Chapter One
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
Loki rolled his eyes. "I think it's your mother you have to thank. I simply asked if you would go with me because I have someone I need to meet, and I don't want to get roped into conversations with other Sups looking for free legal advice."
Thor threw him a daggered gaze. "You mean a meeting you happened to mention in my mother's presence, which happened to be on the same night as her monthly masquerade feast?"
Loki chuckled and straightened his shirt cuffs. "Wrong again, my boy. Your mother set up the meeting. It's not my fault you're so nosy you eavesdropped on the conversation and got tangled up in her little scheme to marry you off."
He wasn’t about to tell Thor that the conversation he’d had with Frigg had been prearranged to try to lure Thor into going to the masquerade. The morning before the conversation, Loki had been awakened by his cellphone. He hadn’t needed to look at it to know it was Frigg.
He’d had a dream involving Thor, a woman, and the masquerade.
And if he’d had a dream about Thor meeting a woman, there was absolutely no doubt Frigg had as well.
So, he’d answered his phone and set up a time and place for the meeting where Frigg knew Thor would be.
And here they were, one week later, Loki playing babysitter and making sure Thor went to the party just like he was supposed to.
Loki delved into Thor’s thoughts for a moment and then set his hand on Thor's shoulder. "It won't be any different if you don't give it a chance."
Thor shrugged off Loki's touch. "I hate it when you do that. Reading minds is creepy."
Loki shrugged. "I wouldn't need to if you opened your mouth and spoke more. You used to be so talkative. Couldn't stop talking as I remember. Mostly about yourself. Your conquests, victories, virtues, anything about you. But now-"
"Now I know better." Thor grabbed his leather coat and threw it on.
Loki checked his hair in the mirror. "I was going to say, now you’re boring."
"And what about you?" Thor questioned. "I don't see you rushing out to find someone."
A permanent relationship was the last thing Loki was looking for. He’d been married. And he’d had kids. Now he was content to sample all that the Nine Realms had to offer.
Loki flashed him a winning smile. "I don't need to. My bed is constantly filled with whomever I find companionable for the night. No strings. No expectations. Just fun. The way I like it."
Thor walked to the edge of his loft and took the stairs down to his shop floor, two at a time. Bikes lined the walls of the solid brick structure.
"No time for fiddling with that," said Loki. “I still don’t know why you mess with those things when you can fly.”
“What about you and your squashed, brightly colored cars? You can fly, why do you drive those things?”
“Touché.” Loki inclined his head.
“Besides,” said Thor. “I like taking them apart and rebuilding them the way I want them. Gives me something to focus on.”
Thor headed over and picked up Mjolnir.
"My car is out front." Loki pulled his key fob from his pocket and headed to the exit.
"I can make my own way there." Thor lifted his hammer to the sky and, as always, disappeared in a flash of light.
Loki shook his head. What was the fun of being in Helheim if you were just going to stick to doing things the way you always had?
Loki exited the building and smiled at his metallic lime green Lamborghini.
He owned over a dozen cars, but the Lambo was for sure his favorite.
And when he took it down to the demon street races, he couldn’t help but win.
Which was exactly what he intended on doing right after he got Frigg’s most recent refugees their papers.
* * *
Val scanned the beautiful, expansive grounds of the mansion, where people milled about.
"Are you sure this is where Lady Frigg said we were to meet Loki?" Elle asked.
Yup. Val glanced through the gold gates, then at the paper in her hand again, before showing it to Elle.
Lady Frigg’s mansion was all the paper said, and it was pretty hard to miss her mansion in Helheim. Especially the giant ornate metal gates. This was definitely Frigg’s place.
Val sighed. So unnecessary. What was Loki up to? Or Frigg, for that matter? A party? Really?
"Come on," said Val. "Let's get this over with, and then we can go back to Midgard."
Elle nodded. Val led her across the green and past a marble fountain to the colored-glass front doors. Greenery and vines snaked up the front of the building. Standing near the entrance, a wide-shouldered, cobalt blue-skinned male nodded at people as they entered.
Val assessed him as they approached and flexed her wrists, making sure her wrist blades still worked. Not that they wouldn’t. She always needed to check though, just in case…
She strode up the cream marble steps toward the entrance. Suddenly, the scent morphed into something spicy and warm. Cinnamon mixed with cognac. It made her relax a fraction as she breathed it in, before she tensed and growled.
Great. Frigg was putting something in the air to make people relax. Well, to hel with that. That was not happening. Not for her. Not here.
Though they’d been out of Surtr’s realm for a month, Val had yet to let her guard down.
Armed from the shoulders downward, she didn’t allow herself to slack off for even a moment.
She spent close to 3 hours every night continuing her training before bed.
And the first thing she did when she awoke each day was to walk to Sutrelle’s apartment door and make sure the princess was safe.
“Stay close,” said Val
A young woman with long golden braids and bright eyes glided over to them and smiled. "Hello. I'm Fulla. You must be new here."
Val recognized Frigg’s handmaiden immediately. Just how many Asgardians were in Helheim?
"I’m Val. We have a meeting-"
Fulla smiled brighter. "Of course. Lady Frigg said you would be coming.” She looked at Elle. “You must be Elle."
The hairs raised on Val’s neck. Something was definitely off about this meeting. Val's eyebrows smashed together. "I don't understand. We were told to be here at 8:00."
Fulla nodded. “If you will just put these on and follow me, I can get you ladies a table."
Val looked from Elle to Fulla. Being in Helheim made Val twitchy. There were too many prying eyes. Too many loose lips. And too many oversized ears itching for any piece of gossip that could get them a leg up.
Val opened her mouth to decline, but Elle stepped forward.
"Thank you, Fulla." Elle took the masks and handed Val the silver fox mask while she herself affixed a golden cat mask to her face. Elle grabbed Val's hand and followed Fulla toward the tables lining a red velvet curtain.
"This is strange," said Val. "Why do we need masks to get a table to talk to Loki?"
"Maybe it’s a game? Or maybe it’s to protect our identities? He has a lot of clients. I'm sure we aren't the only ones he is helping. Maybe he is trying to help us not be recognized. I'll get us some food, and you have a drink." Elle threw Val a smile.
Val wanted to object, but as she looked around, she realized that if she played along, they were less likely to be recognized in the sea of masked faces.
Slowly, she walked to a table strategically set so that she could keep an eye on the ballroom.
Val’s back itched between her shoulder blades, and she fought against scratching. She knew what the itch meant, and it’d been getting worse and worse lately, particularly when in Helheim.
Val glanced over to where Elle stood picking out a plate of food from the long table.
Sutrelle’s body language relaxed as she perused the delicacies.
But the instant she relaxed, Val became even more alert.
Because the moment Sutrelle began to relax was the moment Val needed to be more vigilant than ever.
Sutrelle knew that running from her father could mean her death if she was caught, but Val had experienced exactly what Surtr did to those he deemed a traitor – and death was the very last thing Surtr would have in mind for them if he caught them.
A moment passed, and Val looked around for a bar, but it was all the way on the other side of the room. Damn,
The growing crowd of people made her twitchy. She wanted to get the documents she needed and get Sutrelle back to their apartments above Frigg’s bar.
Ever since they'd run from Muspelheim, Val had been more on edge than ever. But Lady Frigg had taken them in and offered them shelter, and Loki finally had the human paperwork needed to permanently change their identities, bringing them one step closer to freedom. It irritated Val how many different pieces of identification humans needed to live on Midgard. Birth certificate, Social Security Number, Real ID? It was as if Midgard was afraid they’d lose people, or worse, they wanted to keep tabs on their every movement. Much like Surtr had.
Living on Midgard the last month had been…
strange. The sights, smells, and noise of Los Angeles were nothing like what she was used to.
And the people, especially the men, left something to be desired.
On dozens of occasions, she had been hit on, flirted with, and flat-out objectified by the human men.
And in every instance, she had made each of them a bet.
If they could beat her in an arm-wrestling contest, she would have a drink with them.
But if they lost, they would have to give her the money they would have spent on the two drinks instead.
So far, she’d won over a thousand Midgardian dollars.
A hand jutted in front of Val’s face, holding a flute of champagne. She tensed and looked up.
A tall, crimson-skinned man with broad horns like a minotaur wearing a golden elephant mask smiled at her, revealing bright, sharp teeth.
Val stared at the champagne but didn’t take it. “New would infer that I had any desire to be here right now, which I don’t. So, no, I’m not new here, I’m just stopping by to pick something up.”
His head cocked to the side, and he chuckled. “Okay.”
She got the distinct idea that he had no idea what she’d even said. “Is this your first time here?”
He shook his heavy head. “Nope. Been coming for more years than I can count. Just hoping tonight will finally be the night.”
“The night for what?” she asked.
He smiled again. “For me to finally find the one I am meant to be with.”
And that was her cue. “Well, I hope you find her. Or him. Or… whomever.”
The male continued to stand there for several seconds, hand still outstretched, but when she didn’t move, he finally walked away.
What the hel was that? Were they at a mating party?
"Hello, Val.” Lady Frigg smiled and handed Val a mug of something heady. “Thank you for coming.”
Val swigged the drink, the sweet taste gliding across her tongue, but making her teeth ache.
“Was this your doing or his?” Val set the mug on the table.
Frigg continued to smile. “I just thought this would be a good place to meet since you could be in disguise and there would be food and drink, and I thought it might be easier for you to relax in such an atmosphere.”
Val studied Frigg. She was beautiful and genuine, but also held the mischievousness of a mother trying to get what she wanted for her family.
“So is he going to show up or…”
Frigg chuckled. “Loki always likes to make an entrance. He should be here any minute.”
Val snorted. "Yeah... He's always been an attention whore."
Frigg cocked her head. "You know him?"
She knew him all right. She knew all about him from her Valkyrie sisters, who had all taken a tumble or two in his bed.
She would call him a manwhore- but there were more Norse gods who had bedded as many women as Loki than there were those who hadn’t.
So, how could she possibly judge? Just because she’d never given it up to the god of mischief didn’t mean she was a saint.
"I've seen him. And let's say I had a lot of sisters who... spent time with him. His reputation precedes him even larger than his ego."
Frigg burst into a tinkle of laughter so contagious that Val almost smiled herself.
Frigg winked at Val and squeezed her shoulder. “I’m so glad you came. You really are quite perfect.”
Before Val could ask her what she meant, Frigg swept away and headed toward another table.
Val tracked Sutrelle as she made her way to a table and sat.
Sigh… she had no idea what Frigg had gotten them into, but so far, she didn’t like it.
* * *
As Loki walked up the steps of Frigg’s mansion, several of the females waved to greet him. Loki smiled politely and continued on through the door. Thor walked to Loki and shoved a mask into his chest.
"What's this?" Loki inspected the mask and scowled. "You didn't."
"If I have to, you have to."
Loki scowled. "Why? Frigg's not my mother. I didn't promise her anything."
"Payback."
"For what?" Thor opened his mouth, but Loki held up his hand. "Never mind. Fine. But I'm only doing this because if I don't, Frigg will have my balls for earrings. But don't think this is the end, cousin."
Thor snorted, and Loki knew what he was thinking. They may both be Norse Gods, but they were far from being any kind of blood relation. The closest relation to Loki besides his children was Thor's adoptive mother, Frigg.
Loki sighed before affixing the lion mask to his face and looking around the tables for the person he’d come to meet.
Long blonde hair and a straight ramrod spine caught his gaze.
She sat at a table, both perfectly positioned for defense as well as making a swift exit if necessary.
It was the exact table he would have chosen, so it had to be her.
A shiver skittered over his skin, making him want to turn around and run out the door.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared,” asked a sultry voice.
Loki glanced at Frigg. The glint in her eyes told him she was up to something, but it didn’t matter. Whatever she had up her sleeve wouldn’t work. He was more than happy with his life, and he intended to keep it just the way it was.
Instead, he simply inclined his head, smiled, and strode for the table.