Eye of the Beholder

extent Grimm had no idea. It wasn’t like Nik hung around at the office Christmas parties, but up until now he’d been completely loyal.

Perhaps that was it. With Grimm himself no longer at the helm, perhaps Nik had taken himself off the payroll? He filed it mentally away as something to look into, and dismissed the man from his thoughts.

Next up, he needed to find out what had happened to his stash of elixir. Grimm keyed up the distribution list. When he saw the numbers he nearly howled in rage.

She’d cut them off. Aesir, Vanir and Jotun, gods and giants both, she’d cut them all off. She’d turned around and started serving the elixir, his elixir, to humans. She was controlling the fucking humans with his secret weapon.

Stupid, stupid, stupid bitch. The walls frosted over as he stared in furious disbelief at the screen.

Giving the elixir to the janitor who’d cleaned up the massive amounts of Grimm’s blood had been one thing; the man wouldn’t question what had appeared to be a murder in Grimm’s very private basement. He also wouldn’t question the devices he’d had stored in the side room where he’d had his fun with Jamie. But to give it to the stockholders? What had she hoped to gain there? The elixir wouldn’t be nearly as potent in her hands as it was in his. She didn’t have the ability to manipulate others that made the apples so effective in his hands. He’d waged war to get his hands on the apples once he’d found out about their unique properties. Ingested, the subject—god, Jotun or human—became highly suggestible. Combined with Odin’s own talents as a god of lies, he’d had complete control over anyone who drank anything made of the apples of Idun. They were almost impossible to resist. Indeed, he’d thought them completely impossible to resist until Tyr managed to break free, denying him the sale of his company, Guardian Investigations, and control over Fred Grimm’s children.

He leaned back in his chair to make room for the ravens that swooped into the room, landing exactly where they’d started from. Their feathers settled down, turning back into stone.

“Rapport.” He rested his hand on their heads, stroking them as the information he sought played out inside his mind. Startlingly enough, they’d been unable to find Tyr.

Grimm smiled. He had an idea of what could have happened to Tyr to take him off the ravens’ radar.

He wove a complicated design over the raven statue, shrinking it down in size until it fit into his breast pocket. Later he’d break out the chain he used to wear them on and place them around his neck.

“Are you done?” He looked up to find Rina Southerland standing in the doorway, her pale blue eyes filled with amusement. He immediately logged out of the computer and shut it down, knowing it was time to go.

He’d been surprised when she sought him out, offering herself to him just as she always had. She’d taken him in, hidden him in a home she owned that not even Val knew about. She’d told him that she’d had other, similar homes over the years wherever they lived, just in case he needed it.

She even had a plan for regaining control of Idunn and her apples. It needed refinement, but once all of the elements were in place he’d implement it. He’d reward her later by making her his queen, the way he should have centuries ago.

She sauntered into the room and moved around his desk, her long, pale fingers stroking through his hair. “Mmm, I love your hair.” He leaned back into her, enjoying the silken slide of his hair through her fingers. The light caress of her fingernails sent shivers down his spine. “It’s so beautiful when you’re not hiding it.” Her free hand reached down and caressed his cock through his dress pants. “Of course, even covered up this is beautiful.”

He pulled her down for a brief, hard kiss. “No time, my love. We need to leave before Frigg finds us here.” He stood quickly, pulling her along behind him. He exited the office, careful to leave no trace of his visit behind. They were silent as they left the building, the security guard asleep behind his desk thanks to Rina’s magic.

“I think you could take the old cow,” Rina laughed as he pulled out of the parking lot.

His grin was savage as he entered the highway. Yes, he probably could take the old cow, but why would he want to when he had Rina?

Chapter Three

Toni stretched in her chair, ignoring the appreciative looks of some of the men around her. Her new partner was supposed to show up any day now, but Daniel Solberg had apparently run into a hitch somewhere on the way to his desk. The captain had given him a break, something her boss never did unless it was a family emergency. But when she’d asked around, good old Danny-boy’s kids were in fine health, and so was his wife. Since his parents were deceased, what would constitute an emergency?

She shrugged. The only way to get any extra time from Cap was to either drug him or brainwash him.

Since neither one was likely, she had to assume that something was going on that Cap was okay with.

And if Cap was okay with it, who was she to say anything?

Finally, Detective Solberg appeared. Golden-boy pretty, with deep blue eyes, he walked with the attitude to match his looks. His eyes assessed her, a smile lighting his face that let her know he enjoyed what he saw.

Toni snorted. If he thought he’d get anywhere with her using those tricks, he had another think coming. Better men than he, and less married, had tried and had their asses handed to them. “Detective Solberg.”

“Detective Mancinelli.” His palm was warm and dry, his smile friendly, but something about his eyes didn’t quite mesh.

She felt a shiver run down her spine. She’d seen eyes like those before. They’d been in the face of a killer. She waved him to his desk but made a mental note to keep an eye on him. “Yeah. Nice ta meetcha.”

She waved her hand at his desk, already knowing she was in for one hell of a time. “Let’s get to work.”

Jamie woke to the feel of an arm around her waist. She touched it hesitantly, unsure who was in the bed with her. It was a hairy, definitely male arm. Considering the fact that Jordan would rip the balls off her boys if they slept with anyone but her, that left Jeff and Travis as the only possibilities. The odds of it being Travis snuggled up behind her were about a gazillion to one, so that left Jeff. Only he would dare something like this, knowing almost anyone else would incur her wrath.

It had been a very long time since Jeff had slept in her bed, not since they were kids and he’d suffered from weird ass nightmares nothing could soothe. She’d often wake to find him just like this, scared out of his mind or passed out. Perhaps the kidnapping had brought back some of those night terrors, throwing him back into childhood. Still, she couldn’t let him stay here. It was just too fucking weird now that they were adults. She yawned and decided it was time to boot her twin out. She cocked her arm and slammed her elbow back.

“Ow!”

She froze. That’s not Jeff.

“What the hell did you do that for?”

That’s Travis.

“Jamie?”

Why is Travis in my bed?

“Jamie?”

Oh, fuck. She’d just hit Travis. That’s what she got for not looking before hitting. Hadn’t she learned anything in that self-defense class?

“Jamie.”

They’d told her always to look behind you to make sure you’re not beating up your grandmother.

Perhaps she should have listened closer to her instructor’s words .

He sighed. “Are you going to open your eyes?”

She shook her head no. She might never open them again.

She squeaked as his lips brushed the side of her neck. She could feel his beard tickling her skin.

“Well, I’m hungry. I’m going to get up and kick the Three Stooges out of bed so they can feed us.” She felt the mattress dip behind her as he stood. “How are you feeling today?”

Mortified. “Fine.” Hell, she even sounded mortified. Great.

“Okay. Let me just throw some jeans on and I’ll be out of your hair for a little bit.”

Her eyes flew open despite her best efforts to keep them glued shut. She was just in time to see that