by C. Gockel
“Brother?” Valli says. “Let me kill him.”
“No!” shouts Nari. But his eyes are on Bohdi. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Somewhere in a tiny little part of Bohdi’s brain, it registers that Nari sounds hurt.
“Where is she?” Bohdi says. “She is in danger!”
“Not immediately,” say Nari in a tiny voice, letting go of Bohdi’s wrists and sitting back in the snow, shoulders slumped.
Sitting up, Bohdi glares at Nari. “Just tell me where she is!”
“Let me kill him,” Valli cries, swinging Kusanagi around again.
Nari turns, throws up a hand and catches it by the blade, in midair. It hits his hand with a ping. Tree branches whip down around his wrist, but Valli pulls the blade back fast, before blood even begins to well between the blade and Nari’s palm.
“Brother …” Valli whines.
“She’s at the inn of the Black Dwarf,” says Nari, eyes still on Bohdi.
Bohdi staggers to his feet. Nari doesn’t rise from the snow. Bohdi backs away.
“Do you know?” Loki’s son says. Bohdi shakes his head, even as in his brain what Nari is asking is connecting. Nari touched him, felt his magical aura, and is now asking if he’s Loki. He isn’t, and he doesn’t have time to explain. He looks around. Magi, Modi, and Valli all have weapons out. “Let him go,” says Nari. They don’t move. “Let him go,” Nari says. “We need him.”
“Brother?” Valli says, but he steps aside.
Bohdi picks up his knife and runs, taking out his phone and turning on the light as he does. He’s just a few meters from the tiny inn when the front door opens, and Amy comes out. She’s not wearing her parka, or her normal gear, just a Frost Giantess dress. The front is stained with blood.
x x x x
Steve hears the scuffle Bohdi is having with Nari and Valli over his radio. He hops up from the table and rushes toward the door with Larson and Sigyn and Claire tagging along with them. They’re not even past the crowd when Bohdi’s voice crackles in his ear. “I hate it when people lie to me!” He hears Nari reply, “I know. Forgive me.” And Steve knows Nari has figured out who Bohdi is. His eyes meet Sigyn’s and she frowns.
Nari’s voice crackles once more. “She’s at the inn of the Black Dwarf.” And then all Steve can hear is static and the sound of Bohdi’s breathing.
He pushes through the crowd, the team in his wake, and a moment later they’re outside, the cold night air hitting them in a rush. The temperature has dropped—instead of the smell of salt and sea, the wind smells like snow.
Beside him, Larson says, “I think they’re over there. Let’s break this up.” The lieutenant strides down the street toward a group of men in the shadows. Matching his step, Steve pulls out his phone for light. Claire skips beside him, one more agent of Chaos in his life. He wants to send her away because he’s afraid this could get unpleasant, and at the same time doesn’t want her to be alone.
By the light of his phone he sees Nari, Valli, Modi and Magi huddled together. Nari comes forward immediately, holding up his hands. “It was a misunderstanding. Mr. Patel is fine. It was entirely my fault.” He looks at his mother as he says it.
Beatrice’s voice cracks over the radio. “Where is Amy?”
Tucker’s voice cracks over the shared frequency, too. “What’s going on?”
And then Amy’s voice comes on, filled with static, as though she’s at a distance from her headpiece. “Bohdi, I’m alright. It isn’t my blood. My radio is dead. I need your help.”
Realizing he’s only hearing her through Bohdi’s radio, Steve says, “Bohdi, give Lewis your radio.”
Steve hears a click and the sound of fumbling. And then Lewis’s voice comes on, smooth and calm. “Steve, there is a woman in labor. There are multiple complications. I don’t have the tools to perform a C-section without killing the mother, and I couldn’t guarantee the baby’s life if I did. Their only hope they have is if I try something crazy. I need six strong guys, and I need the tarp that we set up the tent on.”
Beatrice’s voice crackles on the radio. “I’m bringing the tarp now!”
“I volunteer,” says Tucker. In the background, Steve hears Thor’s voice. “What is going on? Is my friend Mr. Patel in some mischief?” And then Tucker’s radio goes silent.
“Lewis, I’m on my way,” says Steve.
“I’m strong! I’ll come!” says Claire. And Steve frowns. Sigyn bends down and whispers something in Claire’s ear. Steve’s daughter’s nostrils get wide, and she scowls. “But I’ll stay here and take care of any trouble!”
Sigyn meets Steve’s gaze. “I’ll stay here, too,” she says, laying her hand on Claire’s shoulder.
Steve nods, not sure if he wants to know what Sigyn said to sway his headstrong daughter.
“Why do you need six strong guys?” says Larson.
“To turn the baby,” says Lewis, cryptically.
Steve lifts his head sharply and glares at the lieutenant. There are times when Steve will question Dr. Lewis’s judgment, but this isn’t one of them. If she wants them to come and sing Kumbaya around the girl for moral encouragement, he’ll do it.
Larson meets Steve’s gaze and goes a shade paler. “But I’ll come.”
“I’ll volunteer,” says Nari.
“What?” says Valli. “For a misbegotten half-blood?”
Steve’s head jerks toward Loki’s son. “Half-blood?”
Valli’s lip turns up. “It’s all the gossip, don’t you know?”
Steve scowls; he doesn’t know what Valli is talking about.
“Mr. Patel is there,” says Nari.
“So?” Valli says, but Steve doesn’t hear Nari’s response. Tucker and Berry are coming through the door followed by Thor. “We will all lend our services,” says Thor.
And then Bohdi’s voice comes on. “I think you’ll need to bring an extra man to stand with me on guard. I don’t like the looks of this.”
Nodding, Steve says, “Let’s move out.” He keeps his voice firm, but he has a bad feeling in his stomach.
When they arrive at the Black Dwarf’s inn, they find Bohdi peering down the sights of his rifle, Fenrir at his side, Beatrice slipping into the house behind him. He’s got the rifle aimed at a throng of Frost Giants who are muttering darkly in the shadows. When Steve and the team arrive, they melt away, but the bad feeling in Steve’s gut does not go away.
As they approach the porch, Larson says, “Patel, I’ll stand outside for you.”
Bohdi shakes his head too fast in the negative. “No, no, I can’t go in. Not for this. I’d be bad luck, and it’s already bad.”
From the inn comes the sound of a woman’s screams.
“I will stand guard, too,” says Valli, “... for Mr. Patel.”
Steve runs his tongue over his teeth. Nari has alerted his unstable, less reliable brother to Bohdi’s identity ... His bad feeling gets even worse.
Chapter 17
“Hello,” says Valli, taking his position on the stoop next to Bohdi.
“Hi,” says Bohdi, tapping his rifle, not looking at Loki’s son.
“I’m not good in medical situations, either,” says Valli. “I get excited and set things on fire.”
“Mmmmm …” says Bohdi, not really listening. He glances up at a window cracked open a few stories above them. In the few moments before Beatrice arrived, Amy told Bohdi that the woman in labor is a Frost Giantess, not a dwarf. The father was a dwarf. The woman’s family had killed him, and the the general opinion of the Frost Giants appears to be that they should have killed the woman as well.
Valli snorts. “You wouldn’t think that a half-blood runt of a dwarf would be big enough to cause so much trouble.”
Bohdi whacks him on the back of the head before he’s even thought about it.
Instead of getting angry, Valli rubs the spot and beams at Bohdi. “Mimir told us you wouldn’t remember us, said Father always bungled the transition, but I think you do. You always used to do
that to me when you called me an idiot.”
Bohdi stares at him a moment, and then he curses. He would have thought Nari would be smart enough to keep his identity to himself. His eyes skim the shadows beneath the trees, not sure if he sees people, or if it’s his imagination. His teeth grind. “Shut up, Valli.”
“Yes, Fa—”
Bohdi shoots him a glare.
“Yes,” says Valli. Grinning, he claps Bohdi on the shoulder.
Above their heads the woman screams.
“I won’t make any more jokes,” says Valli.
Bohdi doesn’t dignify that with a comment.
“Nari is very sorry about what happened earlier. He was rude to you. But Dr. Lewis just ‘shot him down’ as your people say, and he was in a mood.”
Bohdi raises an eyebrow, and almost smiles, but beside him Fenrir begins to whine. Bohdi lifts his rifle and peers through the scope. He sees a man in standard military gear bent over, lumbering through the snow, face hidden. It can’t be one of the team drunk already, can it?
“Stop!” Bohdi shouts. “Raise your hands.”
The hunched figure semi-straightens and throws up his hands.
“Rush?” says Bohdi. Fenrir approaches Rush, head and tail low, whining softly.
“Came to help,” Rush says. “Whole team is here.” He sways on his feet and then pitches forward. He lands in the snow face first and for a moment, Bohdi thinks he’s been stabbed or shot. Running to the fallen man, he drops to one knee and raises his rifle.
Rush belches, and Bohdi gags. “Oh, Jesus, Rush, you’re drunk already?”
“Nah,” Rush says, pulling himself to all fours. “It was just one drink.”
The snow crunches behind Bohdi. He turns to see Valli approach. “What sort of drink?” Loki’s son says, all of the previous joviality gone.
“Guinnesssss,” Rush slurs.
Bohdi snaps, “This is Jotunheim, Rush, they don’t have Guinness.” He climbs to his feet and holds out a hand. Rush takes it and pulls himself up.
“No, but they have brown tuber beer,” Valli says. “Who gave this drink to you?”
“Awww … you know, Ullr. He was talkin’ shit.”
“What kind of shit?” Bohdi says, his skin heating at mention of Thor’s adopted son. Ullr had wanted them all dead that first morning. Why was Rush even talking to him?
Rush makes a noise like a deflating balloon. “Aww, just heard you getting angry at me ‘cause I warned you about Lewis.” He throws an arm around Bohdi’s shoulder, almost knocking Bohdi over. “But I know we’re still bros.” Rush grins, and Bohdi has to turn his head to keep from throwing up. “And bros before—”
Bohdi steps out from under Rush’s arm, and Rush face plants in the snow again. Rolling over, Rush blinks up at him. “So, do you need my help?”
“I think you need help,” says Valli.
“I’m fine,” says Rush.
“No,” says Bohdi. “We don’t need your help.”
Still lying in the snow, Rush nods. “‘Kay, I’ll go back to dinner. I’m hungry.” Rolling over, he pushes himself up and then stumbles away. Bohdi and Valli watch his retreat. Rush manages to stay upright for about twelve more steps and then falls down again.
The wind whistles through the branches above them. Instead of coming from the sea, it comes down from the mountains.
“The temperature is dropping,” Valli comments. Fenrir whines.
Bohdi glares at Rush’s form. He’s wearing layers. He should be fine. Of course, his face is probably planted in the snow, and alcohol makes your temperature fall.
“Should we go get him?” Valli says.
Bohdi sighs. “Yeah, I guess we should.” But he doesn’t move.
The woman upstairs screams. He hears Amy say, “The baby is still in the wrong place. We’re going to have to try again.”
And then Steve says, “Ready? Heave-ho men!”
Bohdi looks up at the window. Heave-ho? What are they doing?
“Perhaps we should get him now?” Valli says. “He is going to be in a very bad way; he will need help in the morning.”
Sighing, Bohdi steps away from the inn, Valli beside him, and Fenrir loping along just ahead of them. Occasionally, the dog’s ears prick up, but she doesn’t growl. They reach Rush’s body and Valli says, “We shouldn’t throw him over our shoulders. He is bound to vomit on anyone who does.”
“Awesome,” says Bohdi. They each grab an arm of the unconscious Rush and start hauling him toward the inn. Rush stinks like puke, and Bohdi can’t think of anything less pleasant than saving someone he dislikes intensely and who reeks so intensely.
And then Rush wakes up. “Bohdi, my man,” he says, turning his head in Bohdi’s direction; Bohdi barely holds onto his dinner.
Eyelids at half mast, Rush proceeds to ramble. “I know you probably don’t know a lot about women, ‘cause it’s hard for Asian men, I know that, so unfair.”
Bohdi rolls his eyes. “That’s right, Rush, I have never kissed a girl.”
Valli makes a sound like a confused puppy.
“S’all right, bro, I don’t judge,” Rush mumbles. “The great philosophers—wise men—through the ages, they all agree, the way to happiness is not to become attached to a woman. Women are transients … temporary … tramps.”
“My mother is a woman,” Valli growls.
Evidently not hearing him, Rush slurs on, “Have sex with them. But don’t become attached. Be like the wise men.”
Above his head, the woman in labor screams in Jotunn, “Make it stop!”
Bohdi feels the same way.
Rush doesn’t stop. “Women, they’re not like us. They’re fickle. Emotional. Undependable. Just hypergamous solipsistic sluts.”
“Basilisk dung,” mutters Valli, and it’s all Bohdi can do not to drop Rush in the snow again. The woman upstairs screams, and Bohdi hears Steve order, “Heave-ho!”
They drag Rush up the steps and into the inn. Fenrir pokes her nose into the dwelling, but then, perhaps deciding it’s too warm and cozy, goes back outside and sprawls out in the snow. Rush has passed out again, and on some unspoken agreement, Valli and Bohdi drop him unceremoniously in the foyer. Bohdi looks around the room. His head is just a few inches from the ceiling, but it doesn’t feel cavelike—little pink lamps dot the space, and the walls are painted a warm orange-yellow, making it feel bright and cheery.
From outside, Bohdi had thought this was one of the few buildings that didn’t rely on an Iron Wood tree for support, but inside he realizes the building entirely encases one of the smaller trees. Directly before them is a spiral staircase that loops around an Iron Wood trunk. The spokes of the tree’s lower branches make the rafters of the ceiling. All of the slimmer branches have been neatly twisted around the beams to keep them from hanging down. Bohdi notices that they don’t seem attracted to the little glowing orbs. The orbs must glow with something other than magic. A fire crackles in a fireplace beyond some miniature chairs and a sofa to their left. There is a bookshelf along the opposite wall, and a tiny desk in a corner. Everything is neat, tidy, and warm. It’s a far cry from the hut they’re sharing.
Valli lifts his eyes to the ceiling. “It’s quiet up there.”
Bohdi looks up. It is quiet. No screams. No Steve being leaderly. And then he hears the sound of feminine sobs.
“Oh,” says Valli. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Bohdi’s jaw drops. No. Amy doesn’t break things. Amy saves things—this is backward and wrong. A baby’s wail suddenly rings above the sobs. Bohdi hears all the men above roar, clapping, and the sound of feet. And then Amy’s voice cuts above the din. “Lift the end of the bed and prop it up.”
Steve’s voice echoes down the stairs. “You heard her.”
The baby continues to wail. The sobbing gets louder, but this time it sounds joyful, and then the baby is silent but Bohdi hears the sound of furniture scraping on the floor, and Thor’s boisterous, “Well done, Doctor.”
&nbs
p; Bohdi relaxes.
The guys upstairs roar again and laugh. And Berry shouts in a tone of mock officiousness, “And his name shall be Cannonball!” There is more laughter.
Bohdi wonders what that’s about. Everyone sounds so happy, he ducks his head. “Come on, Valli, let’s go outside.” He doesn’t want to jinx it.
x x x x
Amy sits next to Bjorna, her fingers on the sleeping woman’s faint pulse. On the other side of the bed sits Thor, with Cannonball cradled in his arms. Everyone else has cleared out.
She shakes her head. She has to stop thinking of the baby as Cannonball.
In Amy’s ear the radio crackles with Berry’s voice. “Captain, it’s bitterly cold out here. I suggest changing the guard.”
She hears Steve through the door of the room and buzzing in her ear. “Do it.”
And then Berry’s voice cracks again. “Also, we’re moving Rush to the mud room off the kitchen. He’s passed out, and Valli says he’ll be losing his guts in the morning. That’s where Gem says he’ll be easiest to clean up.”
Amy rolls her eyes. Classy guy, Rush. She sighs and looks down at Bjorna. The Frost Giantess looks so peaceful in sleep, but her body is still struggling. She lost an incredible amount of blood.
“You did good, Doctor,” Thor says. “I could not have saved her.”
Amy can’t meet his eyes. The baby had been in the wrong position because the placenta had broken partially away and blocked the birth canal. Neither had been able to come out. Bjorna had been bleeding to death and the baby had been close to asphyxiating. Amy still feels shaken.
“You helped, Thor. Thank you,” she says.
“Ah, well, penance,” Thor says.
Amy feels a lump in her throat. Thor’s daughter Pru became betrothed to a Merchant Dwarf against her father’s wishes. In the myths Thor had managed to trick the dwarf into being burned to death by the light of the sun—in real life Pru had forsaken immortality and eloped. She’d died beside her husband in one of the battles between the Merchant Dwarf clans and the dwarf nobility. The moment feels very heavy, and Amy is thankful when Steve walks into the room, Tucker beside him. Tucker goes over and gazes down at Cannonball. “Best thing yet about this trip,” he says, and Amy feels like the pressure in the room has just decreased by half.