Highway to Hel

by S. E. Babin

  "Freya held my heart long before she married me, Odin," he said quietly. "And I haven't fully earned her love yet, though I hope one day soon her heart will be mine. But I will tell you this, Spear Master, I will never handle Freya's heart with anything other than the softest of gloves. When it comes to Freya, her heart is fire. Mine will always be paper for her. "

  Morrigan snorted at the Spear Master comment. We both knew it was a dig. The goddess at my feet was the one currently in possession of Odin's weapon. I would know because I was the one who stole it.

  Thunder rumbled and boomed around us, at first a low and slow boom, but Loki's words enraged Odin.

  His face grew even larger than before and storm clouds bloomed around us. We were safe here. I knew that. But it didn't stop me from taking an alarmed step back.

  Loki squeezed my hand in comfort.

  "Freya, this is the last time I'm going to tell you. You will come home and you will do it now."

  My mouth dropped open. "I am no longer your plaything, Odin. I don't submit to your will. You were the one who asked for the divorce. I gave it to you. You're free and clear. No wife. No queen. You can go out and find anyone you choose." I softened my voice. "Someone who will make you proud. Someone more like yourself."

  "I have no need of anyone but you," he said, in what he seemed to think was a reasonable tone. "I was angry at you before. I'm no longer angry. We need to set our petty differences aside and remedy this."

  Petty? Petty?! My nostrils flared in anger. "It isn't petty when the man who swore to love you eternally finds himself another young plaything every few months. It isn't petty when the man who is supposed to cherish you treats you like a scrawny pup begging for scraps. It isn't petty when the woman who stood by your side for most of her immortal life throws herself on her knees to beg you to love her!" I trembled with shock and anger. Tears streamed down my face.

  Morrigan sat up, her face a mask of cold rage. She stood, brushed off the seat of her pants, and tossed her hair back. She hadn't said a word since we'd come out here. Odin had no idea she was here.

  She cleared her throat delicately. "It's time for you to leave, Odin," she said, her voice cold.

  Odin blinked in surprise. "Who is that speaking to me?"

  Morrigan waited.

  "Morrigan?" Odin said with some hesitation. "Why are you with Freya? What is the meaning of this?" Thunder cracked and boomed above us. Lightning streaked through the sky. The townspeople were beginning to pour out of their homes, their faces masked in fear as they looked up at the sky.

  "None of it is your concern," Morrigan said.

  She glanced over at me in concern. I looked away, still shaken by my outburst.

  'What matters is I asked you to leave. Nicely. I will not ask you again." Power began to leak out of her, an inky black color. Ravens screamed around us and the wind picked up. I bowed my head, touched she was making a stand for me.

  "This is not over," Odin boomed above us.

  "It's over for now," Morrigan said, her voice echoing with truth.

  I could see his jaw clench right before his face disappeared. I slumped against Loki. He gathered me to his side and nodded at Morrigan.

  She reached over and squeezed my arm. "He will not rest, Freya. Odin doesn't like to lose his possessions. The divorce talk was all bluster. An attempt to scare you. He had no intention of ever giving you up, and now that he knows, he's going to be twice as dangerous."

  I knew this already. We all did.

  The wards rang out like a bell, crystal clear and true. I jerked.

  "Someone's here," Morrigan said and smiled. She pointed up at the sky. "Alarm bell. Pretty cool, right?"

  Loki hid his smile.

  "Pretty loud, more like," I managed. "So ... how do we answer it?"

  "Just reach out and touch the key inside you. You should be able to feel the magic." She waited for me to do so. When I nodded, she said, "Think of answering it. That's it."

  I did and Baldur's face swam in my mind. "Baldur?"

  He grunted and looked around in surprise. "Freya? What in Hel's name is going on?"

  "New security system," I explained in exasperation. I didn't really like people living in my head. I reached over to touch Morrigan so she could hear Baldur’s words.

  "I'm here on Odin's command," he said genially. "I wouldn't let me in if I were you."

  Morrigan snorted in amusement. "At least this son seems intelligent."

  "We just talked to him. What does he want?"

  I could see the exasperation on his face. "Half of everything," he said. "Including this place."

  I straightened. "That isn't how this works," I said slowly.

  "My father says if you can move to earth then you can damn well live like the humans do. Since you divorced him, he wants his share." Baldur seemed unimpressed by his Odin’s logic. In fact, he looked borderline disgusted.

  My mouth dropped open. "I have nothing," I said. "I brought nothing here except for me and his people."

  Baldur delicately cleared his throat. "He has it in good faith you created this place before the dissolution of the marriage."

  I shut my eyes and tilted my head back. A long ragged sigh escaped me. "Baldur -" I began.

  He held his hands up. "You do not have to tell me. I warned Father against this course of action." His face grew thoughtful. "Is the Phantom Queen with you?"

  It was Morrigan's favorite nickname. "She is," I said, but I'm not sure she'll be able to speak with you.”

  "Standing up to my father was brave of her," he began. "But she has now chosen her side and Odin is not the forgiving sort."

  Something occurred to me just then, "How did your father escape the Norns?"

  His mouth tightened at my question. "A being owed my father a final favor. He used it to escape his justice. The Norns still seek him, so they have not forgotten their promise to you."

  The Norns owed me a boon. I'd decided to wait on cashing it in until I was either dying or desperate and now wasn't that time. I was going to wait for something huge before I called them in. Few people were looked on with favor by the Norns and I certainly wasn't going to waste it with something I could handle myself.

  "Do you know who or what this being is?" Morrigan asked, her eyes icy with interest.

  "I ... do," Baldur said, his voice hesitant. He paused and said nothing more.

  "Who is it then?" Morrigan snapped.

  "I'm under a geas. I cannot tell you," he said, sounding almost regretful over the entire thing. He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. A geas was a powerful thing for a god to agree too and most of them wouldn’t. I almost felt sorry for him. It wasn’t easy living under Odin’s shadow.

  Who was powerful enough to thwart the Norns when Odin himself couldn’t escape them? And more importantly, why did this person release Odin from his prison? A favor was a favor, but what had Odin done that was so powerful for this other person to risk the wrath of the Norns? I wasn’t always politically correct or … even all that nice anymore. But even I would think twice about getting on their bad side.

  Odin was most powerful when he was at his home base and he wouldn’t be caught so unaware the next time. It took a lot of powerful trickery to catch him the first time, so I couldn’t count on the Norns to bail me out this time.

  “What I will say is Odin is powerful angry, Freya. And he will not be so easily bested next time. He trusted you as a husband trusts a wife and when that trust was betrayed, well …” Baldur let out a wry chuckle. “Let’s just say he made his displeasure known around the Nine Worlds.”

  “He responded awfully quick to finding out his marriage was over,” I said. I didn’t like speaking in my mind, but I wasn’t about to invite Baldur in. I liked the guy and felt bad for him, but he was Odin’s man, if not in mind always, then certainly in heart.

  Baldur grunted his acknowledgment. “You know him. He’s quick to strike. You don’t have much time, Freya.” His brows drew together though
tfully and I released Morrigan’s arms as a suspicion occurred to me.

  “I know you and I don’t have much of a relationship,” Baldur continued, “but I’ve always respected you. If I can give you one parting gift …” He paused. “I’d make sure you have something to bargain with if you’d like to keep your town intact. He’s the All-Father and no god who likes the skin he’s in will oppose him.” His look was meaningful. Baldur knew I had a bargaining chip and he was telling me to use it.

  Except … I no longer had it. Morrigan did.

  I didn’t want to damage our friendship by asking for it. There had to be another way.

  Morrigan had earned Odin’s spear fair and square. I wasn’t going to cheapen us by asking for it back.

  Even if it could save us all.

  I bid Baldur farewell and he left without a fuss. He sounded tired. Odin wasn’t an easy man to live with even on a good day. Now that he was newly divorced and missing his weapon? I’d hate to be sitting at his dinner table these days.

  Loki reached over and squeezed my arm. He was keyed into the wards and had heard the entire thing. Morrigan looked at me curiously.

  “What did he want?” she asked.

  “To warn us.” I leaned into Loki’s warmth. He slung a casual arm around my shoulder. I wanted to burrow into his powerful chest and let him fix everything, but this wasn’t his fight. Not really. He wasn’t the one with a pissed off ex-husband who was too powerful to face off with.

  No, that dubious honor belonged to me.

  I sighed. “Let’s go home.” I waved goodbye to Morrigan. “Head over to the bar if you’re hungry,” I called back. “He always has food ready.”

  She nodded, but I knew she was suspicious of what had gone on between me and Baldur.

  “It wasn’t anything I could help,” I explained. “Odin wants half of everything I have.” I smiled sadly. “Including this place.” I wasn’t going to tell her more if I didn’t have to.

  Her eyes sparked with righteous anger. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”

  I shrugged. “He might have a claim. I built this place while we were still married.”

  Morrigan’s lips pressed together in a white line. “He’ll have to step over my cold, dead body to get it,” she said tightly.

  I didn’t tell her Odin would probably prefer it that way. My ex was nothing if not coldly calculating.

  “We’ll see if he presses on with it,” I said, my voice weary. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Morrigan. If you have any issues with the house, just speak them and the house will answer.”

  Her eyes widened in delight. “You gave me a talking house?”

  I grinned at her. “It speaks like an Australian,” I murmured. “It’s wonderful.”

  “I have no idea what that means, but I know I’m going to love it,” she said. Morrigan gave me a cheerful wave and bounded up the steps of her new home.

  I watched until the door shut behind her, then allowed Loki to lead me home.

  Seventeen

  The next morning, Loki woke me up with a strong cup of coffee. I sniffed and looked up at him in surprise.

  A sheepish blush colored his cheeks. “I know you like your coffee a little darker, so I had someone get some from Virginia,” he said. “I think it’s a kind they stock often so we shouldn’t run out of it.”

  I held the mug up to my nose and inhaled the brew, my face flushed with pleasure. “This is wonderful, Loki. Thank you so much.”

  “It’s nothing,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Have you thought any more about Baldur’s suggestion?” His elegant fingers toyed with a stray thread on the quilt I lay under.

  “There’s nothing to think about,” I said, right before I took my first sip. “Morrigan and I bargained for the spear. She won it and has kept her end of the bargain up. I cannot ask her for it back.”

  “She’d give it to you, you know,” Loki said mildly.

  “I know,” I said, irritation filling my voice. “That’s the problem. She’d give it to me and never trust me again.”

  A thoughtful look crossed his face before he shrugged. “You’re right. What’s your plan then?”

  I blew out a breath. “I don’t always have a plan, you know.”

  Loki smiled then and laid down beside me. “I know. But you’re good at coming up with one when you need to.”

  I was touched by his confidence in me, but this time I really didn't know what I was going to do. Odin was one of the most powerful gods in existence. I'd stood against him, sure, but it was in a subtle way. Trickery. A direct assault was not the way to deal with him.

  I'd lose.

  Morrigan is one of the few who might be able to stand toe to toe with him, but she needed his spear, so I thought maybe she wasn't confident about her chances either. Loki, possibly, but he wasn't the type to go for a frontal assault either.

  However, giving up half this place was unacceptable, considering he'd probably destroy it as soon as he got his hands on it.

  I stilled as a thought occurred to me. He wanted to treat this like the humans did.

  A slow, satisfied smile curled my lips.

  Loki sat up. "You thought of something."

  "It might not work," I cautioned him.

  "It doesn't much matter," he said. "Because at least it will delay him. Tell me."

  I shook my head. I needed the element of surprise on my side. "Not yet. I need to get ready, though."

  Loki grinned at me. I liked it when he trusted in me and didn't question my decisions. I still needed some time to work this out in my head before I gave voice to it.

  I sat back and enjoyed my coffee. My plan could go south in a hurry, but I could still take the time to enjoy my coffee.

  Morrigan stood in my bedroom wrinkling her nose at the smell of smoke that still permeated the place.

  "You haven't fixed your own house yet?" she said, holding up one of my red curls and staring at it with a critical look. "Your hair looks like blood sometimes."

  I wasn't sure how to respond to that one, so I answered her first question. "No, I've been a little busy with other things."

  I turned to look at myself in the full-length mirror. I wore a long crimson gown and a crown made of tiny golden apples and diamonds. My crown. When I was still the queen of Asgard. Morrigan had styled my hair into wild ringlets and they swam around my head, giving me the appearance of a slightly crazed high fashion model.

  I'd told Morrigan my plan earlier and I watched her examine it from all sides.

  "You aren't going to tell me what Baldur said, are you?" she asked, her lips pursed in a pout.

  "No. And this is my solution. Do you think it will work?"

  She grinned then, a fierce expression on her beautiful face. "I think it has a good chance. You're simply playing by Odin's rules. He won't expect it." Morrigan shrugged. "I think it's the best thing you could come up with in the short time you've had to find a solution." She chuckled. "I can't wait to see his face."

  I shuddered. "I never want to see his face again. But he won't take this lying down. He'll figure out another way to strike at me if he doesn't get his way."

  She sobered then and sat down on the edge of my bed. "Baldur suggested giving his spear back, didn't he?"

  I glanced at her sharply. "Why do you say that?" My voice was deceptive in how casual it was.

  "Because you won't tell me and it's the only thing you had that would make him back down. He has to know you have it. Or suspects. He's trying to force you into giving it up."

  "But I don't have it," I said pointedly.

  Morrigan gave me a long look, her expression unreadable. "You could."

  I shook my head. "We bargained for the spear. You fulfilled your end of it. The spear became yours."

  "I did," she said slowly, "but I live in this town now, too, so don't you think I should have a say in this?"

  I put the pin I was slowly trying to put in my hair down and turned to face her. "
I do. But you have a plan for the spear, don't you?"

  Her eyes narrowed.

  "Morrigan?"

  "Yes," she said.

  "If you give it back to him, is there any other way to fulfill it?" My hands were on my hips and my words were a little sharper than I meant them to be.

  She shook her head. "There isn't."

  Silence fell between us. "Aren't you going to ask me what I need it for?"

  I picked the pin back up and turned to the mirror. "No. It's yours, Morrigan. Earned fair and square."

  I could feel her eyes pricking the back of my neck.

  "You are too fair for an Asgardian," Morrigan said. "No one else would make this decision."

  "I am no longer an Asgardian," I reminded her. "For many reasons. I don't agree with all the deals we make behind each other's backs. I'm ready to start something new." My eyes met hers through the mirror. "I will never ask for the spear back, Morrigan. This is my plan and if it doesn't work, then we will come up with something else."

  "We?"

  I nodded and finally got the damned pin to lay right. "We," I confirmed. "Can you grab Loki for me? He has to look sharp today."

  "He always looks sharp," Morrigan murmured.

  "He does," I said with a sigh. "But today, he has to look like a king."

  Morrigan silently rose to grab my errant husband. I straightened as soon as she walked out and let out a shaky breath. I had no idea what she needed Odin's spear for, but I'm sure I wouldn't like it. Regardless, a deal was a deal.

  Loki walked into the room and my breath caught at the sight of him. His emerald eyes glinted with mischief.

  "Tell me, little witch, what schemes you are spinning." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Sending the Phantom Queen to fetch me?" He tsked. "You must be feeling feisty."

  I rolled my eyes and came up to him. I held him by the arms and met his gaze. "I need you to be incredible today, Loki," I said urgently. "You need to be at your most charming, your most disarming, your most everything."

  He tilted his head in curiosity and his lips curled up at the edges. "Very mysterious." He gave me a little bow. "It is my pleasure to serve at the whims of my queen."