Page 65 of Heart of Mischief

Charlie adjusted her stance on the rock, a tingling sensation running across her skin. Gods, she was nervous. This was it. This was the moment she would learn the truth: Did she have magical blood or not? Was Loki really her father, or was it all an elaborate hoax?

Not to mention how exposed they were. Even with Henry, the Vikings, and (theoretically) Elias on her side, she still felt vulnerable. Rattatosk could show up on their doorstep at any moment.

“Right.” Elias started to pace. After only a few steps, he turned back, never straying more than ten feet from where Charlie stood. As he walked, he explained. “Let’s start with Loki Magic 101. What do you already know?”

“Only what I’ve read in folklore,” she said.

He paused his pacing. “So, only nonsense.”

Charlie shrugged. “The stories say that Loki’s most powerful ability is shape-shifting. And that he’s atrueshape-shifter, one of the only in existence, meaning that he doesn’t only change his appearance; he changes his entire body’s chemistry. When he shifts into a woman, hebecomesa woman, reproductive organs and all. Same with animals. That’s how he was able to procreate with a male horse, giving birth to Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse.”

For a long moment, Elias stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Well,” he said finally, “someone’sbeen doing her homework.”

She shrugged again. “Lou says I have an obsessive personality.”

“Excellent.” His eyes glittered. “How can I make you obsessed withme?”

“Can we please return to the subject at hand?”

“Of course, of course.” He turned, picking up his pacing. “So. Loki Magic 101. You are correct about the shape-shifting: Loki is a true shifter, which is one of his greatest gifts. But he possesses several other magical abilities that we will also test you for.”

“Such as?”

“Conjuring, for one. He never carries anything in his pockets, because he can keep objects wherever he wants and conjure them whenever necessary.”

“Damn,” said Charlie. “IhopeI can do that. I’d never have to lug around a textbook again.”

“As with all Asgardian gods, he also possesses remarkable speed, strength, and durability. He can heal from almost any wound.”

“I’m not particularly fast,” Charlie said, “as you already know from the multiple times we have been chased by monsters. But Iampretty strong. So are Mason and Sophie. But I always attributed it to our upbringing in the circus.”

Elias nodded. “So, potential superstrength.”

“How super are we talking?” Charlie asked, imagining herself lifting up the corner of a house, Clark Kent–style.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Elias said. “You’re only half-god, which means you might only get half of his strength.”

“Only half-god, he says.” Charlie smirked. “As if you aren’tdyingto be half-god yourself.”

She expected him to laugh or call her idiotic for suggesting that he wanted to be anything other than the demon that he was. The demon that, as he said himself, helovedbeing.

Instead, a strange expression took over his face. A moment of tension or pain, as if Charlie had unwittingly struck a nerve.

Interesting. She would have to dig deeper later.

“Lastly,” said Elias, wiping the odd expression from his face and smiling up at her, “there is levitation.”

“Levitation,” Charlie repeated. “You mean… he can fly?”

“It’s not quite the same,” said Elias. “Loki can manipulate objects to move up into the air, which means he can also manipulatehimselfup into the air. But it’s not like he’s a 747. He can’t, like, jet around the stratosphere.”

“Bummer,” said Charlie. “I used to have flying dreams as a kid. They were my favorite.”

Elias made a face of disgust. “Ugh. Happy dreams? How boring.”

“You’re a sociopath,” she said, echoing her brother’s words from the day before.