Highway to Hel Page 6

  Loki's was slightly different. He had roses, thorns, and vines, but in the middle of his bloomed an orchid. I was a little jealous. His was prettier than mine. We were careful not to let anyone else in the town see them, though. Once a week I made sure to re-power the glamour on our hands to keep them hidden. Now that we were married "officially", Loki didn't really have a problem with them. I wanted to keep this secret from everyone for as long as I could. If Odin found out, he would blow the top off of Asgard.

  He might not want me, not really, but he was possessive of his "things." He included me in the list. If things had changed, I hadn't gotten the memo, so I didn't want him getting wind of this.

  Not until I was ready.

  Loki strolled in and I drooled a little bit. He wore a pair of leather breeches with knee-high black leather boots. His chest was covered with tooled leather armor and he wore a black form-fitting shirt below it. His dark hair was combed back, but it still looked unruly. Such was Loki. Dashing and unruly all at the same time.

  He smiled when he saw me looking at him, a flash of white teeth against his golden skin. Loki made a beeline for the bar and pulled up a seat. "I'll have a glass of that new stout you've been brewing, little witch," he said by way of greeting.

  My lips twitched but I poured him a 16-ounce glass. "You're leaving soon, I presume?" I said, nodding at his apparel.

  "I am. I grabbed a bite to eat at the house, but I thought I'd stop by here to say goodbye in person. And try some of this new beer."

  I pushed the glass toward him and he took a sip of the peanut butter stout I created. His eyes widened in surprise.

  "When you said peanut butter, I wasn't sure what to think." He took another sip. "This is phenomenal."

  I flushed with pleasure. "Thanks. I mixed it with honey beer and called it Dirty Brunette."

  Loki chuckled and tipped his glass to me. "I prefer dirty redheads, but it's still a clever name."

  My cheeks colored and I had to turn away. "What time are you leaving?" I grabbed a clean towel and wiped up some of the condensation on the bar.

  "As soon as I finish this."

  I glanced up to see Loki grinning toothily at me.

  "I wouldn't mind a goodbye kiss from the wife before I left, though." One of his eyebrows rose in direct challenge.

  I wasn't sure if it was the beer I had earlier, the conversation with Gravelbeard, or just the freedom I felt today. I tossed the towel down and came around the bar, heading straight for Loki.

  He stilled and his eyes widened in surprise. Before he could say anything, I reached behind him to cradle his neck and laid one on him.

  He inhaled in surprise for a split second, but true to his trickster nature, he took the gift offered and gathered me into his arms.

  The bar went wild. Hoots and hollers, whistles and screams of delight. Applause rang out and feet stomped on the wooden floor. I registered this somewhere in the back of my mind, but I was mostly focused on the feel of Loki pressed against me. His lips were warm against mine and his hands were strong against my back. He smelled of winter, deep and mysterious, crisp and cool snow on the ground in a forest full of evergreens. His hands tugged at the leather binding of my braid, releasing my hair to fall down to my waist. He plunged his hands through it and swept his tongue against my lips.

  I opened to him like a flower in spring. Loki inhaled sharply and pulled me even closer. So close I couldn't tell where he started and I began.

  He plundered my mouth like a treasure hunter and just when I couldn't take the sensations anymore, he pulled away, resting his forehead against mine.

  "Now that," he said softly, "is how you wish a man a good journey." He tilted my face up to mine and pressed one more soft kiss against my swollen lips. "Do not regret it, Freya. We are good together, you and I, and I will make you see it."

  He raised his beer in the roar of the crowd and shouted. "To Freya! Goddess of War and all things bright in the world!"

  "FREYA!" the crowd screamed, their brews raised in the air.

  Pink colored my cheeks, but I grinned like a lunatic.

  Loki winked at me, took one more swig of his beer, and disappeared.

  The smile didn't fall off my face for hours.

  Hel finally came down the stairs a few hours after Loki had left to fetch Eir.

  "I heard the commotion down here earlier," she said as she took a stool at the bar. She never sat at a table, only the bar. It must have a better vantage point for her to see how much she was annoying me.

  "Loki was here," I said, keeping any emotion from my voice.

  "You two have a ... strange relationship." She reached and slid a bowl of trail mix over. Her short black nails gleamed as she snagged a handful of it.

  "We work well together," was all I offered. Our relationship or lack thereof was none of her business.

  "Mmm," she said and tossed a peanut in her mouth. "One would think there was something more there, you know?"

  I didn't let the trembling of my hands betray me. I busied myself with wiping down the clean glasses. "I'm not sure why it matters."

  She grinned then, her teeth a shock of white in the dim light. Hel was a beautiful woman, but she had a sharp edge, like broken glass. On anyone else the smile would have been beautiful. On her, it seemed manic. Edgy.

  Fear skittered across my spine, but I'd been dealing with people like her my entire life. We were all a little scary in some ways.

  "You'd be my stepmother!" she proclaimed. Hel's head tilted back and throaty laughter escaped. "Can you imagine?" Her gaze flicked up and down. "We look nothing alike." Hel plopped her elbows on top of the bar and dropped her head into her hands. "Would it be weird if I called you Mom?"

  I stopped my lip from curling. "I'm definitely not your stepmother," I lied with a light laugh. "One husband is enough."

  "Oh, that's right. Odin." Hel rolled her eyes. "No one ever thought he was right for you, you know. You're way too fiery for him. Good job on that coup, by the way."

  "It wasn't a coup," I corrected, my teeth on edge. "It was independence."

  She made a noncommittal noise. "We're Asgardians, Freya. There is no such thing as independence." She wiped the salt off her fingers with a napkin. "We may claim to be free, but we're beholden to someone, aren't we? You do me a favor and I'll pretend it was out of the goodness of my heart and a thousand years later you come to collect and I have no way to pay it back." She sighed. "That's the way it is. No favor is freely given with us. No debt ever repaid." She flicked her fingers. "It's exhausting." Hel paused for a moment. "But I like it here." A smile flickered over her face. A genuine one.

  My heart ached for her for a reason I couldn't define. Nothing she said was wrong. Even I was guilty of it once upon a time. However ... I did not want her to get a wild hair and decide to stay here. Loki would lose it.

  "It's a nice thing you've done, Freya. But I'm afraid I have to be going. I have someone to meet." Hel stood and gathered the shadows around her. Dark smoke bloomed around her. "I'm so sorry," she said. Her eyes flickered with sadness. "It's just my nature you know."

  Before I knew what she was talking about, Hel snapped her fingers and disappeared, the smoke dissipating in the air slowly. My brow furrowed.

  What was she sorry about? That sounded ... ominous.

  Screams rang out seconds later.

  I tossed my towel down and hopped over the bar, shattering several glasses in my haste. Before I even made it outside, sweltering heat hit me in the face even through the heavy wood of the door. I flung the door open and a scream tore from my throat.

  My settlement was on fire.

  I turned back to the customers. "Stay here! I'll ward the place to keep it from burning. You must not leave! If you leave I may not be able to protect you." My voice rang with desperation.

  The faces of the customers went white with fear, but no one argued. I nodded once and sent a spell of protection over the building, ensuring I included the cellars where all my bre
ws were stored.

  Gravelbeard tore out of the kitchen, his hair wild and his apron stained with the gods knew what. "What the hell is going on out there?"

  I stepped away from the door. Gravelbeard looked out and blanched. "Oh fuck me sideways," he muttered. "EYRA!" he shouted.

  The Valkyrie rushed out of the kitchen, her pretty face scrunched up in annoyance. Before she could say anything, she looked outside. "Oh," she breathed.

  A second later, Eyra's casual clothing rippled away and she stood in front of us dressed in her Valkyrie armor.

  Gravelbeard removed both axes from his back. "Hel?" he barked.

  I nodded. Swallowing hard, I sent a whisper of magic over myself. Seconds later, I stood dressed in the armor I never thought I'd wear again. I didn’t know if I could kill a death goddess, but I was sure about to try.

  Nine

  If there was ever a time I needed Loki around, it was now. I stepped out of the bar into the ruination of everything I'd worked so hard for. The sky glowed silvery blue with hellfire.

  There was only one thing the gods feared more than the afterlife.

  Hellfire.

  Tears pricked the back of my eyes, but I staunchly repressed them. No one could see me cry. Not now. If I broke now, I'd never pick myself back up again.

  How had Hel managed to trick the protections on this place? I turned wild eyes to Gravelbeard. He met my glance with his calm one. Sadness filled them and, quite unlike him, he reached over to clasp my hand.

  He squeezed it once and dropped it. I took a shuddering breath and squared my shoulders.

  "First, we get everyone out. Eyra, can you go door to door and make sure everyone knows what's coming?" Hellfire hadn't touched everything, but it would eventually destroy whatever stood in its way.

  She nodded and expanded her wings.

  "Tell everyone to come here. They'll be protected. If you can, carry the children away first. Make sure the parents know who you are and that I sent you."

  Eyra held my stare and nodded. "It will be done." She shot up into the air and flew high above the hellfire.

  I shut the bar door behind me and lowered my voice. "It can't be put out," I said.

  "Aye," Gravelbeard agreed.

  "What in the actual shit is happening right now?" Morrigan said to the right.

  I jerked and held in a sob at the sight of her. She stared at the burning town in horror.

  "I can't put it out," I said needlessly.

  She nodded. "You can't. But I can."

  I blinked. "You can?"

  "Of course I can. Hel and I ... well, she's a right bitch, but our powers both stem from death." Her mouth tightened into a fierce smile. "I just don't use hellfire because it seems like an easy way to win."

  A broken sob escaped.

  "You won't be able to save everything," she said and reached out cool fingers to grip my arm. "It destroys what it touches."

  I nodded, Hel's words drifting uncomfortably back to me. "What do you want for it?" I asked, misery in my voice.

  Her eyes went silver and a sad smile crossed her lips. "Maybe you and I can start something new, Freya. Something other people want. Maybe you and I can build something good. Maybe you and I do things for each other because we care. Does that sound like something you want?"

  The tears building spilled and I nodded. "I've never wanted anything more in my entire existence than I want that now."

  She nodded and reached out to clasp my forearm. "Bargain with me, Goddess of War."

  We saved all but five. Eyra was too late to reach the first family. They died with their two young children and their grandmother. When the news reached me, I fell to my knees, a sorrowful scream tearing from my throat, and I swore my vengeance to the stars.

  Morrigan sat beside me, both of us burned and covered in soot. "You can't kill the goddess of death," she said quietly.

  "You can kill anything," I replied, scuffing my boots on the ground. The bar was filled with townspeople. Gravelbeard and Eyra had gone back in to feed them and provide what we could with our limited provisions. I'd already agreed to do whatever needed to be done to provide them with whatever else I could. If I had to use my magic, then I would.

  "But should you?" she asked.

  When she saw my face, she snorted. "Yeah. I'd have the same answer to that. Hel is considered unkillable. Many people have tried and all of them have failed. I don't want you to be another who failed because those who have no longer live." Her lips curled in disgust. "Hel keeps them imprisoned and tortures their souls."

  "She tried to destroy this place," I said, my voice hoarse with smoke. We would heal before the morning, but it still hurt to talk.

  "I don't deny that she deserves to die," Morrigan said. "I'm just saying it appears to be impossible."

  "Mmm," I replied. "Before now would you have thought it impossible to defy Odin, break his bond, and create a new civilization away from the Asgardians?"

  Morrigan paused for a moment, then a delighted grin broke out across her face. "I love it when you say impossible things to me." She looked around at the destruction. "So ... we going to kill the leader of the underworld?"

  I nodded. "I think so, Morrigan."

  Morrigan tilted her long neck up and peered at the stars. They were hard to see because of the smoke, but you could still see some of them, white specks in the black night. "Huh," she said, "It's been a while since I've done something that fun."

  A fierce grin formed on my face. "I love fun."

  "And if it ends in Hel's horrible death, that's just icing on the cake," Morrigan said.

  My moment of elation faded. "I have to tell Loki."

  Her gaze sharpened. "He isn't here?"

  "He left right before Hel did. He took the new pup to see Eir." I rolled my eyes. "He thought she might have worms." I did not mention the fiery kiss he'd given me right before he left. It didn't seem like the right time.

  Instead of being amused, Morrigan stood abruptly, "Freya," she said urgently, "contact Loki."

  I looked up at her, confused. "I was."

  "No. Do it now. I'm afraid Hel might have gotten one over on you."

  I stood slowly, a thought beginning to dawn on me. "This was a distraction." Fear plummeted my veins in ice.

  "Call him," she snapped.

  I rarely used our bond, but this time, I focused on it and snapped it wide open. A channel opened and I gasped at the sensations of it. I blinked a few times and waited for my eyes to adjust. The colors of our magic melded and the scent of winter flowed over me, but as soon as it did, I felt something else - fear.

  Loki, I spoke down the bond.

  Freya? His voice was weak, tired.

  Are you okay?

  A pained chuckle came through the bond. I'm afraid not.

  Hel, I said, a deep sigh wringing from my chest.

  She accosted me on the way to Eir, he said through the mental bond. I was taken by surprise, which I can honestly admit has rarely ever happened to me. But our magics have similarities and she knew.

  Where are you?

  Well, it's dark and there's a lot of screaming going on so I can only guess I'm in the Underworld.

  "He's in the Underworld," I said to Morrigan. I pretended not to notice her already pale skin whiten a shade more.

  I'm going to find you, I told him. And, I hate to tell you this, but I'm going to kill your daughter.

  Amusement rang through the bond. Imagine how much she's going to hate me after that. But, little witch, I don't think you can. No one has ever been successful.

  I'm really tired of people telling me what I can and can't do. I'll figure this out and if I can kill her, I'd consider that a plus, okay?

  Freya?

  Hmm?

  There is something else, isn't there? I can sense your grief even through this distance.

  I exhaled. Hel did her best to destroy this place. Luckily, Morrigan was here. She helped me get it all under control.

  How bad? The
re was a tinge of grief in his voice.

  We lost five. Most of the structures are destroyed. The bar and the cellar beneath still stand. My house ... it partially stands. I swallowed hard. I haven't been through it to see the damage. A thought occurred to me.

  Where is Hallie?

  Genuine amusement came through to me. She is gone. I can only hope she's on her way back to you. Hel is sporting a pretty nasty dog bite on her leg. An hour ago, it was still bleeding. I hope Hallie has rabies.

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. I'll see if Morrigan can find her.

  Is this ... he paused. This thing with Morrigan. Is this a friendship thing?

  I smiled. Yeah. I think so. I hope so, I added.

  How ... odd. His deep chuckle rolled through the bond. I hope it works.

  Me too. Hold tight, Loki. I will find you.

  It's not so bad. The chains aren't so heavy I can't lift them and she used broth for the gruel instead of water. I don't think she wants me dead, Freya. I think she wants me for something worse.

  I don't see why you sound so happy about that.

  Fierce satisfaction rolled down the line. Because it gives me time to plot. And plotting is what a trickster does best, little witch.

  His voice lowered to almost a whisper. She does not know we're bound, Freya. I need to go. Have Morrigan shut down the bond if she can. Or at least disguise it. Do not reach out to me. I will contact you when I can. A soft breath whispered down the bond. I do so love you, little witch.

  Tears sprang to my eyes as Loki closed his side of the bond down.

  Morrigan stared at me, her eyes wide. "My gods," she whispered. "You truly love him."

  I blinked at her and shook my head in denial. "My feelings are complicated."

  A small smile quirked her lips up. "I do not judge, Goddess of War. But I do take delight in seeing what may be the first true love match the Asgardians have ever had."

  I snorted. "No way. There's a lot of them out there."

  "No." She shook her head. "They are alliances. Bonds of love may have formed later, but they were never there in the beginning." She grinned in delight, her soot streaked face lit up in the dark night. "I knew it!" she crowed.