Page 36 of Battle of Witches
Loki started laughing.
“And even ifIknew that story, I wouldn’t have told my hybrids. I was honest about a lot of shit, but I didn’t tell them everything. A healthy bit of fear never hurt anyone. Asfrid doesn’t have enough of that if you ask me. She’ll believe that, but she’ll have left a precaution behind just in case.”
“Which is why everyone going to fetch the hostages will be wearing Bureau earpieces and communicating with me theentiretime. Bram will go back to the Library of the Profane, and you’ll bring them straight to Ripley’s apartment.As soonas you get them to safety, tell us and get your asses to Scooter’s property line because we will use Ravyn’s potion on everyone outside and moving in.”
Kaine hadn’tverballysaid he changed his mind about any of us ending Asfrid for good, but he hadn’t gone on another speech saying wecouldn’t.There were a lot of people here who wanted her head.
And we had a dragon and two gods here capable of incinerating her bones and dumping them in the Aether, so the bitch stayed dead this time.
Chapter28
Sleipnir
Ihad done this before, but it never got any easier. I carried Odin into many dangerous situations on Earth and in different realms. It was always scary. I didn’t care what anyone told you. I knew the truth. None of us would be drinking mead in Valhalla with Odin if we died in battle. I didn’t evenlikeOdin.
I barely knew Wyatt. I’d never fought beside him, and all I really knew about him was that he’d been taken in by Asfrid. We were a ragtag group with various senses that knew when someone was lying. I didn’t sense anything, and neither did anyone else. I did, however, sense pure terror coming off of him after that phone call from Asfrid.
He wasn’t a god and didn’t have super speed like Balthazar and me, but we still couldn’t leave him behind. It wasn’t just that it would makehimfeel better to be there. His family didn’t know us. They’d probably just been drugged by Asfrid and kidnapped by one of her drugged minions. So, they needed to see him.
Kaine handed out earpieces to all of us, and it just felt fucked-up going into battle with no paint on my face or an axe. Balthazar had the right idea to do that every day, though I didn’t quite want to be so sparkly. There were plenty of weapons in this museum, but I didn’t dare ask Ravyn for one. As furious as she was with everyone involved in this, she might get mad at me, too, if I broke one of her relics off in Scooter’s skull.
I’d still happily punch his face in.
We stayed at the museum, trying to calm Wyatt down until Kaine and everyone else moved into place hidden in the trees at Scooter’s property line. Wyatt and the other shifters said cameras were outside the entire property, but Scooter didn’t just build a large fence. He planted large trees and hedges around the place, which was a perfect place to hide.
I’d learned a good bit about men in this century. There were still warriors. They just fought for different reasons than we did. Then, there was the group that romanticized it and came up with all these fictional scenarios in their head instead of joining up and seeing how terrible it was firsthand.
I hadn’t met Scooter, but if he had actually seen battle before and was constantly worried about being attacked in his home, he probably shouldn’t have planted so many places for us to hide. Ravyn said Toby wanted to get into his house for the longest because his favorite thing to collect was Viking memorabilia, and he had some cursed shit in there.
The whole irony in that is that we had assholes back in our time, too. Someone usually took their sword and slit their throats in their sleep, so they didn’t go to Valhalla. He gave me those vibes.
“We’re in place. Go,” Kaine said in my ear.
“Pick someone and grab on, Wyatt. It’s going to feel different with both of us,” Loki said.
“Since we are going to your mates, you might want to grab Loki. I’ve had people throw up the first time.”
Balthazar hopped on Reyson’s back.
“I’venever thrown up. It’s like a cosmic rollercoaster. Get me there, big guy. I’ve got some plans for Scooter’s security system.”
I’d give it to Wyatt. He just grabbed Loki and let him portal, not knowing what would happen. I’d never let Reyson take me anywhere, but I’d seen Felix and Gabriel after, and they looked a little green.
I’d never seen a panic room before until now. Most of the walls were lined with canned food and pouches of dehydrated food. I knew enough about modern appliances to see an electric can opener that would have been pointless if this place had lost power. The walls that didn’t have canned goods had bunk beds.
Five lionesses were tied to chairs, and they had put the cub in a cage like a pet. She was young, too, just out of being a toddler. We were all pissed, and this wasn’t even my mates or child.
Balthazar was fiddling with his phone before pulling something out of his pocket and heading over to a box on the wall.
“Free the princesses while I fuck some shit up. Kisses.”
Wyatt took a step, and all the lionesses cried for him to stop.
“Get Stella and get out of here. We can’t go with you. We woke up tied to these chairs, and that awful woman who attacked the house before we could shift told us we were sitting on pressure bombs just in case. The only way to disarm them is a key she has around her neck.”
I didn’t know if Loki had picked up bomb disarming skills while I was in the pocket dimension, but I knew what he got up to when he was bored. Playing with explosives was totally the kind of thing my mother would pick up when his other hobbies didn’t seem appealing. Of course, that was part of why he was so crazy about Ravyn.
Wyatt turned to Loki and Reyson in a panic.
