“It wasn’t enough for you to send her down there to do your dirty work, was it? You hated the fact she beat you at your own game.” Blue eyes met icy silver, and the air turned so cold Loki’s skin frosted over, but inside, oh, inside he burned. Hotter than ever before, as if he would burn himself up, just to get his hands around Odin’s throat.
Never breaking their stare, he gathered his magic and blew straight through Odin’s shield, thundered up the steps until he loomed over his father, taking in Odin’s shock and disbelief. Then somehow, he noticed his hands were wrapped around Odin’s not insubstantial neck. Hands were yanking on his shoulders, his arms, pulling so fiercely everything was moving.
Him, Odin, the throne. Not that it mattered.
Morgane was dead.
The fact Odin’s eyes were bulging out of his face only meant Loki’s words were the last thing he would hear before his neck snapped. Good. “You wanted her to end up down there, didn’t you?” Questions came faster and faster, driven by rage, loss, insanity. “Before I break your neck and burn you to ash, tell me why? Why the fuck did you do it? Why did you take her from me?”
It finally occurred to him to loosen his hands enough so Odin could wheeze out a word. Or two. Three seemed a tad generous. “Deal…Hel…”
The thud of Odin’s body hitting the floor echoed through the chamber as sheer disbelief sent him stumbling away. “A deal?” His words rang hollow against the cold marble. “What could possibly be worth killing Morgane? What could she have possibly offered you?” The moment their eyes met, he saw everything so clearly.
The taunting, the bargain, the audience gathered around them.
Odin wanted to die today.
Meant for it to end it like this, with his blood coating Loki’s hands. Murdered in his Throne Room while the others watched. Which, of course, was why they were all here. He’d play the part of villain again, Morgane would remain in the Underworld, and Odin would be freed from this miserable existence. He’d become Odin’s puppet, doing his dirty work, giving him exactly what he wanted. His temper cooled a bit at the revelation. Even though his hands itched to wrap themselves around the bastard’s throat again.
Drawing a breath, he stalked away from all of them. Away from the truth he’d just glimpsed in Odin’s silver eyes. Away from the death Odin craved so badly. Before he capitulated and gave Odin exactly what he wanted. Had almost allowed himself to be maneuvered into killing him, had he not realized the truth at the last possible moment.
The doors grew bigger and taller, beckoning, a gateway out of here, but Odin’s voice, raspy and wet, stopped him before he made it. No longer a king’s voice. A beggar’s voice crackling with loathing. “Turn around. Turn around and come back here and do it. Just fucking do it.”
There was a second when he almost did. Balder stepped in to block his way. Another few steps toward freedom before that voice again stopped him again, dead in his tracks.
“Don’t you even want to know what I got in return? For your lover’s life?” Every single word was a taunt.
“No.” Morgane was dead. Nothing would bring her back.
“Don’t you even want to know how much Morgane was worth?”
Loki turned, a small, dead smile on his lips. “Not from you. Never from you. Say her name one more time and I will rip your head from your body. But I won’t do it here, in front of an audience, because that’s exactly what you want. I’ll do it my way, and I’ll make sure you disappear. There’ll be no final resting place for you. Not ever.”
Pressing his palms to the double doors, Loki blew them open, crossed the threshold, and vanished.
Fenrir was waiting for him in his chamber, staring down at Morgane’s white-sheeted body.
“I am sorry, Father.”
A shadow of pain, pain so deep it reverberated through his bones, echoed through Loki. As if he had lost something intrinsic to his very existence. He thought how strange, that in a few short weeks, she had somehow become so important everything else ceased to exist at the same moment she had.
Loki closed his eyes. How strange, too, Odin was now his enemy.
“We brought her out once before,” Fen reminded him, his voice soft.
Loki glanced up at the ceiling as if the answers were there. “Yes, we did. With a protection spell of Odin’s, and Balder’s help. With her mortal body intact here on Earth. As part of an agreement in which she was a willing participant.” He stared out the window, if only to stop looking at her body. “This was payment, Fen. Odin killed her and sent her down there to complete a pact with the Goddess of Death. I cannot undo this. I don’t believe anyone can.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter why.”
“It does and you know it. Or were you too pissed off for him to give you an explanation?”
“You mean lie to my face?”
“I mean explain to you why.” Fen rubbed his eyes. “I know he’s an asshole, we can all agree. But he wouldn’t have killed her—”
“He did kill her.”
“He wouldn’t have killed her, not like he did, without a damn good reason. What was it?” Fen had a stubborn set to his jaw, which meant he’d only argue until he got his way.
Loki stared vacantly out the window. “He wants me to kill him. To end this existence for him.”
“Well, we all get like that at one time or another. Can’t say I much blame him. Surely, he pushed you hard enough you’d have done it.” Contemplatively, Fen stared down at Morgane’s body. “But he didn’t kill her just so you’d kill him in return. There has to be more to it.”
“I can’t lose her, Fen.”
“What if you don’t have to?”
Loki shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s too late.” He couldn’t live like this, as if death would be a blessed relief.
He looked at his son helplessly. “I’d given up on everything. And then I found her. I thought we’d have forever. Years, at least. But we only had a week. We had a week, and I never knew how short that was. The blink of an eye. But this grief will never end.”
“And you loved her?” There was a touch of envy in Fen’s question, as he fingered the thick, silver chain around his neck. Gods didn’t fall in love with mortals. For good reason. Their lives were messy and short and fraught with problems. They had all learned that lesson long ago.
“Yes. I loved her,” Loki answered, his voice hoarse, tracing the edge of the sheet covering her. “But it wasn’t long enough… It wasn’t long enough to matter. Not really.”
“It was long enough to matter. And it doesn’t have to end. Not like this.”
But it had ended.
She was gone and he was stuck here, trapped in this moment, this world. This time.
From the beginning, from that very first night, he’d felt this overriding compulsion to be with her. He, who had endured centuries alone. But now time seemed stretched out before him, an endless sea, no horizon in sight, no destination waiting for his eventual arrival. And unlike before, he found himself unwilling to take another step forward.
“We could go get her,” Fen suggested gently.
The words penetrated the outer edge of his stupor. “You know it doesn’t work that way.”
“She’s not part of this. Which means normal rules of magic don’t apply.”
Except she was. Something told him she was part of this. Something told him they had both been played. By Odin. By Hel. By the circumstances. Somehow, this had been a setup and now Morgane was trapped now. He needed an advantage. Anything to use against Hel. Against Odin. Against this fucking world that thought it could take her away from him.
“The longer you delay, the less chance we have of getting her back,” Fen reminded him. Alive. The word Fen left out was alive. Their eyes met. And Loki saw genuine compassion in them. “You need to go back and listen to Odin’s side. Let him tell you his reasons. Perhaps we can find a way?”
If this had been a game from the very beginni
ng, then maybe they had all been played. In the end, the only one who got exactly what she wanted was…Hel.
He’d lost Morgane. Odin had allied with the enemy. The rest of them would be at each other’s throats, once they discovered Odin’s treachery. The only winner would be her.
“I can’t.”
“You must.” Steel underlined each word of Fen’s. Steel echoed in the blue eyes when Loki raised his head and met them. “You have to if you want to see her again. If this is the cost, why not? Listen to Odin. Let him explain his reasons. Then use this information to get her back. We go down there like before, and we bring her home.” Fen reached out his hand, and Loki took it like a lifeline.
“All right.” With renewed clarity, Loki focused on his son. “I’ll listen. And I won’t even try to kill him. Right away. But if the fate of the whole goddamn world wasn’t the price of him killing her, then I’m twisting his arrogant head off his shoulders.”
27
“So you’re saying the war is over?”
“It’s over.”
“No more fighting every single night?”
“No. No human deaths, no carnage, no fighting.” Odin’s eyes raked over the lot of them. “Hel swore a blood oath to me. Which is completely binding.” Relief spread through the room. “No more fighting, no more demons, no more war. Ever.”
Loki’s sharp voice cut through it like a knife. “Let me get this straight. You traded Morgane’s life for Hel’s promise to relinquish control over the entire mortal world? To keep her demons out of this realm? A realm she has had access to for two millennia? And that didn’t strike you as a bit...off?”
Odin leaned forward, the bruises on his neck already fading. “It was all she asked for.” He smirked. “She stays in her realm, keeps all of her monsters off this plane, forever. She hates you. More than anyone else in existence, apparently. I took advantage of it. One soul for the entire world seemed like a good deal.”
“It’s a shitty deal because you got played.” Loki’s gut clenched at the triumph shining in Odin’s eyes. “Whatever she’s up to, you got taken. My daughter beat you at poker because you’re an amateur, and you’ve been out of the game too long, sitting here in your gold high chair, acting like a pretend king.”
“I didn’t get played. I accomplished what thousands of years of war couldn’t. I saved this world. I saved the human race. And I did it myself without lifting a sword.” Odin glowed with superiority.
Watching him bask in self-flattery, Loki shook his head. “By offering her a single mortal soul, you seriously believe Hel gave up the world?”
“Fine. Then explain how I got played?”
Loki couldn’t, exactly, but he was going to find out. No need to explain all of that to this pompous asshole in front of the peanut gallery. Fen was right. First, they needed to get Morgane free. He just had to figure out a means to retrieve her.
In the deafening silence, Odin leaned forward and snarled softly. “You can’t answer me because I didn’t. I beat her, fair and square. And you can’t stand it.”
Loki shut out the gloating words.
His voice deadly, he answered, “I don’t give a shit about winning or losing anymore. I care about living.” He spared a sideways glance at Balder. “Something you don’t remember a thing about. You’re the dude on the phone thinking he’s got a million dollars coming from Nigeria. And you’re just stupid enough to send them your account number for the deposit.”
28
Hel was enjoying the sound her stilettos made on the bedrock. Even though they were a wee bit tight because it was the end of the day and her feet were swollen. She hadn’t put them up like she usually did, but today had been so worth the effort. The girl was here. The heavens had opened and the planets had aligned, and Morgane was back.
“I simply cannot believe Odin kept his promise, twice in a row. I never, ever would have gotten my claws on you had it not been for him. A bit of divine intervention, so to speak.”
Well, that and couple drops of her blood and a teensy weensy little promise. One she had no intention whatsoever of keeping. Because pretty soon the immortal gods wouldn’t be in charge of anything at all.
“Well, now that you’re down here, we might as well get started.” The girl…Morgane…had seen better days. Her shirt was bright red, her hair dripping with blood, which was still leaking from her mortal form, and she couldn’t even raise up her head properly.
With a wave of her hand, the girl’s fleshy shell stopped bleeding all over everything as Hel prattled on. “Normally, I’d turn you into a wraith, but I’ve decided to keep you mortal so we can have a bit of fun. We don’t have a lot of time, a day at most, but since you made it a point to make my life miserable the last time you were here, I thought it only fair to return the favor.”
Another wave of Hel’s hand had Morgane on her hands and knees. “Lest there be any question about who is in charge now, I thought perhaps a reminder is in order. Of how powerful the gods are and how pitiful humans are.
“Let’s see…you embarrassed me in my own hall. You escaped with two stolen souls. You stole from me… And that’s just for starters. However shall I punish you?”
And as Morgane’s screams bounced off the thick stone walls, weaving through the high wooden trusses and into the soaring ceilings and walls covered in runes, Hel grinned. “You sound so much like your sister. Do you have any idea how long it’s taken to get you down here?”
Hel loosened the dark ribbons of magic, allowing Morgane enough freedom to raise her head an inch or two. “That’s right. I’ve been after you for a while. A good, long while. Ever since I discovered your soul was the key to my everlasting freedom. A dark, precious secret locked up in that weak, mortal body of yours.”
Years ago, when a dark voice began whispering in her ear, Hel thought maybe, she was going a wee bit soft in the head. But she soon realized what this dark god proposed had real merit. As the Goddess of Death, Hel held dominion over all mortal souls. Including Morgane’s. It had been a no-brainer—one soul in exchange for eternal freedom, eternal power, and dominion over a new world.
And the final piece of the puzzle? Divine, godly assistance in the form of Odin’s part of the bargain. Ironic, really, that he’d be the one to unleash the God of Chaos upon the Earth. She couldn’t say she regretted it one bit.
Hel stalked around Morgane, who was panting and silently sobbing on the floor. Around them the darkness closed in, the markings on the walls winding themselves up and around and across the expanse of ceiling, not a single square inch was uncovered. Morgane’s eyes skated from Hel to the darkness, around the corners of the vast cavernous hall, along the markings. “Do you like them? It took my ghostly stonemasons centuries to carve them all. They cover every inch of the dungeons. Those markings ensure nothing is getting in or out of here.
“There will be no rescues, not this time. This is the most secure place in all the realms, which is why I keep everything of value down here.” Hel gestured to a heaping pile of gleaming treasure scattered across the floor. “My hoard. So many wars. So many worlds. So many kingdoms plundered.” Hel lifted a heavy golden crown encrusted with jewels and spun it around, the huge stones catching the light like starlight. Tossing it back on the pile, it rolled down, settling against the rest of the gold and jewels. “I must admit, I don’t even remember where half this stuff came from. Doesn’t keep me from wanting more, though.”
Morgane’s raspy breathing turned frantic, and Hel’s smile grew wide. “Oh, this is going to be glorious. I’m not allowed to kill you, but we can play. And nothing is going to save you, my sweet girl, nothing at all. Not even your fire breathing lover, try as he might.” The raspy breathing intensified. “This is the end of the line, Morgane. And it won’t be pretty. The god who wants your soul has been waiting for it since the day you were born. I might have missed you two years ago. But I have you now.”
Hel sauntered over until she stood in front of Morgane. “You’re going
to pay. For everything.” With a wave of her hand, Morgane began to scream anew.
29
Fenrir’s boots clicked in a steady cadence against the floor of the weapons room. The way he was pacing like a caged beast told the others he couldn’t seem to get comfortable in his own skin. Mir and Tyr shifted away an imperceptible inch or two while he ground out the words. “We’ll need everyone to make this work. I’m telling you, everybody.”
Tyr emphatically shook his head. “Not again, Fenrir. I’m telling you, they won’t do it…”
Fenrir let out a snarl, his fangs elongating. “So you’d screw my father over because of your pride? Which makes perfect sense. Fidiot. Thought you were the fucking God of War.”
Mir stepped in between the two of them before things spiraled out of control. Hard to say what would happen with so much steel laying around.
“We go in there fully armed. We bring Morgane out.” Fen blew out a breath. “We all go in together and Hel won’t stand a chance.”
“And break the peace Odin just managed to forge between us? No thank you.” Tyr shook his head emphatically. “It’d be a clear act of war, Fenrir. Or at the very least, she’d see it as an act of aggression, and use it to wipe everyone out. You want to be responsible for that?”
“But Morgane…” Fenrir’s voice was cut off by the flash of Tyr’s white teeth.
“It doesn’t matter.” Tyr’s voice was low, rough. “It doesn’t matter because you’re talking about a mortal. She’s not one of us, Fen. Why is this even an issue?”
“Because I owe her.” Loki spoke softly from the doorway. “Because she shouldn’t have to pay penance for rescuing her sister from Hel. Because she’s been battling demons on the streets of this city for two years, alone, and is still alive.”
“Bullshit.”
“No bullshit.” Mir murmured. “I’ve saved her ass twice now.” He shrugged. “She’s a hell of a fighter, judging from her scars and the piles of dead Grim she’s left in her wake. Didn’t blink an eye to do what she had to do to bring Loki back from the darklands either.”
The Banished Gods Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 17