Not Broken: True Destiny, Book 5 (10 page)

“Great.” Sylvia plopped down next to Jordan and extended her senses. “The babies are doing fine, by the way. They’re nervous because you are, but they’re otherwise comfortable.”

For a second profound relief crossed Jordan’s face. “Thank you. Kir tells me that all the time, but…”

“But you were afraid he’d lie to you for your piece of mind?” Sylvia took hold of Jordan’s hand. “I know one of them is Kir’s and the other is Logan’s, but because they’re sharing blood in the womb they’ll each have some of the other’s gifts.”

Jordan smiled. “Good. I want them to be brothers in every sense of the word.”

Sylvia blinked. “Brothers?”

Jordan opened her mouth to respond, but the condo got rocked again by battling magic. “Damn it!” She growled, a truly impressive sound. She must have been taking lessons from Fenris, because she sounded just as fierce as the werewolf. “Slade, check and see what’s going on.”

Slade nodded, obeying without a murmur. He slipped outside, shutting the door behind him.

“Sydney, get online and get word out to Nik DeWitt. Tell him Toni is under attack.”

“Got it.” Syd raced for Logan’s computer room. If anyone could get hold of the elusive Guardian it was Syd.

“What did you mean when you said ‘brothers’?” Sylvia tried to hide her smile. “What makes you think you’re having boys?”

“Because only men could make me this miserable?” Jordan glared down at her stomach. “I need some pineapple juice. You want some?”

Sylvia shuddered. Jordan’s obsession with pineapples had lasted the entire pregnancy. The condo smelled like happy hour at Margaritaville. “No thanks.”

“Your loss.” Jordan shuffled into the kitchen. “So. Boys or girls?”

“Yes.” Sylvia smiled. “One of each.”

“Really? We need to go over those baby names again.” Jordan hobbled back, clutching a glass of yellow juice, and settled back on the sofa.

“What names did you pick?” Sylvia winced as she heard the distinct sounds of battle outside the door. Where the hell was Slade? He hadn’t returned. Had he gotten caught up in the assault?

Jordan glanced toward the door, her face pale. “Anders and Rune.”

“Rune could work for a girl.” Sylvia tried to ignore what was going on outside the condo, instead focusing solely on Jordan. “Rune Saeter sounds lovely.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Jordan rubbed her tummy, a sweet smile on her face.

Rune might be a male name in Norway, but here in America it would suit a female perfectly. “Anders is also a good one.”

“I’m trying to talk them into another R-name, but Kir is in love with the name Anders, so I think I’ll wind up losing that battle.”

“Who picked Rune?”

“Logan did, but I loved it too.” Jordan sighed. “I like both names, really. Andy and Rune.” She leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. “Andy and Rune.”

The longing and love in her voice brought tears to Sylvia’s eyes. “They’ll be here soon. They want to see their mama.”

Jordan smiled, but didn’t open her eyes. “Let’s hope they get the chance.”

Sylvia glanced toward the front door once again.

Where the hell is Slade?

When the front door opened, she thought she’d finally get her answer.

Chapter Ten

Magnus raced to stand beside Logan. Damn it, they’d breached the corridor, almost making it to the condos. “The wards?”

“Working on it.” Logan was tense, his hands waving, his brow dotted with sweat. “She keeps breaking it right back down.”

He rocked back on his heels as Skadi slammed them with another wave of magic. Logan’s magic flared around them, fire against ice, the two evenly matched. “How the hell did she convince the other jotuns to give her aid?”

Logan gritted his teeth as Magnus tossed
Mjolnir
to Morgan. “She must have promised them something big to get them to go against me.”

“Kir’s heading back to your condo to watch over the girls.” Magnus nodded to Fenris and Jeff, both in their wolf forms. Jeff glowed with the bright light of the
Lios Alfar
, a gift he’d received from sharing blood with his sister, Jamie. She, too, was in the battle, surprising them all with the bolts of pure light that flew from her hands.

“Good.” Logan looked relieved. “I want Blondie out of this.” He gasped as a particularly strong thrust of ice magic wrapped around him.

Magnus gestured toward Morgan, who tossed
Mjolnir
back to him. Using his powers, Magnus focused his lightning through the hammer, shattering the ice that surrounded Logan.

“Thanks.” Logan grinned and focused once more on the battle, something Magnus should have been doing.

Ice jotuns were coming out of the damned woodwork, fighting the Aesir everywhere he looked. Even Skye had joined in the fray, twirling a staff in front of her and shielding the door to Jordan’s home. Travis glowed brighter than the sun as he battled…

“Is that
Hrym?
Isn’t he supposed to be on our side?” Magnus tossed
Mjolnir
to Morgan, who cracked a frost jotun over the head.

“Who the fuck knows! None of this has made sense since it started.” Morgan swung the hammer, blocking a blow from a jotun.

Magnus darted across the hall, the narrow environs making the battle more difficult. This was no open field, but the doors to their homes, the enemy trying to get as close to Logan as they could. Arrows flew as those jotun in the rear took aim, only to be thwarted by Jamie’s magic. She shielded Logan, the icy arrows bouncing off and landing feet away, only to melt into the carpet within seconds.

Magnus threw lightning at a jotun threatening Jamie, gaining his attention. His opponent rushed Magnus, but Magnus responded with more lightning, laughing when
Mjolnir
slammed into the back of the jotun’s head. “Thanks.”
Mjolnir
landed in his hand.

“Welcome.” Morgan ducked a blow from a jotun spear. “A little help here, please.”

Magnus tossed
Mjolnir
, killing the jotun who’d taken aim at his brother. But despite their best efforts, the Aesir were slowly being forced back.

Jeff’s condo was the first to be breached, the frost jotuns immediately darting in and tearing the place apart. Jeff howled in rage and ran after them, followed closely by his mate. Blood sprayed from the doorway, and Magnus could only hope it was the enemy’s blood and not his brother’s.

One by one doors were opened as the Aesir were forced to give ground. Magnus had no doubt their adversaries were seeking Jordan and the children she carried. If they could destroy her and the lives she held, Kir and Logan would break.

It was a sound strategy, but one that would fail if Magnus had anything to say about it.

When Logan fell under a barrage not even Jamie could halt, he thought maybe he wouldn’t get the chance to say anything at all. They were losing, and now Skadi, free of the battle against Logan, was wading into the fight. The female held her head high, her eyes blazing with triumph as she made her way to her fallen enemy, ready to end him once and for all.

Magnus and Morgan did their best to batter aside as many of the jotun as they could, desperately hoping they would make it to Logan’s side before it was too late, but Magnus already knew they wouldn’t make it. Skadi lifted her sword high, and started to bring it down.

A loud
bang
filled the air, and Skadi staggered back, her sword almost falling from her hand.

“Freeze! On the ground,
now
!”

Magnus knew exactly who had just decided to join the battle, and he was terrified. If anything happened to Toni, Nik would kick their asses all the way to Niflheim. He continued to try and battle his way toward Skadi, hoping to head off a battle between the jotun and the human.

Skadi laughed and raised her sword again. “Interesting choice of words, mortal, but I think not.”

The human surprised him. Toni dashed past him so quickly he barely saw her. Her guns blazing, she took down more jotun than any of the rest of them combined.

“Shit. Her valkyrie blood is kicking in.” Morgan paled. “We have to stop her.”

“No shit.” Magnus threw
Mjolnir
, hoping to hit Skadi, but it boomeranged back to him when Skadi ducked.

But that missed swing left her open for Toni’s blow. The guns in her hands blazed with the fiery light of the valkyries, Toni’s chosen weapons becoming extensions of her arms. They roared like mini dragons, spitting fire and lead at the ice jotun.

Skadi, her expression startled, tried her best to dodge the incoming hail of bullets, but more struck her than not. Bleeding from numerous wounds inflicted within seconds, she dropped her sword and lurched back, damn near tripping over one of her fellow jotuns.

“Go Toni!” Jamie was jumping up and down, pumping her arms like a maniac.

Toni raced around, firing at Hrym before turning her guns once more on Skadi. Her movements were a blur, the spurt of blood from her victims the only sign that she’d hit what she’d aimed at.

And she did, almost all of the time. None of the jotun could move as quickly as she could, and Toni’s entrance into the battle turned the tide in the favor of the Aesir. Magnus and Morgan followed behind her, mopping up the few jotun who managed to stay on their feet. While Toni aimed to disable, Magnus and Morgan killed, the thrill of battle singing in their blood.

“Retreat!” Hrym sounded the call, ignoring Skadi’s snarl of protest. “Now, woman! We are done here.”

Magnus’s heart froze in his chest.

“Jordan?”

Before he could panic, Slade was next to him, spattered in blood. Why his mate was out here instead of protecting Jordan, Sylvia and Sydney, he didn’t know. “They’re safe. Kir’s with them.” Slade was breathing hard and clutching his side. Magnus realized not all of the blood on his mate belonged to their enemies.

He watched as the jotun fled, leaving Logan behind. Travis and Jamie stood over the fallen man, guarding him in a shield of light, thwarting Skadi’s last attempt to end Logan’s life.

“Well. That was fun. What’s next, bowling for psychos?” Toni holstered her guns, and only then did Magnus see she’d strapped on holsters remarkably similar to those worn by Lara Croft. “What the fuck just happened here?”

Fenris stepped out of his condo, Jeff leaning against him heavily, his arm cradled to him. “That was another little taste of Ragnarrok, I think.”

Toni grunted and stared around at the bodies with a mixture of disgust and dismay. “Great. How the hell am I going to explain this to the chief?”

“You won’t.” Travis carefully lifted Logan in his arms, the fire jotun still unconscious. “We will. If there’s anything left to explain, that is.”

“What are you talking about?” Toni was walking the battlefield, still glowing slightly. As her light touched each body, it would shiver. Magnus watched as the jotun dead disappeared one by one, to go to their final rewards in either Valhalla or Hel.

Considering they’d all attacked on Odin’s orders, he was willing to bet their souls were headed for Odin’s palace, there to await the final battle.

“Whoa.” Toni stopped dead in her tracks, watching the last body fade and disappear. “Did… Did I do that?”

Jeff let go of Fenris and put his arm around her shoulder. “I would like to officially welcome you to Dysfunction Junction.”

Fenris took his place on Jeff’s other side. “As I said. You are family, Antonia.”

“Toni.” She grimaced. “It’s going to get worse, isn’t it?”

Travis nodded. “It will.”

Magnus saw the grief on her face. “We’ll be there for you, Toni.”

Morgan winked. “You belong with us now.”

Jamie hugged her. “We can bake cookies together!”

Toni huffed out a laugh. “Right. Cookies.” She allowed herself to be dragged toward Logan and Kir’s condo. “Remind me why I put up with this?”

“Because we’re cute?” Jeff blinked up at her innocently.

Even as she shook her head, Toni touched Jeff’s arm, healing the wound.

Yup. As much as Toni wanted to deny it, she was now theirs.

“Damn it, it’s not working.” Logan ran his fingers through his thick hair, his frustration causing flames to lick up and down his arms.

“We’ll figure this out.” Sydney reached out and put her hand on his arm, causing Kir to snarl before he turned away.

“Couldn’t do it without you.” Logan patted her hand, but his gaze was glued to Kir, who didn’t seem to notice.

Logan was still attempting to put the wards back up a week later. The makeshift wards Jordan had cobbled together with Tyr weren’t enough for the fire jotun. Skadi and her crew of ice jotuns had gotten far too close to his pregnant wife for his comfort, and he was working night and day to figure out ways to keep that from happening again. Sydney had offered her assistance, surprising all of them except Sylvia. She’d known Sydney would want to do whatever she could to help. What was giving the two so much grief was the fact none of them had ice magic in their veins, so Logan couldn’t test the new wards against it.

Sydney was working on a solution that could mimic ice magic, but they wouldn’t be absolutely sure it worked until they were attacked again. Logan was going to worry himself into an early grave at this rate, immortal god or not.

Jordan was in the kitchen, grumbling and slamming pots down. Kir went after her, but Logan only sighed and began speaking quietly to Sydney again.

Sylvia waited until Morgan and Slade were distracted and slipped into the kitchen, determined to make things right with Kir, Logan and Jordan. “Hey.”

The two, who’d cuddled close, grimaced. “Hi,” Kir responded.

Jordan put her head on his shoulder with a weary sigh. “Hi.”

Sylvia grinned and blocked the door out of the kitchen. She didn’t want one of them bolting from her before she got to the bottom of what was going on between them. “You guys all right?”

Jordan shook her head no even as Kir nodded yes. “I want to pluck her blonde hair out.”

Sylvia chuckled. “She’s got a crush on Val.”

Kir blinked. “What? She hides behind whatever warm body is in the room whenever Val is here. I mean, look at her.” He pointed toward the living room, and Sylvia stifled a laugh. Syd kept maneuvering herself so that Logan was always between her and the glowering Val.

Jordan was smiling, though. “I thought she might like him, but then she started hanging on Logan and…”

“And little green monsters started dancing all around?” Sylvia nodded sympathetically. “I could see why you’d be worried. She’s his ex, and they’re spending all this time together. But I can tell you that she’s more worried about you than about Logan.” The snort of disgust was amusing, but Jordan had nothing to be worried about. “Logan adores the ground you walk on. And we already know he’d give his life for both of you. Syd wants to prevent that, just like you do.”

Kir nodded. Despite his words he looked relieved. “And she’s upset that Jordan was in danger.”

“Exactly.” Sylvia was watching them both closely, saw how Jordan leaned into Kir. “She worries for those babies, you know.”

“Why? I don’t get it.” Jordan began to frown again, but this time it wasn’t in anger.

Sylvia closed her eyes, remembering the horror that had been inflicted not only on Logan but on Syd. “The children who were mutilated to tie Loki to the mountain were hers as well as his.”

Jordan paled as Kir quietly confirmed Sylvia’s words. “He doesn’t like to talk about it. It hurts too much.”

“And Syd, well…” Sylvia shrugged. “She’s been trying to break free of the Old Man and Frederica ever since, but their hold was too strong. It wasn’t until Kir got hold of the god spear that we were truly freed of his influence.” Sylvia stepped forward and put her hand on Jordan’s shoulder. “We’re both sorrier than we can say.”

It was Kir who hugged her, and until he wiped away a tear she hadn’t even realized she’d begun crying. “We’ve forgiven all of you.”

“Has she grieved?” Jordan glanced toward the doorway, her expression full of sadness.

“Every day of her life.” Sylvia had heard Sydney crying at night, calling for her dead children, but they never spoke of it. Syd did everything she could to live her life, but nothing could totally erase her grief. “But Syd is strong, stronger than she gives herself credit for. Everything she does, she does so this will
never
happen to someone else’s child. Odin will never have that power again.”

“Does seeing Logan ease some of that?”

She almost laughed at the expression on Jordan’s face. The poor woman looked ready to staple Syd to Logan’s side. “A little, yes, but I think it has more to do with seeing Logan with you and Kir. I think, for her, it’s one less thing she has to worry about. Logan is taken care of, so she can make sure that the people who make him happy are taken care of.”

“So she still loves him.” Kir was obviously confused.

“Not the way you two do, but yes, she does. Of course she does. She’s the goddess of fidelity, remember? She’ll always have a special place for Logan in her heart.” Sylvia hugged the two of them tight and whispered in their ears. “But it’s Val who makes her crazy now, not Logan. Look at the way they’re working together and you’ll see it. It’s like two old friends trying to solve a puzzle, not two old lovers trying to score with each other.”

“And the only one she has trouble talking to is Val.” Jordan snickered. “And he has no idea why.” In fact, from the death glares he was shooting Logan’s way, perhaps he should be in here talking to them instead of trying to commit murder with his eyeballs.