Page 26 of Coven Relics
“I’m not stupid. We might have been apart for a long time, but I can tell when someone is important to Loki. I can tell when they feel the same way. Loki and Ravyn may have children one day, but she’s not jealous of me. She’s been accepting and kind. I understand why everyone here cares about her, and Bjorn asked her to his bed. I wanted to do something special and cook for her, but everything here is complicated.”
Oh, bless his massive, Viking heart. Was this how I converted him to #teamRavyn?Iknew damned well that when a puzzle box appears at your witch’s museum and there ends up being two men inside with the skills and knowledge to help stop the clusterfuck her cheating ex dropped in her lap, then it was fate with a big, glaring marquee sign and you should grab them and make a coven.
Sleipnir being Loki’s son complicated things, but it wasn’t unheard of. In this century, they considered age-gap romances a little taboo, and Ravyn and Ripley loved to read them. It was pretty common for a fifteen-year-old girl to marry a much older man back in my day. They threw you in jail for that now. Sometimes, a young witch would hit it off with a widower with several sons who weren’t in a coven and ended up with the whole family as a set.
That wasn’t really done now, but I’d seen it. Boundaries needed to be set, and a whole conversation needed to be had, but Sleipnir wasn’t really there yet. He idolized Loki. I got it. But maybe he was getting there. Ravyn wasn’t going to pressure him, and neither was I. But I sure could help him in every way possible.
“Tell you what. You know the recipe, and I know the equipment. We’ll make it happen. I’ll teach you how the kitchen works, and you can teach me how to make Viking food. Because I haven’t a clue how to do that. What are we making, and what do we need?”
“Well, we are limited to what’s in the refrigerator. Ravyn’s garden has things witches use for magic and only a few things I would use to cook. I haven’t tried going into the woods to forage because there seem to be many things inside the kitchen.”
“Some amazing things are growing in the woods outside this cottage. Some are magical, and some are just good to eat. We have a whole jar of dried wild mushrooms on the counter.”
“Grab those. I need eggs, salt, flour, honey, and some herbs. I also need something flat to cook it on.”
“I like where you are going with this.”
Sleipnir didn’t really need much help. He just needed me to show him how the stove worked. Oh, my Lilith, I really wished Ravyn was awake for this. Sleipnir liked to shake his arse and sing Viking battle songs when he cooked. It was a good thing Ravyn slept like the dead, and her room was way down the hall because he got loud about it.
It was the cutest damned thing I’d ever seen. Sleipnir was definitely secure in his masculinity, but then again, he was over seven feet tall and pretty massive. If he ever got arrested, I was guessing it would take a team of elite agents from the Paranormal Investigation to take him down. I was thinking if Sleipnir was feeling silly, he did whatever he wanted because if someone wanted to fuck around, he could make sure they found out.
I could respect that on a deep emotional level. I was tall, but I’d always been wiry, and men liked to underestimate me. I wasn’t some massive beefcake, but I was quite fast and knew how to work what Lilith gave me.
I didn’t even remotely know the words to Sleipnir’s song, but the tune was catchy. I wasn’t going to say no to an opportunity to dance now that I had an adorable arse to shake again. Instead, I got caught up in the moment, rolled up a kitchen towel, and popped him on the bum.
Oh, shit. I didn’t have speed healing like a vampire, and he’d break Ravyn’s kitchen if he took that wrong like Balthazar’s fist bump. Sleipnir stopped singing and dancing, and I held my breath. I could take a punch, but I’d never been punched in the face by someone Sleipnir’s size before.
Sleipnir threw back his head and just laughed. Oh, thank Lilith. I wasn’t about to find out what getting hit by a massive horse shifter felt like. I probably wouldn’t have found it as funny as Balthazar did.
“Back in my day, no one cared who you took to your bed. That seems to be a big deal now. I’ve never been attracted to men, so I won’t bed you, warlock. You seem to be very important to Ravyn and Loki. You shouldn’t be spanking other men.”
I started giggling because I hadn’t eventhoughtabout having sex with Sleipnir.
“That was a completely nonsexual arse swat. I got caught up in the moment.”
Sleipnir started laughing again.
“If you strike a Viking on the ass, they expect fucking or fighting.”
“It’s kind of the same now. Some women like a good spank, but if you read the room wrong, she’ll kick your arse.”
“That happened to me and a shieldmaiden once. She broke my noseandmy balls. Just out of curiosity, how does Ravyn feel on the subject?”
I barely hid my glee. Sleipnir was curious and asking questions about Ravyn. That was a good sign. Ravyn always talked like she’d have a family like the one she grew up in. They considered twins lucky in the supernatural world. Gemini twins were always extra powerful. There wasn’t a single set of Gemini twins in history that didn’t do something extraordinary.
IknewRipley was going to attract a powerful coven. I was grateful I got to be a part of it now. I couldn’t see the future like Bjorn, so I didn’t know how this all would end, but it was a good sign he wanted to cook for her and was asking me questions. I clapped him on the shoulder and grinned.
“If the two of you get to that point, Ravynlovesa good spanking.”
Chapter20
Loki
Icouldn’t believe I slept in. Sometimes, there was nothing better than spending a glorious day sleeping until noon, but never when I was working. And certainly not when my deranged creation had almost everything she needed to rise from the dead, and Istilldidn’t know where that fucking wolf was with his bone collection.
My son Fenrir could turn into a bigger, deadlier wolf than the average werewolf, but he wouldn’t be caught dead carting around old bones. No self-respecting werewolf would. Theyhatedit when you compared them to a domesticated house pet. If you even suggested they were anything like some of those dogs who had so many health issues bred into them to look a certain way, they’d try to get your ass. Even using the phrasedog with a bonein front of them when the line fit, made them all pissy.
Sleipnir and Killian made breakfast. He made fritters. I taught him that recipe, and it was a favorite. Killian whispered to me on the way to the museum after everyone had woken and dressed that Sleipnir wanted to cook for Ravyn, too. All I wanted was for him to be happy and free. I never expected that to happen with the woman I was falling in love with, but fate had been fucking with me since I was born, and in this case, I thought it was a good thing.
