Very Much Alive

Kir's voice was noticeable to anyone who knew him. Without thought he rubbed his lover's knee, soothing him, not surprised when Kir picked his hand up, squeezed it, and let it go.

He turned his attention back to Jordan. “I took it, and let them think it didn't hurt.'

'But ... I thought the Norse gods could die?'

'We can, but on the way I'd had a little chat with my daughter. She agreed that, for that short amount of time, no amount of damage, not even an instantly fatal wound, would kill me.'

'Your daughter?'

He looked her straight in the eyes. “I had three children outside my marriage, remember?'

She gulped. “Hel.'

He nodded. “So I stood there, and managed to keep them all from seeing my bleeding using a spell an old Jotun witch had taught me. Odin shifted into me and strode onto the field.'

'That's when I knew Logan was telling the truth.'

He let the silence linger for a moment after Kir's soft announcement before continuing. The agony of that day, the barbs and arrows piercing his flesh while he smiled and laughed it off, still had the power to awaken him with nightmares not even Kir could soothe. “So Odin, as me, stood behind Hodr, handed his blind son the arrow meant to kill his heir, and shot me instead, right through the heart. He then took off, making sure to shift back into himself out of sight of the others so he could properly express his outrage.”

He smiled cynically. “To celebrate, he immediately rushed off and fucked his mistress, begetting Vali in the process, who slew Hodr, etc., etc.'

Kir grimaced. “I watched as Loki was borne off, his body anointed for burial. As soon as he could he left a simulacrum in his place and released me, but he collapsed before he could do anything more. He was so wounded, pierced so many times that I thought, despite his daughter's promises, he would die.'

'So Baldur took it upon himself to go to Hel and explain what had happened, never knowing that Frigg had sent a messenger asking her to release him back into the world.'

Kir shrugged. “You would have done the same.” Kir was right. Logan would have. “The messenger arrived shortly after I did. Hel and I had to think fast; she decided to pretend I was dead, and I had to go along with it. She came up with the fiction of having the world weep for me, thinking that would buy us some time and explain my miraculous return.'

'But we hadn't counted on Odin.'

Jordan sat on the edge of the ottoman, her thigh brushing Kir's. She frowned, obviously lost in thought, not noticing the way Kir swallowed or how his jeans slowly began to fill out as his cock leapt to life.

Kir glanced at Logan, guilt flashing across his face before he carefully inched his leg away from Jordan's.

Logan smiled. Damn. I thought so. We need to talk once we send her on her way. “Odin turned himself into Pokk, refused to weep, and flew off, insuring neither Baldur nor Hodr would ever grace the world again.'

'And insuring that Loki's days were numbered, as well.'

'I had no idea what Hel and Baldur had done. I'd taken myself off to heal, spending some time in a pond as a salmon. That's where they found me. They took me, bound me to three slabs of stone with the enchanted entrails of my own child and left me there to rot under the venom of that damn snake.” Logan could feel his fists clenching in his lap at the thought of his murdered child.

'What happened to your other son, the one that wasn't killed?'

Logan shook his head. “I don't know what happened to Nari. We were never able to find him. We can

only assume that Odin killed him, too.'

It was Kir's turn to rub Logan's knee soothingly. “But I came back and freed him. Sigyn wanted us to inform the world what had happened, but Loki and I agreed that that would be too dangerous for all of us. By that point, Nanna was dead, and we were worried the same fate would befall Sigyn if she openly helped us. Besides, we had to prove to the other gods, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Loki was innocent. At the time, all of them were firmly on Odin's side, especially when he informed them that I would return after Ragnarok to lead them into an era of peace.'

'They turned Baldur into a risen god and me into the harbinger of their deaths.” Logan's smile didn't waver as Jordan stared at him. “We waited, and waited, for the right opportunity to present itself, but every time we made a move, Odin somehow found out and sicced Vali on us.'

'Thought and Memory.” Jordan's tone was thoughtful; she was processing the information.

She's smart. She's figured out how he keeps finding us. Damn. He had a thing for people with smarts.

“Among others.'

'And now, if you so much as show yourselves before the other gods, they think that it's some sort of sick, twisted trick.'

'And Kir and I get to go into hiding for another century or two until they call off the hunt.'

'What made you decide now was the time to try again?'

'Things have changed.” Kir got up and went to the fridge, pulling out three colas. He brought each of them a can and popped the top on his. “Recently the gods themselves began to change. They've adapted amazingly well to technology. Some of them have even taken mortal wives, not all of whom know who their husbands really are.'

'Like my mom?'

'Exactly.'

'You think that, because they've integrated with mortal society, it's mellowed them out?'

Her skepticism was clear in her tone of voice. “No. I think they won't have any choice but to believe us when we present them with irrefutable proof, done in such a way that, no matter where they are on this earth, they'll see it.'

'And my job is to convince them, with irrefutable proof, that you're innocent—” she pointed to Logan, then swung around to Kir, “—and you're alive?'

They looked at each other. Logan smirked. “Yup.'

'That about covers it.” Kir smiled sweetly at Jordan. “Should I order the pizza now?'

They are certifiably crazy. Then again, after the life they've been forced to live, who wouldn't be?

Jordan took a last bite of pizza and wiped her fingers off on a paper towel Kir had brought from the kitchen. Part of her was dying to explore the luxurious, modern condo. It had been like stepping into her

dream home, complete with pale blue walls and stunning views. “Okay. I have a couple of ideas on how to proceed, but you need to know how I operate.” Logan grinned, and her pulse leapt. Down, girl .

“Business-wise, perv.'

'You say that like it's a bad thing.'

She ignored Logan's mutter and focused on Kir, who was desperately trying not to laugh again. “We need to be really aggressive here. I'm not going to pull my punches with either one of you, and I don't expect you to pull your punches with me. If you disagree with something I'm doing, that's fine. Tell me.”

She turned to Logan again. “Then expect me to tell you to back off and let me do my job.'

Both men frowned at that. “Don't expect us to allow you to put yourself in danger.'

Surprised, she turned to Kir. “Wow. I would have expected that caveman attitude more from Logan, not you.'

'He's a fierce mother bear when his cubs are endangered.” Logan leaned back on the sofa, a smug look of satisfaction on his face.

Kir rolled his eyes and pointedly ignored him. “I mean it. If there seems to be the slightest threat to your safety, you pull back and regroup. Understood?'

'I'm a PI rather than a cop because I'm not into bodily harm. I don't like pain, pain hurts me.'

'Didn't somebody famous say that first?” Logan looked at Kir, who looked back at him with a shrug.

'Daffy Duck, maybe?'

'I thought it was Rodney Dangerfield.'