Bjorn slid her sword into the sheath at her back, and then gripped the back of her neck and closed his eyes. “There’s a power mark. I assumed it had something to do with her being bound to Freya.” He released her, the lines around his mouth deepening as he frowned.
Sven shook his head. “I know it well. This is not Freya’s mark. The energy pattern is different.”
“What other god marked me? Why don’t I remember?” She reached behind her head and rubbed her neck, wishing she could wash it away like the sweat and grime covering her. All of this had been done without her consent or knowledge. “Who did this?” Her voice rose as panic threatened to overtake her.
“That would be me.” Humor tinged the deep voice off to the left. A slender man about six feet tall with shoulder-length black hair and a mischievous smile waved at them.
“I know you.” She started toward the stranger, but Bjorn wrapped his arm around her and swept her against him. She rubbed her head, which was suddenly pounding. “You came to the kitchen where I was working.” The memory was vague. Her stomach lurched when she tried to latch on to it.
“Loki, what have you done?” Sven strode toward the god, grabbing the axe from his back as he went.
“That does not concern you, Freya’s pet.”
The insult didn’t stop her son. Her heart leaped into her throat. He couldn’t win a fight against a god.
When Sven didn’t stop, Loki raised his hand and gave a flick. Sven didn’t go flying, but he did grunt and back up several steps as if pushed. The god’s eyes widened, and a smile curled his lips. “Well, well. You are stronger than you appear.”
“I am Freya’s Hunter.”
“I’ve seen your work. You have quite a reputation. I knew Freya would send you as soon as she discovered the little defection from her realm. I expected you to be involved in this situation, just not quite so intimately.” He laughed. “Even I couldn’t have dreamed up something quite this diabolical.”
Sven pushed against the god’s hold, managing a step.
“Ever thought of changing allegiances?” Loki asked, as though they were having a relaxed conversation over a mug of mead. “Having some fun? No?” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “You hunters are alike, so boring in your code of honor.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why did you take me?”
He shrugged and glanced at his watch, as though he had somewhere else he needed to be. “A favor to gain a favor.”
“Lucifer,” Bjorn all but spat, his arm tightening around her waist.
“I’ll never tell.” The god smiled. “And there is no way to prove anything. The facts stand as they are. This woman escaped the afterlife. Shame on you.” He had the audacity to wink at her. “Then the mighty wolf refused to do as tasked by Odin.” He tsked at Bjorn. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, even Freya’s hunter has failed her.” He shook his head. “This family seems to love opposing the gods.”
“You know nothing of family loyalty,” Bjorn shot back.
Loki frowned and something dark and sad glittered in his eyes before it disappeared. The god shrugged. “Maybe not, but I know how to look out for myself. I must go and tell Odin I’ve found you. That might be good for another favor in the future.”
The god disappeared just as Sven swung his axe. The blade sliced through thin air. The god was gone, but his laughter still lingered.
“We need to remove that mark. You’re a sitting duck until we do.” Bjorn placed his hand on the back of her neck, closed his eyes, and concentrated. Power coalesced around her, warm and comforting. Sweat beaded on his brow, the thick cords of his neck clenched. The air crackled around them.
Giving a roar, he yanked his hand away. “Fuck, I can’t get rid of it.” He dropped his hand. “I’m so sorry.” He lowered his eyes, not meeting hers.
It was so easy to read his thoughts. He’d thought he’d failed her. “It’s okay.” It really wasn’t, but what else could she say? “It’s the mark of a god. Only a god can remove it.”
“Let me try.”
Bjorn took a step back and their son took his place. His palm tingled against her skin. The air around her thickened. He gritted his teeth. The muscles in his face tightened. His biceps bulged.
“Fuck!” He yanked his hand away. “I can catch the pattern in the energy, but I can’t manipulate it.”
Anja nodded and wrapped her arms around herself, resigned to the idea that she was tagged, like a beast awaiting slaughter. “At least we know how the wolves found us. Loki was able to send them our way.” He’d always known where she was. Had he watched her? Seen her and Bjorn together?
She quickly dispelled that notion. He wouldn’t have cared enough to bother. She was nothing to him, none of them were.
“Oops, almost forgot.” Loki’s voice came from right beside her, even though he wasn’t visible.
“Ouch.” The back of her neck burned. She slapped her hand over the area.
“Loki, you bastard. Show yourself.” Bjorn yanked her against his hard chest.
Sven shook his head. “He’s gone again. I can’t sense his energy any longer, but I know his mark. I can track him now that I have his energy pattern. He likely didn’t think of that. There is nowhere he can hide from me.”
He wouldn’t? Of course, he would. Terror filling her, she grabbed her son’s hand. “Promise me you won’t go after him.” His lips were pressed together in a hard line. Gods, he was exactly like his father. “I don’t want to lose you.” She gripped his arm and shook him, or tried to. He was as unyielding as stone. “Promise me.”
“I promise I will not go after him.” Before she could give a sigh of relief, he added, “Now. What happens in the future remains to be seen.”
Bjorn brushed a kiss over her temple. “Did he remove the energy tracker? Let me look.”
“I think so.” Her neck still stung.
“The skin is red and sore, but it’s fading.”
“Why did Loki come back? If we move, he won’t be able to find me. At least not as easily.”
“He’s smart.” Sven leaned against the porch railing. For the first time since they’d been reunited, he seemed tired. The tiny lines in the corners of his eyes seemed deeper. He didn’t slump, but his posture was not as erect as it usually was. “Both Odin and Freya would sense his mark. They’d know he had a hand in this.”
Now it made perfect sense. “We no longer have a way to prove he was involved in any of this. It is our word against his.” And Freya would never take her word over that of another god, not even Loki.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again. He’s a bastard.” Bjorn pressed his lips against her neck. “I’m sorry it hurt.”
“It’s already fading.”
“Vehicle approaching.” Sven pushed away from the post, alert and ready to fight once again. The signs of fatigue she’d seen earlier had vanished.
It wasn’t even lunchtime, and they’d already fought werewolves and been visited by a god. “What now?” She reached for her sword.
Chapter Twenty
Bjorn placed his hand over Anja’s and gave it a gentle squeeze when all he wanted to do was rage at the gods. Loki had tagged her like an animal. The bastard had always known where she was. “You don’t need your blade.”
He was worried about her. She’d fought like a Valkyrie, taking down a werewolf on her own. The creature should never have gotten as close to her as it had, but once again, she proved what a truly exceptional woman she was.
Flecks of blood dotted her clothes and skin. She was pale, her skin clammy, but her glare was fierce. “Yes, I do. As you pointed out earlier, you don’t need it, you have claws. I don’t.”
He angled his head toward the road. “I don’t think werewolves would drive up to the front door.”
“I don’t know about that,” she muttered, but she did release the blade
and drop her hand back down by her side.
“Only a couple people I know have balls enough to drive straight to the front door knowing we’d be expecting trouble.” He grabbed his pants and yanked them on.
A large black SUV came around the turn and into view. The man at the wheel was huge, a punch of power preceding him.
“Who the hell is that?” Sven asked.
Bjorn was already walking toward the vehicle as it pulled to a stop. “That, my son, is Maccus and some of the Forgotten Brotherhood.” He’d never been so glad to see anyone in his life.
Maccus shoved open the driver’s door, climbed out, and glared at him over the hood of the vehicle. “I left the city.”
“A huge sacrifice, I’m sure.”
Morrigan climbed out and grinned. “Come on, it was a road trip. Some takeout food, some rocking tunes, and great company.” She shook a large bag. “We even brought some food for you. Although we didn’t know you’d have company.” Her chin lifted toward Sven and the bloody axe in his hand.
Maccus went around the SUV to stand by his woman, his threatening glare never leaving Sven.
Bjorn cleared his throat, which had tightened with emotion. “This is Sven, our eldest son.” He wrapped his arm around Anja, needing her near. She sighed and leaned against him.
“Holy crap.” Morrigan’s gaze went from Sven to Bjorn and back again.
Maccus shook his head. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
Sven rested the axe head on the ground and leaned on the handle. The position might appear relaxed, but his son was still in defensive mode.
“You are the Christians.” Sven studied Maccus intently. Bjorn barely kept from smiling as the two men sized up each other. “I have not had much interaction with your kind.”
“Nice weapon.” Maccus eyed the axe. “Try to use it and you’ll be dead before you can swing.”
“In your dreams.”
This was getting out of hand. Before Bjorn could figure out how to defuse the growing tension, Morrigan laughed. “Oh my God, he is so your son.”
That wasn’t a compliment, was it? Bjorn frowned.
“I’m Morrigan, by the way.” She waved the bag in front of her. “It’s not hot, but the burgers will reheat nicely.”
“You are the one who spoke the prophecy.” Sven eyed her with interest.
“I’m an oracle.” She shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Maccus tucked her under his arm.
“Why don’t we all go inside and talk.” Standing around the yard with a bunch of slain enemies strewn on the ground was no place to have a conversation. And even thought all the women were fighters and had dealt in death, Bjorn didn’t want to expose them to any more than necessary. “We need to get cleaned up,” he added.
Anja glanced down at her bloodstained shirt and grimaced. “It’s been a rough morning.”
The remaining doors of the SUV opened and the others piled out.
Asher looked around the clearing. “You’ve had trouble.”
“Some.” Bjorn cleared his throat. “Thank you for coming.”
Asher shrugged. “Couldn’t miss the action.” He walked forward, undeterred by the scowl darkening Sven’s face. “I’m Asher, the father of vampires. I need to get that on a card.” He stuck out his hand. When it wasn’t taken, he laughed. “He’s just like you, wolf.”
Bjorn wanted to argue. Instead, he laughed, because it was true. His son might have been raised by a goddess, but he hadn’t escaped his roots.
“That’s Jo.” He pointed at the woman standing by the vehicle. She waved. “She’s immortal and the love of my life. So be nice to her.”
Sven’s shoulders relaxed slightly. Asher had that effect on people.
Yet another man climbed out of the SUV with a woman beside him. “Alexei, it’s good to see you.” And a total surprise. What was he doing here?
The huge man lumbered forward, his white and brown hair hanging around his shoulders, a thick beard covering the lower portion of his face.
“Bjorn. It’s been a while. Sorry we didn’t get here sooner.”
They clasped hands and Alexei pulled him in for a hug. He liked the youngest member of the Brotherhood. He was more laid-back, not quite as intense as the others.
“This is Cassie.” The pride and love in Alexei’s voice made Bjorn smile. He’d heard his Brother had found a woman. She was striking with short black hair, piercing green eyes, and sparkling earrings cascading from her ears. He had no idea exactly who, or rather what, Cassie was, but power surrounded her. Her eyes darted around the clearing, and she was frowning.
“It’s good to meet you. This is my Anja.” They all nodded at one another. “Why don’t you go inside and get cleaned up?” he whispered to his wife. He shot Morrigan a glance, hoping she’d understand his silent plea. “We’ll clean up the yard.”
“That sounds like a great idea. Come on ladies.” Morrigan went to Anja, hooked their arms together, and led her toward the cabin. “You’ll have to tell us everything that happened. Men tend to leave out the important stuff. We can eat these burgers while we talk.”
“You sure that’s wise?” Maccus motioned toward the women as they disappeared inside.
He shrugged. “It’s good for Anja to be around the others. And you know they’d find out everything anyway.”
“Got a shovel?” Alexei asked. “I can start digging a hole to bury these guys.” He said it like it was no big deal, and it wasn’t, not to the Brotherhood. They’d all had to kill over the years. They understood what it took out of a man, but that sometimes there was no other choice.
“If these were vampires, we wouldn’t have a problem.” Asher sighed. “They disintegrate fairly quickly.”
“We’re not that lucky. Shovels in the small shed around the back.”
Alexei disappeared around the side of the cabin. He returned seconds later with two. “This is all there are. We’ll have to take turns.” He tossed one of the shovels to Asher, who grabbed it and went to work.
Sven stood quietly beside him watching the Brotherhood interact.
“What happened?” Maccus asked.
Bjorn laid it all out, including the visit from Loki.
Alexei was standing in an eight-foot-deep hole leaning on the handle of the shovel. Using their preternatural strength and speed, he and Asher had made quick work of the digging. “So Lucifer is behind this, but it’s not him actually doing anything.”
“He’s clever.” Asher tossed the first two bodies into the ground. Alexei jumped out of the hole and grabbed a body under a nearby tree.
“He knows there’s nothing we can really do to stop him.” And that’s what bothered Bjorn the most.
“The gods go unchecked, doing whatever they choose.” It was the first Sven had spoken since the women went inside. “They play their games with little regard to the rest of us, but they serve a purpose.”
“Exactly.” Maccus manifested a knife and flipped it through his fingers. It was no big deal to Bjorn, but it caught Sven’s interest. “As much as I’d like to end Lucifer, he keeps the demons out of the human world. Sure, I can visit his realm and cause him a headache or two, but in the end, he can hurt you more.”
“It’s not your fault.” Bjorn recognized guilt when he heard it. He’d lived with his own for so long they were old friends. “You’re the excuse Lucifer uses, not the reason. If it wasn’t you, it would be something or someone else.”
“Agreed.” Alexei began filling the hole. Sven walked over to him and held out his hand. Alexei gave up the shovel and wiped his hands on his pants. “Thanks, man.”
Sven gave a curt nod and began to work. He wasn’t relaxed. None of them were. It was next to impossible with so many powerful supernatural creatures in one spot.
“There’s no way to prove Loki was behind any of this.” Sven swung the sh
ovel with great efficiency. “It is our word against his.”
“It wouldn’t matter.” Maccus glanced up at the sky. “The gods need someone to punish. And we’re usually it.”
A weight settled on Bjorn’s chest. “So there’s nothing we can do?” He’d hoped they’d have some suggestions.
“We fight.” The hole filled, Sven slammed the blade of the shovel into the ground.
“We will fight.” He didn’t know any other way to live. He’d been away from Anja for too long, needed to see her to settle himself. “Let’s go see if the women have any ideas.”
“Stay back.” Anja’s yell stole the breath from his lungs.
…
Clean and dressed in clothes Morrigan had brought with her, Anja touched her fingers to the knife strapped to her thigh and the sword on her back. It might be viewed as an insult, but she wasn’t about to be unarmed. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and joined the other women.
The food they’d brought was spread across the counter. A pot of coffee was finished cycling through the machine and bottles of water sat beside it.
Jo opened a bottle and handed it to her. “You look like you could use this. Actually, you look like you could use something stronger. There’s a part bottle of whiskey there, but it’s just afternoon.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” the woman called Cassie piped up. Then she offered a smile. “In case you don’t remember, I’m Cassie. I’m with Alexei.”
“Thank you.” She took the water and drank deeply. “It’s been a difficult morning.”
Morrigan rubbed her on the shoulder. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. You should sit.”
Anja felt like a visitor in her husband’s home. But that was accurate, wasn’t it? She was on borrowed time.
I don’t belong here.
Anja was used to being alone, to keeping her own counsel, to not relying on anyone. She peered around the table at these women who were little more than strangers. Instead of the scorn or disinterest or pity, as she was used to in Freya’s Hall, there was only concern and understanding.
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