The Banished Gods Box Set: Books 1-3

by L. A. McGinnis

  “I’m smart like that.”

  Her gaze shifted back to the paper. “No, I mean, seriously? How did you figure it out?”

  “I was there when you and your sister were brought back, remember? I sensed what was in you, the night I met you. Like I do right now. The burns were a nice touch, Loki. I think Odin might have even bought it. But you don’t have long to get Ava out of the Tower. And even then, he’ll be coming for you. Both of you.”

  “Then tell us what you know.” Ava’s stare moved back to the paper. “Before he heals up and starts looking for us. And make it quick.”

  “I believe what’s inside you wasn’t put there by Hel. It’s something infinitely older and infinitely more dangerous. You, my dear, and somehow, your sister are key players in this.” Mir tapped the paper and sat back. “Whatever this legend is all about.”

  “How can we be players in anything having to do with you guys?” Ava wondered. “It’s impossible. We’re mortals, you’re gods, we’ve got nothing to do with the likes of you.”

  Mir met Ava’s eyes, his gaze unwavering. “Does the name MacAskill mean anything to you?”

  The question sucked the air out of the room as Ava slowly said, “My mother’s maiden name was MacAskill.” Her answer was more of a rush of breath. With her answer, Loki felt something inside of him die. He hadn’t thought to ask about the name, hadn’t even considered…

  Mir held Loki’s stare over her head, his eyes assessing. “And in Old Gaelic, MacAskill means…”

  “Sacrifice,” completed Loki, his eyes never leaving Ava’s ashen face.

  The word slammed through Loki like a physical blow. At least he hadn’t told anyone else about Fen’s sworn oath nor about the price the Dagda and the Morrigan had demanded, should Fen find the mortal bearing this name. The very name that determined her sister’s fate.

  “Except,” Ava said quietly, so the others could barely hear, “that’s not entirely true.” The words came out unclear, a bare whisper of breath.

  “What? What’re you talking about?” Mir asked sharply. “Explain.”

  “That’s only part of the name. And part of the truth.” Ava raised a face to them, tear stained but hopeful. Thoughtful, even.

  “Morgane wouldn’t know this story. Because she was younger than me, Mom never told her, and we tried to keep this from her. Because she’s got a soft heart, you know.”

  “As far as everyone knew, Mom’s maiden name was MacAskill. But my grandmother was married once before when she was very young. Before she moved to the States, back in Ireland, and that man was my true grandfather. He was a real bastard. Beat Gram so bad, she almost lost my mom. Thank God she didn’t. She left the man, divorced, came to the States and remarried.” Ava paused, her eyes wide.

  “My mother’s actual, legal maiden name is Rigan.”

  “And that word does not mean sacrifice.” A touch of awe was in Mir’s voice as he sat forward, straightening in his chair.

  “No,” Loki agreed, uncertain if this was a turn for better or worse. “It certainly does not. Rigan is a name reserved for royalty.”

  A hint of a grin crossed Mir’s face. “I called Morgane a queen, once, when I met her.” He shrugged, raising his eyes. “Queen of swords, after I saw all those scars. Little did I know…” He blew out a low whistle.

  “And Gram always used to call me her little princess,” Ava said. “It was her pet name for me.”

  “This might not change anything,” Loki cautioned her. “And it might only be a legend, we could be reading too much into it.”

  “Maybe it won’t,” Ava admitted. “But at least it’s a start. And besides, name can be everything.”

  “Still, a name is only a name. Let’s talk about what’s inside you. Can you control it?” Mir’s gaze was hard. “We can’t risk you hurting anyone by accident.”

  “Yes,” Ava said, her fingers curling into her palms. “I can do it.”

  “Are you sure? Because the reason Odin ended up in my infirmary is because he pissed you off and you lost control. He would have recovered”—Mir snapped his fingers in her face—“from Loki’s burns, in a matter of minutes. But instead, he’s kind of busy growing his bones back together. So do me a favor and describe to me what’s trapped inside you.”

  “I don’t know what it is.” Her face shuttered closed. “But it feels endless. As if I could plunge down through it and it would swallow me up. That being said, whatever’s inside me is only a small part of something bigger. Something that’s calling me, if that makes any sense. I wish I could give you more, because then, maybe, you could somehow get it out of me, but I truly don’t know.” The last word was the barest whisper.

  Mir shot Loki a sideways glance. “Just tell us, Mir. How much worse can this get?” The look on Mir’s face said do you need to know?

  “As usual, there are a million different creation stories, but a common thread to all of them is that at the start of everything, there were The Three original gods. They were the ones who separated the darkness from the light. Not an easy feat, I would think. In fact, it took everything from one of them, sucked the poor bastard dry. But the fact that gets overlooked in all of these old, dusty stories is that inside the darkness lived a god, of sorts. A god who thrived on death and emptiness and chaos. It wasn’t until he was imprisoned that life was finally able to form.”

  “This tale Fenrir came back with, the one the Dagda told him, holds certain…disturbing parallels to our own origination story.” His eyes drifted over to Ava. “Which means your current difficulties…”

  “Difficult?” Ava repeated. “You think this is difficult for me?” She shuddered, as if summoning strength she had to dig deep for. “I feel like I am trying to contain the universe inside of me. Every single second. And when it slips, when my control slips just the tiniest bit?” She narrowed her eyes. “Tell you what. Why don’t you take a long, hard look at Odin’s X-rays and tell me just how difficult his immortal bones found a little of that dark power to deal with?”

  “Point taken.”

  “I’m beginning to see how the two might be related.” Loki cocked his head, assessing her. “If what’s inside of Ava is connected to the darkness sealed away by the first gods, what does that mean for us? How does that fit into Hel wanting Morgane’s soul?”

  “Story is, this dark god would need divine intervention to escape his prison. It needs an immortal’s assistance to open the lock that was forged by the First God. It needs one of us.”

  “Hel?”

  “What about Odin?” Mir offered. “One of the two or both of them together, who knows? But whatever they’re up to, my thoughts are, they’re close to succeeding. Too many coincidences, too many things falling into place. And I don’t fucking believe in coincidences.”

  “Yeah well, I do. Morgane and Ava are here for a reason. They’ve got to be. When Morgane and I crossed paths that night, it was fate, Mir. It was meant to be.”

  “Don’t try to twist this bullshit fairytale into whatever you need it to be,” Mir cautioned Loki. “To fit your version of the truth.”

  And what if he did? What if he needed all the pieces to fit together so it made some kind of sense?

  “What are the chances she can continue to contain this?” Mir asked, ignoring Ava completely. “Long enough for you to bring Morgane back?”

  “Hey, I’m standing right here, asshole.” Ava’s head whipped between them furiously. “Don’t act like I’m not in the room, or I’m some problem you have to resolve. Let me remind you, you people are the reason I’m here, you and Odin and Hel. Playing your little games with our lives. So don’t act like I am a fucking mess which has to be cleaned up.”

  “She’s right,” Loki said, adding, “You’re right, Ava. None of this is your fault or Morgane’s. It’s just…”

  “Can you hold it together? And for how long?” Mir asked, eyes steady. “Because if you can’t, there’s no way you should be out there in the world, unless we know we can trust
you. What you did to Odin would pulverize a human. An entire crowd of humans. Not a mess I want to go out and clean up, thank you very much.”

  “And nothing you want to have on your conscious,” Loki added. “Tell us we can trust you, and we are out of here. If not…” He and Mir exchanged a long look.

  “There’s other places we can send you. That’ll keep mortals safe.”

  “I’m good,” Ava said, her voice icy. “I’ve got it together. I slipped,” she admitted, “for a minute, after Odin boasted he’d killed her. After he…practically gloated she was dead, there was a moment when I lost it. But I’m good now. Steady.” Even the air in the room seemed to pause, waiting.

  “Good,” Mir said. “You got a place in mind to go?”

  “Yeah. I do,” Loki said. A place no one knew about, except for him.

  “Don’t tell me. Just get there and Fen will find you in an hour. I’ll do some digging around and see who else is willing to go with us. Then we go in and bring your woman back.”

  “She’s been down there almost a day.” Loki snarled.

  “I can count as well as you. I know how long it’s been.” Mir’s voice grew somber. “And I know how Hel’s going to react. We’ll get there as fast as possible. But if Odin catches you, then nobody else will be able to help you two. So get the fuck out of here.”

  Once they arrived at the decaying building, he went in first to make sure Hel hadn’t had the foresight to leave a few surprises for them. A couple of Grim, lurking in the shadows. She had not. Then again, planning had never been one of her strengths.

  “What is this place?”

  “Your sister’s newest apartment.”

  Ava looked around in disbelief, blinking with surprise and curiosity.

  At the knives. The Kevlar. The bloody, crumpled clothes. Unopened boxes piled in the corner. The broken bed, which at least brought a hint of a smile to Loki’s face.

  “I don’t understand what this is.”

  He stood motionless, seeing the whole shitty place, dusted with the residue of the woman he loved all over it and whispered, “I know you don’t. I didn’t either, not really. Not at first.” He continued to stare at the tiny, cramped room, everything still in complete disarray. “But I do now.”

  “She moved here, right before…” His throat closed off for a moment. “Hel’s demons tracked her to her last place. I was watching to make sure she stayed safe. But that night she was hurt so badly I almost lost her. Point is, nobody knows about this apartment, except Morgane, me, and now you.”

  “You’re going to stay here. You’re going to wait. I’ll text everyone where to meet, then be back to get you. Mir as much as said he would go, and Fen, too. Tyr will show up eventually. Don’t know who else, but we’ll travel faster with just a few of us, anyway. As for you…”

  He took in the emotions warring across her face. Rage. Fear. Hope.

  “Let’s see how you’re holding up when I return. If I think you’ll endanger any of our lives, then you stay here, understand? I think I can trust you? Then you go with.”

  Ava’s eyes gleamed in the dim light of the single bulb on the ceiling. “Whatever, but know this. She was my sister long before she was your lover.” Her voice grew soft, almost threatening. “So think long and hard, Loki, before you try to cut me out of anything.

  “Because I’ll step over you to get to her.”

  36

  Loki spent almost an hour wasting time.

  Precious time, waiting to go back to that room to face Ava. Deciding whether she was brave, fiercely loyal, or a complete liability. Even now, hand on the doorknob, he still hadn’t decided.

  Fen was lounging in the single, wooden chair, tipped back against the wall. Mir was hunched up on the counter. Tyr glowered from a dark corner. Vali looked…bored. Ava, picking her nails, lifted her head at his entrance. Loki took it as a good sign nobody hung suspended in midair, writhing in pain.

  “Thought you’d gotten lost,” Ava said blandly, chewing on her thumb.

  He grunted out a response, setting food, energy drinks, and bags of Mickey D’s on the counter. She was dressed in some of Morgane’s fighting clothes, which hung loosely on her thin frame, but he nodded in approval at the Kevlar. It would offer some protection.

  “Odin thinks we’re on patrol,” Vali offered while Tyr scoffed, rifling through the bags.

  “Odin thinks no such thing. He knows exactly what we are doing. The fact he is not here, right now, stopping us, means we are free to continue doing it.” Loki snorted. “He’s most likely hoping we all die in the process.”

  Fen met his stare. “Yeah, well, last time was a cluster. Let’s try to avoid that tonight. The Dagda said he’d lead us through the Tuatha entrance to the Underworld. Said something about it won’t be a walk in the park.” He shot a sideways look at Ava. “Not sure a mortal will make it,” he added.

  Tyr threw Fen a sandwich from across the room. “Where are we meeting?”

  Fenrir smirked, swallowing the burger in one bite. “Guess.”

  Loki felt his gut tighten. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  “Nope. So we’d best get a move on.”

  Loki gazed across the room at Ava, who returned his gaze as intently. “You good to go?”

  “I won’t be left behind.”

  He only nodded and heard her small, breathy sigh of relief. Loki wondered if she was aware tears were running down her face, but knew she would only be angry if he pointed it out. So he ignored them. Hanging back, he lowered his voice, “Wasn’t planning on leaving you behind. But this is not going to be easy.”

  “You’re telling me it was easy getting out the first time?”

  Swigging an energy drink, Fen chuckled. “Easy peasy.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “None of it’s easy. The issue is whether a mortal can get in through this doorway. The Tuatha de Danann are a different sort of immortal, and their portals are not as user friendly to lesser races.”

  “What do you mean user friendly? And I’d cool it with the lesser races talk if I were you.”

  Fen grinned at the lethal fire in her voice, even as he lifted his bottle up to her in a salute.

  “All I meant to say is there’s a good chance your mortal body won’t make it through the magic of the portal.” Fen shrugged. “By lesser, I meant not as durable. By user friendly, I mean it will tear you limb from limb.” Fen watched Ava blanch whiter and whiter with his every word. “That’s all I was trying to say. Not slamming your mortal body in the least, it’s just not as long-lived or as tough as ours.”

  “Enough, Fen. She’s going. If I don’t think she’ll make it, she waits for us on this side. But we’re not leaving her. We made a deal.” Fen studied her again, his gaze taking in the determination, the stubbornness.

  “Whatever you say, Dad.”

  Fen blinked, the blue flecks in his eyes sparkling as he offered her a final out. “Are you sure, Ava? I’d come right back here to the apartment and pick you up, the second we returned with your sister. You’ll be safer here too,” he tacked on for good measure.

  “I’m going. If I can’t get in, then I’ll wait. Besides, Morgane went down there for me. Brought me home.” She smiled grimly and squared her shoulders, scrubbing the tears from her face. “Can’t have her holding that over my head for the rest of my life, can I?”

  “No, indeed you can’t,” Loki murmured, ushering her out in front of them and following her down the hall, the hollow, metal stairwell, and out into the empty parking lot. Without breaking stride, he reached the street, looking for a flash of yellow. Whistled. “We’re close, only about twenty minutes from where we need to be. When were we supposed to meet them?”

  Mir eyed the cab as it pulled to the curb. “Just before nightfall, according to Fenrir.”

  “Quite a few of us going on this little rescue mission. Tyr, Vali, and Fen are the muscle. I’m the brains, obviously,” Mir continued conversationally.

  “Which
leaves the question of why exactly the girl’s going at all?” Ava practically growled in response to Mir’s query.

  “Because Ava wants to go. Because Morgane loves her more than anything else. Because while Hel’s busy with me, Tyr and Vali, Fen and Ava will be freeing Morgane from the dungeons. And I need you, asshole,” he raised his eyes to Mir, his voice thickening, “because she has been down there, tortured in her mortal form for over a day. If I know my daughter, Morgane will need every bit of magic you can spare to keep her alive.”

  Loki’s eyes flashed. “And you are damn well going to keep her alive. Once she is free, and I know she’ll make it out of there, I will deal with my daughter.”

  Ava made a small sound of approval.

  Loki let the others get in the car before grabbing Ava’s arm, halting her. “There’s a chance this won’t work. There’s a chance…” Everything else, all the fears that had followed him all day became lodged in his throat, until he could barely manage to breathe.

  Ava clasped her hand over his, where he gripped her arm tightly. “We are going to get her out. She is going to live through this, Loki. You were wrong about just one thing.”

  “I’m wrong about a lot of things.”

  “My sister doesn’t love me more than anything. Not anymore. I saw the way she looked at you,” she said confidently. “But I appreciate you taking me along, just the same.” She grinned up at him, though her eyes were still lined with tears. “But if this goes south? I’m not making any promises to you or the others. I’ll give you as much warning as I can, but if Hel has hurt her? I’m loosing everything I have on her and fuck the consequences.”

  “Fair enough,” Loki said, releasing her arm, guiding her into the backseat next to Fen, and taking the front. “Lincoln Park. Drop us off at the corner of North and Clark, in front of the History Museum.”

  After the cab dropped them off on the sidewalk, Ava looked at where they were while Mir lit a cigarette and sauntered away. “I don’t understand, why a museum?” she asked, confused, glancing at the letters engraved into the marble placard on the building. “What is this place?”