“Van!” I’m so angry I can feel tears choking my throat.
Reid stands between him and Thea in an instant, his hands up, gesturing for Van to calm down. “She’s clearly been through some stuff. If Izzy can deal with her biting words, we can handle it for a little while too.”
“No one should treat Izzy like that, especially not family!” Van is practically roaring.
I spring to my feet. “Stop it! Stop it right now!”
Everyone freezes and all eyes are on me. “Thea is my sister. And no, I’m not going to let her keep talking to me like that, but I will handle her the way I handle everything else. When I have a problem with her, we’ll talk, privately, and sort it out. Because just like you are all my family, she is too, and we don’t just throw family away because everything isn’t perfect. We love them, thorns and all, and Thea proved to me today that, whether she knows it or not, she sees me as family too. So you guys need to get on board with this. Please.”
They’re all silent for a moment, and then the anger drains from Van’s face.
“We’ll try. For you, we’ll try anything.”
Thea finally speaks. “Uh, sorry for starting a fight. I know I’m not…easy to be around. But compared to where I come from, I thought I was being nice. I’ll work on it, okay. Because, like Izzy said, we’re family. And even though I don’t trust all of you yet, I need you to trust me. Things are going to go down soon, and I want to be on Izzy’s side. The winning side.”
Outside we hear a strange bird’s call, like it’s sitting in the window in the dining room.
I smile at Thea. “It’s okay. It’ll take time.”
We hear the front door open, and we all turn to look. Mr. Time comes in carrying a package. “I got it,” he says, darting a strange look toward Thea. “We need to talk.”
I know what he has, and I draw myself up taller. “Thea saved me today from Viggo’s minion. She didn’t have to, but she did. I think we can trust them. We should involve them in our plan.”
Mr. Time hesitates, then lets out a slow breath. “Okay, if you think this is the right thing to do.”
“I do,” I say, without hesitation.
Anyone who can fight at my side like that, anyone who has been through what she has, they wouldn’t betray the person who was kind to them and side with the people who hurt her. It just isn’t possible. I have to have faith that Thea can be good, because the alternative is too hard for me to imagine.
“Call Oliver,” Mr. Time says.
Aiden goes up the stairs, and a little while later he comes down. We all sit around the living room, and Mr. Time unfolds a map of a castle, but a different one than ours.
“This is the castle where Viggo and the other gods are staying.” He looks to Oliver and Thea. “I need the box they used to trap the gods. Where is it?”
Thea doesn’t hesitate, but Oliver does. She points to a room in the basement. “We have it hidden right here. It isn’t even locked up. Viggo leaves it on a little pedestal. He has absolute confidence that no one would be dumb enough to steal from him.”
Mr. Time takes out a pen and circles the room. “What would be the safest way to get there?”
She points to a back set of stairs. “If you guys can teleport us to the backyard, there’s a set of stairs for servants in the back of the kitchen. The door is usually unlocked. We open it, then the basement door, go down the stairs, and through the main room through a doorway. Inside is a bunch of weapons and precious items, including the box.”
“That seems too easy,” Mr. Time says, each word slow as if carefully chosen.
Thea smirks. “Do you honestly think they expect you to go for the Taka cage? They don’t. They think you’ll all stay in your safe little house, and they’ll attack at night, or when they have an unfair advantage, and kill you all. They would never see you as the aggressors--Viggo thinks you’re all weak and pathetic.”
I look at Oliver.
He hesitates, then says, “That is where they keep it. And she’s right about Viggo not exactly having high security. He’s arrogant, that’s for sure.”
Then, I look at the guys. “What do you think?”
Van crosses his arms over his chest. “I say we go in, but we’re careful. Really careful. We keep these two in the middle of us, so we can keep an eye on them.”
I nod.
Reid touches the room on the map. “If anything goes wrong, I can open up the earth and swallow them all. I can even keep them in Hell until we know what to do with them.”
Thea inhales sharply beside me. “You’re Hel?” She sounds shocked.
“Yeah, he’s Hel. I’m Loki. Van is Tyr. Aiden is Thor. And you already know Aiden is Odin.”
Thea’s mouth drops open, then closes. “Those are all the most powerful gods on land. The others really don’t stand a chance against you.”
“Who are they?” Van asks.
Thea looks down at her hands.
“We showed you ours…” Aiden says, and there’s an angry note to his words.
“I’m Rán, goddess of the sea. My boyfriend Barret is Aegir, husband of Ran, and shifter god of the sea. Oliver is Gullveig, goddess of wealth. And Connor is Idun, goddess of youth and immortality.”
I frown at her. “What can they do?”
She shrugs. “Not much. Barret can shift into animals from the ocean, like sharks and dolphins, but he usually takes on the shape of a merman. If you go into the sea, he can send all of the animals after you. But out of the water, his powers don’t matter much, like my own. Oliver can attract wealth, and Connor can make people look older or younger, but it’s just temporary.”
“And--” Oliver begins, then freezes as Thea stares at him.
“I was getting to that,” Thea says coldly. “We’re all just as strong and fast as you are. Barret, Connor, and I can teleport. And we’re all superior to you with weapons, that I can guarantee, after all our training.”
Mr. Time leans back. “I guess we know what to expect now. Why don’t you guys go get ready?”
“We’re going right now?” Wilder asks, sounding shocked.
But I know what Mr. Time is thinking. If we don’t go now, Thea and Oliver might have time to warn the others about our plans. He might say he trusts my faith in Thea, but deep down he doesn’t.
I just hope I’m right. I hope stealing the box is the one thing that finally convinces all of them that even though Thea and Oliver have some edges, they’re meant to be with us. And when all of this is over, if we can truly get rid of all our powers, we’ll have made friends.
And I’ll have my sister back.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aiden
That night, I climb into the van just as Thea slides into the seat next to Izzy. I could swear her lips twitch in the faintest smug smirk, because she’s the one who’s next to Iz.
Whatever. I don’t mind coming second to Izzy’s sister when Izzy’s just gotten her back.
I just hope Thea really intends to be the sister that Izzy thinks she is.
Reid and I aren’t perfect. We annoy the shit out of each other. I hate the way he wears his hair, he used to embarrass me in middle school--I still believe his Mathlete career was just to spite me--and the two of us can start a fight with each other in six words or less that might well spill into blood.
But I love my twin. I don’t ever doubt he loves me too. Even in the moment after he’s just sucker punched me, which has happened more than once.
And I don’t see that kind of love in the way Thea looks at Izzy. There’s just something off about her.
I plan to stay close to both of them tonight.
We drive across Aberdeenshire to a castle at the edge of the sea. Of course Aegir and Ran would both want to be close to the water. Thor’s voice is a growl in the back of my mind--he hates them both.
Well, I'm not really keen on them either, sport.
We park a distance from the castle. Brenda twists in her seat. “Remember, I’ve seen you
all at your worst and most pathetic,” she says, “and even I believe you won’t fuck this up.”
Mr. Time rubs his temples with one hand. “We don’t usually let her give the motivational speeches.”
She winks. “Do us proud.”
As soon as Thea’s out of the car, she mutters, “No wonder you’re all so weak. Look at the people training you… So soft and sweet.”
I jump out of the car next to her, my shoes squishing into soft mud. “I wouldn’t call Brenda soft. I know you think you’re bad, but she could choke you to death with your own entrails. There are stories.” I flash her a smile. I don’t want her to think she can betray us and get away without consequences.
Izzy gives me a look as if she can’t tell if she’s mad at me or not. She looks sexy as hell right now in her little cat-burglar outfit, her dark pants and shirt clinging to her frame. She might not appreciate the sentiment right now but I feel the same way about every damn outfit. Sweatpants or training shorts or leggings, they all have the same effect. Every day of my life, I just want to twine my hand in those caramel curls and claim her lips, her curves, that sweet smile that makes me want to be the man she seems to see.
“Besides, Brenda wanted to kill us herself for most of our time at the academy,” she adds. “She sent vampires to eat us at one point.”
“I almost forgot about that,” I say. “Vamps. Those were the good days. Life was simple.”
“They were,” Wilder agrees. He makes a squeezing motion with one hand. “Vamps are so squishy.”
“Well, no squishing should be necessary tonight,” Thea reminds us. “We’ll get in and out.”
She heads across the wide green plain that leads toward the castle.
Oliver gives me a long look, then turns to follow her. Everyone is spreading out, moving quietly, but I grab his shoulder. “Hey, Oliver. You got something you want to tell me?”
His gaze goes to Thea, leading the group in an outfit almost identical to Izzy’s. She’s moving much more easily now that she’s healed. From behind, at this distance, it's almost hard to pick out the difference between the two of them.
But there are so many.
“Nah,” he says. “Just nervous, I guess. I don't want to be back here, with them.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t, either.” I clap his shoulder. “We’ll get rid of them, and you can go back to your family. They’ll never be able to reach you.”
For some reason, that makes his lips tighten even more, but he gives me a tight jerk of a nod.
I pat his shoulder and the two of us move steadily after everyone else. We go around the corner of the castle to a doorway at the edge of the castle. It’s so impossibly near the ocean, with rocks at the bottom of the cliff beneath our feet. I can barely hear myself think over the roar of the ocean.
Just as Thea said, we reach an unlocked door and move down what seems like endless flights of stairs. We reach a long hallway, and through a door is the room where the box sits on a pedestal.
Thea lingers at the door, glancing down the hall. “Come on, grab it and let’s go.”
Izzy and Reid head toward the box. Wilder and Van are standing watch further back, one on either side of the hall. Oliver is still on the stairs, as if he’s ready to bolt at any second.
I linger close to Thea. She looks at me with a challenge flaring in her eyes.
“Don’t trust me?” she asks softly. “Izzy wouldn’t like that, Thor.”
“Well,” There’s a bit of Thor’s deep growl that rolls through my voice, “feel free to win me over with your honesty and loyalty.”
“I’ll try to do that,” she says, surprising me, before her face suddenly changes. “Or I’ll just kill you.”
She suddenly shoves me through the doorway. I can tell she’s lunging for the door, and her fingertips catch a release. Suddenly a hidden door is slamming down from above, but I’m faster than she realizes. I grab her arm and drag her in with us, throwing myself backward to avoid the door that’s just whizzed by my head. It slams into the ground with a shock wave that rolls through the ground beneath our feet.
We’re sealed into the room, and suddenly, a second set of doors open with a clunk; they’re low to the ground.
And ocean water floods in.
Reid looks at me in panic. Thea has a look of horror across her face as it seems to hit her that she’s trapped herself in with us, but it’s quickly replaced with determination. She’s already moving. She raises her hands and the water in the room begins to ripple. Water pools across the floor, and it’s only a foot deep so far, but she already has it whipping around our feet. More water keeps rushing down the walls from the slits at the top of the walls, near the ceiling. She’s just going to keep growing more powerful as more water enters the room.
Reid grabs the box. “Let’s get out of here. Teleport!”
Izzy nods, reaching for my hand. I grab her hand and Reid’s. I can’t stand to let either of them go now. I need to get them out of here with me.
But nothing happens.
“That's not how this works,” Thea warns us. “There’s no teleporting out. You’re stuck with me.”
“No, you're stuck with me. I don’t care,” I tell her, stepping toward her. “Izzy’s sister or not, you’re done.”
She laughs at that.
“Oh really, big boy?” she asks.
Izzy gasps as another god steps forward out of the shadows, where he was hiding. It must be Barret, because he’s already dropping, transforming, his legs merging into one enormous fin.
Thea raises her hands, and the water keeps rising. We’re trapped in here with the two water gods and a rising tide. The basement of the castle is underwater, and now I think back to how damp and slick the hall was; we were below sea level.
I hope the others are safe. I raise my hand, and suddenly my hammer is in it.
The next second, something smashes into my legs. The merman. He takes me down under the water, and his face is full of sick, giddy fury, a wide grin plastered across his face. He holds me down to the bottom, pinning me against the stone floor. The bubbles of my breath rush out of my lungs toward the surface of the water, and I can’t breathe.
I slam the hammer toward him. It seems to move in slow motion through the water, and he manages to duck it, but his grip loosens on me. I shove him away and kick off the stone floor, flying up from the bottom to draw in a gasp of breath. The water’s risen higher. Reid still clutches the Taka cage.
“Use the box!” I shout at him, even though I wouldn’t know how either. The water around us swirls wildly, and I can barely get a handle on what's going around us.
“What box?” Thea asks, and she raises a box in her hand.
It looks just like the one Reid holds, and it suddenly hits me that we came in here after a fake on the pedestal.
Izzy dives at her sister, trying to get the box from her. The two of their bodies lock together in the water, struggling, kicking through the raging sea water.
The damn merman jabs at me with his trident, and I barely manage to dodge it in the water.
I agree with Thor, actually; I fucking hate these two.
Thea is a better swimmer, and she suddenly dives away from Izzy. Izzy transforms into a dolphin and swims after her.
When Thea surfaces, the box is open in her hands, glowing golden.
Reid lunges for her. He almost knocks the box loose from her hands.
But just as it falls toward the water, the golden light captures Reid--and zaps him into the box.
Suddenly he’s gone.
I can’t believe that just happened. I want to reverse time and fix this.
The merman jabs the trident at me, but this time, his head’s broken the water. I slam the hammer into him, and he falls back.
Izzy is a sea monster now, and her tentacles whip out and trap Thea against the ceiling. “Drain the water!” she demands. “Or I’ll kill you!”
Thea smiles, even though Izzy’s tentacles must be choking her.
Her voice is a rasp when she says, “No, you won’t.”
I dive into the water, searching for the box, but the water is dark and brackish and I can’t see much beyond the floating body of the unconscious merman.
My hands grope along the bottom of the floor as long as I can stay down, until my lungs are bursting.
But I can’t find the box.
I can’t find Reid.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Wilder
The second the door slams down, my spear is in my hand. I whirl to face Oliver. “How do we get it open again?”
My voice is a menacing growl, but I’m not wasting time on threats. He can read the threat, I’m sure. He can’t teleport--unless they’ve lied about that too--so he’s stuck here with us.
“It’s a trap,” he says.
“No shit,” Van says.
I close my eyes and try to teleport into the room beyond, but nothing happens.
“Viggo’s power cloaks the entire castle. No one can teleport in or out,” Oliver says.
I open my eyes and glare at him. “That would’ve been nice to know…before.”
His face falls. “I couldn’t say anything, or they would’ve imprisoned me in the Taka cage too.”
As if he’s heard something behind him, Van suddenly whirls, raising his sword. Another sword clashes into his, and then I see the man who’s swung it.
Big, handsome, with a cruel smirk.
Must be Connor. Thea told us about him. The vain, harmless one.
The two of them parry--I trust Van to fight him off--while I try the same mechanism Thea used to bring the trap door down, hoping that it’s just as easy to open back up. Nothing happens.
I summon all my strength and slam my body into the door. It dents inward, and the sound echoes through the hall. Dust falls from the ceiling.
“Try not to bring the whole goddamn ocean down on top of us,” Van says without looking away from his opponent.
It’s true I can hear the rush of the ocean, nearer now than I could before.
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