Howl for Me (18 page)

Logan smirked and waggled his brows. “Wore him out, did we?”

Fen noted how careful his father was to keep his voice low and was grateful for it. “Yes.”

There was no way his father could help but notice the pure contentment in his response. Nothing could take Jeff from him now. Logan nodded and headed for the front door. “Be careful. I strengthened the wards while you two were consummating your marriage, but that doesn’t mean Grimm can’t find a hole in them somewhere.”

“Have Magnus and Morgan returned?” The brothers would be horrified to find out what had happened to their family during their absence.

“Not yet. We’re hoping they get here soon, before Jeanne goes ballistic and hunts Grimm down with a bowie knife and a bandana.”

Fen was not going to ask. He was
not
. “A bandana?” Shit. He’d asked.

Logan grinned. “Ask your mate about Sylvester Stallone some time. Rambo is must-see TV for any red-blooded American male.”

“What do we do about the Old Man?” Fen stared into his father’s eyes. “He scarred my mate.”

Logan blew out a breath, all humor leaving his face to be replaced by grim determination. “We find him and kill his ass.”

Fen frowned, confused. “How will that hurt him? Has his ass done anything wrong?”

Logan’s expression blanked just before he burst into laughter worthy of Kir. He barely breathed as he doubled over.

“What the hell?” Jordan stared at Logan as if he’d grown a second head. “What did you do to him?”

“I asked him why we wanted to kill the Old Man’s ass. Surely the beast has no say in what Odin does.” It was probably as much of an innocent as Sleipnir, Fen’s half brother and Odin’s eight-legged steed. The last time he’d seen his brother the beast had cast him one sorrowful glance before taking Odin away into the night sky.

He had no idea how long ago that had been, nor did he want to. He only knew he’d recognized that look. For all his brother seemed to be free, he was just as imprisoned as Fenris.

Her lips twitched. “Oh. American Idioms 101. When we say we want to kill someone’s ass, we mean we want to kill them.”

He shook his head. “Why didn’t he say so?”

“He did, you just didn’t understand it.” She patted his shoulder. “You’ll get it eventually. Jeff will help.”

He stared toward the bedroom door and smiled. “Yes. I know he will.”

Jeff, delicate and fragile looking, snored so loudly the door rattled. Fen grinned. Next to him, Jordan bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Gods, his mate made him
happy
.

Chapter Nine

“So.” Jeanne Grimm had papers strewn all over his dining room table, and he couldn’t be more pleased. Jeff stared down at the charts and diagrams she’d whipped up while he’d been sleeping and grinned. She pointed to a spot on her timeline. “Heimdall blows his horn.” She moved to the next item. “Odin speaks to a decapitated head.” Her finger moved along, ticking off the things listed in the prophecy. “Yggdrasil, the World Tree, trembles.”

“Earthquake?” Jordan popped yet another piece of pizza in her mouth. For a woman who professed to hate olives she was eating a metric ton of them recently. And was that pineapple on her pizza as well?

“Good thinking.” Jeanne nodded approvingly. “Some Ettin is loosed. Any ideas?”

No one said anything. Then again, the majority of those in the know were currently in Kir and Logan’s condo holding their own war council. The Grimm family had been relegated to Jeff’s place, not that he was complaining.

He bet they came up with stuff much sooner than the Norse gods did. Sometimes all it took was a fresh perspective on an old problem, and who better to help them with that than Jeanne Grimm? The woman would make a five-star general look like a scatterbrained dork.

“Note to self, look that up later.” Jeanne scribbled something down on a Post-It note and attached it to her timeline. “Okay. Next,
the Aesir are at council
.” She tapped her pen on the table. “Scratch that one off, ’cause I’m pretty sure it’s happened more than once and will happen again.”

“During an earthquake, while the Old Man talks to a decapitated head?” Jordan sighed in bliss as another bite of olive and pineapple pizza disappeared into her face.

“How can you
eat
that?” Jeff shuddered in revulsion. “There’s no meat on it.” Everyone stopped and stared at him. He shrugged. “What?”

Jeanne turned her attention back to the papers on the table. “Dwarves groan.” She grimaced. “I’m pretty sure they do that every time they see Leprechaun Returns: 3D.”

Jordan choked on an olive. Jamie helped by smacking her back so hard she fell off the sofa.

Jeanne shook her head. “Children. Settle down.” Jordan got back on the sofa, but not before giving Jamie a death glare. “Hrymyr sails from the east during a flood.”

Again, blank stares met her questioning look. “No clue, Mom.” Jeff got up and snagged his own piece of extra pepperoni. “Add another Post-It.”

She did. “
The monstrous Beast twists in mighty wrath
. Jörmungandr? Or someone else?”

Jordan frowned down at her pizza. “Dad said Jör wasn’t the serpent.”

Jeff stared at his sister. “He did? Then who was the serpent?”

She stared right back. “Odin?”

Jeanne sighed and tapped her pen again. “Okay. So part of this could refer to Jörmungandr, part of it could not.
The Snake beats the waves
sounds like him.”

“Yeah, it does, since he was banished to the sea.” Jeff took his seat next to Jamie and watched their mother pace.

“
The Eagle is screaming
.”

“That’s because they haven’t won the Super Bowl in forever.” Jamie flinched when Jordan popped her one on the back of the head.

“
The gold-neb tears corpses, Naglfar is loosed
.” Jeanne rubbed her eyes wearily. “Screw this. Bring me a laptop.”

Jeff hopped up to do his mother’s bidding. He soon had her set up at the table, some of the papers set aside carefully so as not to disturb their order.

“Okay. If I remember, there’s more than one translation of the Poetic Edda. Your friends have only given us one. Let’s see what else is out there.” Jeanne grinned and began to type. Soon she had another version up on the screen. “
Loud blows Heimdall, the horn is aloft. In fear quake all who on Hel-roads are
.”

“Not much difference that I can see,” Jeff muttered. He leaned down to stare at the screen over his mother’s shoulder. “Look there. This seems to say the Eagle and Naglfar are the same—
and the tawny eagle gnaws corpses screaming; Naglfar is loose
.”

“So we need to find out who Naglfar is.” Jeanne made another note. “Right. Next.” She scrolled a bit. “There.”

“O’er the sea from the north there sails a ship

With the people of Hel, at the helm stands Loki;

After the wolf do wild men follow,

And with them the brother of Byleist goes.”

“Another name to add to our list. Who’s Byleist and his brother? They’re in both translations.” Jeanne’s pen was tapping again. It was quickly driving Jeff nuts. His mother typed in a quick Wiki search. “Oh. Byleist is Loki’s brother.”

Jordan gasped. “Logan has a brother?”

Jeff groaned. “You mean there are two of them?”

Jeanne rolled her eyes and continued.

“Surt fares from the south with the scourge of branches,

The sun of the battle-gods shone from his sword;

The crags are sundered, the giant-women sink,

The dead throng Hel-way, and heaven is cloven.”

“That sounds lovely.” Jordan grimaced. “Zombies throng Center City. Corporations notice no differences in productivity. Film at eleven.”

“Now comes to Hlin yet another hurt,

When Othin fares to fight with the wolf,

And Beli’s fair slayer seeks out Surt,

For there must fall the joy of Frigg.”

“The Joy of Frigg? Does that frigid bitch believe in joy?” Jeanne shook her head. “So Odin falls to the wolf?”

“That seems to be pretty consistent.” Jordan pointed. “But take a look:

“Then comes Sigfather’s mighty son,

Vithar, to fight with the foaming wolf;

In the giant’s son does he thrust his sword

Full to the heart: his father is avenged.”

“Meaning Fenris kills Odin, but dies by Uncle Val’s hand.” Jamie shook her head. “We’re all hoping that one’s wrong.”

Hell, Jeff was more than hoping. He was planning. After all, the Eddas didn’t say
which
wolf would kill Odin, did they? None of the translations specifically mentioned Fenris. Now that there was more than one giant wolf carrying Loki’s blood, thanks to his mating with Fen, there was a possibility Jeff could carry out the deed.

If anyone died while killing Odin it was going to be him. Fen had suffered enough at his grandfather’s hands, thank you.

“Hither there comes the son of Hlothyn,

The bright snake gapes to heaven above;

Against the serpent goes Othin’s son.”

Jeanne gasped. “Is this…?”

Jeff nodded. “Yeah. Everyone thought the serpent was Jörmungandr.”

“But serpent has more than one meaning, doesn’t it?” Jamie frowned thoughtfully. “Sometimes it means betrayer.”

“If anyone has betrayed this family it’s the Old Man.” Jeff ran his hand through his hair and frowned at the feel of it. “What the hell?”

“You didn’t know?” Jordan ran her hand down his back. It met his hair the entire way down until she was almost at his ass. “Love the rock glam look on you, bro.”

“Shit.” No, he hadn’t noticed his
waist-length hair
. How the hell had he missed
that
?

“Language, Jeff.”

“Sorry.”

Jeanne read the next stanza.

“In anger smites the warder of earth,

Forth from their homes must all men flee;

Nine paces fares the son of Fjorgyn,

And, slain by the serpent, fearless he sinks.”

“Dad.” Jamie sniffed, close to tears.

Jeff finished it for them. Jeanne had taken Jamie in her arms and the two women looked ready to start crying.

Jeff couldn’t cry. Not yet. Not until Odin was dead.

“The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea,

The hot stars down from heaven are whirled;

Fierce grows the steam and the life-feeding flame,

Till fire leaps high about heaven itself.”

There was silence as he finished. “The rest is all about the happy times as Baldur rules over heaven on earth. Wine, women, song, all that happy crap.” He stood and stretched his sore muscles.

A finger reached out and tapped the screen. “And then a dragon flies overhead with the bodies of the dead strapped to its back.”

Jeff stared at his sister. Jamie pulled free of their mother and went back to the pizza box. Her hand hovered over the extra pepperoni, but then suddenly grabbed a slice of olive and pineapple, moaning happily as she bit into it. “Huh. That would qualify.”

“As what?” Jeanne shut the website down and picked up her own slice of pizza. “And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

He grinned at his mother. “The weirdest thing I’ve seen today.” He wasn’t talking about the dragon, either. Jamie
hated
olives, especially on her pizza.

Could Jamie be pregnant?

Jeanne’s brows rose, but not much could disguise the tear tracks on her cheeks or the grief in her eyes. “Only today?”

He pointed toward the front door. “Have you
met
your sons-in-law?”

Her head tilted as she thought about that. “Good point.”

“He’s going to do something stupid.” Fen stared at the front door of his father’s condo. Every one of his instincts said Jeffrey Grimm was going to go hunting his father’s killer. The look on his mate’s face as he’d dressed for his meeting with his family had been fierce, determined.

Fen was terrified.

Logan snorted. “That’s like saying he’s going to drool over Vincente.”

“Five will get you ten they’re sitting there, going over the prophecy.” Travis was pacing, a sure sign of his own agitation. If Jeff was going off half-cocked odds were good Jamie would be right behind him, with Jordan not too far off.

“Making plans.” Kir sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit. I wish the M&M’s were here. They’re the only ones with even a chance of controlling those three.”

“In your dreams, maybe.” Travis paused. “What if we let them?”

Fen turned his attention to the blond god. He didn’t like the look on Travis’s face one little bit. “No.”

“We’d be right behind them.”

He let his fangs out, showing his displeasure at the thought, let alone the deed. “You are not using our mates as bait.”

Thunder sounded outside. “Especially not Jordan.”

Travis waved his hand. “Of course not. But Jeff? C’mon. We all know Fenris will kill Odin, but now that Jeff has Fen’s healing abilities he can hold his own while Fen does the deed.”

“He’d be a distraction. A good one.” Kir settled down once he realized Jordan’s potential worth as bait was off the table.

“Does the prophecy actually say Fen will be the one to kill Odin?” The others turned and stared at Val. The man shrugged and chugged some more beer. “Already the prophecy is out of whack. Thor wasn’t supposed to die yet. Plus I don’t recall Fenris’s name being specifically mentioned. Do you? It just says the giant’s son and the wolf. Technically, since Fen changed Jeff, that would make him his werewolf daddy, wouldn’t it? And since Fen, as a pureblood Jotun, is a giant, wouldn’t that make Jeff partly one, too? Knowing my nephew he’s already thought of this and, right or wrong, is going to go after the Old Man.”