Page 50 of Heart of Mischief

He raised a suggestive eyebrow. “Would you like me to explain it to you?”

At the thought of Elias explaining how a baby is made, her cheeks lit on fire. “Don’t be disgusting,” she said. “Even if they somehow found time to squeeze in a quickie or two, it wouldn’t be enough to produce a baby. Gods don’t reproduce the way humans do. Sophie explained the whole thing.”

“First of all,” said Elias, rubbing two impatient fingers on his forehead. “Never let a warrior princess who swore an oath of lifelong chastity explain reproduction to you.”

Lifelong chastity?That was news.

“Your twin’s information is completely inaccurate. Gods can reproduce with humans just fine. The Valkyrie are probably told otherwise so they’re not all tempted to try and have Thor’s babies.”

“Or,” she said, “maybeyou’rethe one with bad information.”

“I’m not. And the reason I know I’m not,” he said, “is because I know exactly how Loki met your mother. He showed me.”

Charlie stared at Elias. His words wouldn’t quite process. She whispered, “What did you just say?”

“He showed me what transpired between him and Trish. Allowed me to dip into his mind and read his memories.” He crossed his arms. “No one can fake memories. Not even the god of deception himself.”

“Maybe not,” she said, feeling panic starting to rise in her chest—and anger along with it. “Butyoucan certainly fake your words. You’ve demonstrated quite a talent for it in the past.”

Elias scoffed. “Pot, kettle.”

Her hackles rose, partly at the insinuation that she was anything like him and partly because she knew he was right. Shewasa good liar. Extraordinary, really. You had to be, if you wanted to be a good magician.

“You can’t compare us,” she shot back. “I lie to protect the people I care about. You lie to protect yourself.”

“As far as you know.”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you think your mom hasn’t called you in a panic yet?” he asked, stepping closer. “Did you think the school just convenientlyforgotto let your legal guardian know that you didn’t show up for class this morning?”

“I…” Charlie blanched, suddenly realizing how late it was. She’d been so wrapped up in the situation at hand—one of life and death, of the protection of Asgard, of things far more important than anything as trivial as class (though Abigail would surely disagree)—that she’d forgotten to call the front desk and give herself an alibi.Hadthe administration just forgotten, or…?

“Wait.” She blinked at Elias. “You covered for me?”

“Obviously.” He rolled his eyes.

“Usingpossession? But that’s…”

“The only way I could be absolutely certain you wouldn’t get in trouble for ditching and that your mom would never find out?” He raised an eyebrow. “I know. You’re welcome.”

“I wasgoingto say”—Charlie glared pointedly—“that’swrong. Using mind control on another person is wrong.”

“Yeah, well, all that wrongness just saved you from a month’s detention. So. You’re welcome.” He exhaled, pinching the space between his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger. “Look. I’m on your side here, Charlotte. I didn’t harm any of your friends. I risked my own neck by going to a joturri to whom I owe a serious debt. I don’t know how else to prove to you that I’m telling the truth.”

“You can’t.” She crossed her arms. “And what is this debt that you owe him for, anyway? What favor did he do for you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off.

“Listen.” He sounded like he was at the end of his rope. “The truth is, you can never know when someone is lying or telling the truth. That’s life. You can only trust what your gut tells you. So.”He crossed his arms, raising one eyebrow. “What does your gut tell you about me?”

She knew what she wanted her gut to tell her about him.Liar. Murderer. Selfish. Not to be trusted.And itwassaying those things. But she could hear something else, too. Something soft. Barely even a whisper. Maybe a whisper wasn’t enough to stake one’s life on, but combined with her new plan to gradually befriend Elias (for the sake of revenge, of course) and the slight possibility that hewastelling the truth about having information on her mom and Loki’s story… well. It was too tempting to pass up.

Charlie set her hands on her hips. “My gut tells me that, if I’m going to trust you, I need you to give me something real.”

“Give you something real?” He shook his head. “Like what, flowers?”