Gunnar really had been boxing with him.
Unfortunately, my hostage wizard from the warehouse picked up on Gunnar’s voice, saw the three men in the distance, and gasped excitedly. I kicked him in the nuts on pure reflex. “Gag him,” I hissed at Alucard.
The vampire quickly slapped his hand over the wizard’s mouth, his eyes as wide as saucers as he checked on the FBI Agents. Gunnar had drawn their attention and was now standing between them and us as he guided them towards their car. I could see the tension in his shoulders, and I knew he was probably only a millisecond away from shifting himself—thanks to sensing Ashley freaking the fuck out. They were all spiraling together, feeding off each other’s energy and growing more manic by the second.
Jesus.
Ashley was snarling in a low, ominous growl, straining against my unseen bonds, fighting with every drop of strength she had as she snorted loudly—inhaling the scent of her bleeding Alpha. I felt sweat beginning to pop out on my brow from having to juggle several things at once.
That’s when the hostage wizard remembered he had magic of his own, and I saw weak sparks growing around his fists.
I hit the wizard with a shield, blocking him from using his power and wondering if it was wise to try using a Gateway to get him and Alucard the hell out of here. Then again, with him being conscious again, Alucard would likely be forced to kill him to get him to listen—which didn’t work for anyone, historically.
He would need my help to block his magic. Which meant I would need to drop the illusion, suddenly revealing a goddamned werewolf and two puppies who looked hellbent on hurting the bad G-Men who had bloodied their daddy’s lip.
So I had to keep this shit show together right here.
Then the hairy wizard bit Alucard’s palm and the vampire hissed loud enough to make a flock of birds burst from the tree branches above us. Goddamn it!
The pups suddenly stopped barking and dove for the wizard. I bent down to try to catch one, but she tripped over her own ears and rolled clear, scuttling sideways in an awkward tumble.
The two of them managed to reach their target, and each of them sunk their teeth into the wizard. Everything changed as the skies immediately darkened with rapidly gathering storm clouds. Thunder rumbled hungrily, deep enough to feel in my very bones, and flickers of lightning began dancing across the sky as torrents of rain suddenly fell from the ominous clouds.
The wizard had instantly stopped fighting against Alucard, his limbs locked rigid as if he was being electrocuted. Blood began to ooze out from beneath the pups’ muzzles as they breathed loudly through their nostrils, tugging and growling and whipping their heads back and forth. It might have been my imagination, but lightning seemed to crack louder and closer each time they snapped their heads left and right. One thing that definitely wasn’t my imagination was the faint fog now pouring out from their nostrils and rolling over the wizard. The pups dug their paws into the earth, tearing harder at the wizard, who was still stiff as a board.
I gasped to see that with each strike of lightning…
The pups were growing stronger, larger, and more developed. As if a few months were passing before my very eyes, tripling their size.
As they matured, their fangs and claws stretched longer, their muscles grew denser, and their balance and footing grew sturdier, decreasing the odds that our hostage was going to survive long enough for interrogation.
I saw the two FBI Agents frowning up at the skies as they dove into their car. Gunnar held a beefy hand over his eye in order to deflect the rain from obscuring his vision. As the rain soaked his white shirt, the curves and swells of his muscular frame only grew more pronounced, highlighted with each brilliant strike of lightning. He didn’t flinch, even as one of the strikes sounded as if it hit the looming mansion behind him.
The car pulled away, probably thinking Gunnar had lost his mind.
I let out a breath of relief and was surprised to notice a puff of vapor as I exhaled. I realized that my fingers felt like ice—almost numb. Ashley was shivering, staring down at her pups in alarm as her growl turned into a nervous whine. The grass and puddles around us were now covered in frost or frozen over entirely.
I gasped to see that even the wizard was slowly turning to ice. Frost inched outward from where the pups held him in their jaws, slowly covering his entire body. His eyes also looked to have a film of ice over them, and he was no longer breathing.
But the pups…
As their fur grew thicker and longer, new muscles rapidly forming over their chests and shoulders, they slowly began to turn into smoke, only their fangs and claws remaining solid. With one final cracking sound, the wizard froze entirely solid.
The misty pups suddenly broke free from their grip, wobbled unsteadily as they shuffled into one another, and then promptly collapsed to the ground. Their eyes fluttered and they promptly passed out on top of each other in a cute, misty, puppy pile. Their hazy forms slowly returned to physical bodies, but a ring of fog hung around them like a protective barrier. Thankfully, the thunder and lightning petered out, and the torrential rain lessened to a mere heavy downpour.
The wizard’s frozen form abruptly shattered with another sharp crack, cascading into a human silhouette of crushed ice, making all of us jump. In those frosty meat-cubes, I saw absolutely no blood. Calvin and Makayla’s puppy stomachs, on the other hand, looked suspiciously full.
Gunnar suddenly raced over to us, white fur sprouting up from his forearms as I noticed the Gate to Chateau Falco finally closing behind the FBI vehicle. He skidded on his knees and snatched up a puppy in each fist, lifting them to his face by the ruffs of their necks. They hung limply, but they both let out weak whines as their dad nuzzled his nose against theirs, one at a time.
I stared at their plump bellies, imagining the sloshing wizard’s blood within.
Then I stepped back, grabbing a stunned Alucard by the shoulder as I released Ashley from her restraints and dropped the illusion spell. My head spun for a moment and I shoved Alucard behind me, prepared to Shadow Walk if Gunnar and Ashley attacked on pure instinct. It wasn’t that they might actually think we had done anything to their kids, but we were in close proximity to their suddenly vulnerable family, and these were hyper-violent werewolves.
Not rational, objective, aware-wolves.
I wasn’t about to become a statistic, thank you very much.
Chapter 12
I had no explanation for whatever the hell had just happened, but I knew the pups had done it all on their own. Alucard was shaking his hand, gritting his teeth in pain. I glanced down to see that his fingers were white and looked stiff, signs of superficial frostbite.
“I couldn’t let go,” he whispered, staring at the werewolf family. “My fingers got stuck to his mouth. Like sticking your tongue to a metal pole in the winter. What the hell did you hit him with?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I didn’t do anything. I just blocked the wizard from doing magic, restrained Ashley, and held up an illusion so the FBI wouldn’t see us.” I stared at the pups—at Gunnar holding them in his lap. Ashley had shifted back from her werewolf form and now sat beside her husband, resting her head on his shoulder. Tears fell down her cheeks and she was shaking with adrenaline. But I could tell everyone was healthy and unharmed—just frightened.
Gunnar slowly lifted his head to stare at me. His eye was a storm of unspent fury, and his lips were set in a murderous frown, emphasized by his thick beard. “I think you need to go talk to Freya. Right the fuck now. It is safer for her if we remain here,” he added in a throaty growl, letting me know that he wanted nothing more than to join me so he could rip her limb from limb.
I nodded my agreement, not bothering to tell him that it might not be so healthy for her to see me right now, but that was what godfathers were for—to plug their godchildren full of candy and to plug their godchildren’s foes full of hot lead.
I was pretty much designed to be a godfather.
“I need
to know if you have ever seen them do anything even remotely like that before. Any questionable behavior, because if Freya is innocent, she will need to know every symptom and behavioral anomaly.”
He stared at me, forcing himself to calm down. Ashley seemed to be regaining her composure as well, and only just now noticing their sudden growth spurts. They’d aged at least six months, looking well into that awkward stage for large-breed dogs—all lanky bones and legs. Because even with their new slabs of muscle, it was obvious they would get much, much larger.
As I studied them, I noticed their bellies seemed to be slowly shrinking, their bodies digesting the wizard’s blood to grow stronger and develop faster. I’d never heard of such a thing.
Alucard was staring, too. “Vampire werewolves?” he suggested, staring at their bellies and then the pile of bloodless wizard cubes.
All three of them turned to me with various reactions of panic, alarm, and curiosity. I shrugged. “Maybe?” I admitted, frowning. “But that doesn’t explain the ice thing.”
“Are Odin and Freya tied to ice powers of some kind?” Alucard asked, scratching at his chin.
I frowned, but finally shook my head. “Not particularly.”
“Well, my calendar just cleared up. Our answers are now puppy slushy,” Alucard muttered, toeing the pile of wizard chunks. “I can’t voodoo whatever this is.”
I grunted, realizing our whole soiree with the assassins had been pointless. Maybe his bad luck had carried with him through the Gateway. I shuddered at the thought, dismissing it since I had no facts to back it up.
“Are the FBI going to be a problem?” I asked Gunnar.
“Yes. But I think I stalled them for a few days, maybe a week. We’ll talk about it later.” He glanced up at me. “You do realize that I let him hit me in the face to buy you time,” he said in a low growl. Ashley was concerned enough by his tone that she placed a calming hand on his knee.
I nodded uneasily. It wasn’t necessarily a threat, but a stern warning. He was an Alpha werewolf, and he’d let another man hit him in order to buy me time.
That was the equivalent of a man letting a stranger slap his wife to buy a friend some time.
He had also lied to them, which was a felony, and Gunnar used to be in the FBI.
Essentially, I owed him one. More than one.
I swept my gaze over the puppies, and then the remains of the wizard. “Is Freya still in Asgard with Alice?” I asked. I’d sent her along with Freya to learn as much as possible about her powers. The two had grown very close while spending time together in the Armory, and I’d given Alice a Tiny Ball to give her an emergency escape option if she ever felt in danger.
They shrugged. “Odin has been traveling a lot, bringing news of Thor’s fall to the Nine Realms and explaining his long absence. Freya and Alice visited a few days ago for their weekly checkup,” Ashley said, petting Makayla absently, “but they didn’t stay to chat. Freya is due back in a few more days, but I’d rather you get answers right now.”
“No problem. I was just hoping to save some time if you knew exactly where she is.” I studied Chateau Falco, thinking. “You guys going to be okay here by yourselves, or are Drake and Cowan lurking around somewhere?”
Gunnar shook his head. “They failed me.”
“Pffft,” Ashley suddenly piped up, shoving his shoulder forcefully. “They asked to work with Alex in Camelot, and you granted them permission. It wasn’t a punishment of your choosing, Mr. Big Bad Wolf,” she laughed.
He narrowed his eye. “I would have,” he argued stiffly, obviously embarrassed.
I smiled at their banter. “So, why did you agree to let them leave? They’re your lieutenants,” I said, frowning. I’d wondered why I hadn’t seen them around much, but I’d been spending a lot of time in the Sanctorum, researching dozens of different topics, histories, myths, and gods, and familiarizing myself with my inventory of legendary weapons in the Armory. A war was brewing on the horizon, and I wanted to be prepared.
Gunnar shrugged. “Odin’s wolves are with me.” He pointed towards the giant white tree—still oozing blood—and I saw Odin’s wolves dozing near the trunk, blatantly unconcerned about the heavy rain.
The tree had been damaged in a fight with Thor and some Knightmares. I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant that the tree was bleeding, but the crimson stain down it’s white, scaled bark was ominous and impossible to ignore. Another alarming fact was that Geri and Freki were in their much scarier, monstrous forms—not even attempting to pass themselves off as friendly pets.
“Why didn’t they come over when the pups went all misty?” I asked, frowning.
“I told them to guard the tree with their lives. It’s oozing about seven pints of blood a day. That seems important. When the FBI showed up, I told them to make themselves scarce and to not interfere.”
But Gunnar and Ashley both looked uneasy as they stared at the mythical wolves. So did I. Even with Gunnar’s commands in place, I found it highly suspicious that Geri and Freki hadn’t freaked out at the sudden storm and haunting mist powers the pups so suddenly displayed. Unless…it wasn’t surprising to them. Like…if they had known about it already.
If that was the case, it meant Odin or Freya had known about it already, too.
I frowned at the wolves. “And they just happened to stay with you…” I mused. “How very generous of Odin. Convenient, even.”
Ashley nodded, catching my deeper meaning. “Gunnar bargained for it. So long as our pups are actual wolves, we keep Geri and Freki.”
I slowly turned to face her, my forehead furrowing in disbelief. “And you’re only just now telling me this?” I demanded.
“It’s not like you’ve spent much time with us. Other than the bedtime stories, we’ve hardly seen you. Then you hit the bar every night.”
I kept my face blank, willing Alucard to keep his mouth shut. The longer they believed I was at the bar every night, the better off they would be. I now had a billion-dollar price tag on my head, and I wasn’t about to get them roped into that. Not when they had pups to look after. Definitely not now that those pups were developing strange powers.
I needed answers. Now. I’d fully intended to talk to Freya anyway, but I’d hoped to deal with the assassin thing, first. That obviously wasn’t getting resolved anytime soon—especially not with the fee increasing.
And I wanted Othello to do some digging on both this Lullaby app and Niko. Too many loose ends, but godfather duties came first—
Geri and Freki suddenly let out bone chilling howls, making me jump. I spun to see them on their feet, staring at the upper branches of the white tree. Two inbound large, dark blurs caught my attention, aiming straight for the shelter of the white tree. Hugin and Munin. They didn’t attempt to slow as they drew close, and they struck the branch hard enough to snap it from the tree in a shower of splinters.
Then they began to cartwheel down towards the ground.
“RUIN!” I shouted desperately at the top of my lungs. I was already racing through the rain, intending to use my magic to break their fall if my Baby Beast wasn’t home. My friends stayed behind to protect the pups.
My Baby Beast swooped down from the treehouse high above and caught the two large ravens right before they hit the ground. He silently set the two huge raptors down, bobbing backwards to give me some space. “They’re exhausted,” Ruin said. He sounded exhausted himself.
Like Geri and Freki, the ravens looked similar to how I had seen them in Niflheim—monster ravens. Had they been too big for the branch?
“You two okay?” I demanded, staring down at them. Geri and Freki loomed behind me, whining softly as they stared at their Norse fraternity brothers.
“Tired,” one of them wheezed. “Trying to catch up on lost time.” The other raven had simply passed out already.
I crouched down, nodding slowly. “Okay. Take a breath.”
“Odin sends a message for you,” he practically whispered. “Do not go to Asgar
d. Danger…”
I gritted my teeth angrily. “Where is he?” I growled.
The raven was already unconscious, his head lolling to the side. Without a word, Ruin scooped both of them up and carried them into the treehouse high above. I had tasked him with guarding the bleeding tree, not knowing Gunnar had done the same with Geri and Freki. “Don’t let them leave, Ruin.”
“Sure thing,” he murmured tiredly, closing the door softly.
Maybe he’d been working too hard. I glanced down at my watch, trying to control my breathing as anger threatened to consume me.
“Nate,” Alucard warned, suddenly standing behind me. “This might not be—”
“Nope. We’re going to Asgard.” I turned to find that Gunnar had followed Alucard over. “Hold down the fort,” I told him. “Keep the FBI busy and your kids safe. Alucard and I are going to go get some answers.”
Gunnar stared back grimly. “I want answers, Nate, but remember that without their help, my pups wouldn’t have even been born, and Ashley might have died. Instead, I have a family. I want an explanation but think before you bloody your knuckles.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’ll try.”
“We’ll meet at Achilles’ Heel in a few hours,” he said. “The boys are playing poker all night. Wanted me to invite you if you stopped by,” Gunnar said.
I nodded, masking my frown. This was going to be a long night. “Okay. I’ll call you when we’re finished.”
I had spent a considerable amount of time reading back up on the Norse pantheon, memorizing the different players, rivalries, powers, and the parts they would play in Ragnarök.
Because we had killed Thor, and he had a big role in their take on Armageddon—to fight the world serpent, Jörmungandr. Which meant that the events of Ragnarök had already changed. For better or worse was yet to be determined.
One thing I knew for certain was that I didn’t have many friends in Asgard. The Aesir gods had watched as Gunnar and I executed Thor in their own throne room. Even if they had agreed that Thor had been an asshole, my actions had disrespected all of them. A human killing a god in their seat of power. If I could do that to Thor with impunity, what did I intend for the rest of them?
Ascension: Nate Temple Series Book 13 Page 7