Howl for Me

Chapter Nine

“So.” Jeanne Grimm had papers strewn all over his dining room table, and he couldn’t be more pleased. Jeff stared down at the charts and diagrams she’d whipped up while he’d been sleeping and grinned. She pointed to a spot on her timeline. “Heimdall blows his horn.” She moved to the next item. “Odin speaks to a decapitated head.” Her finger moved along, ticking off the things listed in the prophecy. “Yggdrasil, the World Tree, trembles.”

“Earthquake?” Jordan popped yet another piece of pizza in her mouth. For a woman who professed to hate olives she was eating a metric ton of them recently. And was that pineapple on her pizza as well?

“Good thinking.” Jeanne nodded approvingly. “Some Ettin is loosed. Any ideas?”

No one said anything. Then again, the majority of those in the know were currently in Kir and Logan’s condo holding their own war council. The Grimm family had been relegated to Jeff’s place, not that he was complaining.

He bet they came up with stuff much sooner than the Norse gods did.

Sometimes all it took was a fresh perspective on an old problem, and who better to help them with that than Jeanne Grimm? The woman would make a five-star general look like a scatterbrained dork.

“Note to self, look that up later.” Jeanne scribbled something down on a Post-It note and attached it to her timeline. “Okay. Next, the Aesir are at council.”

She tapped her pen on the table. “Scratch that one off, ’cause I’m pretty sure it’s happened more than once and will happen again.”

“During an earthquake, while the Old Man talks to a decapitated head?”

Jordan sighed in bliss as another bite of olive and pineapple pizza disappeared into her face.

“How can you eat that?” Jeff shuddered in revulsion. “There’s no meat on it.”

Everyone stopped and stared at him. He shrugged. “What?”

Jeanne turned her attention back to the papers on the table. “Dwarves groan.” She grimaced. “I’m pretty sure they do that every time they see Leprechaun Returns: 3D.”

Jordan choked on an olive. Jamie helped by smacking her back so hard she fell off the sofa.

Jeanne shook her head. “Children. Settle down.” Jordan got back on the sofa, but not before giving Jamie a death glare. “Hrymyr sails from the east during a flood.”

Again, blank stares met her questioning look. “No clue, Mom.” Jeff got up and snagged his own piece of extra pepperoni. “Add another Post-It.”

She did. “The monstrous Beast twists in mighty wrath. Jörmungandr? Or someone else?”

Jordan frowned down at her pizza. “Dad said Jör wasn’t the serpent.”

Jeff stared at his sister. “He did? Then who was the serpent?”

She stared right back. “Odin?”

Jeanne sighed and tapped her pen again. “Okay. So part of this could refer to

Jörmungandr, part of it could not. The Snake beats the waves sounds like him.”

“Yeah, it does, since he was banished to the sea.” Jeff took his seat next to Jamie and watched their mother pace.

“The Eagle is screaming.”

“That’s because they haven’t won the Super Bowl in forever.” Jamie flinched when Jordan popped her one on the back of the head.

“The gold-neb tears corpses, Naglfar is loosed.” Jeanne rubbed her eyes wearily.

“Screw this. Bring me a laptop.”

Jeff hopped up to do his mother’s bidding. He soon had her set up at the table, some of the papers set aside carefully so as not to disturb their order.

“Okay. If I remember, there’s more than one translation of the Poetic Edda.

Your friends have only given us one. Let’s see what else is out there.” Jeanne grinned and began to type. Soon she had another version up on the screen. “Loud blows Heimdall, the horn is aloft. In fear quake all who on Hel-roads are.”

“Not much difference that I can see,” Jeff muttered. He leaned down to stare at the screen over his mother’s shoulder. “Look there. This seems to say the Eagle and Naglfar are the same— and the tawny eagle gnaws corpses screaming; Naglfar is loose.”

“So we need to find out who Naglfar is.” Jeanne made another note. “Right.

Next.” She scrolled a bit. “There.”

“Another name to add to our list. Who’s Byleist and his brother? They’re in both translations.” Jeanne’s pen was tapping again. It was quickly driving Jeff nuts. His mother typed in a quick Wiki search. “Oh. Byleist is Loki’s brother.”

Jordan gasped. “Logan has a brother?”

Jeff groaned. “You mean there are two of them?”

Jeanne rolled her eyes and continued.

“That sounds lovely.” Jordan grimaced. “Zombies throng Center City.

Corporations notice no differences in productivity. Film at eleven.”

“The Joy of Frigg? Does that frigid bitch believe in joy?” Jeanne shook her head. “So Odin falls to the wolf?”

“That seems to be pretty consistent.” Jordan pointed. “But take a look:

“Meaning Fenris kills Odin, but dies by Uncle Val’s hand.” Jamie shook her head. “We’re all hoping that one’s wrong.”

Hell, Jeff was more than hoping. He was planning. After all, the Eddas didn’t say which wolf would kill Odin, did they? None of the translations specifically mentioned Fenris. Now that there was more than one giant wolf carrying Loki’s blood, thanks to his mating with Fen, there was a possibility Jeff could carry out the deed.

If anyone died while killing Odin it was going to be him. Fen had suffered enough at his grandfather’s hands, thank you.

Jeanne gasped. “Is this…?”

Jeff nodded. “Yeah. Everyone thought the serpent was Jörmungandr.”

“But serpent has more than one meaning, doesn’t it?” Jamie frowned thoughtfully. “Sometimes it means betrayer.”

“If anyone has betrayed this family it’s the Old Man.” Jeff ran his hand through his hair and frowned at the feel of it. “What the hell?”

“You didn’t know?” Jordan ran her hand down his back. It met his hair the entire way down until she was almost at his ass. “Love the rock glam look on you, bro.”

“Shit.” No, he hadn’t noticed his waist-length hair. How the hell had he missed that?

“Language, Jeff.”

“Sorry.”

Jeanne read the next stanza.

“Dad.” Jamie sniffed, close to tears.

Jeff finished it for them. Jeanne had taken Jamie in her arms and the two women looked ready to start crying.

Jeff couldn’t cry. Not yet. Not until Odin was dead.

There was silence as he finished. “The rest is all about the happy times as Baldur rules over heaven on earth. Wine, women, song, all that happy crap.” He stood and stretched his sore muscles.

A finger reached out and tapped the screen. “And then a dragon flies overhead with the bodies of the dead strapped to its back.”

Jeff stared at his sister. Jamie pulled free of their mother and went back to the pizza box. Her hand hovered over the extra pepperoni, but then suddenly grabbed a slice of olive and pineapple, moaning happily as she bit into it. “Huh.

That would qualify.”

“As what?” Jeanne shut the website down and picked up her own slice of pizza. “And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

He grinned at his mother. “The weirdest thing I’ve seen today.” He wasn’t talking about the dragon, either. Jamie hated olives, especially on her pizza.

Could Jamie be pregnant?

Jeanne’s brows rose, but not much could disguise the tear tracks on her cheeks or the grief in her eyes. “Only today?”

He pointed toward the front door. “Have you met your sons-in-law?”

Her head tilted as she thought about that. “Good point.”

“He’s going to do something stupid.” Fen stared at the front door of his father’s condo. Every one of his instincts said Jeffrey Grimm was going to go hunting his father’s killer. The look on his mate’s face as he’d dressed for his meeting with his family had been fierce, determined.

Fen was terrified.

Logan snorted. “That’s like saying he’s going to drool over Vincente.”

“Five will get you ten they’re sitting there, going over the prophecy.” Travis was pacing, a sure sign of his own agitation. If Jeff was going off half-cocked odds were good Jamie would be right behind him, with Jordan not too far off.

“Making plans.” Kir sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit. I wish the M&M’s were here. They’re the only ones with even a chance of controlling those three.”

“In your dreams, maybe.” Travis paused. “What if we let them?”

Fen turned his attention to the blond god. He didn’t like the look on Travis’s face one little bit. “No.”

“We’d be right behind them.”

He let his fangs out, showing his displeasure at the thought, let alone the deed. “You are not using our mates as bait.”

Thunder sounded outside. “Especially not Jordan.”

Travis waved his hand. “Of course not. But Jeff? C’mon. We all know Fenris will kill Odin, but now that Jeff has Fen’s healing abilities he can hold his own while Fen does the deed.”

“He’d be a distraction. A good one.” Kir settled down once he realized Jordan’s potential worth as bait was off the table.

“Does the prophecy actually say Fen will be the one to kill Odin?” The others turned and stared at Val. The man shrugged and chugged some more beer.

“Already the prophecy is out of whack. Thor wasn’t supposed to die yet. Plus I don’t recall Fenris’s name being specifically mentioned. Do you? It just says the giant’s son and the wolf. Technically, since Fen changed Jeff, that would make him his werewolf daddy, wouldn’t it? And since Fen, as a pureblood Jotun, is a giant, wouldn’t that make Jeff partly one, too? Knowing my nephew he’s already thought of this and, right or wrong, is going to go after the Old Man.”

Dead silence settled over the room as the implication of what Val said hit them all. They raced for the front door, practically tripping over one another in their haste to get to their mates.

“Shit. You think they’ve already left?” Flames danced along Logan’s skin, singeing the maple floor.

The door opened under Fen’s hand. He stared at a startled Jeanne Grimm.

“I’d say yes.”

“Please, for the love of all I hold dear, tell me your daughter didn’t just do something stupid.” Logan glared at his mother-in-law. The fear was easy to read for all who knew him.

Jeanne’s lips thinned. “So extraordinarily stupid it boggles even me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “They snuck out while I was on the toilet.”

A bright light flashed behind them and Jeanne flinched. Travis’s voice, strangely echoing and deeper than normal, surrounded them in ways only another god could understand. Tyr was preparing himself for battle. “Where’s Jamie?”

“With them.” Jeanne Grimm waved her hand. “Could you tone that down a little?”

Surprisingly, Travis’s light dimmed.

Kir and Logan exchanged a glance. Kir’s brows rose in surprise. “Well. We know where Jamie got that from, don’t we?”

Travis’s eyes were white, blind with rage and power. His head tilted up, seeing something none of the rest of them could. “I swear, I’m going to paddle her ass when we get her home. She’s gone after him.”

Jeanne nodded. “They think Jeff can kill Oliver. I tried to talk them out of it, but none of them would listen to me.”

“No. They wouldn’t.” Kir had storms dancing once more in his eyes. “They won’t listen until their father’s murderer is dead.”

“Do they even know where Oliver is?” Jeanne scrubbed her face wearily, looking every inch her fifty-plus years. “Seriously. It’s not like the asshole left a forwarding address.”

“Jamie?” Fen was thinking hard even as he strode toward the elevator.

“Could she use magic to track him?”

“She’s strong, but not that strong.” Travis, for all his eyes were milk-white and blind, moved like a man who could see everything, right up until he walked into the elevator doors. “Shit.”

Fen thought back to everything he knew about the female. Jordan’s powers were different. She’d gotten his father’s abilities over fire. Unless Grimm was sitting in front of one, and Jordan was as well, she wouldn’t be able to scry for him that way. Then he remembered something Jamie had told him earlier. “The earring!” He couldn’t recall if Jeff still had the earring on when they’d carried him from the house, but if Grimm somehow managed to get his hands on it Jamie could track him that way.

“Fuck. If Grimm has Jeff’s earring he’ll know exactly what it is.”

The men exchanged a quick glance. They knew what their lovers were heading into.

“Oh, hell. It’s a trap,” Jeanne whispered for them all.

Logan took Jeanne’s shoulders. “Stay here.”

Her glare was ferocious. “Oh hell no. Those are my babies out there.”

“Your babies can kick ass. You can’t.” Kir turned her away from the elevator.

“We’ll bring them back. I give you my word.” The god’s eyes had gone completely dark, the storm clouds racing across them obliterating the blue.

Jeanne’s jaw clenched. “You’re going to fix it so I can kick ass too.”

Logan and Kir exchanged a glance, but whatever they would have said in response was halted by the arrival of the elevator. Logan nodded. “We will, I promise.”

Kir smiled grimly. “It’s safe here, and if they come back before we do call us.

Okay?”

Jeanne nodded once, obviously unhappy about being left behind. “Okay.”

Jeff growled. “You’re fucking kidding me. He’s staying here?” He stared at the broken-down, spooky-ass house and nearly choked on his own laughter.

“Jeez, this place is like Wes Craven’s wet dream.”

“It’s like he wants to be a cartoon villain when he grows up.” Jordan shook her head. Flames danced in her eyes. “Are you sure you got the address right?”

Jamie grimaced. “It’s not like I have spectral On-Star, now is it?”

They stared at the rotting husk of a house, and all three echoed the same thought. “It’s a trap.”

Jamie tapped her teeth with her fingernail. “Bet the door’s booby-trapped.”

“Windows set to blow.” Jordan blew her bangs out of her eyes.

“Floor sawed partway through.” Jeff stared at the lawn. He swore he could see really old dog poop. “And I don’t even want to think about what he did there.”

“He probably threw the earring into the building thinking we’d be stupid enough to go in after it.” Jamie turned and glared at the desolate landscape.

“Travis might.” Jordan smirked. “Logan would be too busy laughing his ass off.”

Jeff began peeling off his clothes, much to the vocal disgust of his sisters.

“Shut up! I can’t shift in jeans.” Fenris might be able to perform that little trick, but Jeff had to do it the old fashioned way: naked. He turned wolf, letting his senses drink in the surrounding area.

Hell, there wasn’t even a rabbit nearby. But there were lots and lots of ravens, just sitting in a tree, staring at them. He shifted and pulled on his pants.

“Don’t look now, but I think the trap found us.”

Jamie glared at the birds and half of them went sailing through the air to land in an ungraceful, bone-breaking heap. “Hmph.”

That was when all hell broke loose. It was like something out of The Birds.

Ravens flew in from every direction, swooping and attacking, clawing at their heads and faces. Jamie screamed and immediately tried to protect her face.

Jordan, pissed as hell, tried to fricassee every bird that came in contact with her.

The stench of burning feathers filled the air.

Jeff shifted and wiggled out of his jeans, but by the time he was free, bloody gouges had been dug into his sides. He began snapping at the birds, grateful for the fact that Fen’s healing had taken hold. The bloody strips the birds took out of his hide hurt like hell but healed almost instantly.

Poor Jordan didn’t have that. She looked like someone had gone after her with a knife. Blood began to pool at her feet and she swayed, her fire flickering.

Jamie let out a shriek of rage and began to glow so brightly Jeff couldn’t even look at her. The birds around her exploded in a shower of sparks and guts. She whipped her arms around and light swirled, destroying every bird it touched.

It wasn’t enough. They were covered in cuts and gore, and still more came. A raven clawed his hip and Jeff went down.

“Holy shit! Jordy?”

But Jordan couldn’t answer. She was down, her hands over her head, whimpering as she pressed her belly into the dirt in a desperate attempt to protect her unborn children. Her fire was almost out, and Jeff was petrified.

Something inside him began to move, stirring within his will. Jeff looked up at his sister and stared at the bands of light she was wielding like a scourge.

Jeff got back to his feet and let out a howl that echoed all around them, rattling the windows of the derelict house and disorienting the birds around him.

From the expression on his sisters’ faces he’d done something to seriously freak them out. He looked down at himself and gasped.

He was a wolf made of pure white light.

An answering howl, stronger and deeper, assaulted their ears. Fen was here, and he was pissed. Fenris loped out of the woods behind the derelict house and waded into the fight. Instead of the giant wolf Jeff was used to seeing, Fen was in a half-man, half-wolf form, and he was terrifying. He lay about him with his claws, ripping birds out of the air and crushing them in mighty fists. Behind him Logan lobbed fire at the sky, leaving gaping holes in the canopy of black feathers.

The fire Jotun slowly made his way to Jordan, standing over her and taking down anything that came too close to his wife. Uncle Val was swinging with a huge axe. The more blood that covered it the brighter it shone. Beside him was Travis, glowing bright as the sun and swinging a sword that moved like an extension of his arm.

And above it all, clouds swirled and darkened. Light flashed between them as Baldur raised his hand, the Godspear held tight in his fist. Wind swirled around them, strong enough to knock Jamie on her ass and damn near blow her away.

Oh fuck. A fucking tornado was forming above them. Had Kir lost his damn mind?

“Careful, Blondie!” Logan bellowed over the wind.

Kir’s only answer was a nod. The funnel dipped and swayed, almost but not quite forming.

A bird flew in front of Jeff’s face, jerking his attention away from the holy shit moment happening over his head. He batted at it, blinking in surprise when it…disappeared. No shower of sparks, no blood and gore, just a flash of light and a single feather blowing in the wind.

Jeff grinned and began flailing about like Kermit the Frog on a caffeine bender. Before he knew it he was in the middle of his own little tornado made of feathers.

“Neat trick!” Logan bellowed, blowing another swath of birds away with staccato bursts of flame.

“Woof!” Jeff replied, forgetting for a moment he had a snout instead of lips.

Logan snickered and blew more feathered friends to hell. Beneath him Jordan tried to rise to her feet, but Logan pushed her back down.

Jamie raced across the yard to Travis and practically crawled into him. The two lights blended together, one softer than the other, until Jeff couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

A low bark got his attention. He looked up (and up) at his mate and whined.

Fen looked furious, his lips pulled back in a snarl, his claws dripping blood. Jeff rolled onto his back and bared his neck to his alpha.

I’m totally turned on right now. What does that say about me?

The funnel above their heads began to descend. Soon it was black with the bodies of the ravens. It didn’t take long for Kir’s magical vacuum cleaner to clear the sky of ravens, but he was dripping with sweat when he was done.

Even over the howling winds Jeff could hear Fen’s growls. Oddly enough they were directed at the derelict house. Then the huge werewolf was off, running across the dead lawn at a speed he wasn’t sure he could match.

But hell if he didn’t try.

Fen kicked in the rotted door and tore through the broken-down building, hunting the elusive smell that belonged only to Odin.

There. Staring out the window as if he hadn’t a care in the world, his golden hair dimmed to a dull light brown in the darkened house. A contemptuous smirk curled his lip. “I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.”

Fen took a step forward and icy agony radiated up his leg.

“Have I mentioned who the trap was really for?”

Fen was stunned to see the ice covering his foot and calf. It slowly crept up his leg, an icy caterpillar cocooning him.

“I can’t allow you to kill me. I have things to do, gods to slay. You know how it is. There’s never enough hours in the day.” Odin didn’t even bother looking at him, his attention still focused on something outside the house. “I wondered how long it would take you to find me, especially after I killed that family.” Odin sighed. “I honestly thought Tyr would take you out for me when he found the wolf fur, but then Jeff had to fuck things up by mating you.” Odin shot him a quick, disgusted glance. “Who knew my own flesh and blood would be into…furries?” He shuddered.

“Huh. I never thought of it like that.” Fen winced as Jeff, human and deliciously naked, stepped into the home. His body was rimmed in a faint glow and his hair blew in an unseen breeze. “Hello, Grandfather.”

“Jeffrey. You disappoint me, boy.”

Fen tried to free his leg to no avail. Grimm was going to rip Jeff apart if he couldn’t get free. He had to save his mate before Grimm sprang the second half of his trap.

“Ditto, Old Man.” Jeff smiled at Fen, his fangs long enough that they were below his bottom lip. “You okay, lover?”

Fen growled his displeasure, hoping against everything he knew his mate would back off before it was too late.

So of course Jeff didn’t do what he should. His mate kept coming, as determined to free Fen now as he had been in the cave. “When he’s free he’s going to eat your face off. You know that, right?”

The ice had covered his groin. Fen couldn’t seem to break free no matter how much he pulled. Slashing at the ice with his claws only seemed to hurt his claws.

His fingertips had gone numb trying to rip through the hardened ice.

Shafts of light blinded him. Pain nipped at him, and he was free, the ice a steaming puddle beneath his feet. He stared at Jeff, who shrugged. “New trick.”

New trick indeed. Fen turned and howled his delight before charging Odin, eager to rip his tormentor to shreds.

Jeff stepped back and watched his lover fight his grandfather. He had to admit, the Old Man had some moves on him, but Fen was bigger, faster and stronger than Odin. There was no way Grimm could survive Fen’s brutal assault.

He winced in pretend sympathy as his grandfather sprayed arterial blood across the room, decorating the already funky walls. “Oh. That had to hurt.”

Suddenly his twin was beside him. Jamie had a— “Is that popcorn?”

Jamie shrugged. “Want. Wish. Have. Here.” She held out the bowl and he took a handful of hot, buttery goodness before turning back to the fight. She flinched when Fen kneed the Old Man right in the jewels. “Ouch. I’m a girl and I want to cross my legs after that.”

A huge hand grabbed some popcorn from over Jamie’s shoulder. “You think he’ll win, pumpkin?”

Jamie grinned up at Uncle Val. “I’m just waiting for the TKO.”

Jeff tilted his head, grinning when Grimm bounced off the wall hard. “Think we can make glowing letters appear over his head? Something like Finish Him! ”

Jamie giggled and nearly dropped the bowl.

Odin lay bleeding on the floor, one of his arms at an odd angle, his head bleeding profusely. He was no longer the old man they’d loved nor the young one they’d feared. He was just a battered, evil bastard who was going to get what was coming to him.

Jeff almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

Then something happened that had Jeff dropping his popcorn and Jamie dropping the bowl.

The bastard started to heal.

“No. No!” Jeff shifted and raced forward, his wolf bathed in his inner light.

He went right for Grimm’s throat, tearing at the jugular, trying to prevent the son of a bitch from healing.

It wasn’t working. Every time Jeff ripped into him another wound closed.

“What the fuck?” Logan’s furious voice was followed by a blast of heat that singed Jeff’s fur and forced him back. “I’m just going to incinerate him. Let’s see him heal from fucking ashes.”

Grimm opened his eyes and chuckled weakly. “It won’t work, Loki. I’ve won.” He laughed, the sound becoming stronger. “I’ve already won!”

And Oliver Grimm disappeared before their eyes, swallowed by the shadows of the house.

“Fuck me gently with a chainsaw.” Val stomped through the blood Grimm had left behind. “Neat trick, asshole.”

Fen shifted back to human, pale and shocked. “Why didn’t it work? I’m supposed to kill him.”

Logan was staring at Uncle Val. “Maybe you were closer to the truth than we thought.”

“That Fen isn’t the wolf who will kill Odin?” Val sighed wearily. “Shit. I really hate it when I’m right.”

Jeff stared up at his mate and tried not to laugh. Fen hovered over him, arms caging Jeff in his chair, his expression furious, and all Jeff could think of was Fen as a furry. If he laughed in his mate’s face right now he’d be in even more trouble, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold out.

“You deliberately put yourself in danger.”

“I had good reason.”

Fen’s jaw clenched. His arms trembled. Jeff figured he was holding off a shift. “Grimm could have killed you.”

Jeff nodded.

“Killed. You.” Fen’s eyes closed, the fear and anger mingling in his expression killing some of Jeff’s laughter. “I can’t lose you. ”

“You won’t.” Jeff reached up and caressed Fen’s jaw. “I knew you’d come.”

“You don’t understand.” Fen opened his eyes, picked him up and carried him to bed. Jeff had never enjoyed being carried before, but Fen somehow managed to do it without making him feel like a total twink. “How do I make you understand?” He curled up around Jeff, spooning him close. He buried his nose in Jeff’s curls and breathed deep. He shuddered, and Jeff could sense his mate’s fear slowly draining away.

“Stay.”

The word was whispered so softly Jeff almost couldn’t hear it. So Jeff gave his lover the one thing no one else could. He picked up Fen’s hand and kissed it, hoping it would convey the sentiment he still had trouble saying out loud.

“Forever, elskede.”