Chapter Twenty-Three
Loki was visibly delighted to see me, and his trilling antics made me smile. Despite his day of rest, he still looked tired, which made tendrils of worry creep back in. Still, the itching was driving me wild, so I dashed right to the fridge and downed Amber’s potion.
‘Oooooh,’ Loki said with pleasure, his wings instantly brightening. ‘So good.’
I blinked. Now that we were tethered, had my depleted magic become a problem for him as well?
‘Sorry buddy. I didn’t realise my low levels of magic were hurting you.’
‘Not hurt. But give more.’
I blinked. Throughout the day, there had been moments in interview when I barely noticed the itching, and that wasn’t normal for me.
Normally, when it arrived, it stayed and got progressively worse.
I’d put it down to my being so involved in the interviews, but had Loki been sending me his magic to stave off my fallout?
‘You helped me?’
He bobbed his head.
‘Thank you,’ I said, touched. ‘But next time, just let me deal with it. I don’t want you suffering.’
He flew to me and nuzzled into my neck, saying with actions what he struggled to articulate with words. I related all too well, thinking of those words I still hadn’t told Robbie. I nuzzled Loki right back, stroking his soft wings with delicate fingers.
‘You feeling better now?’
‘Good!’ he declared.
‘Good, because we’ve got a trip to an ogre’s den planned, and I definitely need backup.’ If only for moral support.
Loki’s little chest puffed up like a ball of cotton wool. ‘I come,’ he promised.
I smiled despite my apprehension that he would probably mouth off to at least two ogres. ‘Thanks Loki. I appreciate that. I need to hop into the shower. Do you need anything else first?’
‘I good.’ He took to the wing and flew around the room, skimming close to the ceiling. I left him to his antics and went to blast myself with a cool shower.
As always, Ji-ho had come up good, and he’d called me with a bunch of information while I’d been getting ready.
It turned out that Robbie hadn’t been joking about the weapons thing.
Part of the blessing ceremony for the den involved all of the occupants promising to protect the den and coming armed was part of that.
I’d be lying if I said the idea of strolling into a den of fully armed ogres didn’t make me nervous. Robbie wouldn’t let harm come to me, but he’d been open about the numerous challenges he’d faced lately, and while he’d won them all, there was definitely tension there.
And I was a grenade. A human mate.
Not that we were mated, per se, but we were on that path, and his detractors wouldn’t like that.
From what Ji-ho had said, den rules were clear: if anyone attacked me, Robbie was within his rights to kill them.
Robbie had declared me to be in his shadow, under his personal protection, and that meant any insult to me was an insult to him.
I needed to mentally prepare myself for the possibility that someone might die tonight at Robbie’s hands, and I couldn’t show weakness.
Couldn’t show a jot of shock or disapproval, or I’d undermine him utterly.
I dragged a hand through my unruly mop of brown hair.
It was going to be a total shitshow, but at least my magic was at full strength, humming under my skin.
I was almost bursting with it. A vial of Amber’s special potion worked even better than a full day in the Common realm.
It was the magical equivalent of chugging three energy drinks and I felt rejuvenated, if on the wrong side of buzzing.
I put on two daggers, one sheathed on the outside of each ankle, the weapons hidden by the flare of my jeans.
I’d need every advantage I could get if things got scrappy.
Then I donned more weapons, visible this time.
My baton was secured on my utility belt, and my father’s old gun rested on my hip.
Since I was trying to be visibly tough, I didn’t bother with a jacket, but I did grab some sunglasses.
The sun was still out, and on the off chance the ceremony was outside, I didn’t want to be squinting and miss a weapon flying towards me.
Because I needed just a little pick-me-up, I painted my lips bright red and put on some mascara too.
This was as dressed up as I got. I toyed with pinning my hair back into an updo, but ultimately, I was a girl who seldom fussed with her hair, and chances were good I’d make more of a mess of it than an improvement.
There was a knock at the door, but before I could answer it, my ghost picked up Fuck You’s mace and floated it over to me.
‘You think?’ I asked mildly.
The mace moved forward firmly an inch.
‘All right.’ Braced for the weight, I took it.
Given that my magic was full to bursting, it took very little effort to create a small pocket of air beneath it, making it effortless to lift.
As Robbie had done, I hefted it up and rested it against my shoulder.
With the air pocket, the metal spikes didn’t even touch my shirt, let alone cut into my skin, but it sure looked the part.
Loki flew over and rested on my spare shoulder. We were ready to rock and roll. I felt like a pirate, with a mace in hand and a bird on my shoulder. If anyone called me Blackbeard, I’d swing at them.
I opened the door and Maktel stared first at me, then at the mace, then finally at Loki. He blinked rapidly, which from anyone else was the equivalent of a shocked gasp. Then, to my shock, he bowed low to me for a count of eight seconds. Then he rose. ‘Are you ready to leave for the den?’
That was weird, but good weird, surely? ‘I—yes. Let’s go.’
I locked up and pocketed the key, slipping it next to my phone. I hadn’t bothered with a bag. I wanted my hands free at all times, save for the hand resting on the mace, as if I were actually carrying its ridiculous weight.
As Maktel drove, I mentally recounted the rules Ji-ho had told me.
Always drink with the right hand. Take food with the left hand.
Only eat or imbibe once the High King had declared we all could.
Eating or drinking before he gave the nod was considered extremely rude.
I wasn’t to worry about accidentally touching shadows with someone else since I was in Krieg’s own shadow, but I should try to avoid it where possible.
Someone deliberately encroaching on my shadow or touching me with theirs was an insult, but I had to assess whether it had been done deliberately or accidentally.
I hoped the lights inside would be set to blazing to negate the whole shadow-related minefield.
When we drew up to the red-brick converted barn that housed the ogres, I was pleased to see that the smattering of crows from my last visit had grown in number significantly.
The birds remained eerily silent as Maktel parked beside a host of other vehicles. Robbie hadn’t been exaggerating when he said every ogre in the den would be summoned. Every single local ogre must have made the trip.
I climbed out of the car and gave the murder a jaunty wave – I should make an effort with them since they were the closest thing Robbie had to family, and he always took care of Loki.
‘You got any nuts handy?’ I asked Maktel.
‘We should go in.’
‘Nuts first,’ I said firmly.
He gave me an unreadable expression before disappearing into the main building. He returned moments later with a huge bag of unshelled peanuts.
The bag was sealed ridiculously tightly, so after a moment of effort, I abandoned using my fingers and used one of the daggers at my ankle to cut into it. I walked around the tree where the crows were resting and poured the nuts on the ground, but none of them moved.
Loki launched off my shoulder to fly around them. I wasn’t sure if he was saying hi or taunting them.
You need to speak to them, Loki said, speaking directly into my mind, making me start. They’re not sure how you feel about them.
Huh. I didn’t really have many feelings about them, but Robbie loved them, and that was enough. I concentrated on the feeling of friendship – of Kass and Stevie, of Kate and Ji-ho – and I bundled that feeling up and sent it to the crows.
Though I was using my sub magic, it was the least invasive use of it. Even a kid with sub magic knew how to pulse feelings at people.
You could tell when my feelings of friendship hit them, because the whole murder squawked. It was a happy sound, and they fluttered into the air, flying around me in a black maelstrom that would have been intimidating if I hadn’t known their feelings toward me were also cautious warmth.
After they’d all said hi – in their way – they went to the ground to eat the gifts I’d kindly brought.
Maktel stared at me with astonishment.
‘I’m good with birds,’ I said blithely.
With effort, he pulled himself together. ‘If you’re done, follow me this way,’ Maktel said quietly, leading me not into the building as I’d expected, but around it to a large patio area with various seats, tables and extra-large beanbags.
Every ogre was scantily dressed. The women all wore sports bras and shorts, the men just shorts.
Scars were on display, and I suddenly felt wildly overdressed.
Besides the limited clothing, everyone was armed, and at least in that regard, I didn’t stand out.
Ji-ho’s notes hadn’t mentioned anything about virtual nudity.
Robbie was next to a huge fire burning at the edge of the patio in a monumental sunken firepit.
His proximity to the flames had caused a thin sheen of sweat to roll all over those delicious muscles, causing a flare of desire so strong I had to struggle to push it down.
He was barefoot, in nothing but tight black shorts that left nothing to the imagination.
I licked my lips because I didn’t need my imagination to know what lingered there.
Careful to avoid anyone’s shadows in the waning sun, I made my way over to him. His eyes were soft on mine, but his face was carved from granite.