Dana Bell - Eye of the Beholder

Keeping Tyr busy elsewhere and out of Grimm’s way had been a mistake. It had started during WWII, when Grimm had decided to help Hitler covertly. After all, the man had practically worshipped him. Sending Tyr to help the French Resistance had seemed like a stroke of genius at the time, and phones and air shipping of bottles of Tyr’s favorite apple brandy had made sure that Tyr stayed mostly under his thumb. He’d thought he’d sent in a spy. Instead, he’d sent in a god damn hero.

Who knew the pain in the ass would actually help the Allies win the fucking war?

He glowered at the empty case and deliberately turned his thoughts away from Tyr and toward his son, Vali, his grandchildren’s beloved Uncle Val.

Traitorous bastard. Thought he could kill me , did he? Fucking idiot. Frost coated his desk as he contemplated the many ways he planned on taking his revenge on Val. If Val thought his precious niece had suffered, he was in for a rude surprise.

Compared to what he would to do to Val he’d been downright compassionate toward Jamie.

He booted up his computer, using the password he’d set up for just such an eventuality to get into the company’s servers. He knew Frigg had already locked him out of the system, but she didn’t know, couldn’t know, about the back door log-in he’d installed.

Yup, there it was in black and white. Grimm and Sons was now run by that frigid bitch, Frederica Grimm, aka Frigg, and had been since the day after he’d taken off. He sat back with a sneer. Fucking cow.

He did a quick run-down of the employees, not surprised to see Fred’s pansy-assed sons Magnus and Morgan were no longer with the company. Rumor had it Tyr had taken them in as well. He wasn’t surprised. Tyr’s company had become something of a haven for the useless flotsam and jetsam that had flooded Grimm and Sons. Adam Grey, Jordan’s father and the god known as Frey, remained, as did Frejya.

Which was surprising, all things considered. He would have figured them for the first to bail out, considering how they’d stood by Tyr’s side on the battlefield. Sydney Saeter and Sybil Grimm, aka Sigyn and Sif, were also still on the payroll. His son Vidarr, the god of vengeance and known to humans as Victor Kippe was also still employed at Grimm, but that was no surprise. Even without the apples he’d always been loyal to the point of idiocy. Kate Berger, the goddess Skadi who’d tied Loki to the rocks and placed the snake over his head was still loyal as well. Fred Grimm, aka Thor, was still his as well. The god of the sea, Njord, had never been a part of the company, but Grimm wasn’t too worried about him. Njord, or Kye as he was now known, rarely left his seaside home. He’d have no reason to bother with Grimm’s problems unless they encroached on his domain. If they did, all hell would break loose, as Kye acknowledged neither Grimm nor Tyr as his master. As far as Grimm could tell he was still maintaining his neutrality.

Grimm’s brows shot up in shock as one name he’d been certain to see was conspicuous in its absence.

Niklas DeWitt, the god Heimdall and Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, was no longer listed on the payroll.

Grimm sat back, curious what could have made the Guardian quit. It was entirely possible Frigg had done something to piss the other god off, but what she could have done to anger him to that extent Grimm had no idea. It wasn’t like Nik hung around at the office Christmas parties, but up until now he’d been completely loyal.

Perhaps that was it. With Grimm himself no longer at the helm, perhaps Nik had taken himself off the payroll? He filed it mentally away as something to look into, and dismissed the man from his thoughts.

Next up, he needed to find out what had happened to his stash of elixir. Grimm keyed up the distribution list. When he saw the numbers he nearly howled in rage.

She’d cut them off. Aesir, Vanir and Jotun, gods and giants both, she’d cut them all off. She’d turned around and started serving the elixir, his elixir, to humans . She was controlling the fucking humans with his secret weapon.

Stupid, stupid, stupid bitch. The walls frosted over as he stared in furious disbelief at the screen.

Giving the elixir to the janitor who’d cleaned up the massive amounts of Grimm’s blood had been one thing; the man wouldn’t question what had appeared to be a murder in Grimm’s very private basement. He also wouldn’t question the devices he’d had stored in the side room where he’d had his fun with Jamie. But to give it to the stockholders? What had she hoped to gain there? The elixir wouldn’t be nearly as potent in her hands as it was in his. She didn’t have the ability to manipulate others that made the apples so effective in his hands. He’d waged war to get his hands on the apples once he’d found out about their unique properties. Ingested, the subject—god, Jotun or human—became highly suggestible. Combined with Odin’s own talents as a god of lies, he’d had complete control over anyone who drank anything made of the apples of Idun. They were almost impossible to resist. Indeed, he’d thought them completely impossible to resist until Tyr managed to break free, denying him the sale of his company, Guardian Investigations, and control over Fred Grimm’s children.

He leaned back in his chair to make room for the ravens that swooped into the room, landing exactly where they’d started from. Their feathers settled down, turning back into stone.

“ Rapport .” He rested his hand on their heads, stroking them as the information he sought played out inside his mind. Startlingly enough, they’d been unable to find Tyr.

Grimm smiled. He had an idea of what could have happened to Tyr to take him off the ravens’ radar.

He wove a complicated design over the raven statue, shrinking it down in size until it fit into his breast pocket. Later he’d break out the chain he used to wear them on and place them around his neck.

“Are you done?” He looked up to find Rina Southerland standing in the doorway, her pale blue eyes filled with amusement. He immediately logged out of the computer and shut it down, knowing it was time to go.

He’d been surprised when she sought him out, offering herself to him just as she always had. She’d taken him in, hidden him in a home she owned that not even Val knew about. She’d told him that she’d had other, similar homes over the years wherever they lived, just in case he needed it.

She even had a plan for regaining control of Idunn and her apples. It needed refinement, but once all of the elements were in place he’d implement it. He’d reward her later by making her his queen, the way he should have centuries ago.

She sauntered into the room and moved around his desk, her long, pale fingers stroking through his hair. “Mmm, I love your hair.” He leaned back into her, enjoying the silken slide of his hair through her fingers. The light caress of her fingernails sent shivers down his spine. “It’s so beautiful when you’re not hiding it.” Her free hand reached down and caressed his cock through his dress pants. “Of course, even covered up this is beautiful.”

He pulled her down for a brief, hard kiss. “No time, my love. We need to leave before Frigg finds us here.” He stood quickly, pulling her along behind him. He exited the office, careful to leave no trace of his visit behind. They were silent as they left the building, the security guard asleep behind his desk thanks to Rina’s magic.

“I think you could take the old cow,” Rina laughed as he pulled out of the parking lot.

His grin was savage as he entered the highway. Yes, he probably could take the old cow, but why would he want to when he had Rina?