Page 24 of The Goddess is Fierce
“Take it away, West,” George beamed.
No pressure or anything.
“Okay, so the killer is taking trophies.Youdon’t remember, but a blackout you would. If you didn’t black out today or over Yule, then you couldn’t have fetched the nasty hearts and brought them to Freya. Or you’d remember you did and could tell us.”
“Or he’s lying,” Mags pointed out.
“Mags,” George warned. “You canfeelhe’s missing his magic. Baldur, did you black out on those dates?”
“No. I was alone over Yule break. I usually decorate my cottage and cook, but I’m never around anyone. I didn’t black out. I’ve been working all day. I remember everything.”
“Then it can’t be you,” George said.
“Good job,” Odin said. “You’ve been pretty spot on so far with a lot of things. You remind me a lot of my son, Thor.”
“Oh, shit. He’s totally like Thor!” Freya said.
George reached over and squeezed my hand.
“No. He’s my West. He’salllion.”
I puffed up my chest and started purring.
“If it’s not me, then who is it?” Baldur asked.
That, I didn’t know. I mean, I guessed why Baldur didn’t have his magic and that if he didn’t black out on certain dates, he couldn’t be the killer, but who was actually killing witches was beyond my skill set.
“It’s someone connected to Freya and I think my parents,” Drake said. “My mom might have seen something, and that’s why she was killed. Belladonna was probably right. If someone left the heart with a rose, it’s probably some sick fascination with her.”
Ew. Some of my distant feline ancestors liked to leave dead mice for their people, but that wasn’t a sign of affection. It was because they thought they were shitty hunters and didn’t want them to starve. Mostly because it would cut off their supply of wet food, but that was neither here nor there. Pretty sure this asshole wasn’t a house cat.
“Drake is also probably right,” Azren said. “Freya, can you think of someone who could do this?”
“No. No one in Asgard could do this. None of the Vanir could either. I met many of the other gods when my ex-husband went missing and plenty of them offered to replace him. Some of them were pretty aggressive about it and didn’t like being turned down. A few reached out again when they heard I found himand he admitted he was too much of a coward to dissolve our marriage the way gods do and just disappeared, but I decided to enjoy the single life for a while.
“Some of them had the kind of egos that didn’t like being turned down, but I don’t rememberanyof them being deranged or having the kind of magic that would mess with mortal’s minds without killing them. Also, I’m pretty sure whatever magic is being used on those witches is responsible for Baldur’s blackouts. They probably know who he is if they know me. They don’t want him dead, they just want him out of the way while they do this.”
“Okay, so I may finally be convinced of Baldur’s innocence,” Mags said.
“Well, George and Baldur are clearly into each other. He might not be a killer, but before my twin gets hurt, someone needs to tell the big guy about his wife,” Matilda said.
Matilda was savage. I was ride or die for George. I’d probably overthrow the government or start shit with the werewolf mafia if she casually mentioned she wanted me to but was actually joking and didn’t mean it. George knew about Baldur’s wife. We all did. We hadn’t mentioned it tohimbecause he’d kind of suffered enough and we didn’t want to drop anything big on him until he got his memories back. We were loyal to George, but Baldur might be one of us someday, so we were looking out for him, too.
Matilda’s loyalty was only to her twin sister. Yeah, I could see where that needed to be addressed, but the big guy literallyjustfound out he wasn’t a serial killer. He just looked so relieved. Baldur smiled at Matilda.
“Odin and Freya have been filling me in on my past, including my ex-wife. She didn’t want to wait and found a light god from another family to replace me with. My parentsdissolved the marriage. I might be upset about it when I can actually remember her, but right now, it doesn’t mean much.”
Well, that settled it for me. Bro wasn’t a serial killer, and he wasn’t married anymore. If he got his memories back and wanted to go further with George, I think we all approved. We didn’t share a womb with her, though. This next bit was all on Matilda and she was currently having a stare down with Baldur.
“Fine. You can proceed with my sister and I won’t bite your ass off while you have no magic and I technically can.”
Baldur just bowed his head.
“Your approval means the world to me. I couldn’t do this without it.”
Smooth motherfucker. He didn’t remember who he was or have a drop of magic flowing through him, but Baldur handled Matilda like a pro.
“It’s time I open that box I found in my dorm room,” Drake said. “I canfeelit’s my mom's. She might have left it because it wasn’t safe to take it with her. It might have a clue who killed her and who might be killing witches.”
