Eye of the Beholder

“Yup.”

“Well. Isn’t that special.” He threw himself on the other side of Jamie. “Hey, pumpkin.” He kissed the top of her forehead before bringing the beer bottle to his lips. Halfway there, it paused. “Jamie?”

“Hmm?”

“Where’s your cast?”

“Gone.” She held up her wrist, twisting it back and forth to show that she was perfectly healed.

“Don’t need it.”

He studied her face, visually tracing where all her bruises and scars had been. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t. He put the bottle carefully down, stood, walked over to Logan, and took the surprised man into his arms. “Thank you.”

Logan looked stunned. He returned the embrace slowly. “Ah. You’re welcome.”

Val pounded Logan on the back. He let go of Logan with a big, happy grin and sat back down next to Jamie. “You look beautiful, pumpkin.”

She pouted at him. “Don’t I always?”

“Seeing you without all those bruises makes you extra beautiful today.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her features, the grin dimming a bit. “Who else did you share blood with? Travis?”

She nodded.

Val looked at Travis. “Thank you.”

Travis’s arm tightened around her shoulders, pulling her in even tighter to his chest. “Don’t thank me.

We nearly lost her last night.”

“What happened?” They filled Val in on what had occurred, ending with Baldur’s appearance. He scrubbed his face with his hands when they were done. “Well, hell. At least you’re all right.”

They ate the pizza Jordan had ordered. “So, what’s next?”

“Contact Nik?”

“We haven’t seen Nik since…when was it, Logan?” Kir leaned over and handed Logan another beer, stealing a bite of the redhead’s pizza in the process.

“Paris, eighteen fifty-seven, I think.” Logan in turn stole Kir’s entire slice of pizza, earning himself a glare. With a smirk he bit down, taking a huge chunk before handing it back. “And I never did understand why he didn’t turn us in.”

“Speaking of which, anyone know which side he’s going to come down on?” Travis leaned forward, snagging the last piece out of the box before Morgan got hold of it. He held it to Jamie’s lips, his eyes lighting with satisfaction when she took a dainty bite.

“Who knows? Nik is a secretive son of a bitch.”

“Nik as in Niklas DeWitt?” Jeff rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, he’s one of you guys.”

Jamie shivered. Niklas DeWitt was one of the few people in the world who gave her the heebie-

jeebies. It was those strange silver eyes of his. He had the look of a man who’d seen it all, and his flat silver eyes reflected that. The one time she’d met him she’d practically peed her pants in fright. He’d stared hard at her long and hard before he’d smiled the coldest smile she’d ever seen and headed for Travis’s office.

Luckily she’d been gone to lunch when he left and she hadn’t seen him since.

Travis nodded. “He’s Heimdall, Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge that connects this plane of existence to Asgard.”

Oh. Well, that explained that. She rubbed her forehead, a slight headache building behind her eyes.

Heimdall was the god who never slept. It was said he saw everything that happened in all of the nine realms. Wonder what he saw when he looked at me. “So if he helps us, we’d have the same advantage Grimm has?”

“Not quite. Nik can be blocked with magic. It’s harder to block the ravens.” Travis stroked her forehead. “Headache?”

“A little.” She looked up at him to find the beginnings of a worried frown on his face. She didn’t want to tell him yet that the majority of the headache was from practicing magic, of all things, while he’d been dealing with the cops. Besides, she owed Jordan a new vase and she really didn’t feel like getting into it again with her sister. “I’ll be all right.” She let a small grin grace her lips. “That which does not kill me merely pisses me off.”

The amused snort from Logan was ignored by Travis. “You sure?” She nodded, to his obvious relief.

“Okay. But we’re heading to bed soon, understand?”

She bit her lip, uncertain of what that was going to entail. If Travis made another move on her she knew now what her answer would be, but would he make that move after the way she’d acted earlier?

She’d been a total spaz, and she wouldn’t blame him a bit if he pulled back a little. “Okay.”

The heat that filled his expression was tamped back down when Jeff threw a wadded up napkin at them. Jamie glared at her brother. “Don’t you have a date, or a case to work on, or something?”

Jeff grinned. “Nope. My boss gave me the month off, and frankly some of us have been too busy to chase tail.”

Travis flipped him the bird.

“Besides, who else do you trust to hunt down Nik?”

“No.”

“Uh-uh.”

Jeff stared, startled, at Logan and Kir. “Why not?”

“Because Nik can’t be found unless he wants to be found. Besides, you can’t go where Nik is likely to go.”

“Where? Siberia?”

“Try Alfheim or Vanaheim. Or even Asgard. While Jordan and Jamie can go there now thanks to their blood bonds, you can’t.”

Jeff flopped back on the sofa. “You people suck.”

Jamie grinned at her twin. “Bored?”

“Titless.” He sat up. “Give me something to do? Anything.”

Travis focused on Jeff. “I have an idea, but I’m not quite certain if you’re up for it.”

Jamie’s eyes flew to Travis’s face. He’d sounded weird. “What idea?”

Travis darted a quick glance at Logan. “I want to be the one who frees Fenris.”

Logan’s quickly indrawn breath could be easily heard. “What if he tries to kill you?”

Jamie tensed. “Yeah, what if he tries to kill you?” Because she’d have a new fur coat if the wolf laid one paw on her man.

“I’m taking Jeff and Jamie with me, but first I have to deal with Grimm’s little game.”

He acted as if they hadn’t said a thing. Wasn’t Tyr the one who’d betrayed Fenris, chaining him down before the wolf was impaled through the jaws on a sword? Jamie very much doubted Fenris would be in a forgiving mood, apple explanation or not, despite having taken Travis’s hand in payment.

“I’m in.”

Jamie swung her head toward Jeff, startled by the eager look on his face. “What?”

He leaned forward. “Bored. Titless.”

She leaned forward too. “Dog. Kibble.”

Travis ignored them both. “I want volunteers to go speak to the Norns.”

Magnus and Morgan raised their hands. “We’ll do that,” Morgan said.

“Logan, Jordan and I will go speak to Hel.” Kir placed his hand over Logan’s open mouth. “If she’s not safe with us, she’s certainly going to be safe in Helheim. And you know your daughter has to meet her.”

Logan frowned but kept his protest between his teeth.

Magnus sighed. “What about Jormungandr?” Apparently her brother wasn’t quite over his objections to freeing Logan’s children, but he was going along with the majority.

Travis scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll get in touch with Kye.” Travis smiled ruefully at Jamie’s confused look. “Sorry. Kye is Njord, god of the sea. Maybe he can find him.”

Logan nodded. “Good idea.”

“You’re determined to do this?” Jamie asked her twin. Hell, she could practically feel the excited energy vibrating off of him. It was the same way he got when he got a really juicy case to work on. Once he was on the