Chapter 20
Dear God, Toni was tired. After the fight at Frederica’s they’d managed to get back to the condos in one piece, but still, she was tired down to her bones.
They’d gotten Sydney out safely. That was all that mattered. All that should matter. But the pure hatred on Frederica’s face, the way she’d paled when Toni had threatened her, kept reappearing in her mind like some evil genie.
Toni had meant it, too. If she had to, she’d kill to keep this little family safe. She’d been forced to fire her weapon before at people, had killed Jotuns whose names and faces she still didn’t know or couldn’t remember. Luther’s face, however, would remain in her nightmares.
She’d aimed for a wounding shot rather than a killing blow, hoping to merely take him out of the combat. She prayed Frederica remembered that small mercy, because Toni’s first instinct had been to kill the man trying to skewer Nik. She hadn’t realized Luther had managed to get him before she arrived until after they were headed home, and she couldn’t exactly heal him while they teleported.
She shuddered. Mortal. She was starting to think like one of them, like the Aesir and Vanir. Hell, she was one of them. The changes in her appearance alone would shock her coworkers when she returned to the force.
If she returned. She was beginning to realize that maybe her place was here, with Nik and the others. It would be hard, devastating almost, to let go of the career she took such pride in, but she’d take the knowledge she’d gained and make Svartalfaheim, hell, Alfheim too, better places to live. She’d just have to make sure that Nik and Travis didn’t get in her way.
But first, she had to heal Nik.
“Sit.” She pointed to the white sofa in Kir and Logan’s condo, the place they always seemed to gather whenever there was trouble or they needed to plan something. There had to be some kind of automatic cleaning spell on it, because the thing was pristine despite the dirt, grime, and blood that had to have been on the fabric at one time or another.
Either that, or Logan could add domestic god to his resume.
Nik sat with a wince. “Going to heal me?”
“Let me get some warm water and towels. We have more than Nik who’s hurt,” Kir added, heading straight for the kitchen.
“I’m checking on Jordan. Her mother’s here with her, but I’m still worried about the babies. The stress Jordan’s been feeling is making them restless, and that’s just adding to it.” With that, Logan was gone, dashing into the bedroom to check on Jordan.
“Jordan’s tough. She’ll be fine.” Jamie stared at Travis. “You okay?”
“Mm-hm.” Travis took Jamie into his arms and kissed her deeply.
“I wish I’d been there to see Freddie’s face when you guys showed up.” Jeff was grinning, his teeth pointed. The man had become a bit more bloodthirsty since mating with Fenris. “I bet it was awesome.”
“She was pissed as hell and attacked me with a dagger,” Nik replied, lifting his wet, red-stained shirt from his abdomen to show a nasty gash that was still sluggishly bleeding. “This little present came from Luther.” He looked up at Toni with an affectionate grin. “Luckily, my ace in the hole showed up before I had matching marks on my backside.”
Toni winked. “It’s all part of the service, sweetheart.” Her hands glowed as she began to knit his flesh back together.
“That’s nice,” Nik sighed, closing his eyes. “I should get hurt more often.”
She smacked him upside the head. “Do that and you’ll really experience some pain.” She ignored everyone’s chuckles and finished healing him. “All done.” She turned to face the rest of the room full of people. “Anyone else?”
Val held up his hand, and so did Magnus. Their wounds were minor compared to Nik’s and took little time to heal.
“Um. I need some help.” Sydney turned around and lifted her shirt.
Toni sucked in a shocked breath. “What the fuck?”
“A whip. You were whipped.” Slade’s voice was shaky. No doubt the man was remembering his own torture.
“I can take care of it.” Already, her healing magic was wrapping around Sydney’s body, healing the damage done to her skin. There would be faint scars, but nothing that wouldn’t disappear over time.
“Thank you.” Sydney hugged her, then ran to Sylvia, who clutched her tight.
When she joined Sylvia and Sydney, they were crying. “You two all right?”
Sylvia threw herself into Toni’s arms and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you so much.”
Sydney pulled Sylvia away and took her place, kissing Toni’s other cheek. “Thank you. I know you’re the one who found me.”
“You’re both welcome, but nope. Nik’s the one who found you and figured out how to get past Freddie’s little spell block.” Toni glanced over her shoulder. Nik had taken his shirt off and was using a towel and the bowl of warm water to wash the blood off his abs. “Guh.”
Sydney stuttered out a laugh. “Oh, yes, he’s very yummy. You’re lucky, Toni.”
Val was giving Nik a death glare. “Put a shirt on, asshole. There are ladies present.”
Sydney immediately hid behind Toni. “Oops.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “They’re all cavemen, I swear.”
Jeff threw a clean T-shirt at Nik. It had a little, grinning Loki on it from the Marvel movies, skipping merrily down a rainbow. The words on the T-shirt read Chaos and Destruction. Jeff probably owned it just to tick off Logan. “Nope, only Fenris.” Jeff laughed as Fenris growled.
“Everyone, quiet.” Kir held up his hands and waited for everyone’s laughter to die down. “I want to find out why Frederica took Sydney.”
Sydney stepped out from behind Sylvia. “Okay.”
They waited, staring at Sydney. Finally Toni couldn’t take it anymore. “Can you answer the question or not?”
Sydney jumped. She’d been staring at Val, who was staring right back. Apparently, it had turned her brain to mush. “Oh. Right.” She took one last glance at Val and turned her attention to Toni. “She wanted me to look for Jörmungandr.”
“What?” Fenris took a step forward menacingly. “Why does she want my brother?”
Sydney shrugged, never taking her eyes off of Toni. “I’m not sure, but it can’t be good. I heard her saying something about Loki to Nadine, but I couldn’t get close enough to hear and they moved away pretty quickly. She was really happy when I mentioned I might have found where he’s hiding.”
Kir held up his hand. “Wait. I need to call Kye. He’s been looking for Jörmungandr for us as well, so he’ll want to hear this.” He pressed a few buttons, then waited for someone to pick up. He must have set it on speaker because they could all make out Kye’s voice. “Hey, Kye? We found him. I’m putting you on speaker.” Kir held out the phone. “Okay, Sydney, where is he?”
“The Marianas Trench, pretty deep, too. But I think he’s coming to the surface. He has to.” She began to wring her hands together again. The skin was already raw and red from when she’d been in Frederica’s house. Toni had to wonder how long she’d been making the gesture for her hands to look that bad. She took Sydney’s hands in her own and began healing them. “He’s in trouble.”
“How so?” Kye’s voice was tinny, breathless. Toni wondered where the man was. If he was looking for the great sea serpent then perhaps he was on a boat?
“I think Grimm found a way to get to him first.” Sydney glanced over at Val again, her gaze almost desperate. “We have to help him.”
Val nodded once and took the phone from Kir. “Where are you?”
“Off the coast of Ishigaki, Japan, in the Okinawa Prefecture. I’m heading toward the Trench now.” An engine roared to life. She’d been right, he was on some sort of boat or yacht, but she hadn’t realized he’d gone all the way to Japan to look for Jörmungandr.
“Tell Ryker I love him, all right?” Logan cleared his throat. “And that he has a home with us.”
Ryker? Who was that?
“I will,” Kye replied.
Ah. Ryker must be Jörmungandr’s human name. She’d have to remember that.
“Tell Sydney I said thank you.” Kye’s tone was hurried but happy.
“Don’t thank me yet. Frederica is aware that he’s somewhere near the Trench as well.” Sydney bit her lip. “I’m so sorry, I couldn’t say no.” She ducked her head down, tears in her eyes. “I like Jörmu…I mean, Ryker. I don’t want him to get hurt. But if I hadn’t told her she would have killed me. There’s nothing in the Eddas or the Prose to say if I live or die.”
“It’s okay, Syd.” Logan stepped forward and held out his arms. “C’mere, kiddo. Gimme some sugar.”
Syd whimpered and raced to Logan, who wrapped her up in his arms. “I’m so so sorry, Logan.”
“We’ll bring him home, just like my other kids,” Logan replied softly.
“I wish we could bring Nari and Narfi home as well,” she whispered softly.
“So do I.” Logan hugged Sydney tight, their shared grief. Their sons Nari and Narfi had gone through hell. Nari’s entrails had been the bindings used to tie Logan to a mountain. His brother Narfi had been unwillingly turned into a wolf, driving him mad. He was the one who killed his brother. Logan and Sydney still grieved for the sons they’d lost. “But we can’t focus on what we don’t have anymore. We have to look at the future.”
“I know.” Sydney backed out of Logan’s arms and smiled sweetly at Kir, who was watching them with sad eyes. “And right now your future needs you way more than I ever did.”
Logan’s head whipped around and he darted to Kir, who took him in his arms. “We’ll get Ryker back, and our family will be complete.”
“It will,” Kir replied, returning Sydney’s smile. “Thanks, hon.”
Sydney darted away, hiding once more behind Toni. “You’re welcome.”
“Kye, we’re relying on you to bring Ryker home safe,” Kir called out. Val still held the phone, but he was muttering and tapping at buttons.
“I’ve got coordinates. I’ll need a ride to Kye once he gets there.” Val nodded to Logan and tossed the phone back to Kir. “I’ll help make sure your son comes home.”
“Is he hurt?” Slade’s husky voice was soft but easily heard.
“He isn’t. He’s healthy as a horse.” Slade snorted his amusement while Nik glanced toward Toni. “I’ll take Val to Kye.”
“Why didn’t you tell us where he was before?” Logan didn’t sound accusatory, like Toni would have expected.
“Because he wasn’t ready to come out of the Trench yet. Trust me, I wish I could have said something, but Ryker will come when it’s time and not before.”
“Damn it, Nik. You know the outcome of the prophecy, don’t you?” Kir’s eyes were swirling with clouds. Outside, dark clouds began to gather, lightning and thunder filling the air.
“No.” Nik shook his head. “Some things come to me, but others are obscured. I have sources you don’t, but that’s it.” Nik sighed. “My mothers like to gossip and tend to forget I can hear them. Each of them has some information. Ratatoskr has more, since he travels up and down Yggdrasil and hears all the gossip and innuendo. It filters to me, and between my visions, my abilities, and the gossip, I figure things out. I’m not allowed to tell until the time is right or things will go badly for us.”
Kir blinked and his eyes cleared, becoming the beautiful sapphire blue Toni was used to. It was scary as fuck when he did that. “Oh. Sorry.”
“Not a problem.” Nik walked toward Toni and reached for her, his expression hurt for just a brief second. It would take time to cure that loneliness in him. “Sometimes I wish I couldn’t see things, whether I want to or not.” He grimaced. “Imagine what it was like when Jarnsaxa was boning Thor. Let’s just say I learned more about that man’s junk than I ever wanted to.”
“Ew. Ew ew ew.” Morgan began scrubbing his arms. “That’s my mom, man.”
“Mine, too, remember?” Nik took hold of Toni’s hand and winked. “You ready to go?”
“Oh my god, yes.” Toni moaned. “I think I could sleep for a week.”
Nik laughed softly and put his arm around her shoulder. “You and me both.” He led her toward the door. “Later. Call when you need me and we’ll go get Ryker. In the meantime…” He squeezed Toni tighter, making her squeal in surprise. “I’m going to be busy for a while.”
“I thought we were sleeping?” Toni asked as Nik led her to his condo. The way his hands had started roaming over her ass was making her think he had more than sleep in mind.
“Eventually,” he purred. “Just as soon as I’m done fucking you.”
Toni shivered. “I’m surprisingly okay with that.”
Nik laughed as he led her into the condo. “I’m so glad to hear that, sweetheart.” He took hold of her hand and began walking backward toward the bedroom. “So very, very glad.”