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Tyr’s eyes flicked to me, and my stomach swooped at their intensity. “When she wants them, we’ll have that discussion then.”
Dad blew out a breath. “Dammit.”
Aya and Tyr laughed.
I smiled. I knew how difficult that had to have been for Tyr to word himself like that. We’d tried in my past life to have a family. It never happened.
With me having a new body, and better fertility and adoption resources in the event I couldn’t carry again, that dream would be on his mind. But I needed time. A few years of navigating and enjoying my relationship with him and Diego, it was all I asked.Hell, I haven’t even used the L-word with either of them.
“What about me?” Xavier hip-checked me. “Unlike the rest of you, I’m not getting any younger, and I also would like little Santos Erikson feet scurrying around.”
I narrowed my eyes in warning, making him laugh. I was glad he took so well to the truth of the world, and the fact he was surrounded by immortals, but that didn’t get him a free pass on this topic. “It’d be Santos Astridsdotter if we combined traditions, thank you.”
At least, that was how it’d be right now. Should future children come along, I’d be discussing naming conventions privately with their respective father to be sure we agreed on everything. But bringing in some tradition, even if we blended in our own, was appealing to me.
I’d already gone and changed my surname to Bjørnsdotter, reviving the family tradition. Dad revealed his true name to me as also Bjørn, like my first father, so the compulsion to follow the tradition he’d wanted all along had been great to me.Thank fuck Aya was able to make that transition painless.The immortal world was a lawless world where we got away with a lot, and mortals were none the wiser.
“Where’s Diego?” Dad asked. “I need him here to help us.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s with Urd. Not that it matters. He’ll take the same stance as Tyr, and you know it.”
Xavier briefly paused at the mention of Urd, and then resumed cooking. He still wasn’t on speaking terms with her. I hoped one of these days he’d at least be willing to sit down and hear her out, but Diego and I wouldn’t push. This was one hell of a complicated situation, and at the very least, Xavier didn’t try to hinder Diego from rebuilding his relationship with his mom. He only got a little weird sometimes when she was brought up in conversation, and made himself scarce when Diego invited her over.
A phone pinged and Tyr pulled out his older-than-dinosaurs flip phone.I really need to convince him to upgrade.“I got a text from Davyn.”
I sputtered a laugh, and he shot me an exasperated look. “Why do you do that every time I mention using a phone?”
“Because it’s you, and I’m surprised you’re capable of operating one,” I said through giggles. “Same with Davyn.”
Technology seriously confused Tyr. When someone said they were technology-challenged, they paled in comparison to some of these gods. It made Saturday night D&D games extra hilarious when everyone couldn’t meet in person. The game itself didn’t click with him, and adding digital game-play didn’t help.
Tyr shook his head. “He has a lead on Loki.”
The butter in my hand oozed out of the waxed paper wrapper and plopped on the counter when my hand slowly squeezed the life out of the poor dairy product.Loki.
“Ace, take a breath,” Dad said. “I know this situation is a hard one, but you need to make sure you go into this with a level head.”
He’s right.I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and then rubbed Baldur’s vambrace on my arm. I wore it and Mother Randi’s all the time. They brought me comfort, and helped me stay calm and focused whenever I found myself overwhelmed.
“Do you have a plan yet on how to deal with Loki? It’s not easy to kill a god, especially a slippery one like him,” Dad said. He knew about the vow I made. He didn’t like that I walked down a road filled with bloodshed, and a part of me didn’t either, but he also understood I couldn’t back down now.
I shook my head. “No.”
I didn’t know how to deal with him or Ingrid. She’d all but disappeared from the face of the earth. Dahlia couldn’t even find her on some supercomputer program that could find people down to their exact location based on their life energy… or something like that. A part of me hoped Ingrid died of her injuries, but I suspected she hadn’t. That would have been too easy.
“But I’ll figure something out.” I stroked the armor again. I had to come up with something. Not just for my oath, but for my soul. It demanded vengeance against Loki.How dare he take Baldur from me.
I went about cleaning up my mess and threw my next question to Tyr. “When does Davyn want us to meet up?”
He looked at his phone. “He hasn’t said. They’re investigating the lead first. We’ll pop in to their location if it’s proven correct.”
That might give me time to still make my cookie pies, and be a good distraction, because the urge to go find Loki and gut him was quite strong.I need another stick of butter.
Whipping out my phone, I let Diego know the update, and also teased him a little on his “how to be aproperdragon” lessons with his mom. I then rummaged in the fridge.
I found more butter and closed the fridge door. Turning, I did not expect someone to be directly behind me. I shrieked and chucked the butter stick at him.
Diego pulled into himself to defend against the cold projectile. “Cielo!”
