Very Much Alive

'Hi.'

Another pair of soft lips brushed her forehead. “Welcome back.'

She looked up into Logan's face, surprised at his fierce expression. “Thanks. Where'd I go?'

'You got shot.” She felt his hand tremble in hers, and tried to squeeze it, surprised at both the emotion flooding his face and how hard it was to get her hand to work. “Don't you ever put yourself between me and a bullet again, you hear me?'

She closed her eyes wearily and licked her lips. “Yup. Next time, let your ass get shot. Got it.'

'Jordan.'

Her eyes opened to see Logan frowning down at her.

'Shh. Not now, Logan.” The two men exchanged a look over her head. She would have tried to figure out what it meant, but she was so damn tired. “Go to sleep, sweetheart. We'll be back soon to take you home.” Before she could process the fact that Kir had called her sweetheart, he gave her the sweetest kiss she'd ever received.

'He's right. Get some rest.” Logan's mouth replaced Kir's. His kiss was full of carefully banked fire.

“We'll be back in about an hour.'

She had a hard time keeping her eyes open after the two men left her room, talking quietly as the door

shut behind them. What the hell was that all about? She drifted off to sleep, wondering what it would be like to have the two of them really kissing her.

'What do you mean, you missed?'

Val winced at the hissed words as his father turned to face him. “I hit Jordan.'

'What the fuck was Jordan doing there?'

'I believe they may have hired her.'

Grimm's mouth tightened. Val made sure to keep all expression from his face as Grimm glared at him.

“So what stopped you from finishing the job?'

Val blinked. “I shot Jordan.'

'And?'

Val didn't answer, knowing there was no point.

'If Jordan is helping them, you need to remove her, as well. No excuses. '

He bowed his head to his father, hoping the man didn't see the hatred in his eyes. The reason for his birth, the vengeance against his brother's murderer and the punishment of the man who'd masterminded it, had instead become service to the betrayer and an unending hunt for the betrayed.

And it was seriously beginning to piss him off, especially now that the end was so tantalizingly near. But the end had been near before, and Grimm had managed to stave it off.

He kept his expression blank as he left the office, knowing that his time was running out. If Jordan was working with Loki and Baldur, Tyr would soon find out. And Grimm would no longer accept mistakes.

How did the idiot miss again?

Grimm ground his teeth together, fighting down the urge to throw something. Something glass, that would make a nice, loud, shattering noise as it hit. He eyed the glass apple his wife Frederica had given him for Christmas about forty-five years ago and seriously thought about it. Better not. She'll notice the next time she's in the office and question it. Stupid bitch.

And the only person he couldn't afford questions from was Frigg. Her visions had let her know some of what he'd planned for Baldur and Hodr, but not all.

Not enough to stop him completely.

If Loki hadn't interfered, things would have worked out a great deal differently. And now Jordan, the traitorous little bitch, was picking Loki's side over his. And if Loki stayed true to form, there was no way Val was getting anywhere near Jordan or Baldur again.

Unless...

Grimm smiled, and the window in front of him frosted over.

'Well. I see you're having happy thoughts.'

Grimm turned to see Rina Southerland, Val's mother, standing in the doorway to his office. “Rina.'

She shut the door behind her and smiled seductively. “We have a date tonight, remember?'

He smiled again. Indulging Rina was one of his favorite pastimes. And since Frederica was at one of her charity functions, he had more than enough time to indulge himself, as well. “Of course. How could I forget?” He walked over and pulled her roughly to him, kissing her passionately as she cupped his thickening cock through his slacks. For her he changed into the virile young man he truly was, not the Old Grimm everyone thought him to be.

For a frost-Jotun, Rina had more fire in her than any other woman he'd ever bedded, including his wife.

And, buried balls-deep in her pale, slender body, he even managed to forget his troubles for a little while.

Too bad he was going to have to kill her before he killed Val. After all, a wise man knew better than to rouse a mother bear.

Kir watched carefully as Logan placed Jordan in the back seat of his Lexus. They'd opted to buy the car when they realized how uncomfortable Jordan would be in Kir's Mustang. Logan had insisted on one of the best, most luxurious SUVs on the market and, since it would be Logan's car, Kir hadn't objected too much.

The trip back to their penthouse was surprisingly uneventful. The ride in the luxury SUV was smooth and quiet. Jordan dozed, not surprising considering the amount of blood she'd lost and the strength of the painkillers she was on.

He'd warned her that Val wouldn't hesitate to kill her if Grimm ordered it. He'd been half hoping he was wrong, but once again his father and brother had proven to him how little innocent lives mattered to them.

It had taken every bit of Logan's power to keep her family from finding her. One wrong move and Grimm would have been breathing down their necks. As it was, Kir knew they were probably going to have some pissed off younger Grimms on their doorstep soon. Jordan was begging them to call her siblings and he and Logan were close to giving in, at least where Jeff and her sister Jamie were concerned. No way in hell were they going to call Magnus and Morgan Grimm. And they couldn't tell her of the phone calls they were receiving from her sister. Some of them had made Kir's hair stand on end.

They'd started out pleasant enough, but the last one had been filled with threats that he was pretty sure were anatomically impossible without the aid of kitchen utensils and a lot of Vaseline. He still had no idea what a “rotating pineapple attachment” was, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out.

'She'll be all right.'

He looked over at Logan, whose eyes never left the road. “I know.'

'Are you really pissed that I put my name on the paperwork?'

Kir smiled. Logan was frowning, the expression one that let Kir know he was prepared to fight for his way. “No, just so long as she understands she's committed to both of us.'

Logan snorted. “Once we've got her naked between us, she'll figure it out pretty damn quick.'

A muffled snore sounded from the backseat. Kir turned to see Jordan's face buried in the upholstery.

She'd been in the hospital for almost a week and was still exhausted. Logan had put wards around her bed to keep her safe, but even then it had been a harrowing time. He couldn't keep everyone from touching her.

'How do we keep this from happening again?'

Kir bit his lip. “I don't know.'

'Her fathers are going to pitch a fit when they find out what happened.'

'Not to mention her boss. And her brothers and sister.'

They looked at each other and winced. “Can we prove it was Val that shot her?'

Kir shook his head. “And even if we could, they'd still blame us for putting her in danger.'

'Not us. Me.'

Kir didn't say anything as Logan pulled into the parking garage and shut off the engine. They'd have to make sure the Lexus was added to their parking allotment, or they'd get towed. Since they didn't use their powers any more than necessary that meant a long, boring trip to the manager's office and filling out paperwork. Kir picked up