Eye of the Beholder

Chapter Seven

Toni Mancinelli sat eating a pint of Chunky Monkey and watching Project Runway reruns on Bravo, but she was having a hard time rooting for her favorite designer. Her mind kept returning to the Grimm case.

Why is this not meshing for me? Something about the way Danny had presented the evidence just didn’t sit right with her, and she couldn’t put her finger on why. The DA loved it, Cap loved it, the judges loved it. Hell, at first even she had loved it.

But the more she studied it the more she didn’t trust it. Every instinct she had said she was being snowed, and by an expert. She planned on keeping a closer eye on Danny-boy from now on.

Still, if anyone could fuck around with cops it would be Travis Yardley-Rudiger. He’d worked with them often enough to know how they thought. Planting evidence at a scene would be no big deal. She’d just have to see what the test results came back with. If they confirmed what Danny had told her, good enough.

If they didn’t, there would be hell to pay.

She took another bite of ice cream, rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath as Sissybear was once again robbed of his time in Bryant Park. All because of some human hair?

Puh-lease. Grow a pair, people. I still want that retro jacket.

Jamie stretched, smiling in the early morning light. “Mmm.” Every muscle felt loose and liquid, just the way she liked it. She was warm and cozy, and best of all, no alarm clock was going off. Must be Sunday. I love Sundays. She yawned, opening her eyes.

She frowned. She didn’t recognize the room she was in at first, but then memory came back in a horrifying rush. She rubbed her eyes with her hands, trying to take in everything that had happened last night.

“Morning.”

She stifled a shriek. “Good morning, Travis.”

“You forgot I was here, didn’t you?”

She peeked from between her fingers. “I knew.”

“Uh-huh.”

She sniffed. “Is Logan making breakfast?”

“Nice subject change, and yes, I think he is.”

She stuck her tongue out.

He laughed, pulling her into his arms. “Can I have a good morning kiss?”

“Ew.”

One dark blond brow rose in disbelief. “Ew. I ask for a kiss and get an ew?”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Morning breath.”

“Your breath smells f…hell, woman, what crawled into your mouth and died?” He laughed as she began beating him with a pillow. “Uncle! Uncle!”

“Hah. Big bad warrior dude felled by tiny female with a pillow. Take that, sexism!”

“Don’t forget the hideous breath weapon you wield.” Travis laughed again and hid behind his arms when she raised the pillow, snarling at him.

“That’s better.” She lowered the pillow, settling back against his thighs. His erection throbbed between her thighs.

Wait. When did I crawl into his lap? She looked down at him, startled. Her legs were curled up on either side of his hips. She raised and lowered herself carefully, her movements becoming bouncier as she realized there was no pain. She scrambled for the edge of the nightgown, pulling it up to reveal a perfectly smooth stomach. She touched, unable to believe her eyes. “The scars are gone.” She looked down at him, knowing she was grinning like a loon. “My scars are gone!”

He nodded, his smile growing as his hand joined hers on her stomach. His touch was warm and soothing.

“Did you do this?”

He shook his head. “That’s one of Logan’s powers.”

“How pissed do you think Jordan’s going to be when I offer myself up as his love slave?”

She was on her back so fast her head was spinning. “Care to repeat that?” Travis lowered his body against hers, his hips pinning hers to the bed.

“Breath of death, remember?” She grinned weakly. She blew at him, laughing reluctantly when he gagged and fell off her, curling up on his side. His hand was at his throat as he gasped for air.

She got out of bed with a sniff.

“Aw, c’mon. Come back to bed? Please? Just keep your face away from mine and everything will be fine.”

She slammed the bathroom door shut, ignoring his renewed laughter.

He came in just as she finished brushing her teeth. “Are you done yet?”

She turned off the water. “Mostly. I still need to brush my hair, wash my face, put on my makeup, what are you doing?” She watched as, naked, he bent over the tub.

“You ask me that a lot. Have you noticed that?”

Dear God, he had the most incredible ass. He turned on the water before turning to the toilet. “I gather you want a shower?”

He lifted the seat. “Yeah, don’t you? Where are you going?”

She ignored the sounds of him relieving himself and left the bathroom. She’d just go ahead and get dressed while he did his, um, morning stuff.

She pulled the nightgown over her head and tossed it on the bed. She leaned down and pulled her panties off, adding them to the growing pile of dirty laundry. She’d need to get to that sooner rather than later. Relying on the men to take care of things was getting old, even if Kir was a fairly decent housekeeper.

She missed her apartment, more than she’d thought she would. The freedom to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted was something she’d cherished after living with her overbearing father. But she had the feeling that freedom was a long way off for her now. Until Grimm was stopped permanently none of the men were going to be willing to let her out of their sight.

“Damn.”

Especially Travis . She didn’t turn around. Even though he’d seen her naked breasts in the mirror last night she hadn’t been aware of it until after the fact. Add in that this time she was not only completely naked but bent over and he had to be getting an eyeful. Turning around now felt tantamount to giving him permission. “I thought you were going to take a shower?” Because I planned to have clothing on the next time I saw you.

“Huh?”

She looked over her shoulder to find his gaze glued to her ass. She slapped her hands over the globes, horrified. “Travis. I thought you were a gentleman. ”

He sighed happily and walked forward, his arms reaching for her. “Someone lied to you, then.”

She squeaked and dove for the bed, determined to preserve what was left of her dignity.

She didn’t make it. She found herself over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Shower time.”

He stroked her side with his cheek, the gesture loving and sweet. His beard tickled her side, making her want to squirm. “I didn’t say I wanted a shower, and I especially didn’t say I wanted a shower with you.”

He put her directly under the spray, grinning when she sputtered. “You’ll feel a great deal better once you’re clean.” He picked up a bottle of shampoo, pouring some directly onto her head. “Ready?”

One of her hands flew to her breasts, the other to her pussy, covering them from his heated gaze. “For what?”

He began washing her hair, his left hand massaging her scalp. His right arm was around her waist, pulling her in tight to his body and out of the spray. If he’d had a right hand she bet it would be stroking her butt.

“I can wash my own hair.” She could hear the huskiness in her voice and knew he could too. It might have had something to do with the heated iron bar digging into the back of her arm. She risked a quick peek down to find the head of his penis practically against her belly button. She lifted her head quickly to find a satisfied male smirk on his face.

“I know.” He dipped her back, rinsing the soap from her hair. When it was gone he leaned in for a nipping kiss to her neck before standing her back up. “Now for the rest of you.”

He soaped up a washcloth, running it over her body with intense focus. He didn’t miss a single square inch of her skin. She struggled a bit when he began washing her pussy, but the attempt was half-hearted at best. After all, this had to be a dream. Naked and wet in the shower with Travis, watching his hard, wet cock bounce around and knowing that all she had to do was reach out and touch it?

Oh yeah. She’d dreamt this before. It usually had a really good ending too.

But, just to make sure… She reached around and pinched her ass, jumping when it hurt.

“Hold still, sweetheart.”

Okay. Not a dream. She pulled back some more, ignoring the throbbing protest in her clit. “Travis?”

“Hmm?”

The heat in his gaze nearly scorched her skin. She threw up her hands, holding him off, trying to shake the sensual spell he seemed to have cast over her. Unfortunately that put her, sputtering, right under the spray.

His lips curled slowly, amusement replacing the sexual awareness. “I swear you’re a disaster waiting to happen.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out from under the water. “Talk, then sex?”

“Breakfast!” she practically shouted in his face. What the fuck am I doing? I’m turning down actual, real-life sex with Travis. From the feel of things it was gonna beat the dreams all hollow. She put the back of her hand to her forehead. Nope, not feverish. Just insane. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was happening so damn fast, just rushing up on her and sweeping her along. She didn’t like the feeling one damn bit. Still. Wet, naked shower with Travis. Wet, naked, willing Travis.

She batted at his hand when it reached for her breast. Yup. I’m insane.

He eased back and kept the rest of the shower as platonic as possible between two naked people who, judging by the size of the erection he was sporting and how wet her pussy was, wanted each other. She found herself watching his cock as it bobbed, water dripping off of it like a fountain. She was fascinated by the way he washed the chiseled abs right above it. She could feel her eyes glazing over as he stroked it with the washcloth, scrubbing his balls, then stroking down muscled thighs she was dying to sink her nails into.

He then returned the washcloth to his furred chest and she damn near whimpered.

She looked up from his cock to find him staring at her with so much male smugness she wanted to reach out and smack him one. That was when she knew he’d washed himself that way deliberately.

She crossed her arms, making sure to pillow her breasts on them, leaning back against the tile wall.

She crossed her legs, her brows rising in challenge. C’mon, big boy. You can do better than that.

His grin was smug, his hand continuing its slow caress of his chest. When he turned around and began soaping that hot, tight ass of his she nearly groaned out loud.

Payback. She hoped she could pull this off. “You done yet?”

The washcloth paused. He shot her a look over his shoulder. The hot look was giving way to one of speculation. “Not yet.”

“Mmm.” She yawned, not quite sure where all this courage was coming from. “Well, I’m done, and I’m hungry.” She stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. “Meet you out front.”

She didn’t hear him moving as she stepped out of the bathroom. Once out, she bowed her head, fanning herself. If she’d stayed in there any longer she would have spontaneously combusted.

She’d never dressed so quickly in her life. Hoping she just hadn’t royally screwed things up with Travis, she made it out of the bedroom before he left the shower. She knew she’d just given the guy mixed signals, but he’d gone from completely ignoring her to naked shower games in the space of a few days. She was a little confused by his rapid turn-around. Besides, the man was a freakin’ god. That was still wigging her out a lot.

She was glad to see her twin waiting for her just outside her bedroom door. He always knew when she had something she needed to talk about. “Hey, little fox.” He took her by the arm and pulled her into the den, closing and locking the door. He handed her a plate of bacon, eggs and toast and sat her at the desk.

“So what’s it like to be loved by a god?”

And that summed it up, right there. Two words she was having a problem equating Travis with.

Love and god.

She buried her face in her arms. “What if it’s just pity?”

Jeff chuckled. “Oh, hell no, it’s not pity. Trust me.”

She peeked at him from under her arm. “Last time I checked Travis was into busty blondes who think a fjord is a kick-ass truck.”

Jeff nodded, running a wide toothed comb through her curls, getting the tangles out of her wet hair.

The sensation of the comb had always soothed her. It had become something of a ritual between them.

Others might think it odd, or think it had something to do with Jeff’s being gay, but the reality was it helped them both. She just told people it was a twin thing, because she didn’t quite understand it herself. “True, but you didn’t see him in the hospital. The whole time you were there, when you were unconscious, when the doctors told us you might not walk again. He was…” The comb paused as Jeff shook his head. “I can’t even describe it. He never left your side, Jamie. He just sat there, holding your hand, staring at you. You could tell when he was thinking of you, because he’d have such a look of pain on his face it almost made me cry. I caught him once, just stroking your hair, and I did cry, just from the look on that man’s face. You could also tell when he was thinking of Grimm.”

“How?”

She lifted her head in time to see Jeff grimace. The comb started stroking through her hair once more.

“Let’s just say that if Travis ever looked at me like that, I’d find the deepest, darkest hole I could find, plant my headstone behind it and dive in. Then I would sit there and pray for someone to come and fill in the hole.”

Travis got dressed as quickly as he could, but he wasn’t fast enough. She’d disappeared into the den with her twin, and the locked door told its own tale. He huffed out a frustrated breath and was headed for the kitchen and breakfast when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Travis?”

He held the phone between his shoulder and his ear and grabbed a coffee mug, placing it next to the pot. “Yeah, Morgan?” He heard the sound of the den’s door opening and peeked into the living room.

Jamie and Jeff were still murmuring to one another as they took seats on the sofa.

“I just went by your house, and…”

“And what?” He stared at Jamie, only paying half attention to what his operative was telling him. He was still confused as hell over what had happened in the bathroom and he didn’t like it one little bit.

“It looks like someone put a hose in every room and turned them on.”

Jamie sat with her head close to her twin’s, whispering back and forth. He would give anything to know what was going on in her head. That little scene in the shower that morning had left him hard as a rock and stunned out of his mind. She was avoiding him. Damn. I think I fucked up. He’d pushed too hard too soon, and now she was running from him.

“Hello? Are you listening, or are you mooning over my sister again?” Morgan’s voice crackled with annoyance.

That got his attention. “What did you say about my house?”

“Water. Damage. Hope you have insurance.”

He frowned, his attention finally diverted from Jamie and Jeff. “Water damage?”

“I went to your place to deliver the papers on the Solberg case, remember? You were supposed to meet me there this afternoon.”

The cop, right. They’d only gotten the case a week after Jamie had entered the hospital. The wife was firmly convinced he’d left her for another woman, and wanted solid proof before she filed for divorce.

From everything Morgan and Magnus had been able to gather, she was right. Magnus said he’d taken pictures of the man fucking an unknown blonde woman and had, in fact, moved in with her.

“Anyway, I arrive, open the door, a metric ton of water sloshes out and you owe me new shoes.”

“Fuck.” This day just kept getting better and better.

“It looks like every pipe in your house burst all at once. Freakiest thing I’ve ever seen. Water spraying everywhere, and the worst part? All your wards are blown.”

“I do not need this shit right now.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly, wondering how the fuck Grimm had gotten through his wards to wreak his damage.

“Yeah. Listen, you might wanna come over here, take a look around. Trust me, you’re not gonna believe it until you see it. Don’t worry, I turned the water main off. By the way, your carpet was apparently filthy. Have you never heard of Rug Doctor? You owe me new jeans too.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up the phone, his gaze tracing the back of Jamie’s head lovingly. “Jamie, I have to head out for a little while. I have a small problem I need to take care of.”

She turned. Those eyes of hers seemed to see right through to the heart of him. “Grimm?”

He nodded. “Seems the Old Man did something to the pipes in my house. The entire place is flooded, and from what Morgan said the damage is pretty bad.”

“It’s a set-up.”

He nodded. “I know.” He turned. “Logan—”

“No.” Jeff stood and stretched. “I’ll go.”

Travis didn’t miss the relief on Jordan’s face, or the annoyance on Logan’s. He nodded anyway.

“Let’s go.” He walked over to Jamie and leaned over her, balancing on the stump of his right arm. Taking her face in his hand he leaned down, kissing her with all of the pent-up passion she’d left him with in the bathroom. By the time he was done they were both breathing hard and her eyes were once more glazed over. “Be good.” He kissed the tip of her nose before walking away. It took every ounce of his self-

discipline not to limp from the hard-on he was sporting.

A man had his pride, after all.

Logan stared thoughtfully at the closed door to the condo. “Y’know, I have something I need to take care of. Why don’t you guys order in enough pizza for the whole gang? I’ll call the M and M’s and Vlad the Impaler. Make sure you get extra hemoglobin, ok?” Logan sauntered off into the den, shutting the door behind him.

“Vlad the Impaler?” Jamie snickered, wide eyed, as Kir frowned after Logan.

“He never asks to order in pizza.” Kir got up and followed Logan from the room, leaving the girls alone on the chaise.

Jordan quickly dialed the pizza place, ordering enough to feed an army. Jordan and Kir shared the same unhealthy pizza obsession, so Jamie wasn’t too surprised.

Jordan turned the television on, but kept the volume low. She switched it to Lifetime. She raised her voice slightly, glancing at the door to the den. “How about a good victim of the week movie while we wait?”

Two male groans of disgust sounded from the den.

“Good. That should keep them out for a bit.” Jordan scooted closer to Jamie, a big grin on her face.

“So. Travis. Is he as good with his tongue as I think he is?” She waggled her eyebrows, giggling when Jamie smacked her on the arm. “C’mon, sister to sister. Is he, y’know, enough to keep you satisfied?”

From the way Jordan held her hands apart Jamie had no problem figuring out what she meant.

“Jordan!”

“What?”

“Logan is a bad influence on you.”

“Is Travis a bad influence on you?”

“I turned him down.”

Jordan stared at her blankly.

“Seriously. I totally panicked. I said no.”

“Did the word no leave your lips at any time?”

She thought back. “Um, no, not actually.”

“Good. Because I’d have to smack you silly if it had.”

“But I didn’t say yes, either.” Jamie groaned and put her head on her big sister’s shoulder. “What am I doing?”

Jordan didn’t even hesitate, her arms wrapping around Jamie’s shoulders in a big hug. “You’re claiming the man you’ve been in love with since you were sixteen, that’s what you’re doing.”

“But does he really want to be claimed?”

Jordan smacked her on top of her head.

“Ow.”

“That’s what you get for being stupid.”

“He never seemed interested before.”

“Well, he sure as hell is interested now.”

“And in the future?” Jamie cuddled in closer to her sister’s warmth and wished, not for the first time, that she could contact their mom. She didn’t even know if their mother knew who their father was, or anything that had happened to them. She hadn’t shown up at the hospital, nor had she tried to contact any of them since before Grimm attacked her. It was odd, because their family was usually pretty close. Maybe whatever power Grimm had used to sway the Aesir had been used on their mother? “How do I know he doesn’t just feel sorry for me?”

Jordan smacked her on top of her head again.

“Ow.”

“I tell people my momma didn’t raise any stupid children. Stop trying to make a liar outta me.”

Jamie bit her lip, barely holding back her grin. “So you think he’s really into me?” She grabbed Jordan’s hand before she could smack her again. “A simple yes would do.”

“Yes. Duh.” Jordan sighed. “The last time I saw a man look at a woman the way Travis looks at you, I found myself secretly married.”

Jamie gulped. “How do you deal with…you know.”

“What, loving two men?”

“No. Two gods.”

Jordan sat her up. “Is that what’s holding you back?”

Jamie nodded. “He’s a god, Jordan. He’s been alive for, what, thousands of years? How many women has he loved? How long will he live? Will he even remember me when I’m gone?” She frowned. “Why hasn’t he dated a redhead before now?”

Jordan held up Jamie’s hand. There wasn’t even a scar visible from where Logan had cut her the night before. “First off, how do you know he hasn’t dated any redheads? He’s, what, umpty-bazillion years old?

I’d think by now he’d have hit on all the hair colors. Second, you’ve shared blood with two gods, not just one. I can tell already that you’ve got Logan’s ability to heal, you lucky bitch. You’ve probably gotten immortality from Travis.”

“I have?”

Jordan shrugged. “That’s what I got from bonding with Kir.”

“Yeah, but Kir is Aesir. Travis is Vanir. What if it doesn’t work the same way?”

Jordan opened her mouth, then closed it, her expression thoughtful. “You know, I don’t know how that would work.” She took Jamie’s hand and smiled. “But if it came down to it, I’m positive Kir would figure out a way to share blood with you, or Morgan, Magnus or Uncle Val, for that matter.”

“Yup, I would.” Jamie turned just as Kir pecked the top of her head. “Just as Logan and I plan on sharing with Jeff.” He plopped down at Jordan’s feet, his blond head resting against Jordan’s knee. “No way is Jordan going to go without her family. Not if we can help it.” He smiled up at Jordan as she caressed his hair. “Did you order any sodas with the pizza?”

Jordan just shook her head as the ruler of the gods pouted over the fact that she’d forgotten his cherry Pepsi.

“Wait. Why would I have to share blood with so many people? Isn’t it, like, unhygienic?”

Kir grinned. “Logan’s not really a god.”

Jamie blinked. “That cleared things right up.”

Jordan bopped her on the head again. “What he means is, Logan, as a Jotun, can give you the ability to use fire magic, or his expanded healing, but he can’t give you immortality. Kir can, because he’s Aesir.”

“So what did Travis give me?”

Kir’s lips opened, but a confused look crossed his face. “Huh. I have no idea. I don’t think he’s shared blood with anyone else before.”

Jamie couldn’t help the satisfied smirk that crossed her face. Take that, blonde bimbos of the world!

They sat quietly for a few moments, watching some woman on the screen try to explain to her friend why she thought her husband was up to no good. When the lights turned out at the end of the scene, Jamie was reminded of what she’d done the day before. “Something else has been bothering me too.”

“What would that be?” Jordan was playing with strands of Kir’s hair, her expression thoughtful. She didn’t even protest when Kir changed the channel.

“Dimming Travis’s light.”

Jordan’s fingers paused. Jamie looked down at Kir to find him studying her with an intensity that made her squirm.

“Look, several of you guys appeared a little freaked by that.” Jamie stared down at her hands. “What did I do and how did I do it?”

“You’re a mage.” She turned as Logan settled on the ottoman in front of her, his hands clasped between his knees. He too was studying her intently.

“Mage. Harry Potter woo-woo mage?” She wiggled her fingers at Logan.

Logan snorted. “Not quite, Pita. And, seriously, now you’re more god than mage anyway.”

Jamie choked on spit. “G-God?”

Logan was grinning. “There are five types of magic in the world, and several of them are intertwined.

The ones you need to be worried about now are elemental, divine and runic.”

“What are the other two?”

“Decisive and petition.”

“Um. Okay.” She hoped she didn’t look as lost as she felt.

Logan reached up and tapped her nose. “You were a decisive mage. Now you’re a divine mage.”

Jordan was practically bouncing. “Like me?”

Logan shook his head. “Remember how I said that magic was intertwined?”

“Yes?”

“Your magic is much more elemental than Jamie’s.”

“Oh.” Jordan looked disappointed for some bizarre reason. Jamie didn’t understand why.

Wait a minute. Jamie bit her lip. “So Jordan’s eyes really did have flames in them at the hospital?”

Logan glared at Jordan. “You have got to learn to control that.”

“Bite me, Logan.”

He smirked. “Later, dear.”

Jamie was beginning to see why Jeff was fed up with Casa de Luuuv. “So what am I again? Exactly?”

“You were decisive.” He stared at her for a moment as if he were sizing her up. “Okay. The two magics that are most alike are divine and decisive. A decisive mage works his magic by forcing his will on the world around him, but he’s limited by his humanity. Whereas a god…” Logan shrugged.

“A god is limited only by their own innate goodness. So how come none of you have, I dunno, flooded the world or something?”

Logan stared at her in exaggerated horror. “Are you kidding? This is where I keep all my stuff.”

Kir smacked Logan on the knee. “There are limits to what even we can do. You’ve heard of the great flood, right? Every religion has an account of the world being covered in water.”

“I may have heard a story or two, yes.” Was he about to tell her that really happened?

“The god who actually started that flood?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering where he was going with this.

“Gone. He lost his temper, let loose the waves and…poof. Disappeared. He poured too much of himself into it. We still don’t know if what he did was deliberate or if it simply got away from him and sucked him in after.”

Jamie shuddered. “So if Logan were to attempt to cover the world in fire…”

Kir nodded. “He could do it, but he’d become the fire. When it finally died out…” Kir shuddered, his hand burrowing into Logan’s hair.

She winced. “Ouch.”

Logan leaned back into his lover’s touch, but his expression was stern. “Quicky class: don’t try to cover the world in whatever your divine power turns out to be, do try and figure out what you can and can’t do, and do it behind wards.”

“Why, and what, are wards?” Her head was beginning to spin.

From the sympathetic look on Jordan’s face she figured her sister had already gotten a lecture similar to this. She proved it by answering Jamie’s question. “Runic magic that can be used to hide our signature, dampen our signal if you will. We sound like normal mages when we use our abilities behind wards.”

Jordan frowned down at Logan. “Wait a moment. When you did the thing with Dick Head and changed my paperwork to Saeter, you weren’t behind wards.”

“Wasn’t I?” He grinned.

“Logan. ”

Kir laughed at Jordan’s scowl. “He wears a specially made piece of jewelry that acts as a portable ward. It’s good for short bursts of magic, but anything prolonged would fry it so he doesn’t use it very often.”

“Oh.” Jordan stared at Logan intently. A small smile formed. “Clever.”

Now that Jamie looked, she thought she could detect it too. There was a faint red haze around…

“Your nose ring.”

He grinned and clapped his hands. “And thus ends today’s lesson.” He stood. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have some things to take care of.” He tugged Kir to his feet. “C’mon, blondie, you can give me a hand.” He leaned down and kissed Jordan. “Keep an eye on Jamie while she practices, okay?”

“Got it.”

“Don’t step in the way of anything that flies out of her hands.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Oh, and if beams shoot out of her eyes—”

“Duck behind the couch. Got it already.”

Jamie put her hands on her hips and glared at the two men walking toward the den. “Is she here to watch or be target practice?”

Her only answer was Logan’s amused snort.