Eleri Stone - Witch Bound

“Christian?”

Of all the luck ... He dragged in a deep breath. “No. Not Christian.”

“Oh?” He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but she actually sounded more miserable. “Sorry then. Just pretend I’m not here.”

Yeah, right.

He crossed the remaining distance. Red, rust-spotted and smelling of old food, the Dumpster created a shelter from the wind. The mouse sat on the curb with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin on her knees. He was wrong. She wasn’t sniffling because she was crying. She was sniffling because it was twenty degrees outside, and she wasn’t wearing a coat. Pretty little idiot.

“Someone from Colorado really ought to know better.” When she gave him a questioning look, he said, “You’ll freeze out here without a coat.”

“I’m fine.”

No. Clearly, she wasn’t. “I’m Fen.”

She squinted. He realized that she wouldn’t be able to see him well in the dark with the light behind him, so he stepped down from the curb.

“You’re the best man.” She didn’t sound particularly pleased to be making his acquaintance. Under the circumstances, he didn’t blame her. “Christian pointed you out when you skipped the receiving line. If you wanted to say hello, why didn’t you do it then?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not stalking you, if that’s what you mean. I don’t like lines...or crowds.” He sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him. The cold in the cement seeped right through his jeans. “Which is what I’m doing out here.”

He let it hang there as an invitation to explain what was up if she wanted to. She didn’t, just nodded as if this was the most natural thing in the world, them meeting out here behind the Dumpster. “I’m Raquel.”

“So I’ve heard.”

He gave her a moment to figure out what she was going to tell him. “Is he looking for me?”

“I don’t think so. When I came out, he was about to dive into an argument between one of the crows and the Odin.”

Her eyes widened. “Why on earth would he do that?”

“Beats the hell out of me.”

“They weren’t...” Gravel scraped as she shifted. “They weren’t arguing about the wedding were they?”

“Why? Are you looking for a way out?”

“No.” But she stared down at the cement when she said it.

Fen paused. What the hell had Christian done to put that look on her face? Unlike him to be so clumsy, especially where a beautiful woman was concerned. Fen couldn’t talk to her about that, even if he wanted to, but Aiden and Elin’s disagreement...well, that was fair game. She’d find out the reason behind it soon enough anyway, and maybe it would distract her from her nerves or whatever this was.

“My best guess is they were arguing about the rogue surges we’ve been having and Christian went over to shut them up until he had a chance to talk to you.”

“Rogue surges?” She lifted her head from her knees and focused on him. The way she tilted her head suggested intelligence. The way she leaned ever so slightly forward said she was Æsir after all.

“Last month we had a surge two days before first quarter. The twins wanted to get to the bottom of that before everyone got caught up with the wedding.”

“I’ve never heard of a surge occurring so close to a quarter.”

“Our fault’s been unpredictable. The elders say it’s normal fluctuation, but that last one was too strange for even them to ignore. Rane wants to cross over to see if something on the other side’s destabilizing the fault and Aiden won’t let her go.”

“She would do that—cross into Asgard by herself?”

Raquel wanted to cross, he could see it in her eyes—a very unmouselike expression of fascination and daring. Oh, there was fear there too, but it was a clean fear unlike the one she’d been wrestling with here behind the Dumpster. “It’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds.”

“I bet it is—terrifying and exciting. You’ve been there.”

Not a question, but he nodded anyway. “When Aiden’s daughter was taken. You heard about that?”

“We heard rumors. That Hallie was taken by demons. That your hunt crossed into Asgard and rescued her even though she’d been missing more than a year.”

“Time passes differently there. It was only a few days for her—thank the gods.”

“I guess your Odin wouldn’t be too eager to spread the word about that to the clans. A lot of people would call it reckless.”

“Are you one of them?”

Raquel shook her head. “If my daughter was trapped in Asgard, I’d have done the same thing. Just think—you’re the first Æsir to make that crossing in centuries.”

“It wasn’t a glorious adventure. It was a rescue mission—fast and dirty and bloody.”

That didn’t dull the sparkle in her eyes. Not one bit. “When we were in school, they told us only demons can survive the atmosphere.”

Fen tipped back his head and looked at the spill of stars that formed the Milky Way, remembering that cold, dark place. Slick black ice and the crumbled stone of ancient buildings. Pools of eerily still water and the twisted stumps of old trees. Caverns pitted the rocky surface of Asgard, providing the perfect hiding place for the waiting demons. The closest thing to hell he ever hoped to see, and he very much hoped that they wouldn’t have to cross again.

“That’s near enough the truth. It’s...a forsaken place. Dead and barren. Even knowing that Hallie’s safe inside—” he tipped his head toward the building, “—stealing another piece of cake right now, it makes me sick to think about her being over there. We almost lost her.”

“How did she survive? My clan would have given up on her as soon as the portal closed.”

Shame curled in his belly. “We did give up on her, everyone except Aiden. Whenever he could force his way through, he crossed. Even then, I think he’d lost hope until Grace came along. And the truth is, Hallie wouldn’t have made it on her own. An exiled Vanir helped her hide from the demons.”

Her delicate brows lifted. “I would have thought a Vanir would stand aside and watch them tear apart an Æsir, even a child. They’re the ones who did that to our world.”

“The demons did it.”

She pursed her lips and gave him a reproving look. “But the Vanir were behind it. They summoned Surtr and even now, they haven’t bothered to call him off.”

Fen shrugged, allowing the point though he’d never seen any definitive proof of that. It was something to speculate on, like the existence of the gods and the nature of the universe. Ancient history. But he’d managed to capture her attention with the story. And it was something she needed to know about since she was about to join their clan. “Grace says he saved Hallie because he’s alone there with the demons. That he’s lonely, desperate and not as evil as we’ve perhaps been led to believe.”

“She is a Norn.” Raquel tipped her head to the side. “You don’t believe her though, do you?”

He shrugged. He believed that was the way Grace saw it. “Grace has a soft heart. She’s Verthandi, so she was able to track Hallie. When we crossed into Asgard, she rode with us and was trapped there for a time. She’s the only one apart from Hallie who’s had direct contact with the Vanir.”

“So the crows...they think these rogue surges are related to the Vanir or your crossing?”

Smart girl to piece it together so quickly. He looked at her again. This is what should frighten her—rogue surges and vengeful demons—not Christian, but her expression was rapt.

“Yeah. They think it’s related. Grace killed a higher-level demon when she was trapped in Asgard, one of Surtr’s harem. It’s possible he’s looking for revenge. It’s possible that our presence in Asgard whet the host’s appetite.”