Page 119 of Heart of Mischief

Blood drained from his handsome, tanned face. The goblet fell from his fingers, clattering across the dais and onto the marble floor. His eyes widened. His jaw, now pale white behind his stubble, opened and closed several times in disbelief. It was the exact same expression that Mason made whenever he was caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to, which happened rather frequently. In fact, now that Charlie was there, standing before Loki, studying him in the orange light filtering into the hall, she wondered how she could ever have seen this man as anythingbutan older version of her brother. The resemblance between them was so striking it was almost painful.

“Father?” said Hel.

Charlie glanced over at the queen of the dead. Her sister.

My sister.

The words snaked around her heart like icy chains.

Now that Hel was facing outward, Charlie could see that the half of the goddess’s face that she’d seen moments ago did not represent her whole face. Not even close. In fact, the two halves were so shockingly different that it looked as if they’d been sewn together from two separate beings: one, a beautiful young woman with olive skin and straight dark hair, the other, a corpse. Half living, half dead. And it wasn’t only her face; the entire left side of her body was blue-black and rotting, from the slice of ankle peeking out below her dress right up to her hairline.

Sensing Charlie’s shock and fear, Henry nuzzled his little body into her neck.

I AM HERE

“Father?” Hel asked again, one green eye and one dead eye shifting from the intruders to Loki and back. “What’s going on?”

Charlie didn’t wait to hear Loki’s answer. She started down the stairs, her sneakers squeaking loudly on the marble. She flicked one hand over her shoulder, which allowed her to grab a current of magic and pull the others along behind her. No one had taught her to use such a gesture; it came naturally, instinctively, as if the currents themselves were whispering instructions into her ears. She didn’t even need to focus.

When she pushed into the crowd, the partygoers gasped, stumbling backward. Their fear opened a path through the madness. A small smile pulled at Charlie’s mouth. She was pleased by their fear. She wasmorethan pleased; she was untouchable, ferocious, practically immortal. It was just as she imagined taking drugs would feel.

She was high on her own magic.

When she finally reached the dais, she didn’t pause for pleasantries. Loki was still gaping down at her, clearly at a loss for words. Charlie crooked one finger over her shoulder, bringing Elias’s body rushing forward. She floated him up onto the dais, until he lay suspended justin front of the thrones. And with a snap of her fingers, his body lowered gently to the floor. Behind her, Mason and the helhest dropped to the marble as well.

“Fix him,” she said by way of greeting.

Henry squawked in agreement.

Loki looked down at Elias’s body and back at Charlie.

“Fix. Him,” she repeated, barely recognizing her own voice. When had she become this person? A person who went storming into castles, making demands of gods? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. She just needed Elias to be saved.

“Father.” Hel didn’t sound afraid, merely irritated. “Do youknowthese humans?”

“I don’t—” Loki started, but he couldn’t seem to find an ending. His eyes were moving fast, taking in the hundreds of watchful eyes trained upon them. The longer he looked, the more panicked he seemed.

Then, as sudden as the slice of a guillotine, the panic vanished. His mouth snapped shut. His forehead relaxed. His hand came up to rub his nails lazily together below his chin. In fact, in one blink, his entirebodyhad shifted from surprise to indifference so quickly that Charlie could almost believe she’d imagined his initial reaction.

“Hmm.” Loki’s eyes dropped to look at his nails. “Not sure. All humans look so similar, don’t you think?”

The words sent a hot streak of fury through Charlie’s chest. How could he say that? It was Loki who had claimed them as his children back in that cave, Loki who had sent Elias up to watch over them, Loki who had turned Charlie’s entire life upside down. But now that they were standing before him, he was going to pretend to have no clue who they were?

Charlie opened her mouth to argue, but Mason spoke first.

“Bullshit,” he spat.

A wave of whispers rippled through the crowd.

Mason stepped up to stand beside Charlie. His fists were clenched at his sides, his face bright red with rage. Apparently, Loki’s rejection stung him just as badly as it did her. Perhaps even worse.

“You know exactly who we are,” Mason went on. “Don’t pretend you don’t.”

Loki raised his eyes from his nails with exaggerated slowness. All around, party attendees shifted their stance, eager for a better view of the dais.Let’s see which of the humans loses their head first, shall we?

Charlie held her breath, but Mason didn’t even notice the tension. “How dare you try to brush us off,” he seethed. “We came all this way to find you. We traveled betweenrealms, and now that we’re finally here, you act like we’re nothing to you? Like you didn’t see us in that cave? Like you didn’t call us your—”

“Actually,” Loki said loudly, cutting him off. “Now that I think about it, youdosort of look familiar. Aren’t you the humans I sent one of my mares to kill?”