“However, I believe I can lure at least one of them out, but it will take a day or two to set things up.”
“Do it.” With luck they would capture Sydney. If not, Sylvia would do as a bargaining chip. “And the other matter?” She lifted the tea cup, praying that this matter, at least, would have a happy resolution.
“I am close to finding him, but he’s being protected.” Nadine sipped her tea calmly, not fearing her lady’s rage in the least. Nadine knew Frederica’s temper well, another reason they got along. Frederica’s anger had rarely been turned on Nadine, and when it had been, Nadine had accepted her punishment gracefully. “I fear Njord may be involved. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
The cup almost slipped from Frederica’s hand. “Njord?” Why would the god of the sea interfere in her hunt for Jörmungandr? Surely he would want the Serpent destroyed just as much as she did.
“It’s possible he wishes the kill for himself, but I doubt it.” Nadine leaned back, her gaze speculative. “I fear he may be on Kiran’s side in this.”
“Baldur.” Frederica refused to use that name, the name of the man who’d betrayed her. To her, he would always be Baldur.
“Yes, my lady.” Nadine responded gently to the rebuke and continued. “I fear Odin may be the true problem, however. The wolf, Fenris, was unable to wound him.”
“I’ve considered asking Henry and Luther to go take care of him for me.” Frederica frowned as Nadine shook her head. “And why not?”
“You will lose them, my lady.”
When her hand trembled this time it was from fear. “You truly believe so?”
Nadine leaned forward, her calm demeanor cracking. Here was her friend, her advisor, not the warrior and assassin Frederica knew her to be. “Only the wolf can kill Odin.”
“But we know now that Fenris can’t wound him. Oliver healed everything Fenris did to him.”
“There is one thing Odin has not thought of, my lady.”
“Oh?”
Nadine sat back with a smug smile. “Fenrisùlfr is not the only lupine child of Loki.”
Frederica froze before a similar smile crossed her face. The thought that Loki would lose his son not once, but twice, filled her with joy. Perhaps then he’d understand her grief and rage. That one of his children thought dead actually lived, only to see him die at the hands of one of his allies?
Oh, it would be sweet.
She lifted her tea cup in salute. “To the Avenger’s hunt.”
Nadine mimicked her with her own cup. “To the hunt.”
“Have you seen Sydney?”
Slade glanced over at Sylvia as she came back into the condo. She was supposed to be visiting with her friend, but here she was, back after only ten or fifteen minutes.
Not that he’d been counting or anything. Magnus had chosen to take that time to distract him, and they’d just gotten to the part where pants were coming off when Sylvia returned, looking grim.
Magnus must have been just as confused as he was, because he stared at her blankly. “I thought you just went to see her?”
Sylvia shifted from foot to foot. “Toni said Syd told her she was coming here.”
“And now you can’t find her?” Slade pulled his pants up. Happy time with Magnus would have to wait. If Sydney was missing Sylvia would be devastated. “Before we start worrying let’s check and make sure she’s not with Kir, Logan and Jordan.”
“Right.” Magnus finished dressing and took hold of Sylvia’s hands. “And if she’s not, she can’t have gotten too far.”
Sylvia whimpered, and Slade wanted to smack Magnus upside the head. “Let’s go look. Magnus, you check with Logan and Kir. If she’s not there, check with Val. I have no clue why she’d go there, but it’s worth a shot. Sylvia, you check with Morgan and Skye. If they haven’t seen her, ask Fenris and Jeff. I’ll go look for her with Travis and Jamie and then double-back to Toni. We’ll meet back here.”
Magnus nodded once and was out the door in a flash, followed by Sylvia.
Slade knocked on Travis’s door, smiling when Jamie opened it. “Hey, have you seen Sydney?”
“Nope. Why?”
Well, he hadn’t really expected her to be with Travis, but it had been worth a shot. “We can’t find her, and Sylvia’s worried.”
Jamie nodded. “I’ll get Travis. She has to be here somewhere.”
Gods, he hoped so. His mate wouldn’t rest if she wasn’t, and for some reason Slade was beginning to suspect she wasn’t. His instincts had kept him safe for centuries, and they were screaming at him that Sydney was in serious trouble.
“I’m going to check with Toni, see if she’s returned to their condo. I’ll meet you at my place.”
“We’ll rally the troops,” Jamie bellowed over her shoulder. “Tyr, we need your glow bug ass out here!”
Once his eyes uncrossed and his hearing returned, Slade made his way to Toni’s condo, only to find her standing outside her door with a scowl. “No Sydney?”
“No Sydney.” Toni crossed her arms over her chest. “I should have skipped her happy ass over to your place myself.”
As tight and angry as the words were Slade could see the concern in Toni’s face. “This isn’t your fault.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I was given one job. One. Protect Syd. And I fucked it up. So tell me again this isn’t my fault.”
He stared at her. “You too?”
She tilted her head, obviously confused.
“You think something happened to her.”
Toni blew out a breath. “Yeah, I do. She was acting strange, excited and scared at the same time. I thought she was just happy she was going to visit Sylvia, but after she left I realized she was more scared than excited.”
“And then Sylvia showed up looking for her.” Slade cursed under his breath. “Come on. We’re meeting at my place to figure out what to do.”
Toni didn’t acknowledge him, just strode toward his front door with all the determination of a woman on a mission. And it wasn’t long before everyone else was in his condo and the story had been passed around.
No one had seen Sydney since she’d left her condo almost half an hour before.
“What should we do?” Sylvia looked not toward her mates, but to Kir, who was clutching the pendant at his neck. Clouds raced across his eyes, obscuring the crystal blue they normally were.
“Find her. How did she get out of the building without any of us knowing?” Kir’s hand tightened on the pendant and the Godspear glowed in response, the light of it only dimmed by his grasp.
“We all have free passes through the wards.” Logan grimaced as they all turned and stared at him. “What? You wanted to take them down every time we went out for pizza?”
Since Kir’s unholy love of pepperoni and melted cheese was well known, not one of them seemed surprised that Logan would make certain his lover could get it. The clouds disappeared from Kir’s eyes. “Fine. You’re right.”
“Wait.” Sylvia held up her hand. “You think Syd just walked out of here?”
“Yup.” Logan shrugged. “No one got in. No one who’s not allowed can. So…”
“She walked out.” Slade frowned, trying to figure out why Syd would do that. “Has she gotten any phone calls since she moved in?”
Toni shook her head. “Neither of us have, other than my captain checking up on me.”
Travis exchanged a look with Logan. “You think the Old Man mimicked Toni’s captain?”
“We haven’t heard a peep out of him in weeks.” Logan looked just as concerned as Travis did. “It’s possible.”
“That makes no sense. What does Toni’s captain have to do with Syd?” Slade didn’t know what the pair was thinking. “Check her email. Syd never leaves the computer, right?”
“Right.” Sylvia gestured for
Toni to follow her. “If they got to her it was through the computer, not the phone.”
Slade shook his head at Travis and Logan. “None of this makes a damn lick of sense. Why go after Syd? Why try and make her leave the condo?”
“Leverage?” Jordan shrugged as they all stared at her. “Whoever convinced her to leave has to know we’re going to try and get her back.”
Logan cursed. “Remember how Odin got me out? He had Jamie.”
“But…we’re all here.” Slade looked around. “That can’t be how he got her out.”
“Not all of us.” Logan paled. “Jörmungandr.”
Slade laughed. “Hell, no. There is no way the Old Man’s got my brother.” Before Logan could protest, Slade continued. “Jörmungandr is so far down, so deep, Odin couldn’t find him. He’s hiding in the deepest of the deeps, and he’s not coming out until—”
“Until Njord tells him to.”
Slade jumped as Nik DeWitt’s voice sounded right in his ear. “Son of a bitch.”
“Hey, now.” Heimdall, the Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, placed his hand on Magnus’s shoulder. “Don’t say that about our mother.”
Magnus jumped, his expression startled. “What?”
Nik laughed, and Slade shivered as a sudden chill overcame him. “Forgetting your Eddas already?
One there was born in the bygone days,
Of the race of the gods, and great was his might;
Nine giant women, at the world’s edge,
Once bore the man so might in arms.
Gjolp there bore him, Greip there bore him,
Eistla bore him, and Eyrgjafa,
Ulfrun bore him, and Angeyja,
Imth and Atla, and Jarnsaxa.
Strong was he made with the strength of the earth,
With the ice-cold sea, and the blood of swine.”
Magnus pushed Nik’s hand away. “We’re cousins at best, and you know it.”
Nik smiled mysteriously, but let it go. “Don’t try and find Sydney, not yet.”
“Why not?” Slade didn’t relish trying to get Sylvia not to look for her best friend.
“She’s safe and sound, and that’s all that needs to be said. To remove her from where she us would upset a delicate balance that must be maintained until Ragnarrok is fully realized.”
Val growled. “Where is she?”
Nik’s eyes flashed. “Safe, I swear it.” He took a deep breath. “Now, there are more important things to discuss than Sydney.”
“Such as?” Kir crossed his arms over his chest and matched Nik look for look.
Slade shrank back against Magnus as the two powerful gods faced off. He could face jotun, could race against the wind and win, but to fight either the Guardian or Baldur was insanity itself.
“Shh.” Magnus wrapped his arms around him, holding him close as he began to shiver. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Kir glanced their way, and his stance relaxed. “What do you want, Nik?”
Nik stepped forward. “Kye and I would like to pledge ourselves to you.”
Kir looked startled. “Really? I thought you were going to remain impartial.”
“And I thought Kye wanted nothing to do with war.” Travis looked just as confused as Kir. “After we lost to the Aesir Kye went his own way.” As the god of the sea, Kye, aka Njord, had simply disappeared beneath the waves. He’d rarely participated in the antics of the gods. One of the few times he had, he’d wound up being forced to marry Skadi.
That had ended so well Kye hadn’t been heard from in decades. Not until Kir was given the Godspear did he rear his head out of the waves once more.
“He had a task to perform, as we all did.” Nik shrugged. “His is just taking a little longer than I thought it would.”
“And that’s not cryptic at all.” Slade scowled when Magnus began to laugh. “It’s not funny.”
“Is she hurt?” Slade saw Sylvia step beside him and held out his hand. She took it, but kept her gaze on Nik. “Is Syd injured?”
Nik nodded. “Nothing serious, but yes.”
“Then we need to save her.” Sylvia lifted her chin, that stubborn expression he was becoming familiar with taking over her features.
“No.” Nik held up his hand. “This is not up for debate. She’s safe and mostly sound, and that will have to do for now.”
“Please.”
It hurt to hear his lover beg. It hurt worse to see the refusal in Nik’s eyes. “No. In this, you have to trust me. More is at stake than just Sydney.”
With that, Val growled and stormed out of the condo, Sylvia and Toni hot on his heels.
Slade sagged in Magnus’s embrace. “She’s going after her.”
“I know.” Without another word, Slade and Magnus followed after Sylvia.
“I’m going hunting.” Val glared at the closed door, practically vibrating with rage. “Nik can go fuck himself.”
Sylvia couldn’t agree more. “Slade and Magnus will be watching me too closely for me to get free.”
“I’ll go.” Toni held up her hand. “Maybe I can slip in and out without Logan or Kir noticing.” Toni looked happier than she had in weeks, as if just the thought of rescuing Syd was better than frozen M&M’s.
Val shot her a strange look, but shrugged. “It’s not Logan or Kir you need to be worried about.”
Toni crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground. “I’m going. This is what I do, Val.”
Val threw up his hands in surrender. “All right. Let me know if you find out anything.”
“Will do.” Toni gestured for Sylvia to follow her. “All right. Can you think of anything that would have gotten Syd out of here?”
“A threat to either Jordan or Logan.” Sylvia did as told, striding after Toni as the other woman led the way into the condo they were sharing. “She might also go if there was a threat against you or me.”
Toni nodded and led the way into the room Syd had obviously claimed as her work space. Computer monitors lined one wall, two keyboards, a tablet, a laptop…it was a geek’s wet dream, and fit her best friend to a T.
“All right. You take the laptop, I’ll take command central. Let’s see if we can figure this out.” Toni settled in Syd’s chair and began tapping at the keyboard.
Sylvia picked up the laptop and began searching. The first thing she checked was Syd’s email, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Syd had gotten the usual spam emails about enlarging her non-existent penis, paying someone money to get more money, and even something in French that Syd couldn’t read.
“Hey. I’ve got something odd.”
Sylvia looked up from Syd’s laptop to find Toni running a video on the third screen. Toni was leaning forward, studying the image through narrowed eyes before she paused it with a scowl. “Take a look at this.”
Sylvia stood, placing the laptop back on the desk. What had captured Toni’s attention so desperately?
“Okay.” Toni rewound the video, and Sylvia realized she was watching the front of the condo complex. “Watch this.”
She started the video, and Sylvia watched as Syd appeared, racing out the door and looking frantic. She darted across the street, or at least attempted to before she was nailed by a car.
“Oh fuck.” Sylvia stared, horrified, as Syd was lifted off the ground and tossed into the back of the dark sedan. “Was that Nadine?”
“Who?” Toni seemed focused on something other than the car, her brow furrowed as she paused the video again. “Mother fucker.”
“What?”
Toni took a deep breath and sat back. “Nothing. Just…a case I was working on.” She tapped her fingers on the desk. “Who’s Nadine?”
“Frederica Grimm’s girl Friday.” Sylvia bit her lip. “At least we know who has her now.”
“Will Frederica harm her?”
“I don’t think so. She’s got a plan for her.” As long as Syd was useful she’d be safe. Frederica was determined, but she wasn’t demented like Odin was. “She’ll lock her up, but I don’t think she’ll abuse her.”
Toni nodded, staring at the monitor in thought. After a few moments, she finally spoke. “Then I say we let her follow through with her plan.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m positive Syd will figure out a way to get in touch with us without letting her captors know. Once we have a clue what Frederica’s plan is, we can rescue Syd and stop Frederica without too much trouble.”
“You can’t go into this thinking you’ll have backup and that she’ll go to jail.” Sylvia tilted her head. “Well, you will have backup, but it will be Val, Logan, Kir and the rest of the nuthouse.”
Toni grimaced. “Still, what better way to stop Frederica than to leave Syd in there? I mean, you’re sure she won’t be hurt, right?”
Sylvia nodded. “Frederica’s a bitch, but she’s not crazy. Not like Oliver.”
“Good.” Toni leaned back. “Then we wait for Syd to contact us. Val is out looking, so we let him do that. Frederica will get suspicious if we leave Syd without making any attempt at getting her home again, and Val is the best one to send for that. He’s obvious.”
“I don’t think you give him enough credit. Val waited for centuries to kill Oliver, and when he had the chance he took it.” He’d sliced Odin’s throat, stabbed him in the back and cut the major artery that ran by Odin’s groin. Odin should have perished, but the stupid prophecy protected his life. The Avenger was not the one meant to kill him, so Odin survived the lethal strikes.
“Yeah, too bad it didn’t work.” Toni grimaced. “I’ll keep watch on this end, and if I get anything that tells me that we need to extract Syd I’ll contact you. You, in the meantime, stay calm. I’ll get Jamie and Jeff to give me a hand, so someone will be online at all times, monitoring.” She hit a couple more keys, bringing up the inside of Frederica’s office. “Look.”
There was Syd, sitting at the desk, her expression both terrified and filled with concentration. She was wincing as Frederica stood behind her talking to her, but other than a bruise on her cheek she seemed all right.
Not Broken: True Destiny, Book 5 Page 14