Mist

They were her kin. The kin she had never known growing up an orphan in Asgard.

“A Jotunn was your father,” Dainn said. “Your mother . . .”

Dainn’s presence faded, but he left in her mind a single image. An image of a face she recognized, a beauty beyond compare.

Mist bit back her disbelief. She had nothing to lose. Her vision cleared and she met Loki’s gaze, letting him feel every last particle of her contempt.

“Is that why you lied your way into my bed?” she croaked. “If you couldn’t have the mother, you’d take the daughter by trickery?”

Loki’s fingers loosened again. “She’s a whore,” he hissed, his voice not quite steady. “She lay with every elf and god in Asgard, every Jotunn and Dvergar in Jotunheim and Nidavallir.”

“Everyone but you.”

He tightened his grip, but he never finished. The magic came from nowhere, settling over Mist without any effort on her part, a radiant warmth that filled her with a peace she had never known. The scent of primroses filled the air.

Loki’s face blanched. He let her go and stumbled away.

“Freya,” he moaned.

Mist raised her hand, and Kettlingr flew into it like a tame sparrow. “It is you who have the choice, Laufeyson,” she said in a voice she barely recognized as her own. “Come back to us.” She moved toward Loki, one hand beckoning while the other hand held the sword. “Let me show you what might have been,” she said. “What might still be.”

Suddenly Loki was right in front of her, and she was embracing him, smothering him against her chest, murmuring words of love in his ear. His face slackened like that of a satyr drunk on wine and sex. She felt his lips on her neck, heard his heartbeat rise to a speed no mortal could survive.

She was killing him with love.

Mist pulled back, leaving Loki to stagger as she withdrew her support. He straightened, and his expression cleared.

“You,” he croaked. “You are—”

Vidarr slammed into him from behind, and Loki staggered again. He smacked Vidarr aside, leaped up on the desk, and crouched there, hatred in every line of his body. He flung a full-blown blizzard at Mist’s face, and she deflected it with a wave of her hand. It spent its fury against the wall, and the air filled with countless drops of water and chips of ice.

But it had not completely failed in its purpose. Mist swayed, no longer able to tell floor from ceiling. All she could see were Loki’s eyes, staring at her with cold calculation.

“You haven’t won, bitch,” he said. “This is far from over.”

He snapped his fingers, and a flame burst to life in his hand. He tossed it onto a pile of old newspapers stacked up beside the desk and looked straight at Mist.

“Don’t trust her,” he said. “And don’t trust him.”

The flames blazed up, obscuring Loki in smoke. Then he was gone, vanished into the shadows, the stench of his rage dispersing like a frenzy of roaches exposed to the light. Vidarr scrambled up from the floor and traced a Rune over the burning papers. The flame winked out.

Mist closed her eyes. The warmth and joy and power she had felt only seconds ago was already abandoning her, leaving her an empty sack of skin and bone. She had no clear idea of what had just happened, but for a moment she had spoken with someone else’s voice, succumbed to someone else’s will.

She had become Freya. Freya, her mother.

Shaking uncontrollably, she set Kettlingr down and turned back to the door.

Gungnir was gone. Loki had taken it.

She leaned against the ruined door and wiped her mouth. Once again Loki had slipped out of her grasp, and so had Gungnir.

But where were the giants? Even if Loki had told them to stay out, they must surely have sensed the powerful magic when Freya had made her unexpected “appearance.” Why had they remained outside when their master was threatened by something even he couldn’t fight?

Before she could finish pulling the broken door open, Dainn climbed through it, his face as pale as a fish’s belly. “Are you well?” he asked.

She turned on him. “Coward!” she said, shock exploding into anger. “You had words in plenty, but where were you?”

Dainn said nothing. He simply walked out of the room again. Vidarr got to his feet, popping his shoulder back into its socket. “Mist,” he said. “You have to believe I never—”

Vali burst into the office, looking anxiously from Mist to Vidarr and back again. “You guys okay?” he asked. “The elf said Loki’s gone.”

“He’s gone, all right,” Mist said.

“You got Gungnir?”

Mist shook her head, too ashamed to meet his gaze, and pointed at the door. “He did that just before he left. What about the Jotunar?”

“They won’t be any more trouble.”

Mist realized she’d severely underestimated Vali’s skill and determination. “They didn’t hurt you?” she asked, carefully looking him over.

“Didn’t get the chance.”

Mist blew out her breath, her anger seeping away. “Thanks for what you tried to do in there, Val. Sorry I couldn’t take advantage of it. I had to find out what was going on in here.”

Vali’s ruddy skin went ruddier still. “I guess it’s a good thing you did. You freed Vidarr.”

Mist glanced in Vid’s direction. He had turned his back to them, clearly in no mood to finish whatever he’d been about to tell her. Had he been a prisoner, or had Loki been telling the truth about their reaching some kind of agreement?

Mist couldn’t bring herself to believe it. Gods knew that Loki would be happy to lie if it meant turning potential allies against each other. And Vid had helped in the end, even if that help had come late. There was a lot more going on here than met the eye.

Even within herself.

Vali pushed his big hands in his jeans pockets. “I can’t believe the Aesir are still alive,” he said. “Damn. Might take a while to get used to the idea.”

“Loki told you?”

Vali nodded. “This is all pretty strange.”

That was an understatement. “How did Loki get the drop on Vidarr?”

“I wasn’t there when it happened. When I figured out what was going on, Loki just told me to stay out of the way. He didn’t think I was much of a threat, so I bided my time until I thought I could be of some use.”

“Did anyone in the bar hear what was going on?”

“Loki soundproofed the back rooms when he showed up, and then Dainn—”

“Just what was he doing while Loki was trying to kill me?”

“Come with me.”

Vali led her through the door into the other room. Mist stopped so suddenly that she almost tripped over her own feet.

The Jotunar were piled in a heap in the middle of the room, most unconscious and the rest groaning in pain. Hrimgrimir was not among them.

“The elf did that,” Vali said.

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