by Isabo Kelly
Climbing over the boards, his skates hit the ice, and Reiner was home. He let the rest melt away, keeping his eye on the other team’s offense. They had a good lineup, and Reiner knew they were going to play it man on man, so he watched the guy he was on and skated after him.
The next thirty minutes passed in a blur, until he was sitting back on the benches pounding water, wiping sweat out of his eyes. His eyes cleared, and he looked toward the action and swore long and low.
The new kid was stuck against the boards with a big guy from the other team. Reiner had gone up against him several times in the past, as had the rest of his teammates. This wasn’t going to end well. The guy had a reputation in the league of being beyond brutal on the newbies. When the hit came, and Max started to fall toward the ice, Reiner hoped it cushioned him much like it had when he’d taken the hit the day before.
He glanced around the rink; his teammates were furious. The fans were screaming obscenities at the player. When the refs didn’t call for a penalty, he, along with all of this teammates, voiced their anger.
His eyes found Brody, their enforcer, on the ice, who was staring at the player who’d started it all. He knew that look.
The entire team was on their feet in an instant, shouting at the ref, at the other team, at anyone within earshot. Max was flat on the ice, and the medical team was bringing out a stretcher. Once the ice was cleared, and no penalty was called, the guys lined up for a new play.
The second the puck hit the ice, their enforcer was on him. Brody was pounding the other player. It had been a dirty hit, and Brody showed his displeasure by rearranging the opposing guy’s face, which got him thrown off the ice and out of the game. His muttered, “Worth it,” earned him a couple pats on the back, but really it meant they were down another good player right when it counted.
Coach threw Reiner and Kyle in, double shifting them, and they jumped over the boards. Reiner’s skates never hit the ice, though. One minute he was in the game, the next he was standing in the middle of a blizzard.
Putting his hand up to shield his eyes from the stinging wind and snow, he squinted against the blinding white snowscape. And then it was gone. Calm descended, and Reiner dropped his hand to his side, looking around. There was nothing but ice and snow. What the fuck? Gone was his gear, and in its place was the suit the he’d worn the night he’d met Emma.
“Hello, Reiner.”
He spun around and gaped. The man standing before him looked exactly like he did. At least the parts of him he could see.
“Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?”
“You know who I am. As for where you are, you are near my home, your home. Look?” He pointed behind him. Reiner turned and squinted. There in the distance he could see the E6 train. He looked around him again, recognizing the area. He was near his grandparents’ farm.
“How did I get here?” More importantly, how could he get back?
“I brought you here, and don’t worry I’ll have you back in the game, before the medics are done with your teammate.”
That made about as much sense as anything had in the past day. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Because you were told about your adoption. If you’d never been told, what’s about to happen never would.”
“What’s about to happen?”
“You, my son, are going to come into your powers.”
His what?
“You want to run that past me again.”
“If you’d never found out about who you really were, you’d would have gone through life as a mortal with a little extra to him. Now that you know, however, while you’re still mortal, you’ll have powers.”
“I thought I already had my powers. The whole bonding with ice and hockey thing.” Just thinking about the fact his hockey skills weren’t because of his talent and hard work still pissed him off. It felt his daddy had paid off all the coaches to get him on every team he’d ever played on instead of earning his spot.
“No, those aren’t your powers, at least not completely. If you’d been born to two mortals, you’d still have those for the most part. Some people are like that. Think about some of the great athletes in the world, it was all them. Just like your talent on the ice is all you. Yes, being my son helps a little, but what you’ve achieved on the ice is solely you.”
The polar bear that had been sitting on his shoulders since his conversation with this parents was gone. “What, no, who exactly are you?” While his grandma was a devout follower of the old gods, he only knew of Odin, Thor, and Loki, and that was more because of the movies than anything he’d ever been taught.
“I’m Ull, the god of ice and snow, the son of Sif.”
He’d heard of Sif…once again thanks to the movies.
“So what does that make me?” He really had zero desire to be anything other than a hockey player and…the vision he’d had of Emma flashed in his mind. The emotions in it overwhelmed him.
“That makes you Reiner Jahr, the son of Lars and Stella Jahr. It also makes you Reiner Jahr, the son of Ull and grandson of Sif. You are both the same and different.”
Reiner was glad Ull had listed his human parents first, because regardless of where his genes came from, they were his parents. And standing here in the presence of Ull, he could admit to himself he’d have made the same decision his parents and grandparents had made.
“So do I have to do anything?” Please tell him he didn’t, he prayed. He wasn’t sure to who he was praying to at this point.
“Just win the Stanley Cup. I’ve got a million bucks on your team winning it in a four game sweep.”
“Nice.”
“What, a god can’t have a little fun every now and then?”
“What about my powers?” Not that he wanted them, he just wanted to be prepared.
“I don’t know. It’s different for all of my children.”
All of his children? “Just how many siblings do I have?”
Ull smiled, “At the present I have six children living, the youngest is six months old.”
“And do they all know you?”
“Yes. You were the only one adopted by a mortal family. Your birth mother couldn’t handle who I was and who you would be. You and one of your brothers are the only ones not from my wife. Now that you know about where you come from and about me, she will expect you to come to our family events, and on our annual family vacation. We have T-shirts and everything.”
This was too surreal. He already had a family, and Astrid was the only sibling he wanted or needed. Finding out there were five more and that he was expected to be a part of their lives, that was going to take time to adjust to.
Something Ull—Reiner would never refer to him as Dad, he already had one of those—said had him pausing. “Wait a minute you said I only got my powers when I was told about who my birth parents are. But I’ve always had little things that don’t make any sense happen to me. I’ve never been injured when I should have been, or been sick. I can drink anyone under the table and have no hangover, and I had a vision yesterday.”
Ull shrugged. “Well, your full powers, we’ll say. You’re the son of a god. Of course you have a few…extras, we’ll call them. The son of a god would have good genes.” The duh was implied. “And as for what happened yesterday, that was me. You’re welcome.”
“What do you mean that was you? The dream? Was it really my future?” If so he needed to talk to Em, and fast. He hoped he hadn’t screwed things up with her.
“I was at your practice yesterday and saw you take that hit. I cushioned your head. As for the vision, that must have come from your mother’s side, as no one in my family tree has prophecies or visions. That’s an ancient trait that goes back to when humans first walked upright. Why do you think gods always needed an oracle? My guess is someone in your family tree had that gift. Odin knows your grandmother does, which is why your birth mother went to her in the first place.”
He could handle this. He was part god, but
his hockey abilities were his own. Deep breaths, right? He could do this. So he healed faster than others, that wasn’t a huge deal. He understood the ice. He felt the ice. But he wasn’t superhuman and using his strengths to cheat or anything. He blew out a breath. OK. This was manageable.
“This has been great and all but…”
“You have a game to win.”
Reiner blinked, and he was back on the ice with his teammates, watching as the trainers worked on the new kid, Max. He glanced up at the glass and met a pair of brown eyes. Emma. There was concern there. Concern and something else. That something else gave him hope. But he couldn’t think about that at the moment. He needed to get his head back in the game.
The trainers helped Max off the ice, and Dobrynin took his spot. The ref blew the whistle and everyone took their positions. The puck dropped and the game was back on.
A last minute goal by Alexei won them the game. Reiner was anxious to shower and go find Emma. He had some serious apologizing to do.
In the locker room, the captain’s voice carried as he stomped over to the new kid, Max.
“I saw what happened at the family skate.”
What the hell? Reiner had put in an appearance at the Family Skate, but only long enough to be seen by his coach and those who cared about that shit. He glanced at Kyle and Alexei, who shrugged their shoulders, not knowing what was going on either. The new kid finished lacing up his skates and looked up at Emerson. Reiner knew the kid’s English wasn’t very good. He’d been taking lessons from their captain’s sister. In fact, it looked like that wasn’t all that was happening between them.
“You need to stay away from my sister. I don’t give two shits that you’re helping her or she’s helping you. This helping shit needs to stop. You’re too young and too fucking immature to treat her like she wants to be treated.”
Max didn’t say anything. He just looked at Emerson.
Someone muttered, “Oh shit,” just as Emerson got in the kid’s face.
“You’re not saying anything. Open your fucking mouth and goddamn promise me you’re not going to touch her again.”
There was about half a beat before, like an arrow honed in to its target, their captain threw a punch. While Emerson had power, the new kid had speed and agility.
At the last second, he ducked, pivoted and lightly grabbed Emerson’s arms mid-punch. “You don’t need this,” he whispered. Clear, soft, and sure. “Not now. Not avant…” Reiner heard this clear as a bell, but he knew no one else had. This must have been what Ull was talking about and enhanced powers. Yay him.
Except Emerson was a hockey player, and brawls were nothing new. He threw an elbow, hard, slamming into the center of the kid’s chest. Max caught himself right before he hit the ground.
The look on Emerson’s face was beyond angry. And as the rest of the team came in, Reiner and Alexei grabbed Emerson to keep their captain from tearing into him, while a few others held back the kid based on some mistaken belief that he had any desire to punch the captain. Reiner knew Max wouldn’t throw a punch.
Once they cooled Emerson down, and Max left, Reiner double-timed it to the showers. This was important, and he wouldn’t go to Emma smelling of hockey.
Chapter Ten
Emma waited near the locker room where all the fans were congregating to catch their favorite players and get autographs. She’d debated with herself all through the third period on whether or not she should come down here, but that look he’d given her when they were working on his teammate had seared her.
She had to see him.
The locker room door finally opened and some of the players started coming out. All of them stopped and signed autographs and took selfies.
Having worked for the Special Olympics for years, she’d been around a lot of athletes, and her favorite when it came to fan interaction were the hockey players. Several of them nodded as they walked past her. While she appreciated it, they weren’t the player she wanted to see.
The door opened, letting out Alexei and Kyle, wearing a shirt that said Go Puck Yourself, closely followed by Reiner. None of them looked happy. Neither did the players who came after them. Whatever had happened between the time they’d left the ice and now wasn’t good. She just hoped it wasn’t so bad that he’d walk past her.
All of them stopped and did their duty with the fans, and then he was there in front of her. She tipped her head back to meet his gaze, and the fire in his eyes seared her. She opened her mouth to say something when he crushed his lips to hers. This was no gentle kiss. This was a claiming. One hand gripped the back of her neck, the other her hip. She’d have bruises by the end of this kiss, but she didn’t care. She’d missed him. And something had changed with him.
Her fingers curled into his slightly damp hair, and she opened for him. She let him take. Emma was planning on taking plenty once they were alone, so he could plunder her mouth, claim her in front of the press, because tonight, he was hers.
Lifting his head, he didn’t say anything, he just held out his hand. Taking it she followed him out of the stadium to the parking lot. He stopped next to a sleek two-door sports car that looked incredibly fast and opened the passenger side door for her. Climbing in, she tried to look at his face to gauge what his mood was.
Before she could get a good look, he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.
The drive across town should have been full of tension considering how they’d left things the night before and the way he’d come out of the locker room, but it wasn’t. She studied him as he drove through the late night traffic. There wasn’t much of it at this time of night, unlike during the day when it took forever to go five blocks.
Before she knew it they were pulling up in front Reiner’s apartment. That she hadn’t been expecting. She’d thought for sure they’d go to her place; that way he could leave at any time. Not that she was trapped there either. She’d just have to call for a cab and wait. Not something she necessarily wanted to do in the middle of the night in December. But that kiss left her with the feeling that she wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.
Neither one of them said anything as they made their way to his apartment. He was deep in thought, and she did not want to disturb his mood. He obviously had something on his mind, and she wanted to hear it.
Reiner tossed his keys onto a table next to the door and made his way to the kitchen, where he pulled open the freezer and pulled out a clear bottle. Still not speaking, he tilted the bottle toward her in silent invitation. Emma shook her head.
Someone needed to break the silence, and it looked like it was going to her after all. “Are you OK?”
He took a deep swig from the bottle, and barked out a laugh. “Yes and no.” Running his fingers through his hair, he took another pull from the bottle.
“Why yes and no?”
“Let’s see, last night I found out my parents aren’t really my parents.” Emma winced, knowing that had been her fault. “Then I made my mom cry when I called her in the middle of the night pissed off. I hung up on my sister. Then I met my biological father, who by the way is one of the old gods, and wasn’t that a trip?” He took another drink, his eyes never leaving hers. “And I hurt you.”
He had, and as much as she wanted to focus on that, this wasn’t about her. She’d known about his folks being upset, and about how he’d hung up on Astrid. After all, she’d talked to Astrid before she’d left for the game.
“You met your biological father?”
He took another long drink. “That’s what you focus on?” He laughed, although she knew he didn’t find anything funny. “Yep, and you’ll never guess who he is and where I met him.”
Emma pulled out one of the stools at his counter. “Tell me.”
“Fuck, let me get you something to drink.” He opened the fridge and pulled out the bottle of wine that had been on the table last night. Grabbing one of the wine glasses sitting on the counter he poured her a glass.
By the time he was done telling about the visit, she was tempted to exchange the glass of wine he’d poured her for the bottle. While she’d told him things like that made sense, finding out the guy you were in love with was actually a demigod was going to take some getting used to. “What are you going to do?”
“What can I do? Take it one day at a time.”
“But something else is bothering you.”
“Yeah, some shit that went down between Max, the new kid from the farm team, and Chris.”
“What’s going on between them? And why do you call him the new kid? He’s been on the team for a couple of months, hasn’t he?”
“He’ll be the new kid until someone else is. And maybe not even then. He’s only twenty, for Christ’s sake. And Emerson’s sister…is more than twenty.”
“So? Good for her! Who cares how old they are?”
“Chris.”
Emma was gob smacked over everything that had happened in the last couple of days. It was a lot for anyone to take in, and she felt for him. But she needed to know about the kiss.
“What about…”
“Us?” he finished.
“Yeah.”
He moved around the counter and took her hands, pulling her to her feet. His hands slipped up her arms, over her shoulders, cupping her neck, his thumbs tipped her head back and his mouth took hers in a kiss.
There were kisses, and then there were kisses. This was one of the latter. This was the kind of kiss people dreamed about getting their whole lives. She’d been dreaming about this kind of kiss her whole life. If the other kiss had been a claiming, this kiss was a promise.
Growing up with parents who fought more than they showed affection, her only examples of love had been in the romance novels she’d sneaked and the movies she’d watched. Having Reiner kiss her like she was his very breath was everything she wanted and then some.