Kir shrugged, looking embarrassed. “For some reason, I keep thinking you and Magnus aren’t going to be living together for much longer.” His gaze darted to Skye, who was snoring lightly in Morgan’s embrace. Who would have thought a Fate could be so fucking adorable? “Magnus is going to find his own destiny soon, and I think…”
“What?” Morgan kept his voice low. He didn’t want to wake Skye. She’d been through enough traumas for the evening.
“I think…” Kir smiled at where his own lovers sat, talking quietly to one another. Jordan was holding Logan’s hand, and whatever they were discussing had Logan smiling in a way he reserved solely for his lovers. “I think your brother’s fate is going to be more like mine.” He held up two keys, each with a peanut M&M on the key chain.
“Huh.” Now that was a surprise, and yet it wasn’t. Magnus with two lovers? Having two people to tame his rage made perfect sense. He’d seen his brother casting his eye toward both sexes, even if he’d tried to hide that interest from their father and grandfather. “One of them will be male.” Morgan was as certain of that as he was that Skye belonged to him.
Kir shrugged again. “I think so.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t explain how I know, I just do. Like I know Val will also find someone, and that Jormungandr and Sleipnir will come home, but that Hel is already home and won’t be joining us.” He held up a fourth key with a seashell embossed on the key chain. “And neither Sleipnir nor Jormungandr will be alone for long.”
“Thank fuck. Any idea how we’re going to get Sleipnir home?” Jordan put her hand over Logan’s.
“Not yet. Val has a few ideas, but mostly they consist of ‘let’s storm the castle.’”
“I like storming the castle. You either get the dragon or the princess. Either way, you win.” Everyone stared at Magnus. “What?”
Morgan chuckled. Magnus was free to pursue his interests just as Morgan was. He wished his brother luck. “Anyone else moving in that we need to worry about?”
Kir sighed. “I’ve made the key, but I don’t know if it will ever get used.” He held up a key that had a shield on it.
A police shield? Morgan squinted, trying to get a clearer look, but Kir tucked it back into his pocket. “Is that for who I think it’s for?”
“If she wants it, yes.”
“Good.” Antonia Morelli was one of them, whether the stubborn human liked it or not. A mortal with the blood of Valkyries in her, she’d used her powers to help Jeff heal after Grimm nearly skinned him alive. They all owed her more than they could ever repay. Fenris had gone so far as to declare her family, and if he knew Logan and Kir it wouldn’t be long before the police detective was sharing blood with them as well.
If Toni moved in with them, Morgan would welcome her with open arms. He glanced down at the top of Skye’s head. Well, as long as he didn’t have an armful of Norn, that was. “I hope she accepts. She belongs with us.”
“She does.” Kir stroked Skye’s hair away from her face, revealing the affection Kir seemed to have for all those he’d chosen to take under his wing. He could see why Jordan had given the blonde her heart. The man had a huge one of his own. “Take her home, Morgan. She needs you more than she needs the rest of us.”
“Are you sure?” Hope pounded through him. Was this Kir’s blessing to the union Morgan wanted so desperately with Skye?
“She’s lost everything all over again. The person she was, the person she
He would. He would protect her from anything. Even himself. “I would, with my life.”
He tried not to jostle Skye as Jeff slapped him upside the head. “No dying. Geeze, what is it with the Grimm family? One more person declares a death wish, and I’m biting their ass. Hard.”
“We’re not Grimms anymore.”
Morgan held back a sigh.
Morgan glanced over at his twin, who shrugged. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted that out.” Magnus batted his lashes. “Forgive me? Pleeeeease?”
Morgan bit back a laugh. “Dickhead.”
Magnus grinned.
“What?” Jamie was glancing back and forth between them, obviously confused.
“Did Logan marry you to someone without telling you first?” Jordan shot Logan an annoyed glance, one he returned with the devilish smirk Morgan was more than familiar with seeing on his face.
“No, Logan didn’t marry us. We…” Magnus turned to Kir, who was smiling and nodding like a proud papa. “We decided we’d rather be Tates.”
Jeff’s startled breath was nearly drowned out by Jamie’s soft “Oh!”
“You’re a Yardley-Rudiger now, sweetheart.”
“And you’re a Saeter,
“I know, but I think I want my maiden name to be changed to Tate.”
“I agree. We’re more Kir’s family now than the Old Man’s.”
“You’re Fred’s children.” Morgan followed everyone else’s gaze to see Jeanne Grimm standing in the doorway of the spare bedroom, staring at her children through tear-filled eyes. “Hate Oliver Grimm all you want. Rant and rave, plan to kill him. Hell, I am. But your father was Fred Grimm, a good man with a good heart. Don’t disown your father for the actions of your grandfather.”
“We could make Fred a Tate too, Jeanne.” Logan smiled at Jeanne. “It would mean a lot to Kir to have all of his family back, including you and Fred.”
Kir nodded, but Jeanne shook her head. “No. I’m a Grimm. Oliver isn’t taking that away from me, not now, not ever.” She grimaced. “I can understand the temptation to get Oliver out of every part of your lives, but you can’t. Every family tree has a few rotten nuts. I’m not chopping the whole tree down for that. I’m just going to crush the nuts.”
Morgan resisted the urge to cross his legs the way Logan had. That might wake Skye. “Point taken.”
“We, Morgan and I, have changed our names a number of times over the centuries.” Magnus’s soft words brought Jeanne’s attention back to him. “Sometimes we shared Dad’s last name, sometimes we didn’t. But that never made him any less our father.”
Travis nodded. “And someday, our names will change again.”
“We’ll hide in plain sight, just like we always have.” Kir’s expression was sympathetic. “And when we share blood, and immortality, you’ll do the same.”
Jeanne looked away from Kir, her lip quivering before her chin firmed. “Then maybe I won’t become immortal. Not if it means giving up Fred.”
“Mom?”
Jeff sounded shaken, but he was standing behind Morgan. He couldn’t see his brother.
Jeanne smiled at her son. “Don’t worry, baby boy, I’m not ready to start my bucket list yet.” She winked, but Morgan could tell it was half-hearted at best. “I’ll think about all of this.”
“No matter what you decide, you will always be the wife of Thor.” Kir stepped forward and hugged Jeanne. “You’ll always be my sister-in-law, no matter what.”
Strong, cheerful Jeanne, who had held strong in the face of Frigg, who’d learned only a few short days ago that her husband had been lying to her from the beginning, who’d stood up to Fenrisulfr and demanded to see her son when he was injured, finally broke down, sobbing on Kir’s shoulder like a woman who had lost her entire world, and her children weren’t far behind her.
“Hey.” He looked up to see Logan cuddling Jordan. “Take Skye home. Make sure she gets some rest, and keep her from leaving this floor unless one of us is with her. For all she’s a Norn, she’s no warrior.”
Morgan was more than aware of that. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”
Skye sighed against his neck and cuddled closer. It took everything Morgan had not to match that contented little sound.
