this.”

Loki bowed. “Of course, Old Man. As you wish.” Loki picked up his mug and settled back at the table, but his sharp, bright gaze following Hrungir’s every move.

Modi blinked. How had the Trickster gotten his hands on some ale? Everyone else held the goblets Odin used to serve his wine, but not Loki. Had Odin decided his precious apple wine was too good to pass the lips of a Jotun? Or had he turned it down, simply to be contrary? Modi would put nothing past the Trickster when it came to his quiet feud with Odin. For all Morgan knew the wine was in the mug and Loki was simply out to annoy the leader of the gods.

Thus it was that, as he had paid far too much attention to Loki’s antics, Modi missed the cowardly attack of Hrungnir. The Jotun flung his stone weapon at Thor’s head.

But Thor was the consummate warrior and had fought Jotun before. He knew their tricks. Wielding the hammer
Mjolnir
, he shattered the thrown weapon before it could reach him.

Yet still, the Jotun took first blood, for a piece of the shattered mace struck Thor upon the head, cutting him deeply. Enraged, Thor swung
Mjolnir
and hit Hrungnir square on top of his head, shattering his skull with a sound not unlike that which the Jotun’s mace had made upon impact with the mighty hammer. Hrungnir crumpled to the ground, dead, but Thor, blinded by blood in his eyes, also fell, crushed beneath the giant’s body. Hrungnir had his father trapped.

The hall fell silent as the Jotun did not move.

Nor did the thunder god as he lay nearly hidden beneath the greater girth of the Jotun.

“Father!” Magni was the first to move, racing to Thor’s side. Modi swiftly followed, ready to assist his brother in lifting the giant corpse off their father. He was strength. He could do this.

But before he could reach the corpse, Magni had lifted it and flung it aside like a rag doll, his rage and fear giving him the strength he needed to save Thor. Their father groaned, sending a shaft of relief racing through Modi’s veins.

“You ass! Jump out of the way next time.”

Loki burst into laughter, falling out of his seat to roll on the ground like a child. Even the Fates smiled at his brother, amused by his outburst no doubt. Modi stilled, his heart yearning as he took in Skuld’s beauty.

Skuld should always be smiling like that. If he could, he would see to it that she knew no other expression.

But he couldn’t, so he turned back to his brother and his father. Thor grumbled but took Magni’s hand and allowed his son to lift him to his feet. “You are strong, my son. Truly worthy to be called my own. In recognition of this, I give you Gullfaxi, mine enemy’s steed, for your own.”

For a split second, Magni’s expression was filled with joy, but it was soon shattered.

“Hold, my son. How dare you give such a fine steed to the bastard child of a Jotun rather than your own father?” Odin swept between Magni and Thor, glaring at the latter as if he’d performed some foul deed rather than reward his own child. “Gullfaxi is mine, won by the might of my steed.”

“Father—”

“Enough!”
The Godspear flashed into Odin’s hand, the butt crashing into the golden floor of Valhalla and echoing throughout the hold of the gods. “It is done. Be grateful I allow the boy to live among us.”

If Modi could pray, he would, just so that he never saw that look of pain on his brother’s face again. Magni felt everything deeply, but especially Odin’s rejection. If they had been children of Sif, they would have had his full approval, but no. That was denied them, as were the ones they loved.

“He is my son!”
Thor roared his own anger at his father, but Odin held up his hand, stopping him.

“Your son he may be, but he is barely one of us. Remember that, as I do.”

Thor growled, and thunder rumbled outside the hall. “He and his brother shall wield
Mjolnir
when Ragnarrok fells us all. Remember
that
, Father.” And Thor stalked off, leaving Magni and Modi both to face the tender mercies of the man they called Grandfather.

Chapter One

Morgan Grimm knocked on the Tate-Saeters’ door, weary to the bone. It had been a long-ass trip, and all they had to show for it was sore feet and bad news. The Norn of the Future, Skuld, was missing, and her sisters couldn’t find her.

“Are you
sure
they didn’t know where Skuld was?”

Morgan gritted his teeth. “For the sixth and final time, yes.” Magnus hadn’t dropped it since they got off the Bifrost Bridge and headed home to Center City, Philadelphia. The moment he’d seen that statue of William Penn on top of City Hall he’d wanted to collapse in relief.

Philly really
had
become home, in ways he never would have thought possible.

“And if they were lying to us?”

Morgan shrugged. “We spank their asses until they scream.”

Magnus chuckled. “The redhead
was
kind of cute.”

“If you could get past the
thees
and
thous
. I prefer more modern screams myself.” Not that he’d be crazy enough to try and get it on with a Norn of Fate.

Or at least not
those
Norns. Now, if he could find Skuld, it would be a whole different story. Her, he’d happily tie to his bed for the rest of eternity. Maybe even beyond.

A familiar, blood-curdling scream sounded right as Morgan opened the door to Logan, Kir and Jordan’s condo.

Magnus tapped him on the shoulder. “Will those do?”

Morgan rolled his eyes and stepped into the Tate-Saeters’ condo. He did his best to ignore the mayhem as Jeff, his half brother, chased his twin sister Jamie around Kir’s living room. The two of them were yelling so loudly Morgan was surprised Hel didn’t come to ask them to keep it down because they were waking the dead.

Magnus, however, never could ignore a good fight. “Get him, Jamie! Run, Jeff, run!”

The two paused, and Morgan blinked. Jeff, whose curls had been short when he left, now had… “What is up with your hair?”

Jeff growled, pulling a waist-length mass of red curls over his shoulder. “Jamie stole my rubber band.”

“It was my rubber band. You stole it to begin with.”

“I need it! Fenris won’t let me cut my hair.”

Magnus started to laugh, but Morgan was watching them both closely. Something was wrong. The two of them were crazy, but they were never manic. Today, their playing had a whiff of…desperation? Sadness? Whatever it was, the pair looked far too unhappy to be joking the way they were. “What do you mean, he won’t let you?” No one stopped Jeff from doing what he wanted.
No one
. Not even their father.

“Did he say
Fenris
won’t let him?” Morgan was stunned. He remembered Fenrisùlfr. The wolf was fierce, but Morgan doubted he would ever harm Jeff. He tugged absently at the magical earring Logan had given him just before they’d departed for the bridge. It hid them from Odin’s scrying, allowing them to get to Yggdrasil without having to confront him openly. They’d left just before Jeff, Travis and Jamie departed for Norway to save Fenris.

Rumor on the bridge had it that the Old Man was hiding in Valhalla after his defeat at the hands of Fenris, but Morgan knew better. If the man was in Valhalla instead of on Earth, it was because he was up to something.

There had been other rumors, dark ones, but they hadn’t dared linger. Skuld was most likely on Midgard instead of under the World Tree, and that meant she was in danger. That Magnus had agreed with him and hustled them both home only caused his anxiety to grow.

The Wonder Twins ignored him. Jamie held out the hair band and shook it in Jeff’s face, dancing back when he tried to snatch it. “It’s mine, dickhead.”

Jeff growled and chased Jamie around the sofa again.

“You know, I’m sure Kir has a nice, quiet quest he can send us on.” Magnus was watching his brother and sister act like idiots with an amused expression.

Morgan flinched as the rubber band smacked Jeff right between the eyes, Jamie crowing in triumph over her “kill shot”. “I hear Barbados is lovely this time of year.”

The two started backing toward the door when the Wonder Twins suddenly froze. “Oh my god.” Jamie stared at them out of huge, tear-filled green eyes, as if just realizing they were there. “Jeff. Magnus and Morgan are here.”

“Welcome home.” Jeff bound his hair with shaking hands, but now that Morgan looked closer he didn’t seem to be any better than Jamie.
What the fuck is going on?

The twins exchanged a look that had Morgan’s heart pounding in fear. He was right. All the horsing around suddenly made sense—the Wonder Twins were trying
too
hard to get back to normal.

Something bad
had
happened while they were gone.

“I’ll go get Kir and Logan. You go get Jordan.” Jamie nodded and took off.

Instead of heading off to fetch Logan and Kir, Jeff approached Morgan and Magnus.

Something in the way his brother moved told Morgan everything he needed to know. Fenris, Logan’s son, had claimed Jeff as his mate. His brother had always been nimble, but now he moved with a preternatural grace that hadn’t been present before. In his gaze a fierce predator lurked.

He’d deal with that, and Fenris, later. The wolf would take care of Morgan’s brother, but still. Jeff was his little brother, and Morgan would let it be known that Fenris was not the only one watching out for him. “What happened?”

“I didn’t want to say it in front of Jamie. She’s cried enough for both of us. But, Morgan, Magnus…” Jeff sighed, grief tightening his features. “Dad’s dead.”

Morgan blinked. He hadn’t heard what he thought he’d heard. He couldn’t have. Thor was…

Thor. Invincible.

Jeff nodded, as if he sensed Morgan’s disbelief. “Grimm killed him.”

No. Morgan shook his head, unwilling to believe that…

That…

Magnus gripped his arm as he swayed, steadying him.

“The bastard nearly killed you as well,
elskede
.” Fenris came out of the kitchen and wrapped his arm around Jeff’s waist. His gaze was hard as he stared at the brothers, as if he thought Morgan and Magnus were somehow a threat to his beloved. “He killed Thor to get to me, but took Jeff by accident. As Jeff had changed for the first time, he assumed the wolf was me.” He grabbed Jeff’s wrist and lifted Jeff’s arm, much to Jeff’s obvious aggravation. “He still bears the scars of the Old Man’s cruelty.”

Morgan recognized the line of scars running down his brother’s arm and felt rage threaten to blow the top of his head off. While he’d been merrily tripping along the Bifrost Bridge, Grimm had nearly killed his brother. “He tried to
skin you
?”

Jeff flinched. “Yeah.”

Morgan took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm himself even as Magnus punched a hole in the wall. Their grandfather, in his insane bid to retake the Vanir and Aesir, had once again gone too far. While they’d been gone on their useless, stupid errand, Jeff had nearly died, and Thor…

Dear gods.
Thor.

How could it be? His father had become an ass thanks to Grimm and his manipulations, but he’d finally been throwing off the effects of the mind-altering apples Grimm had been feeding them all for centuries. He’d been coming around, trying to reconcile with his children, and no matter how angry Modi and Magni had been with him they’d loved him dearly.

He was their
dad
. The man who tossed them in the air, who fought Frigg and Odin when they would have banished them. The man who’d known that while Magnus loved horses and swordplay, Morgan loved puzzles and reading. But as time wore on, that loving man had become cold and harsh toward his children, mimicking Grimm’s behavior and driving his children away.

None of them had seen, not one of them had realized, what was really going on, except Loki. And Grimm had tried to kill him too.

Only Loki had been immune to Grimm’s power. He’d saved Baldur’s life, taking Baldur’s place, and his pain, within the Thing, when Grimm would have seen Baldur slain. Loki had saved Baldur’s life that day, almost at the cost of his own.

Changing their names to Logan and Kir, they’d gone on the run, eventually becoming lovers. They’d been hunted and terrorized by Grimm, with the help of all the gods, including Magni and Modi, who now called themselves Magnus and Morgan Grimm.

They’d all believed Grimm’s lies, that Loki had caused Baldur’s death and that he was using some look-alike to taunt them. His fake grief, combined with his powers of persuasion and the mind-altering apples, had kept them in line. They’d been obedient little drones until Logan and Kir managed to cut off Grimm’s supply of apples, causing them all to realize how far Grimm was willing to go to avoid the prophecy of Ragnarrok.

He’d tried to kill one son to avoid death, and had succeeded in killing the other.

Oh, gods. He was going to miss his father.

Speaking of family, he needed to know. “Where’s Jeanne?”

“Here. She’s with Jordan, trying to deal with Dad’s death and Jordan’s weird pineapple thing.”

Morgan groaned. Jordan had become pregnant with fraternal twins, one from Kir, one from Logan, and ever since she’d been obsessed with, of all things, pineapples. The scent, the taste, even the look of them. If he stumbled over one more pineapple he was going to lose it. It was driving them all crazy. She’d even tried to buy yellow paint, a color that normally made her shudder, over the Internet. She’d bought pineapple-scented candles, pineapple-scented room deodorizers, and insisted on canned pineapple on
everything
, even beans. Hell, she’d even put pineapples on the holiday tree, for fuck’s sake. Her kids were going to be even freakier than their fathers.

Dad would have loved it. Jordan might not have been his flesh and blood, but the moment he’d married Jeanne, Jordan had been his. The pang of grief that went through Morgan nearly dropped him to his knees.