Very Much Alive

not going to fall off.” He pulled away from her, winked, and sauntered out of the kitchen.

'Damn.” She locked her knees to stop from hitting the floor.

'Amen.” Logan leaned against the counter next to her, peering around to watch Kir as he sat at the dinette table. “My turn to get squeaky clean.” He leaned in for his own kiss, and Jordan couldn't resist accepting him any more than she could have resisted Kir.

She pulled away from the kiss with a low laugh. “You are both so bad.'

'Mm, but you love us anyway.” It was his turn to saunter off, arrogance written all over his stride.

Damn. She hated it when arrogant men were right.

Grimm leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile wreathing his face. It had taken him a while to unravel Loki's spell, but he'd finally succeeded. Now all he had to do was place his own spell on the video, and he'd have Loki right in the palm of his hand.

And when he had Loki, he'd have Baldur right where he wanted him.

Victory was going to taste oh, so sweet.

The knock on his door distracted him. He shut down the program and called, “Enter.'

Val stepped into the room. “Sir, there are some security issues we need to deal with.'

'Baldur and Loki?'

Val, the idiot, thought he could hide his emotions from his father, but the swiftly hidden grimace told its own tale. “No, sir. Simply business.'

He settled back and listened while Val droned on, approving what the boy wanted with an impatient

wave of his hand. No matter how incompetent the boy was in other areas, when it came to personal security Val was the best he'd run across. “Very well, implement the changes.” He leaned forward, an eager smile on his face. “And prepare the special basement rooms for an extended visit, would you?'

The boy nodded, too swiftly for Grimm to get an accurate gauge of his feelings. “Yes, sir.” He bowed his way out, not bothering to await further instructions. After all, the boy knew exactly what he wanted.

Grimm reopened the video and began weaving his own compulsion spell around it. He couldn't wait until Loki saw it. Once he did, Grimm would have him, and Baldur, in the palm of his hand.

Val stepped into the basement with a shiver. Here was where his father took care of problems that couldn't be handled with his “secret weapon'. He only wished he knew what his father's secret weapon was; without that knowledge, he was helpless to stop whatever Grimm did to get the Aesir and Vanir to follow him so blindly. But the old man had made sure Val had no way to discover his secret.

Val reached out and stroked the side of the wooden cross, hoping against hope that whatever it was Grimm had planned, failed. He had to figure out what Grimm was up to, and he had to do it fast .

Because if Grimm got someone into these rooms, they were never coming out again, except in a body bag.

A very small one.

'It's been two weeks. I think I can go home now.'

Kir didn't even look up from his laptop. “Uh-uh.'

'No.'

She sighed and began pacing again. “I need to go to work.'

'Uh-uh.'

'No.'

She growled. “I'm bored out of my tits and I'm going to start hurting people, especially people named Kir and Logan , if I don't get to do something!'

Kir kept his head down; no way did he want to get in the middle of the fight he sensed was brewing between his two lovers.

If they didn't stop bickering soon, though, he might be forced to kill them himself. Preferably with something dull and full of splinters.

'Play solitaire.'

Her lip curled. “No.'

'Go online and check your email.'

'Kir has the laptop. That, and I already checked it today. Five times .'

'Watch TV.'

'Do you want to watch soap operas or home improvement shows? Because I don't.'

'Fine. Jump out the window and see if you can fly.'

Silence. Kir looked up to see Logan and Jordan glaring at one another.

'Are you two done?'

'No.'

Kir pinched the bridge of his nose. They were giving him a headache. There had been no activity from Grimm and it was driving the two of them crazy. Add in the fact that Jordan was feeling better, and pushier, by the day, and one of them was going to snap.

When they weren't fighting, however, they were a blast to be around. Logan had decided to teach Jordan how to cook, with somewhat mixed results. Jordan's idea of a home cooked meal was a TV

dinner with mashed potatoes in it. Truthfully, Kir wasn't much better. As far as he was concerned, pizza was the perfect food. And if you got the right toppings it hit everything on the food pyramid at the same time.

How could you go wrong with that?

They'd cuddled together, kissed each other ... yeah, for the most part, things were going really well.

They'd teased her with little flares of power, hoping to ease her into accepting that they weren't really human. Kir started it by bringing in a pot of mums and making them bloom just to make her smile after a really tough, painful day. Logan toasted marshmallows on little wooden skewers, using his inner flame and his fingers to brown everything to perfection.

They'd managed to turn bedtime into the best time of the day, despite the fact that they weren't having sex yet. Watching Logan and Jordan horse around in their huge bathroom, jostling each other for a spot at the same sink, was a hoot. Hips got bumped, asses got whacked with towels, and a tickle fight usually ensued. Logan was careful of Jordan's shoulder, too, stopping everything the minute she winced.

The three of them slept in the same bed, of course. Jordan had protested at first, but after two nights of being manually put to bed she'd given up fighting them on it.

Unfortunately, time was dragging on, and tempers were becoming shorter and shorter. She was very sore at first, wincing with every small movement of her shoulder, causing the two of them to treat her like spun glass. He could tell it was beginning to grate on her nerves, but neither one of them could live with her hurting herself again. She kept pushing and pushing, trying to do things that the doctor had told her were off limits for the time being. They'd even brought in a physical therapist so she wouldn't have to go to a clinic. She'd told Logan in private that, while she was making progress, Jordan was her own worst enemy. If she wasn't careful, she would overwork her shoulder, causing even more damage. Kir was just about ready to sit on her to get her to stop, and Logan was beginning to growl at any slightest movement.

Her repeated request to leave so she could “get some work done', despite doctor's orders, was driving them ape-shit. Hell, even Jamie was getting fed up with her sister.

Today, the cooking lesson had been reduced to “Please pass the salt'.

Add in the fact that he and Logan were horny as hell, and you had a volatile mix guaranteed to blow up.

Having Jordan snuggle up to him in her sleep, then turn around and snuggle Logan, was driving them insane. He sighed wearily. Man. This wooing crap sucks. He made a mental note to pick up more body wash. They were going through it at an alarming rate. He had the feeling Logan was just as squeaky clean as he was. He'd ordered something online that would hopefully relieve their boredom, but it hadn't arrived yet. He wondered how long it would take them to convince Jordan to play the game naked.

The phone rang.

Then again ... He grinned and stood, moving to the front door. “I think the present I got both of you may be here.'