Page 12 of The Fanged One

Linnea walked back through the cottage, still holding a cup, and stopped in the lounge room as the air folded in on itself and a portal opened.

Havi stepped out first, in dark boots, jeans, and a cream-and-gray knit jumper. His black and silver braid lay over one shoulder, his eye patch plain black leather. The other eye took in the room in a sweep and stopped on the wolf by the kitchen archway.

"Hello, little wolf," he greeted with a crooked grin.

Freya came through behind him in a cream wool tunic sweater, black tights, and reindeer leather boots laced to the knee.

The wolf in front of Linnea stepped forward before he shifted into a very naked Fenris. Linnea kept her eyes firmly on Freya and not on the perfect ass that was just there. Freya's eyes twinkled with mischief, and Linnea's face went hot.

"You seem to have forgotten something, nephew." Havi made a small gesture, and a long-sleeved black shirt, jeans, and boots suddenly appeared on Fenris.

"Hello, uncle," he said and inclined his head. "Lady Freya."

Havi crossed the room in two strides and took Fenris's face in both his enormous hands. He bent his forehead to Fenris's and held it there. Linnea took a quiet step back against the kitchen archway, feeling like she was an intruder all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry," Havi said, his voice soft. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't tell them the whole truth. You will find they have made up their own nonsense stories about you."

"Humans have always had a bad habit of that," Fenris replied.

A breath of laughter went out of Havi, helpless and surprised, and his hands tightened briefly on either side of Fenris's face before he let him go.

Freya came across the room and took Fenris's scarred wrist. She turned the inside of it up to the firelight, bent her head, and pressed her lips to the silvered ribbon of scar that wrapped his pulse.

"Forgive me, fanged one," she said against his skin. "There was no other path I could see, and that is no excuse. I'm sorry for this pain."

"Aunt Freya, I knew what I agreed to. You owe me nothing."

"I owe you thousands of years," Freya said and let him go. Her gold eyes turned on Linnea, who had been doing her best to be invisible, and she smiled. "Ah, coffee is ready, is it?"

"Right," Linnea said and hurried back into the kitchen.

She returned with four mugs, a small jug of milk, and a sugar bowl, and set them on the low table by the woodstove. The coffee was strong, and Linnea noticed Havi took at least three sugars. Freya had it black. Fenris took a moment to inhale its steam before drinking.

Linnea fixed her own cup and sat on the arm of the couch because she wasn't sure she was invited.

That didn't stop her from asking, "So, what do we do now? I take it Fenris goes with you back to Asgard, and you all do Ragnarök things?"

Her wolf, who had been quiet through the seidr and the gods' arrival, made a low mutinous sound.

No.

Hush. We can't get in the way of Ragnarök.

"No," Fenris echoed her wolf before either god could answer. He set his cup down on the floor by his foot. "We need to find my father. Tell me where he is so I can release him. We can't stop the devouring dark without him."

"We can't tell you," Havi said with a tired sigh.

Fenris went still, and the wolf rose behind his eyes. "Why?"

"The Norns," Freya said simply. "When they let us spin the plan with Loki, they said we were forbidden to tell anyone his location. The work of finding him isn't ours to do."

Freya opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, and Linnea almost dropped her cup in shock.

A gold bind rune was carved into Freya's tongue, drawn sharp and clean.

Havi opened his mouth, and the same rune sat on his. It had a crack across the top and looked redrawn. Linnea suspected that he had tried to break it at some point and had paid for it.

"Well, shit," Linnea whispered. "How is Fenris supposed to find him alone? Loki was bound by you two and the Norns. He's not going to be in any place a normal person can just walk into."