Chapter 11
CLARA
Even though Daisy had been with Thor for over a year, I still found it surreal to be going over to their house for dinner. Maybe it was because there was something so normal about the activity, and yet it somehow involved a Norse god.
On the other hand, there had been some activities of my own involving a Norse goddess that were also feeling a little surreal.
I wasn't even sure what to do about the situation with Hel.
She didn't want anything more than the night we had, and I knew that before we went home together.
And yet it was proving impossible to get her out of my head.
But I needed to. Especially when I was about to sit down to dinner with her uncle. Thinking about the way she'd touched me when we were alone in her bed was not appropriate given the circumstances.
I pushed thoughts of Hel out of my mind, fully intent on spending the evening not thinking about her, and rang the doorbell. It only took a couple of minutes for it to swing open and for Daisy to beam at me as she gestured for me to come in.
"You look great," she said.
"So do you," I responded.
"Yes, but I don't need to impress anyone."
I frowned. "I'm having dinner with you and Thor, aren't I?"
A twinkle formed in her eyes as she drew me into the living room where Thor was chatting with a woman I very much recognised.
I swallowed hard as Hel looked at me. Her shock was as apparent as my own. She hadn't expected me here either.
"I assume you remember Hel," Daisy said.
"I do." I cleared my throat. "It's good to see you again."
"Likewise." Her gaze lingered on me in a way that it shouldn't if we weren't going to have anything between us. Maybe I wasn't the only one who kept thinking about our night together and how good it had felt.
"I'm going to get some drinks," Daisy said.
"I'll help," I blurted out, planning on asking my cousin exactly what she was up to.
"Sure." She gave me an odd look, as if wondering what it was that had gotten me flustered when the answer was obviously right in front of me.
I followed her through into the spacious kitchen and she started preparing a couple of glasses.
"What do you want to drink?" she asked.
"You didn't tell me that Hel was coming."
"I didn't think it would matter," Daisy said. "So, drink?"
"Whatever you've got," I murmured, too distracted by the implications of an entire meal with Hel. No doubt this was going to heavily complicate matters when it came to her insistence that we kept things to the one night.
Daisy gave me a strange look and turned around to face me properly. "Is there a problem with Hel being here?"
"What? No. Of course not. I'm just surprised. She's not been here before when I've come for dinner."
"I saw the sparks between you at my gallery opening. I thought you might need a little nudge."
"You have an overactive imagination," I told my cousin, trying not to let my thoughts stray back to what it had been like to have Hel's hands on my body. She certainly knew how to create those kinds of sparks.
"Are you telling me they weren't there?" she asked curiously.
"Hel doesn't date."
"Aha! So I am right. Thor is going to have to pay up."
"Ew, I don't want to know what kind of payment you're demanding."
Daisy rolled her eyes. "Nothing like that. He said he'd teach me a forging technique if I was right. I want to learn how to make Damascus steel. You know what? Not important. So, you and Hel?"
"We're not talking about this."
"Did you hook up after the gallery opening or something?"
I choked on air. "No, we didn't hook up after your gallery opening."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "That's a very specific answer."
I glanced towards the living room, not that I could see it from here. "Remember when we went to The Pomegranate?"
"You hooked up with Hel then?" Her voice rose at the end.
"Shh, keep your voice down," I muttered. "And yes. Except that I didn't know she was your boyfriend's niece. Or a goddess. Oh this is a mess."
"It's not a mess. She seemed pleased to see you."
"That's because she made her boundaries clear. One night, just sex. Nothing more. And now she's here, in your house, having dinner with me."
"Okay well, deep breath. If it's nothing, then you can just make chit-chat and I'll give you a heads-up next time," she said as she went back to making drinks. "Here, try this." She passed me a glass.
I took a sip and nodded. "It's good."
"It's elderflower, I got it from a shop in the god realm."
"You've been to the god realm?" There was no keeping the surprise out of my voice.
"Yes. Thor took me. Why?"
"Hel told me about a plant that grows there that necromancers use to connect with the dead and suggested I try it for my potion.
But I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get more even if I could get it working.
But if you go to the god realm, then maybe you can get some for me when I run out. .."
She raised an eyebrow. "It must have been some one night stand if you were talking about your potion on it."
"Oh, no. That was after your gallery opening. She talked to me about a few necromancy things to help me."
Daisy gave me a look that I was pretty sure meant that she didn't quite believe what I was saying about it only being a one night thing, and I guessed that I saw her point.
"But sure, I can get you your plant if you need me to," Daisy said as she picked up the tray of drinks. "Or maybe you can ask Hel for more."
I rolled my eyes and followed her through to the living room. Daisy handed out the drinks and sat down next to Thor, leaving the only seat free next to Hel.
I swallowed hard. It was going to be difficult to focus if I was sitting next to her the entire evening.
"How is your potion coming along?" Hel asked as she turned towards me.
"Okay, I think," I said, trying to ignore the way Daisy was looking at me. "I've been researching the veillock you gave me before I started using it. I didn't want to waste what I have."
"Ah, that makes sense."
"And I'm not really sure how to make it focus on the person I want to call into the dream," I said.
"You think of them as you drink it," Hel said.
"I'm not sure if it'll work the same for a witch, but that's how it goes for necromancers if we want to communicate with the dead.
We take something like veillock to help us focus, and then stare at a photo of the deceased.
Or a painting in the time before photos. "
"I had no idea that's how necromancy worked," I admitted.
"None of us did," Thor said. "I think this is the first time I've heard Hel talk about it."
"That's because Clara has shown more interest in what I do, Uncle," she shot back at him.
He laughed. "Well, that's me told."
Daisy put a hand on his arm. "If you've never asked, then you can't really complain that she's not told you."
"She's not asked about forging either," Thor joked.
"No, we mostly bond over mead and what mischief my father has gotten up to lately," Hel said. "I heard their latest habit is to crash Jinx parties and try to get people to join in karaoke."
"Can he sing?" I asked.
"Loki prefers they," Thor responded to me. "But no, they can't."
Hel let out a resigned sigh. "One day, they'll cease to embarrass us at events."
"Or not, because they insist the problem is that we don't have enough fun," Thor said.
"I have plenty of fun," Hel responded, her gaze slipping to me and a small smile playing at her lips.
I swallowed hard and took a sip of my drink. It was going to be a long evening of thinking about Hel in ways that I should not, and it was going to play havoc with my mind.