Page 7 of Coven Relics
Well, then. I was only planning on giving her our names. I wasn’t going to get in the way of a Fae and their runes. That was just disrespectful. The Unseelie might scare me a bit, but runes were just as sacred to them as tarot cards, star readings, and sigils were to me. She stared at her runes for a bit, and then her faded-blue eyes came up to meet ours.
“Well, aren’t you two just special cupcakes? Cassia was spot on to send you to me. One of you has died, but I’m looking at you clear as day. The othershouldbe dead but is not. The gods have been meddling with you both. My runes also tell me something big is coming that could drag the Unseelie into it, and you’re right at its center. I think you’re in my shop for a reason. You can call me Scorpia. I’ll help you with what you need as long as you swear to keep my people out of whatever nonsense is coming.”
Well, fuck. That was oddly specific. I had double the training on tarot cards and interpreting the stars. I had the best tutors the first time I was alive, and then I had the benefit of Ravyn’s teachers and professors. Minerva Krauss imparted some wisdom on that, too. I was good, but I wasn’t nearly as accurate as Scorpia and her runes.
Bjorn introduced us. He told the truth about what we were and which gods were involved with that. Bjorn told her about his history with the Unseelie, but he left the return of the cult out. We could probably use her help on that, but Bjorn had been in this century long enough to realize that suggesting to anyone that there was a possibility of the Cult of the Aether Sisters returning would cause mass panic. However, he did tell her something big was coming, and if the Unseelie were as cunning as they were back in his day, they’d stay far away from it.
I didn’t have a cell phone yet. I knew I needed one, but I was usually within shouting distance from Ravyn, so I hadn’t prioritized it. I knew Bjorn didn’t, and we would need to get him one. Scorpia’s cell phone started shrieking like there was a weather alert. It wasn’t winter, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. She glanced down at her phone and slid it over to us.
“My runes didn’t need to tell me this man is probably involved in whatever trouble I’m sensing. Some men, like Bjorn, here, can pull off a beard with ease. Men like this shouldn’t walk around with hair on their faces. They look like every woman on the planet should have a restraining order, and they have to keep fifty feet away from anyone female.”
Kaine had been busy while we were shopping. He pulled Valentine’s headshot straight off his website, where he sold signed copies of his books and used it to send an alert to the entire supernatural community. From the looks of things, he had a tip line set up. There was a number to call, or you could text if you were one of those people that absolutely hated talking on the phone. Kaine was even offering a reward for people that didn’t want to snitch unless they got something out of it.
“He is, and that photo was taken before he was corrupted,” I said. “How can you even tell that from a photo? I hated him before. He was a shit, but he wasn’t full-blown evil.”
Scorpia just threw back her head and laughed in my face.
“This is your second time walking this earth, and you haven’t learned evil always starts small and builds up to the really nasty stuff?”
“True, but I thought he was just one of those toxic men who thought brawling and fucking was how he was supposed to be.”
“If the two of you are god-touched, then I’m guessing you’re going to be the ones who help stop this. You don’t need to be talking to an old Unseelie to fix your problems. I’m good, but I’m certainly not a god. I also wasn’t created with the specific purpose of seeing into the future. I’ll sell you the tea, and I have no problem teaching you how to make it once you’ve fixed whatever mess is headed our way. I don’t like the look of this man in the photo. Pay for the tea so you can get out of here and stop him.”
I handed her Loki’s black card. It was fate that Bjorn and I split off from everyone and came to this area of the market. I wasn’t sure if Scorpia would have tolerated our entire group in her shop long enough to impart her wisdom to us. But Bjorn and I were just unique enough to make her curious.
We walked out of the shop with more bags than we had before.
“That went much better than I expected,” I said. “Now, let me introduce you to the wonder that is the Pakistani food truck. It’s sheer magic.”
Chapter6
Ravyn
I’d been around Loki long enough to know he was a complex man, even when I thought he was just a warlock who was weird about his name. I’d forgiven him for lying to me, and I was dying to unwrap all of his layers. Especially watching him with Sleipnir.
I’d been around Reyson enough when he was protecting my sister to know that Loki was extremely dangerous. I also knew that even though he got shit done, his approach to problem solving bordered on insane.
I also knew that watching him shopping with Sleipnir was utterly adorable, and I wanted more of it.
From what I knew about my history of the gods, some of them were terrible parents. They liked sex, but they didn’t like the consequences. Reyson had put some kind of god birth control magic on my sister, so I knew they knewhownot to have kids they were just going to neglect, but some of them just didn’t even bother. Reyson never had children, and I had a feeling he was going to make an amazing daddy to my sister’s kids.
Loki would do anything for his kids. He told me about what he had done in the past, and now I was getting to witness it. Right now, Loki was trying to explain the pros and cons of the different types of men’s underwear to his son, and Sleipnir was trying to argue about why he wanted to freeball it as he’d always done.
“Trousers don’t lace anymore, Sleipnir. You don’t want your bits caught in a zipper. Boxers are quite comfortable, and they hide a lot. Women stare and take pictures when they can see your cock through your pants.”
“Ilikeit when women stare. What a horrible invention. Balls weren’t meant to be restricted. If you don’t air them out, they will get diseased and fall off.”
Should I jump in and give Loki an assist? Sleipnir wasn’t going to believe me about boxers and testicles. He’d be mortified about thongs right up until he saw a woman in one. The shifter helping us looked like he didn’t know what to make of the pair, but didn’t want to say anything to Sleipnir just in case he decided to punch him in the face.
“There’s nothing wrong with going commando, but these boxers were designed specifically to be comfortable for shifters. They are lightweight, so you can carry them in your mouth and still run free, so you aren’t naked when you shift back if you don’t have clothes stashed nearby,” the shifter said.
Sleipnir just huffed, and how adorable was he? He was massive and could probably crush the skulls of every person in this shop, and here he was getting annoyed over boxers.
“Humans now get really offended over nudity,” I pointed out. “It’s not a bad idea.”
“Sounds like the fucking Saxons,” he grumped.
“How about we just buy a few pairs?” Loki suggested. “Wear some to the rave tonight, and if you hate them, I’ll drop it. If you like them, we’ll come back and buy more.”
