Exiled: (Phoebe Meadows Book Three)

by Amanda Carlson

“What are you talking about? These are my sisters. They are here to protect me—”

  An evil cackle erupted behind me.

  I glanced at Ingrid just as her face melted into Skuld’s. “I always took you for a fool,” the Norn spat. “You led us right to her!” Behind Skuld, the glamour dropped away, and there stood Verdandi and Urd. Skuld was positively gleeful. “Of course, we were just going to do away with you once we had you alone, but leading us to Mersmelda was much sweeter. We’ve been searching for this urchin for centuries. The one who claims she is more powerful than we are! Nonsense. Who looks the fool now?”

  I unsheathed my swords, crossing them in front of me, stepping in front of a still stunned Mersmelda. “Nobody is doing away with anyone,” I announced. “And, in order to get to her, you’re going to have to go through me.”

  “That won’t be an issue,” Skuld drawled, her pink princess dress so out of place in this room. She gazed over my shoulder, addressing Mersmelda. “I thought you were the most powerful seer in all the land. But you didn’t see us coming this time. It would seem you’re not as strong as you think you are.”

  I glanced behind me, and Mersmelda met my stare, fear in her eyes. “I didn’t see them accompanying you,” she said, clasping her hands. “That can only mean one thing.”

  Verdandi stepped forward. “That you are finally defeated.” Her voice rang with victory. She was downright gleeful.

  Mersmelda cleared her throat, the last bit sounding decidedly male. “No, it means you are.”

  Without surprise, I watched Mersmelda morph into Loki.

  I lowered my swords, giving a silent prayer that I’d made the right decision by carrying out this plan.

  “Loki,” Skuld purred, struggling to mask her surprise. There was no doubt she’d been taken unaware, but she was a master at game play and wasn’t about to give anything away. “How nice of you to join the party. Now you can be a witness to our glory. We will compensate you, of course, per our agreement.”

  Loki crossed his arms. “I’m sorry, but there’s been a change of plans. You have lost this battle, dear Skuld. Your time in charge of our fates has come to an end.”

  Verdandi clenched her fists. “What are you talking about? We will always be in charge of the fates! Nobody may take that from us.”

  Loki shook his head. “Unfortunately, that is no longer true. It seems you three are being supplanted.”

  “Supplanted? By whom?” Skuld asked, rage at the forefront.

  “Let me introduce you to your successor.” Loki gestured toward the back of the room as a door opened.

  The real Mersmelda emerged, looking frightened and unsure.

  Fen followed, his massive arms crossed, giving me a look. It’d taken everything I had to convince him this plan was in our best interests. After Huggie had failed to do the trick, Odin had shown up.

  It’d been a long night.

  Mersmelda had come into Asgard in the wee hours, having foreseen my kidnapping by the Norns. Upon pressing by Odin, she’d admitted that fate had chosen her to become its new minister.

  The showdown between myself and the Norns was to be this morning, the Norns appearing at my grandmother’s door glamoured as Valkyries.

  I’d like to think I would have caught on sooner rather than later, because bringing Anya would have been a dead giveaway that it wasn’t the real Ingrid. But there was a chance I would’ve been fooled, and thusly harmed.

  Mersmelda had told us that the only thing that would alter the Norns’ plan to kidnap me would be mentioning their adversary—Mersmelda herself.

  So we’d hatched a plan.

  Odin had promised Loki a lesser punishment for his actions if he renounced his agreement with the Norns and participated in their downfall.

  Loki was powerful in his own right and, aside from Ragnarok, couldn’t be killed very easily. The trickster god had agreed, but it had left Fen and me uneasy. Loki’s cooperation meant he would be banished from Asgard for the next twenty years, but that was it. Twenty years was a drop in the bucket for a god, but in the end we’d all agreed.

  “You think the four of you are enough to stop us?” Skuld scoffed. She took a step forward, her jaw tight. “We will accomplish our mission and leave this place.”

  “Why don’t you take a look outside?” I gestured toward the window.

  Skuld narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need to look out the window to know what’s there. I see the future, remember?”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “I’ve been told by a very reliable source that your visions have been shaky lately, more than you’ve been letting on to your sisters.” Skuld predicted the future, Verdandi the present, and Urd the past. “After all, you didn’t see all this.” I spread my arms wide. “You walked right into our trap.”

  Behind her, Urd paced to the window.

  I knew what she would see.

  A wall of Valkyries, twenty deep.

  “The Valkyries have surrounded the building,” Loki intoned, sounding bored. “You will not be exiting this building unless you submit to us.”

  Now we were us? Yeah, right.

  “We will do no such thing,” Verdandi spouted. “No one here is powerful enough to make us do anything we do not wish to do.”

  “Um.” Mersmelda coughed politely, her response coming out just above a whisper. “That’s not exactly true. If you do not relinquish your power to me now, fate will strike you down where you stand.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Verdandi said, her voice rising impossibly high. “Fate would not choose you over us! You are not strong enough to handle our jobs. This is ridiculous.”

  “What’s ridiculous is you not understanding what’s at stake,” I said. “This is it. It’s over. Your reign has ended, just as you saw it twenty-four years ago. There was nothing you could do to stop it. Making me your victim was all in vain.” I watched their faces. They each shifted minutely, betraying what we already knew. “That’s why you took Loki up on his offer—it was your last-ditch effort to try and keep your positions of power. But that didn’t work. Your choice now is to relinquish power to Mersmelda or die. It’s very simple.”

  Mersmelda had laid it out to us a few hours ago. The only thing she couldn’t see clearly was whether they would go along with the plan willingly or not.

  Fate hadn’t revealed its final hand.

  I couldn’t imagine them cooperating, but maybe their zest for life would win out.

  “We surrender to no one,” Skuld seethed.

  Okay, so no surrendering.

  “Skuld, Verdi,” Urd interjected from behind them, “maybe we should speak about this first?”

  “We will do no such thing,” Skuld said. “Without our sight, we are nothing.”

  Mersmelda said fate would strike them down, but how? Like, right here?

  Verdandi made a move forward, her eyes pinned on me. “This is all your fault, you greedy bastard child. I will end you—”

  “Halt.” Odin’s command rang out in the tiny room, pinging against the walls with precision as he came through the door behind us. His spear was leveled at Verdandi. “Make no mistake. Fate has given you a choice. It should not be discarded so easily. Many would not get this chance at life.”

  “Even you cannot kill us,” Verdandi said stubbornly. “We are revered in this realm! We have always been protected.”

  Was she trying to be stubborn? Fate had decided to take a different path. It was time to get on the bandwagon.

  “Do you wish to test that theory?” Odin’s voice was stark and ominous.

  Anyone with any brains would have yelled, Hell no!

  Verdandi sneered, “I will finish off your cursed daughter, and fate will welcome me back a hero.” She took another step forward. “She alone will lead us into Ragnarok. Once she’s gone, our power will return, just as Skuld has foreseen.”

  Blinding light shot out of Odin’s spear, hitting her square in the chest.

  Verdandi’s scream was bloodcurdling
.

  34

  __________________________

  ____________

  “She just…disappeared?” Sam asked for the second time as we made our way down the street. “Like, she faded into nothingness after Odin zapped her? Or was it more spectacular?”

  Random Asgardians waved at me, so I waved back. “So much more spectacular. She exploded into a million little pieces. There were minuscule particles of Verdandi raining down all over. It was totally gross.”

  It’d taken me some time to recover from it.

  “I can’t believe I wasn’t there!” Sam complained. “How come no one thought to wake me up? I always miss the fun.”

  “It wasn’t fun, it was scary,” I said seriously. “I had no idea if the plan would work. No one had any idea what the outcome would be. We were only going by what Mersmelda had told us an hour before. It was risky all around.”

  “Not that risky if you had Odin on your side,” she pointed out.

  “True,” I said. “But if the Norns hadn’t followed me to the Blue House, things could’ve gotten dicey. Fen was against it for that reason alone.”

  “Well, it all worked out in the end,” she said. “Verdandi’s gone, and Urd and Skuld are locked up.”

  “Yes,” I said. “But I don’t like having Skuld around. She will never accept that her sister is gone and Mersmelda has taken over. No matter what, I’ll always be the one to blame.”

  “Isn’t Odin planning to exile them to another realm?”

  “Yes,” I said. “But there’s always a chance they will escape.”

  Sam glanced at the directions. “According to this, it’s down the next block. We’re looking for a yellow building. They sure like bright colors around here.”

  We were on our way to an Asgardian doctor about Sam’s newfound smarts.

  The rate at which her mind was changing had become alarming. “I’m sure the doctor will have good things to say and that you’re just fine.”

  “Do you think Asgard has quacks?” she asked. “Like doctors who everyone thinks are talented, but they never even graduated from—do they even have the equivalent of high school here? Man, there’s so much we don’t know. I just hope this doctor knows what he’s doing.”

  “I’m sure they don’t have quacks.” I laughed. The thought of it was absurd. “Everything’s going to be fine. Tyr insisted that we see this particular doctor, so I’m sure he or she is qualified.”

  Sam stopped in the middle of the road, clutching my arm. “What if he tells me I’m dying? That this accelerated intelligence is just a brain tumor pushing down on my prefrontal cortex? Then what?”

  “Sam, we’ve already been over this.” I sighed. “You’re not dying. It has to be something else. You’re getting smarter and stronger, not dumber and weaker. Come on, I see the building. It even has a cute sign out front that says Dr. Golden. I’m pretty sure that means that this experience will be golden.” I half dragged her the rest of the way down the street.

  When we opened the door, we found Tyr standing inside. He nodded at us both. “The doctor has cleared his schedule for the day at my request.”

  “Thanks for all your help,” I told him, shuffling Sam in front of me. “We’re happy to be here.”

  I had mentioned Sam’s condition to him last night, and by this morning, we had an appointment. Sam scowled at Tyr. “Yeah, thanks for forcing this on me.”

  A woman dressed in a crisp uniform with a clipboard stood behind Tyr. The interior of the building was surprisingly modern. “Samantha, we will see you now. Please step this way.”

  Sam pulled me into a quick embrace. “Cross your fingers that once I head behind those doors you don’t hear a death knell.”

  “You’re not dying!” I exclaimed exasperatedly. “Just get in there so we solve this once and for all.”

  Sam put her head down, resolute, as she followed the nurse.

  Just before she disappeared behind the door, she tossed a glance at Tyr and winked. “You better hope this comes out good, big guy. Or your next task will be picking out my coffin.”

  Tyr turned to me, horrified. “What is she talking about? You told me she needed a doctor, so I arranged it.” His gaze shot back to the door as she disappeared behind it. “Did I make a mistake?”

  I patted his arm. “She’s just nervous,” I reassured him. “Humor is a coping strategy.”

  The front door opened, and Fen walked in. We all sat down in the chairs provided. “Everything clear?” I asked. I hadn’t been able to dissuade Fen from following us. He still wasn’t convinced I was out of danger.

  “Yes,” he said. “All is well. For now.”

  “Have you heard any news on where Odin is going to send Urd and Skuld?” I asked.

  “The rumor is Muspelheim,” he answered.

  Tyr nodded. “I heard that as well. If it was good enough to hold you”—he grinned at Fen—“it should be able to hold them.”

  “I’ve asked Odin to send me to discuss matters with Surtr,” Fen said.

  I leaned forward, my hand settling on his thigh. “What are you talking about? You can’t go back there. Surtr was furious with you for escaping.”

  “I must,” he said, “as I will honor my word to the Jondi serpents. They are awaiting my arrival with the key to Jotunheim.”

  “Won’t it be too dangerous?” I asked. “Surtr was ready to kill us before we left. He won’t suddenly be magnanimous upon your return.”

  “I will accompany you,” Tyr said. “We will bring Odin’s guard along as well. It will be an official meeting to discuss terms.”

  Fen nodded. “I accept.”

  I felt better about Fen being accompanied by Tyr and a battalion. I had no desire to ever set eyes upon Surtr again. “Okay,” I said. “I guess if it’s sanctioned by Odin, it should be okay. While you’re gone, I think I’ll take my mother home to Wisconsin to meet my parents.”

  Fen took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. “If you do, give them my apologies for running out the last time.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, I’m going to have to do some serious smoothing.”

  “Once we get back from Muspelheim,” Tyr said, “I’ve agreed to help Sam find her father.”

  I nodded. “I told Sam I’d help her, too—”

  The interior door banged open, and Sam burst through.

  We all jumped to our feet.

  “What is it?” I asked. “What’s going on? Why are you out so soon?”

  Sam stopped in front of us. She was dressed in some kind of gown, not unlike the ones we had in Midgard, but this one was longer and brightly colored. She was suddenly at a loss for words. “I…I’m…”

  “What is it?” I urged, taking her by the shoulders. “Are you okay? You’re freaking us out. You’ve only been back there for five minutes.”

  She slowly met my concerned gaze. “That’s all the time they needed to tell me…that I’m becoming immortal.”

  I brought her in for a hug. “Sam, that’s fantastic! That means your father is a god and explains why you’re so smart.”

  “That’s not everything,” she said, her breath beginning to come in short bursts. “They said…according to my blood…that I might be a goddess. Or at least becoming one.”

  “Do you mean to say that both of your parents are gods?” Tyr asked.

  “That’s what they think.” She nodded. “They said that my living on Midgard all my life kept my DNA in check, just like I thought. But now that I’m here, I’m changing.”

  “Wow,” I said. “That’s incredible news, Sam!”

  “Yeah,” she said, glancing at me, her eyes a little unfocused. “I’m not sure what to do with this news. I mean, how do I even begin to wrap my brain around this?”

  I hugged her again. “It’s going to be fine. I promise. This is really, really good news. It just means that you not only have to find your father, but you have to find your mother as well.” I leaned back, smoothing her hair. “And don’t worry ab
out wrapping your mind around this, your brain is already ahead of the game. You just need to catch up, which will happen in no time. I can’t believe they were able to tell you all this in five minutes.”

  Her eyes brightened. “It’s so cool! They have all this ridiculously technical stuff back there. They can test blood in seconds. There’s no waiting around or anything. I’m actually going back in. They’re going to run more tests. I’ll probably be here all day. I just wanted to tell you guys the news. And you don’t have to wait for me. I can find my way back by myself, no problem.”

  “Okay,” I said, embracing her one last time. “It’s going to be fine.” She started back toward the door. “And, Sam—”

  “Yes?” she said, spinning around.

  “We’ll be with you every step of the way. You have my word.”

  “I’m grateful for that. You know,” she said wistfully, “I think I might become a doctor here.”

  “I’m not sure goddesses hold real jobs in Asgard.” I laughed.

  She jabbed her thumb at her chest. “Well, this one will.”

  “In that case,” I said, “you’ll have learned everything there is to know in less than a week.”

  She winked. “Try three days.” Then she disappeared behind the door.

  * * *

  “Hi, Mom!” I called, opening the front door of my childhood home.

  “Phoebe? Is that you?” Janette Meadows wiped her hands on an apron as she walked out of the kitchen. It was almost the exact same mental image I’d had of her the last time we parted ways.

  “It is,” I said. “Ta-da!” I spread my arms. “Oh, and I brought a friend with me. I hope you don’t mind.”

  My mother rushed to embrace me, tears in her eyes. “You said you’d give us warning the next time you came into town,” my mother scolded. Then she yelled, “Frank! Phoebe’s home!”

  “She is?” he called from upstairs. “I’ll be right down.”

  “I know I did,” I said, hugging her tightly. “But I just couldn’t resist surprising you one more time.” I stepped back. “I’d like to introduce you to my friend Leela.”