Chapter 6
HEL
One of the advantages of having a mortuary that catered to the wealthy paranormals and gods of the world was that I didn't have many clients and could take things easy. I knew I could expand and employ people, but that never felt right. This was my domain, and one I intended to keep for myself.
I made my way inside with Garmr jumping up and down at my heels, yapping a little bit as if he was mad that I'd left him with the dog sitter last night rather than leaving him alone while I went to The Pomegranate.
I looked down at the tiny grey puppy with a wolf-like snout and my heart melted even though I was still frustrated by everything that came with owning a puppy. Especially a hellhound puppy.
Garmr stopped the moment he spotted one of his balls and raced over, making me sigh. Having a hellhound was hard work as it was, but one that respawned into a puppy every fifteen years or so was beyond exhausting.
"Are you done growing yet?" I asked.
He looked at me with his favourite fluffy worm toy in his mouth as if I'd said something truly outrageous.
I let out a sigh. "Just be a good boy. You've had a walk, food, and poop. Now you sleep."
A muffled woof came from behind the toy.
I shook my head and took a seat at my desk, wondering if it was too soon in my day to order a coffee from the shop down the road. They delivered, which was always nice, but I'd been in the building for less than five minutes.
I picked up my phone to make the order, only to stop when the door swung open. I put on my best customer-facing smile. "Welcome to Hel," I said brightly.
The familiar figure in front of me laughed jovially. "Is that how you greet everyone?" Uncle Thor asked.
"What's the point of being called Hel if I can't make the joke?" I asked. "Humans are the ones who decided that my realm was supposed to be named after me."
"Fair. Hey, Garmr." He crouched down to greet my puppy, whose tail was wagging so fast that he looked like he was about to explode. "Your mum didn't tell me that you'd regained puppyhood."
I rolled my eyes. "Don't call me his mum."
"You're the one who has been a dog mum for seven hundred years."
"I don't like what dating a mortal has done to you," I responded as I leaned back in my seat.
"Keeping up with pop culture is important if we want to keep blending in," he pointed out. "And you didn't mind me dating a mortal so much when you were giving her complicated instructions for what you wanted your death sculpture to look like."
"I want something that looks like thousands of souls are descending into my realm, but in a comforting way. Is that too much to ask?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
He laughed. "Apparently not, because I'm here delivering it. I brought the van."
"And how would Odin feel about his favourite son being a delivery boy for a mortal?"
"He'd hate it, which is why I do it." He grinned. "So, where do you want it?" He stood up, much to Garmr's protest.
"Over there." I gestured to the spot where I'd always wanted some kind of art piece, but had never found the right one. The fact that my uncle had started dating a talented sculptor had finally meant that I had the right person to commission.
He frowned and looked at the space. "Is it going to fit?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course it's going to fit. Daisy took the measurements herself," I responded.
"Ah well, it's definitely right then, she doesn't mess around with that kind of stuff."
"How's she doing?" I asked. "I saw her briefly at The Pomegranate last night, but I didn't have time to catch up."
He raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall by my desk. "Why wouldn't you have time to catch up?"
"I was preoccupied."
"Okay...there are some things an uncle doesn't want to know," he muttered.
"You're the one who asked," I pointed out.
He sighed. "She's stressed. Her gallery opening is coming up, and she's already rethinking several of the pieces that she wants to showcase."
"She won't have any problems with any of them, no matter what she chooses," I responded. If there was one thing I knew about Daisy, it was that she took her art seriously, and that meant that her pieces tended to be extraordinary.
"I know. But this is her first opening since she unveiled the piece in the Jinx Dating Agency building. I think the pressure of the people who are going to be there is part of it."
"She doesn't need to be worried. She won your little reality TV show because she impressed gods. And it's not like we're anything more than people with normal people needs."
Garmr let out a growl and batted at my leg.
I let out a sigh. "Do you need to pee again?" I asked him.
He looked up at me with his large puppy eyes that kind of made my heart melt, even if I was a little annoyed at him for having regenerated into puppy state again.
"All right, we can go outside," I said, leaning down to clip his lead onto him. "Sorry, I have to deal with him."
"I know, I've seen many different puppy stages for Garmr over the years," my uncle responded. "I can count on you to come to Daisy's art opening, right?"
"Of course. I like Daisy, she's good for you. Maybe even too good for you."
"Oi."
I grinned. "I'm my father's daughter, Uncle Thor. You can't expect me to avoid all mischief."
He chuckled. "And here I was thinking that there was only one Loki."
"There is. And there's only one Hel too," I responded. "Come on Garmr," I called to the hellhound.
He bounced along while trying to catch the lead in his mouth. I was so ready for the chewing stage to be over.
"Will you be all right here if I take him to the park?" I asked Thor, seeing an opportunity to get some more energy out of the puppy.
"So long as the dead don't start walking."
I snorted. "You know as well as I do that I'd have to be in the room to do that kind of necromancy, and it's not exactly useful unless you want to scare someone with a dead hamster."
"I'll take your word for it."
"Witches have no sense of humour," I murmured.
"I can assure you that we do. I'll be fine here until you get back," he promised. "But only if you bring me a coffee."
I nodded in agreement and headed out the door with an energetic hellhound puppy following along beside me.
Perhaps I should have invited Clara to stay longer this morning and not come to work at all.
But I knew that wasn't really an option.
As fun as last night had been, I didn't do anything that would confuse people about my intentions.
Spending the entire day with someone would do that, so it was best the way things were.
We'd had our fun, and now we'd never see one another again, just like it was supposed to be.