Valkyrie

by Raythe Reign

  “Cam, do you feel better?” Liam guessed that there was something magical about the mead. That would explain why his brother’s eyes were no longer feverish.

  “I …” Cameron paused, his forehead furrowing, but then it cleared and he nodded his head. A grin flashed across his face. “Yeah, I think I do. I’m not weak anymore or so hot. Not 100 percent, but better.”

  Liam was pleased that Cameron snuggled back more against his chest rather than drawing away now that he seemed capable of supporting himself.

  I should let him go.

  But his hands stayed where his heart wanted them to be: around Cameron’s waist. He could almost imagine what this appeared like to Loki, not to mention Thor, Odin and Frigg. The Aesir were all watching this and he was sure that all of them knew what had happened the night before. But Liam thrust away any fear of the judgment they might make. What was important was not what any of them thought of him. The only thing of importance was what Cameron needed and he needed his big brother close.

  “I take it the mead was magic?” Liam asked Loki, slamming the door on those thoughts.

  Loki nodded after another uncomfortably long stare at him. Liam swore the man was reading his mind. “As was our Cameron’s distress.”

  “Guys, I drank a little bit too much last night,” Cameron objected, shaking his blond curls. “A little hair of the dog that bit me is working wonders.” He held up the glass of mead and took another sip.

  “Cam, I don’t think that was it. You were getting worse not better,” Liam pointed out. “A hangover wouldn’t work that way.”

  “It was just seeing you and —”

  “It was seeing you, Liam, that did it,” Loki murmured.

  Liam’s head shot up even as formless guilt stabbed into him at the thought that he might be causing Cameron to be sick. “What did seeing me do?”

  The Aesir ran an almost delicate pointer finger around the rim of a glass before answering slowly, “Magic in the blood can kill. It can poison the body and mind. It can eat through one’s very soul. Seeing you caused Cameron’s magic to awaken. It took a bit of a nip out of him, but he’s all right for now.”

  Liam’s thoughts flickered to all of their ancestors that had ended up in asylums or committed suicide with Loki’s name on their lips. It came to him then that Loki had been on this planet as their family had suffered and had done nothing to help them. He had allowed these blood relatives to be called insane, to be locked away, when they were only seeing what was really there. The Gash. The gods. Magic. And they had been punished for it by the ignorant. Outrage flowed through him, his back stiffened and as his blue eyes snapped with righteous fury.

  “Magic we get from you,” Liam said darkly.

  Loki grinned as if pleased. “Yes. It is a terrible gift, is it not?”

  “How can you seem so — so happy about Cam getting sick from his magic awakening? And not just him! Countless members of our family on both sides have gone mad because of your blood. They called for your help!” Liam’s voice rose.

  Cameron gently clasped his hands. “It’s okay, Liam. I’m okay now. You don’t have to —”

  Liam’s face flushed with anger. “I want to know why —”

  “Why I’m pleased?” Loki suddenly thrust his hands against the bar and there was this ringing sound like a bell had been struck. “Because Cameron is a chance for something new in this world. All the pain and suffering that has come before was to create him and you.”

  Despite the sense of danger that suddenly pervaded the room, the sense of a calm before the storm, Liam found himself recklessly pressing onwards, “You have acted like my brother’s friend, his family, but I wonder if that’s really true. All this time you’ve been here, able to help us, and you …” Liam’s throat closed as he thought of their father being killed so pointlessly. He found himself holding Cameron to him more tightly. “You’ve let us face the Gash alone. I know I was not the first of our family to fall to it. Our father …”

  “Dad was killed by the Gash?” Cameron sounded stricken and he turned wide blue eyes upon Liam.

  Liam wished he could take his supposition back, but it was out there and one glance at Loki confirmed its truth. The Aesir's eyes actually seemed sad for a moment.

  “Yes,” Liam whispered. “Only he didn’t become a Valkyrie.”

  “Then where is he? Is he in Valhalla?” Cameron asked with a clearly feverish desire for Liam to tell him that yes, their father was feasting at the table of heroes.

  The desire to lie was great, because it would have washed away that anguished, wrenched look on Cameron’s beautiful face. Liam drew one thumb along the line of Cameron’s jaw. There was not even the faintest trace of stubble there. Unlike himself, his brother would always be clean shaven.

  “I don’t know where he is,” Liam finally whispered. He could not lie to his brother, not even to ease his pain.

  Cameron stared off into nothingness for a long time then he turned to Loki who now seemed several feet taller than before. The Aesir’s eyes pulsed with unnatural light. There was an expression of beautiful yet terrifying amusement on his face. Horrifying because it showed how inhuman he truly was. Liam pulled Cameron nearer to him protectively. But Cameron did not back down either.

  “You have the ability to bring the other gods back here. They can defeat the Gash. You’ve been able to do this since the beginning,” Cameron said in a quiet, firm voice. “Why didn’t you? Why did you let all these people suffer? Sigurd — Loki, I know you. You don’t do things without reason. You don’t cause suffering unnecessarily. You might not be like us, but … you’re not the monster my brother fears you are either.”

  Loki seemed to shrink back down to normal human size as if Cameron’s rebuke punctured him and all the air leaked out, deflating him. “You assume that if I did what you just said that things would be better now than they are currently.”

  “They would be!” Liam cried. “All the people the Gash has killed — not just killed, tortured, raped, mutilated — and their families' grief and —”

  “You know the truth, Liam, or you should.” Loki was leaning towards them. Those gold eyes were blazing. “The Gash possesses people who are already corrupt. Reggie would have done those things with or without the Gash’s presence inside of him.”

  “But not as well! He would have gotten caught sooner!” Liam objected.

  But Loki shook his head. “We don’t know that, but my educated guess says no, that the exact opposite is true. You know why?”

  Liam opened his mouth to say he didn’t, but Cameron was actually answering, “Because he wouldn’t have taken me. Liam wouldn’t have then come and killed him.”

  Loki ruffled Cameron’s hair, which made his brother growl and bat the Aesir's hand away, but it was an affectionate growl.

  “Exactly!" Loki laughed. "Your brother scared the living fuck out of Reggie. He would have never taken you for fear what happened would have happened." He turned his gaze to Liam. "And Reggie rather liked you, Liam. You were kind to him when others were not. The thing is that Reggie could have killed for years longer if the Gash hadn’t been so hungry for the blood that runs in your veins.”

  Liam ran a hand through his hair. “But there were others before Reggie who wouldn't have caused as much damage if the Gash had not possessed them.”

  “Evil happens, Liam. Gash or no,” Loki interjected. “I cannot stop it even if I cared to and I assure you that the other gods aren’t capable of it either.”

  “But you seemed to be saying earlier that the world would be worse off if the old gods were back and the Gash was gone,” Cameron pointed out.

  “You’re right. I did.” Loki ran the soft bar cloth over the wood of the bar until it shone before speaking again, “The gods are rather … adorable in their place, aren’t they, Liam? Trapped in Asgard where they can only affect one another they seem almost like soft and fluffy kittens.”

  Liam’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying that if th
ey had access to Midgard again that they would be worse for humanity than the Gash?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Loki continued to polish the bar.

  “But that’s insane! I met them! They are kind and —”

  “Some are for certain,” Loki agreed. “But they are gods, Liam.” He met Liam’s gaze with a wry smile. “And gods demand to be worshipped. They get ornery if they aren’t and start mischief, which is arguably why the Gash is here in the first place. Odin got bored.”

  “You don’t demand to be worshipped!” Cameron scoffed, shaking his head.

  “Maybe I would have intervened in some of the terrible things that befell our family if I had been,” Loki replied neutrally.

  But Cameron shook his head with alacrity. “No, that’s not true. I know that’s not true. You came and helped me when I needed it most. You’re here now when the Gash and Liam have returned. You’re here because you want to help or believe you can help this time.”

  Loki merely smiled and went back to polishing the bar.

  “Without the other Aesir we can’t stop the Gash, Loki. You know that,” Liam said.

  “Do I know that?” Loki cocked his head to the side. “I see before me a Valkyrie who has the strength of Thor and his little brother who very well may have some of Loki’s power.”

  “When you start talking about yourself in the third person I know we’re in trouble,” Cameron muttered. “What is this power you’re talking about? Magic? Show me some of it. Teach me some of it.”

  “Maybe I will.” Loki tossed the bar towel over his shoulder.

  “You said that Cameron could be the start of something new,” Liam said. “What did you mean?”

  “If he survives this then there may be no limit to what Cameron can do,” Loki responded.

  “S-survive?” Cameron gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Loki, what are you talking about?”

  “Magic hasn’t been lost from this world, just hidden underneath its skin. In its bones,” Loki explained, a sudden and intense stillness coming upon him. “You, Cameron, are its chance to burst forth once more. But without the nonsense of the gods.”

  “Me magical? Yeah, I don’t think —”

  “It’s better if you don’t think about it,” Loki laughed. “It’s better if you have no idea what’s to come. It’s going to happen so why bother worrying about it? Just enjoy yourselves while you have the chance.”

  Silence fell in the room. Cameron was staring at Loki with his lips parted, but no questions coming out. Loki looked completely at ease, stocking the coolers with beer and humming a tune under his breath that sounded awfully familiar to Liam though he could not place it. For his part, Liam wanted to gather Cameron up in his arms and take him upstairs. Or maybe it would be better to take him back to their mother’s house away from Loki.

  He has no intention of bringing the gods back. Not now at least. Maybe never.

  “Ask,” Loki said without looking up at Liam.

  “Ask what?” Liam asked, but he knew what the Aesir meant. Ask Loki what he wanted in exchange to bring back the other Aesir to Midgard.

  “Let me just take Cam up —”

  “This won’t be a long conversation.” A slow, drawling smile lit Loki’s sensual mouth.

  “I don’t want to go up! Not when you’re talking about important stuff!” Cameron cried at almost the same time. He sounded so much like the little boy he used to be that Liam let out a soft laugh and brushed curls off of Cameron’s forehead. Cameron narrowed blue eyes at him dangerously. He would not be put to bed, evidently.

  Liam turned back reluctantly to Loki. “There’s no point in asking you what you want to bring the Aesir back. You’ve already made it quite clear that you won’t do it. Unless all those protestations you gave about things being worse with the old gods here as compared to the Gash were just garbage. Maybe you just want me to give you a really good reason to think again and revise your opinion.”

  Liam said these words with assurance and courage, but he fully expected the god to react badly to his tone, if not his words. But Loki tossed back his head and laughed. Delighted. Absolutely and utterly amused. He looked at Liam with such affection that Liam blushed in confusion.

  “Ah, you are so like him! My Thor. Simple. Courageous. True. And so very blind to the fact that only a rare few actually behave as you do,” Loki responded with a soft chuckle.

  “Liam is awesome, Loki,” Cameron defended him with utter sincerity. “He’s what we should be trying to emulate. Those things you listed off are not weaknesses. They’re his strength. And he’s not blind to how people really are. He does want to believe the best in them, but that doesn’t mean he can’t see the badness in them, too.”

  Loki’s expression became sad for a moment. “I don’t completely disagree with you. I just know that goodness is easy to take advantage of. I’ve done it often enough.”

  “Who is taking advantage of me? You?” Liam asked.

  Loki turned a tired gaze upon him. “What did the Allfather tell you to do when you came to me?”

  “To ask you what you want to grant the Aesir access to Midgard again. Nothing more,” Liam explained.

  Loki laughed again, but this time it was a bitter thing, full of old anger and hurt. His gold eyes seemed to go dark for a moment like a candle guttering. Liam suddenly did not want that light to go out. He feared what would happen if it did. The Gash might seem like an annoying mosquito in comparison. But then Loki was speaking once more, “Ah, but here is the thing, Liam, the Allfather already knows what my terms are. He’s known all along. He just sent you here in case I would change them.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: FEAR AND SWEETNESS

  “Odin knows what you want and won’t give it to you?” Cameron asked, stunned. Liam’s description of the gods seemed so different that this selfishness. Liam was convinced the gods would do anything to destroy the Gash and the only thing stopping them was not knowing what he wanted, but this sounded version from Loki sounded very different.

  Loki nodded then smile mischievously. “I admit that what I asked of him was large, but if his desire was truly to do good and undo his mistake in letting the Gash into this plain of existence he should have thought about it a little harder. He dismissed me quite out of hand.” He tapped his chin. “I believe he laughed and told me to go away.”

  Liam was frowning, but he wasn’t dismissing Loki’s words out of hand, which just proved in Cameron’s mind that his brother wasn’t the wide-eyed innocent that Loki believed him to be. “I would swear that Thor does not know what your terms are even if the Allfather does.”

  Loki’s eyelids fluttered half shut and he said softly, “No, I am certain that Thor does not know.”

  “And if he did know, could he give you what you want?” Cameron asked. Already, he was guessing that Thor was the lost love that Loki had mentioned only briefly.

  The Aesir nervously twitched some of the liquor bottles so that their labels were facing out. “I … he can’t give me what I want. He would try, but it is Odin who has to — to let go.”

  “What is it you want? Let me tell Thor,” Liam began.

  “No! No, I cannot involve Thor in this. Without Odin’s permission it will just make things … impossible.” Loki’s hands were clutching the necks of two tequila bottles so hard that his knuckles were white.

  “Thor is watching us now, Loki,” Liam pointed out. “He’ll know to ask Odin about it and —”

  “No one can see us. They may treat humans like their reality television, but they will not spy on me and mine while I am present,” Loki said with a meaningful glance at Cameron. “They will not spy on us. They will know nothing of what you do here now that I am back.”

  Cameron felt a whole body blush suffuse him. The meaning behind Loki’s look was clear to him. He knows how I feel about Liam. He is telling me that if in the hugely unlikely event Liam feels the same way as me that whatever we do here will be hidden from the gods’ sight and censu
re.

  Liam though was oblivious to the meaning behind Loki’s look and said stoutly, “It doesn’t matter if they watch us or not. I will do the same under their eye as shielded from it.”

  “Really?” Loki then let out another huff of laughter. “Of course you will! That’s exactly what Thor would say.”

  “Am I so like him in your eyes?” Liam asked.

  Loki lowered his head. “Yes … and no. You mustn’t think I am insulting you when I compare the two of you. I have the utmost … love for him.”

  “I didn’t think you were, but you need to remember I’m not him. No matter how alike we are, I’m not Thor.” Liam’s expression was both sad and stern.

  “You fear that the differences between you and him will make it so that you are not to stop the Gash?” Loki asked.

  “I know I’m not able, too. I’ve tried so many times to destroy it. All the Valkyrie have. Ones far greater than I. And everything we’ve tried has only managed to drive it from one hapless wretch into another,” Liam explained. His hands left Cameron’s waist and he held them out in front of him, palms up and stared down at them like he could see the Gash’s shadowy presence sliding between his fingers. “Loki, whatever you want I will take your terms to the gods. I will beg them to give you it. I will expose Odin’s malfeasance in not telling them the truth. I know that Thor will back me up!”

  “Against his father?” Loki’s eyebrows rose.

  “Yes.” Liam shone with his certainty. “Perhaps in the past he was less likely to go against the Allfather, but he has been suffering as he watches the Gash destroy lives! To sit idly by while people are harmed is not in his nature! These long years of powerlessness undoubtedly changed him from when you knew him.”

  Loki stared at his brother without blinking in that way of his that made Cameron think he was looking into Liam’s soul. The Aesir slowly lowered his head.

  “I once believed as you, but Thor trusts his father absolutely. He is under his thumb in a way that no one can dislodge him. Ties of millennia bind them together. Nothing will undo their bond,” Loki muttered.