Page 22 of Coven Relics
“Thor noticed him sneaking off and followed. He saw Loki with Angrboda and their children. He snuck back home and snitched to daddy. Odin and Frigg were gods that cherished their children. However, Loki’s father Laufey was not. He thought Loki was inferior because he was born to a woman and everyone considered him small for a god. So, Laufey arranged for Loki’s children to be turned over to Odin to prevent another war, and Loki was forbidden from sneaking back.
“Angrboda had several consorts as you do. Loki was one of them. They bonded over being outcasts and had children together, but it wasn’t love. It was more like mutual respect. I’m not sure why Thorunn chose Angrboda and not Sigyn, his wife. Odin went on this massive smear campaign against Angrboda after that. All the mortals hated her.
“Sigyn, on the other hand, was well-loved and always kind to everyone. The mortals always put offerings out for her before battle and thanked her when they won. She wasalwayskind to Thorunn and the hybrids, even when they were trying to get Loki in bed right in front of her face. She stood by Loki through everything, and she even stood in that cave catching the snake venom in a bowl, even after watching her children get slaughtered because the gods were mad at Loki. She didn’t officially leave him until he was out of the cave. Thorunn’s story might have been different if she tried to pretend to be Sigyn.”
“No, it wouldn’t. She sounds terrible. If no one was willing to believe she was someone they hated, they definitely aren’t going to believe she was a god they loved either.”
Bjorn groaned and tightened his arms around me.
“Thorunn didn’t want to be loved. She wanted to be feared. Did I hear something about goat? I love goat.”
“It’s Indian goat, but I don’t know what that is,” Sleipnir said.
“I literally don’t care. Goat is the perfect food. It’s impossible to fuck up goat, and I’m starving.”
Sleipnir gave me this knowing look.
“See? He takes a nap, and then he wakes up and starts talking about how much he loves goat.”
“Are you feeling better?” I asked.
“Yes, but I’m not kicking you out of my bed. This is nice.”
Yes, it was, and I wasn’t intending to get out unless he asked me to. These two were living in my house, and I just had this feeling they weresupposedto be here. Bjorn and Sleipnir were pretty great from what I’d seen so far, but I hadn’t gotten much time alone with them.
I wanted to know more. I understood Sleipnir a little better and some of what Loki went through in the past. Then, something just hit me, and I had big opinions about something Sleipnir told me.
“Wait, a minute. None of the gods I’ve met so far are like this, but my twin is pregnant, and there’s a chance it could be Reyson’s. Reyson and Ripley aren’t going to stand for some god saying their kid is anything less than perfect, but I have duties as the cool aunt. That includes advice about boys, taking them to get their first tattoo, and not tolerating an asshole who isn’t respecting my niece or nephew. What if Loki and I have kids?”
I wasn’t ready for any kind of toddler terrorists, but I wanted them someday. My parents stopped at two because Ripley and I werea lot.They were part of a mixed coven with couples, so Ripley and I were swimming in cool aunts instead of a lot of dads. I thought it would be like that for Ripley and me, then all these insanely hot men started showing up at our work.
Iwantedkids. I wanted a whole mess of them even though all they did for several years was barf and shit everywhere. Killian would make an amazing daddy, and I’d already seen Loki with Sleipnir.
But in several years, not now. And those fucking gods better not treat my kids the way they treated Loki and his other children.
“They won’t,” Loki said from the doorway. “It’s easy to think you’re superior because the Aether shat you when the mortals are all kissing your ass. The mortals don’t really differentiate between the various gods and how they are created or born. When they started falling out of fashion, as gods tend to do if they haven’t created anything, they realized real quick they were not special unicorns.
“They are either off in the Aether pouting or trying to recapture their fame with mortal jobs. Freya is still insanely popular, but she’s never let that go to her head. For somebizarrereason, the modern white supremacists think the Vikings and Norse gods would approve of their shit and basically got our entire culture wrong. Odinhatesit.”
“What’s a white supremacist?” Sleipnir asked.
Oh, shit. What a question. How do you explain Nazis to a Viking? Especially one who was in a pocket dimension through a lot of major historical events.
“There were many years in history that people thought having a certain color skin meant they were beneath them and should be slaves. This country fought an entire war about it, but they still weren’t given rights until much later, and there are still people that don’t think they should have them. Then, in another country, this madman rose to power who thought he knew what the perfect race was and murdered a lot of people.”
“That’s stupid,” Sleipnir said. “The gods are flawed, and they are the ones who created everyone. No one is perfect. What does your skin color have anything to do with it?”
If I wasn’t already wrapped up with Bjorn, I could have just hugged the shit out of Sleipnir. He was a Viking. He lived in really harsh times, but he got this better than many people who sat through plenty of history lessons.
“I agree. It’s stupid. Someone decided that ages ago, and people still believe it. I hate to break up the cuddle pile, but we should probably get some goat in Bjorn soon. I know he feels terrible.”
“I’m curious about Indian goat. It’s impossible to ruin goat,” Sleipnir said.
“I’ve been served terrible goat before. I didn’t say anything because, bless her, she tried. I’ve had plenty of time to travel and learned to make Indian food from a grandmother in Kashmir. Her Rogan Josh recipe is perfection.”
I groaned because that just sounded amazing. Bjorn’s stomach let out a huge rumble.
“I don’t want to move, but I’m starving.”
