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Did he do that to any of his other children?Did he act like Narfi, Váli, Jörmungandr or Fenrir didn’t exist?No.No, he did not.

Hell, he even welcomed their sister, Hel, the chick with two faces mashed together, black hair on one side and white on the other, and a bad case of the poo-poo-poos to Family dinners.He showed her off to anyone and everyone he could, and worst of all, made sure she was given a godhead and a kingdom!HEL.WAS.A.GODDESS!

But not Tveir and Einn.Oh, no, he hid them away and prayed no one ever found out about his dirty little secrets.He…

“Oh, do stop your pouting, T,” Einn tutted with an added snort of derision.“You need to get over all your daddy issues, and…”

“And you need to get the hell outta my brain.”Seething, grinding her teeth with such fury that her jawbone popped and she was sure her wisdom tooth cracked, her perfectly polished and practiced veneer was cracking.“These are my thoughts.These are…”

“A stupid waste of time.”Stopping her dance and dropping to the flats of her feet, Einn slammed her hands on her weirdly pear-shaped hips.“We don’t have time for psychotherapy, Sis.We are very nearly there, so close to…”

“Stop!Don’t say a word aloud.We can’t trust…”

Gasping, her eyes open so wide it was as if her enormous, dark, prominent, globular eye balls were about to fall out of the sockets in her inordinately flat face, Einn’s thin, gray lips formed a perfect circle.“Oooooh yeah.I forgot.”

“And that is precisely why you need me, my dear E.”Tveir nodded.Smiling as her phenomenal self-control returned and she felt the air of superiority and satisfaction rolling off of her in waves nearly sucking up all the oxygen in the room, she added, “I focus on the details, the things that you can’t be…”

“Yes, yes, yes, T, I know.You focus on the boring shit that no one ever sees, and I put everything together.I am the builder.I am the master engineer.I am the right-brained…”

“And that makes me the left-brained side of our partnership, as we have discussed ad nauseum.”Rolling her bulging, black eyes, Tveir tapped the tip of the long, thick, olive-colored nail protruding from the end of the index finger of her right hand on the screen of the tablet she’d pulled from the Earthly Realm during their one and only successful experiment.

Switching to their own unique brand of mental communication, she added,“Can you feel it?The heaviness of Father’s Sorcerous Cage.It’s still there.It’s still…”

“Yes, but I am close to cracking the code.I looked into Helheim and into the Realm of Promise.I heard what the Omnipotent Beings known as Hope and Patience said.I smelled the succulent buttery aroma of those things they called biscuits.I’ve nearly cracked the code.Give me just…”

“You have two human days,”T snapped.“Not a second more.”Snapping her fingers, she pointed at the far wall as a massive countdown clock with digital numbers the color of the rind of very ripe key limes appeared.Starting at forty-eight, it began ticking down the seconds as the minutes and hours flashed in time.

“And if I need more time?”

“That, my dear sister, is not an option.”

ChapterFour

Sitting in her favorite chaise, one foot tucked under her and the toes of the other tapping the granite patio stones to the lovely tune filling her garden, Hel surveyed her favorite place and forced a smile.Lifting her hand to her forehead, she shielded her eyes from the Magical sunlight she’d willed into existence the moment she’d placed the first seeds into the dark, rich soil.

Seeing that everything was as it should be, she let her head fall back until it touched the top of the soft beige cushion with beautifully had drawn roses.Squinting, she saw her Ravens flitting to and fro enjoying the Enchanted Spring day.It did her heart good to see them having fun.It even almost raised her spirits… just almost.

With a sarcastic snort and the tiniest shrug, she dropped her hand into her lap and let her eyes slide shut.Willing the warmth on her face and the heavenly scent of roses to clear her mind, she made it about three seconds before huffing out an exasperated breath.

It was no use.She knew the Valkyrie and her Familiar were just outside the gates of Castle Niflheim.It was just a matter of minutes before Liv was on the porch, knocking on the door and ringing the bell.

Maybe she could get away.The second the thought came to life, Hel’s keen mind went to work.It was all right there, in perfect detail, right down to the swish of her skirts as she whipped around corners.

Up on her feet, she could be out of the garden, down the hall, and through the breezeway in less than a second.She’d slide her feet into the ballet slippers always at the ready in the mudroom, then skip down the steps and out the back door that opened to the entrance of what had once upon a time been the root cellar.Slipping through one of her private tunnels, she’d traverse the narrow curves with ease.After all, she’d built them herself and knew each dip and corner like the back of her hand.Down three steps then up four, she’d pop into Garmr’s Grog House without one twinkle of Magic for anyone to follow.

She’d done it hundreds of times–sometimes backward and sometimes with her eyes closed.She’d even raced Garmr a time or two and laughed at his outrage when she’d beat him by more than ten seconds.

Smiling despite how she felt, the goddess chuckled, “I do so love that Wolfman.He knows just the right thing to say even when no words need to be spoken.Out of everyone I know, he is one of the very few who can always make me laugh.”Nodding, she added, “He’s a million times more like a brother than my actual ones ever thought about being.”

And she meant every word.It didn’t matter that no one but her roses, her Ravens, and Crays could hear her.The truth was the truth and Garmr was a true friend.He had taken the time to get to know Hel on a deep personal level usually reserved for those with whom a person shared blood.

“Well, not the ones on my family tree,” she scoffed.“Nope, those boneheads have never been there for me.But Garmr, well, we’ve shared the good times and the bad…” She stopped as visions of the moment she’d confirmed the Wolfman had a good soul came to life.He’d suffered at the hands of the ignorant, and Hel could relate.

Thankfully, Hel was a goddess with a Realm all her own and could escape her tormentors.Unfortunately, it had taken the Wolfman longer to find his place in the universe and secure something he could call his own.

Before that, Garmr had been dealt a shit hand in the game of life.Just because tufts of deep crimson fur highlighted his ebony pelt,everyoneswore he’d been cursed to wear the blood of those he’d slain, tortured, killed and even eaten for the rest of forever.Of course, every word of those rumors was all a lie.

First of all, he’d never eaten any of his enemies.Secondly, anyone who died had been a truly dangerous enemy of the Norse Pantheon.As for torture, well, she knew there was no way he’d ever done any of that.