Page 24 of Coven Relics
“This all gets easier,” Killian said. “When I got reborn as a familiar, I remembered everything about my life before I died, but you don’t exactly get to watch the world progress when you’re in the Aether. I knew I was given a choice to be a familiar to be reborn into a new life, and I chose to be a familiar. However, I wasn’t given a choice over which animal I’d be or which witch I’d be assigned to.
“Ravyn was a dream, and I had no complaints about being a bat, but everything was different. Ravyn taught me about modern life while I was helping her with magic. It’s strange, scary, and sometimes, nothing makes sense at first, but it will.”
“It’s true,” Ravyn said. “Killian and I went through this when he appeared as my familiar, and now that he has his body back, he’s getting to experience things he didn’t get to try when he was a bat. Ask questions if we don’t explain something. We’re happy to answer anything. Iwantthis to be easy for you, and I don’t want all of this to freak you out and have you running back to that pocket dimension.”
Ravyn and Killian were amazing. Of course, I expected all of this from Loki. If you crossed him, he would find the worst way to ruin your life, and he generally had a good bit of fun while doing it. He had massive problems with authority, but he was utterly devoted to his people.
IexpectedLoki to be doing all of this for us. Unfortunately, I also spent a good bit of time around people who wouldn’t have wanted to make this easy. Not only would Thorunn have refused to let us stay with her, feed us, or explained anything, she would have convinced the others to taunt us about it. Like somehow us being unfamiliar with everything going on around us was some kind of mental deficiency, or we took a shield to the head in battle and were never right afterward.
I was full of amazing goat, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I hadn’t had a vision yet, but they didn’t come right away when I drank this tea. I really just needed to sleep now. I still wasn’t sure what memory foam was, but it was a lot more comfortable than straw for stuffing mattresses with.
I hadn’t thought much about sleeping alone in the pocket dimension for that long. It was what it was, and it wasn’t like I could change it. I had a request. I might be totally out of line and piss off Loki, Killian, and Ravyn, but I just had to ask.
“Will you sleep in my bed tonight? Just sleep,” I asked Ravyn.
I wasn’t expecting Killian and Loki to just beam at me like I asked the best question ever. I, honestly, just didn’t want to sleep alone tonight after napping with Ravyn. Sleipnir and I hadn’t said anything about it, but it was quite lonely in the pocket dimension.
“Let me help with the dishes, and I’d be happy to,” Ravyn said.
I still didn’t know how we lucked out coming out of the pocket dimension to Ravyn and Killian, but I was going to thank my creator every day for it.
Chapter18
Ravyn
Isaid yes to Bjorn for several reasons. I knew he was serious about sleeping, and I had a feeling it took a lot for him to ask. I did it for Bjorn, but I also did it for Killian. Killian and Loki had this whole budding thing going on that mostly revolved around me. Maybe that was the way it would always be. I’d be okay with that, but I’d also enjoy having nights that centered around Killian or Loki. I loved it when they teamed up to blow my mind, but if Killian was into it, wouldn’t it just be kinky as fuck to do that to one of my guys? I was all about equal opportunity orgasms.
Killian and Loki needed some alone time to explore this thing between them, and I needed to be getting to know Bjorn and Sleipnir. Even if there wasn’t a spark there and they hadn’t popped out of that puzzle box because fate decided to meddle with me like she had done my twin, Bjorn and Sleipnir were important to Loki. I’d already licked every inch of Loki, so he was mine now.
Plus, I could be a shit. Probably not the level of shit Loki could be, but I had my moments. But I reserved my stank attitude and witchy mischief for people who deserved it. Sleipnir and Bjorn had been nothing but great so far. Yeah, Sleipnir had kind of assaulted Balthazar, but no one was mad at him for it. Balthazar was crazy and found the whole thing hilarious.
They were going to mess up. They’d say or do something wrong because things were different in this century. I wasn’t here to judge them for it. They needed help, and I was here to give it to them.
Bjorn disappeared to take a shower, and Sleipnir wanted me to teach him how the dishwasher worked, which I was happy to do. Loki and Killian were all about spoiling the people they cared about, but I wasn’t a lazy asshole who would abuse that. So, if they cooked for me, I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.
This was a team effort. Everyone had a story about a witch or warlock whose coven abandoned them and the bond they shared because they expected everything from them and gave nothing back. That wasn’t my sister or me. The dishwasher seemed to excite Sleipnir, which was adorable as hell, so I happily walked him through how to use it.
I said goodnight to everyone to set off for Bjorn’s room. I half expected him to be passed out. He looked utterly exhausted after we finished eating. But his room was empty when I got there. The cottage they gave me as part of the job had a ton of room. My job was a lifetime appointment like Ripley’s, barring some major scandal. They gave us space for a family, but this place wasn’t so big that Bjorn would be lost again now that he had sobered up.
I heard the door open. Bjorn came in wearing just sweatpants. Did someone tell this Viking to buy gray sweatpants and just wear them around my house in front of me? Killian was the one that took him shopping. Killian was definitely responsible for this, and I wasn’t even mad about it. Bjorn was towel-drying his long, white hair, and I was trying not to drool. He might have just popped out into this century recently, but he knew I was checking him out and smirked at me.
“Hot showers really are amazing. We used to bathe in streams and use melted snow in winter. Sometimes, the water was so cold, your balls shot up to your neck to keep warm.”
I couldn’t help it.He was wearing gray sweatpants and just mentioned his balls.My eyes immediately went down to his crotch. This totally reeked of my familiar setting me up and trying to give fate a little nudge.
I sighed and dragged my eyes back up. Bjorn had the body of a warrior and a happy trail of white hair leading from the waistband of his pants to his belly button. I needed to behave. Bjorn wanted to sleep, and we didn’t know each other all that well yet.
“Gray sweatpants are a hell of a drug. Anyway, sorry for staring.”
“Killian said they were comfortable for sleeping in. I didn’t think they made beautiful women look at a man like that.”
Called it. Only Killian would throw a Viking seer in gray sweatpants in front of me. Actually, Loki would, too. They were starting to outnumber me, and Killian knew all my weaknesses. I crawled into bed and yanked the covers over my face.
“Womenlovelooking at sexy men in gray sweatpants. There’s this superhero the humans made up. Nothing can hurt him or weaken him except kryptonite. Gray sweatpants are like that with women.”
“I don’t know what a superhero is,” Bjorn said, climbing into bed and spooning my back. Damn, he was good at snuggling. How did I explain comic book characters to a Viking? Especially since Loki and some of the other Norse gods were now in comics?
“Most of the old gods have fallen out of fashion with the humans. They tend to stick with just one, except in certain polytheistic cultures. However, therearestill humans who pray to the old gods. There were times in history when people were given a choice to give up their gods and believe in another person’s god or die. Wars were fought because people thought there was only one god, and He was the right one.
