Eye of the Beholder

When Travis thought of what Grimm had done to the beautiful, vibrant woman Jamie had been, the loving, devoted granddaughter Grimm had supposedly cherished, his vision fogged. He knew his eyes were turning white even now, blinding him to the physical realities around him. Even the sight of Jamie’s vibrant soul couldn’t dim his rage. His fists clenched, his muscles tightening to the point of pain as he held himself still, refusing to give in to the powers that called to him. If he let those powers loose, even for a second, in the way he wanted to, he would light a beacon Grimm would not be able to ignore. As it was, the runic wards Logan had put up around Jamie’s hospital room barely masked the presence of the four gods.

Part of him didn’t care. He hadn’t been this angry and anguished since Zisa had been killed.

He shut his eyes, muttering a mantra he’d learned from a Buddhist priest long, long ago, calming himself enough that the fog lifted. But not before he caught a glimpse of something inside Jordan that had him drawing in his breath in shock.

“Lefty? You in there?”

He opened his eyes to find Logan waving his hand in front of Travis’s face. “Knock it off, hothead.”

He knocked Logan’s hand out of the way, ignoring the other man’s amused snort. Oh, great. Something else to worry about. He decided to keep his mouth shut since Jordan had already agreed to remain at the condo with her sister and only leave if Travis, Logan or Kir was with her. Kir would soon figure out what was happening to his woman, and then all hell was going to break loose, but Travis wasn’t going to be the one to break the news.

He turned back to the bed to find that Jeff had helped Jamie sit up. Her normally bright red curls were limp and straggling around her pale black and green face. The swelling around her beautiful green eyes had finally gone down, allowing her to see the people in her room, not just hear them. He had to thank the advances in medical technology. If Grimm had done this to her even a hundred years ago Jamie wouldn’t have survived it.

The wariness on her face was new. Seeing the way she flinched back from them had his vision misting over again. He turned away from the twins and faced the three people in the room who knew who, and what, he truly was, knowing he could trust them to keep Jeff and Jamie in the dark about his eyes. He slipped on the pair of sunglasses Jordan handed him, grateful for their mirrored shield.

“Is the car ready?”

“We took the Lexus.” Jordan stood guard on the left of the door, Logan on the right. Kir stood in front of him, frowning at something behind Travis. Probably something Jeff and Jamie were doing, although what that could be he didn’t know and didn’t dare turn around to find out, not with his eyes covered in white mist. That would lead to questions he just couldn’t answer, at least not here. But Jamie could barely move even now, after three weeks in the hospital. Her physical therapist had said it would be months before the pain subsided. So whatever Kir was frowning at was more likely to be Jeff’s goofing off than anything Jamie was doing.

He almost had his eyes back to normal when Jamie hissed in pain behind him. There goes my vision again. Damn it. At least off the influence of Grimm’s fucking apple-laden delicacies he could finally see the true souls of both Logan and Kir. He still grieved over the injustice they’d both suffered over the centuries. Hunted and hated by Vanir and Aesir alike, they’d been on the run from Grimm for centuries.

Loki had been accused of the murder of Baldur and punished so grievously he still bore the psychic wounds. Grimm, declaring it just, had taken the only two of Loki’s children not born “monsters” and destroyed them, turning one into a mad wolf who tore apart his brother before his father’s eyes. Grimm had then used the entrails of the dead boy to magically bind Loki to three slabs of stone while a serpent forever dripped burning poison onto him. It had all been done to cement Grimm’s power and prevent Baldur from eventually taking over leadership of the Aesir.

Travis had every intention of helping Logan and Kir right those wrongs.

Travis nodded. “Good.” He ran his hand through his hair, his vision returning to normal. “All the paperwork is taken care of?”

Logan grinned. “Yup. And spare rooms are made up at the apartment for everyone.”

Travis grimaced, but he’d already lost this fight. Jordan, Kir and Logan had ganged up on him, insisting Jamie would be more comfortable with her sister than with him. Part of him agreed, much as it galled him to. Jeff had insisted on moving in with them as well, providing yet another buffer between his twin and their grandfather. Travis was still concerned about that. Jeff would be the only human guarding Jamie, but Jeff had put on his most stubborn expression and Travis had bowed down. Once Jeff made up his mind about something it was damn near impossible to get him to change it, and he’d made up his mind that his sister needed his protection.

Despite the fact that both Baldur and Loki had sworn themselves to her safety, Travis’s decision had also been a no-brainer. “My room too?”

“Yup. We even made sure everything was left-handed just for you.”

He rolled his eyes as Logan batted his eyelashes at him outrageously. It had taken them a bit to come to terms, but he and Logan had worked out the majority of their problems with one another, mostly at Jordan’s urging.

Almost all. He winced as he thought of the task he’d set himself as soon as Jamie was up to the trip.

He wasn’t going to hide what he was from her for much longer. She needed to know what they were up against, and why Grimm had targeted her. He had to see to it that she had the means to defend herself if it should ever happen again. That meant not only getting her the training he knew she desperately needed, even if the others couldn’t see it yet, but making sure she had the necessary power to back up her will.

He looked down at his palm and traced the blue veins with his eyes, wondering how she’d react when he mingled his blood with hers, and what it would ultimately do to her. Mixing blood with a god was not something to be done lightly.

Especially when it was Tyr, god of justice and former lord of the Vanir.

 “Hey, pumpkin.”

Jamie smiled as much as her bruised, broken face would allow. “Hey, Uncle Val.” She sounded like she was talking through a napkin, but the doctors had assured her the last of the swelling would be completely gone soon.

Uncle Val walked past Travis to give her a gentle hug. “You ready to blow this popsicle stand?”

She closed her eyes as his warmth seeped into her cold bones. She was always cold these days, except when Travis and Uncle Val were near. They were the only ones who made her feel safe. “Sure am.”

“Good girl.” He brushed his hand through her curls, pecking her softly on the forehead. “Jordan and Jeff will help you get dressed. I’ll get the rest of these yahoos out of here. Want me to put them to work?”

He grinned down at her, still gently stroking her hair the same way he had when she’d been a child.

She leaned into his touch. “Nah. Just let me get dressed so we can leave.” She smiled up at him. “The food here sucks donkey balls.”

She heard an amused snort and figured it was her brand new brother-in-law, Logan. “Don’t worry, Pita, I’ll cook as soon as we get back to our place.”

“Thanks, Logan.”

Jordan had told her some of what happened, but not all. For some reason she’d only been able to tell her in bits and pieces, when everyone else was out of the room. So Jamie knew a little of what Logan had done to buy them time to save her. What she couldn’t figure out was why he wasn’t in the hospital bed next to hers if everything Jordan had told her was true. Being beaten with Dad’s favorite walking stick should have left him in almost the same shape Jamie was in, but there wasn’t a mark on him. And since Jordan had never lied to her, something screwy was going on. Jordan was trying to prepare her for whatever it was. It had to be something big or big sis wouldn’t be dancing around it instead of telling her outright.

It probably involved every single person in the room with her, with the possible exception of Jeff. If Jeff knew something that would make Jordan this crazy he’d have told her by now. They didn’t keep many secrets from each other.

“Wow. You look like hammered dog shit today.” She glared up at Jeff, who grinned down her. “It’s an improvement.”

“I did have the shit hammered out of me. What’s your excuse?”

Her brother leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”

Everyone in the room groaned and Jeff winked, completely unrepentant.