Page 60 of The Fanged One

Hel made a rude noise. "You? The great beast who gulps poor Uncle Havi down in one bite while the stars wink out? As if anyone could pay you to put that man in your mouth. Who knows where he's been?"

Fenris couldn't hold back a laugh just thinking about it, and the joke lifted some of the heaviness in him. His little sister could always make him laugh.

"Now, I see you've decided, in your infinite wisdom, that the kindest thing you can do for Linnea is decide on her behalf that she will leave you, before she has been given the chance to do anything at all."

Hel set her cup down on the hearthstone and leaned forward, elbows on her knees.

"Brother, I love you. You're the bravest creature I know and have endured a terrible hardship, but that's no excuse to be this much of a fool when it comes to Linnea."

Fenris drank his horribly good liquor. "Do you have any advice, or are you going to just kick me in the balls while I'm down?"

"I'm going to do both, just because I love you," Hel said and tugged on his ear. "Listen to me. The longer you sit on this, the harder it will be when it comes out. Truth like this doesn't stay buried, not in our family, and certainly not on a road built to dig up the darkest parts of yourself. She won't be hurt that you are her mate. She will be hurt that you knew, and you never told her. She will see that as you rejecting her if it's not handled correctly. You aren't protecting her, Fen. You're protecting yourself."

Fenris knew it, but hearing from his sister's mouth didn't make it any easier to do something about it.

"The timing is too shit," he said gruffly. "We aren't exactly on a road that is conducive to romance."

"That depends on your definition of romance," Hel said. She waved her hands at the chamber, the underworld, the whole grim country outside. "I think walking a woman into the land of the dead and biting anything that comes near her is deeply romantic. Far better than flowers. Flowers die. I should know. They all end up here."

Fenris chuckled. "Your sense of romance is bleak, little sister."

"My sense of everything is bleak. It's part of my charm." She filled both of their cups again. "Drink. We have other things to be sad about, and I refuse to spend our whole reunion on your pathetic love life. Seriously, it makes me wish our father were already back with us just to teach you a few tricks. You don't have a drop of charm in you. No wonder Linnea hasn't jumped your bones yet."

"Thank you, little sister. I appreciate that," Fenris replied and managed a smile. "Loki probably would tell me to stop being such a little bitch about it."

"He would, and he'd be right too. It has been far too quiet without you both around," Hel said with a hopeful smile. "You're finally here, and I'll be glad to have Father awake to liven things up again. I've missed him being annoying and setting things on fire that I have to put out."

"He's going to set everything on fire," Fenris replied, making her laugh. "We'll finally get him out, and he will be free for one afternoon before he shakes up something and gets us all into trouble. Right before he gets us all out again, looking insufferably proud of himself when he does it."

"Gods, I have missed him so much," Hel said, and her eyes were bright in a way that had nothing to do with the drink. "Do you think he will cope in the new world? It's so fast now. So loud and bright."

"He will love it. It was made for him." Fenris thought of the lights of Oslo, the crush of eclectic people from all over the world, the screens, the food. "It's full of all kinds of mischief for him to get into, and he won't be alone to navigate it. Linnea's family is packed with gods and immortals already, and they will get him caught up in the century soon enough."

"Careful, he will hate being managed," Hel warned him.

"He will pretend to hate it, but I'm sure he will appreciate the help if he wants it." Fenris smiled into his cup. "I can't wait to take him to Von's club. The shaman will make certain our father has the time of his life, and Loki will probably repay him by flirting him into an early grave."

Hel cackled. "Oh, those two should never be allowed in the same room. Von is a darling, and Dad will go out of his way to try and corrupt him."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Von flirts like it is a sport with a score only he can see," Fenris agreed. "If Father takes that as a challenge, they will turn it into a game of strip flyting before the night is out, trading filthier and filthier insults until one of them either bursts into tears or proposes marriage."

Hel roared with laughter, loud enough to wake all the dead in Éljúðnir. "And probably in that order too. Do you think we should warn Von and the others what to expect with Loki?"

They both stared at each other before saying, "No," at the same time and exploding into laughter again.

29

Fenris put another log on the fire, and Hel looked into the flames instead of meeting his gaze.

"Have you seen Jörmungandr yet?" she asked.

"Not since before the binding." Fenris stirred the fire with the poker before sitting back in his chair. "You?"

"Not for a thousand years, or near enough," she replied and began to unravel her braided crown. "He stayed a serpent the last time. He said he was done with becoming human. He doesn't like them and doesn't want to wear their face anymore. He spoke to me from the water and wouldn't come out. My own brother, talking to me out of the dark of the sea like a stranger, all teeth and old grief."

Fenris didn't like the sound of that, but their brother had always been the most troubled. "Where is he now?"

"No idea except for somewhere in the sea. He goes where he likes," she replied with a shrug. "We are scattered, the three of us. One in the ground, one in the sea, one keeping the door of the dead. Father did this when he bound himself in the middle of us, like the eye of a storm."