Magpies & Moonshine (Toil and Trouble Book 6) Read online

  It’s a long time before we pull apart, Carly with a considering look on her face.

  “Why did Odin create the Fetters—are you really that much stronger than him?”

  I nod. “The closer you are to creation, the stronger the life force and the magic. It’s why gods are so powerful and even other FTCs are close to immortal, while humans aren’t. It’d be very, very hard to kill me, Carly,” I say gently.

  “Good.” She squeezes my hand.

  Given our recent conversation, I decide I better clarify that. “But not impossible. Even my people have death.”

  She nods, then groans as she gets to her feet. “I want a shower. I don’t suppose I could convince you to join me?”

  I smile. “Nice try. But no.”

  She puts a hand on my shoulder. The kiss is soft and slow, but she pulls back before I can deepen it. “Promise me something?” she whispers. Those blue-green eyes are mesmerizing, making me want to dive in and drown.

  “What?”

  “When we get back home, no more secrets, no more half-truths. And no more waiting.” There’s no mistaking the look in her eyes.

  Clever woman. She knows damn well I’m not capable of refusing her anything right now. “Okay.” I’ll figure it out. Somehow we’ll figure it all out.

  She raises an eyebrow and puts a hand on her hip, looking unconvinced. “Is that a promise? ’Cause it didn’t exactly sound like one—”

  This time the kiss isn’t at all slow, or soft. When I’m done, she sags in my arms, looking dazed. “Yes,” I say softly. “It’s a fucking promise.”

  17

  We’re back in Duluth by midmorning the following day. I called Jett. She made two trips, since Styx didn’t want to chance walking into the underworld again. There’s no reason to give Odin more information than he already has.

  Styx also asked me to call a family meeting. Everyone except Mom is already gathered in the parlor when we arrive. It makes me shudder, seeing them all there as I walk down the hall. Styx’s hand tightens on mine. I hate our family meetings. They’re never about anything good and this one is sure to take the cake.

  “Mom is running late,” Ana announces to the room at large. I think Styx sees that as an opportunity.

  Without preamble, he lays it out. His secret identity and the fact he’s been exposed to Odin. Him and the Eitr. All apparently by my mother’s hand. Together we explain what happened in the throne room at Asgaard, including Odin’s threats and my reaction. Styx explains the history between his people and Odin and his suspicion that my mother stole the Eitr from him ages ago.

  For a moment, everyone just stares.

  Jack is the first one to speak. “I may as well put it out there for the rest of you, since Styx is already aware. I’ve known who he is for a while.”

  This makes me curious, mostly because Styx never said a word to me. Apparently it makes my sister something more than curious. Seph glares at the man next to her on the couch. “And you didn’t feel the need to share that with anyone? The love of your life, for instance?”

  I wince, but Jack raises a cool eyebrow at the bite in her tone. “I may not like Styx much, but I’m also not overly fond of stirring the pot, princess. I think you’ve confused me with my brother.”

  “As if,” she mutters.

  Jack smirks, then his expression sobers. “When I thought I lost you, though, I didn’t give a fuck about war or anything else. I threatened to expose Styx if he didn’t help me master water so I could go after Herne. So he did, but I made a vow not to tell anyone what I knew.”

  Seph blinks. “You extorted Styx for me?”

  “I would have made a deal with the devil to avenge you.”

  My sister flutters her lashes in a way that would do Snow White proud.

  “You kind of did make a deal with the devil, or death, at least,” Stephen points out, frowning at Styx. “I guess this is why I’ve never much liked you.”

  Jack’s smile is thin and sharp. “Good instincts, bruin.”

  “Oh, would you both quit!”

  Everyone looks at me, startled.

  “You’re acting just like Herne, treating Styx like crap because he’s not one of you. In case you missed that bit, he and his people are the only reason we’re still all here.”

  The room falls quiet again.

  “Actually, if you are right about Oriane stealing the Eitr from you, seems like she’s part of the reason we’re all here, too,” Tyr points out.

  Styx shakes his head. “Until she decided to have Carly walk into Odin’s court and hand him the key to blowing up the universe, along with the secret of my identity.”

  That reminds me. I look at Jack. “Did Loki know about Styx already, do you think?”

  Jack looks taken aback. “I sincerely doubt it. If he had, do you think he would’ve wasted any time telling Odin? My brother lives for war.”

  Styx frowns at me before looking back at Jack. “Loki lost all of his children in the last one, Frost. I expect he’s lost some of his taste for that kind of mayhem.”

  It’s hard for me to picture Loki as a father, but we’ve all heard the stories. Loki had three children. All were slaughtered at Odin’s hand for his betrayal.

  When he speaks up again, Jack’s voice is hard. “You don’t know my brother. That war of yours turned a capricious brat into someone much darker.”

  “He helped us,” Seph points out. “With Herne.”

  “I doubt Loki’s interference was entirely altruistic,” Tyr murmurs.

  Jack nods at the assassin’s words, but his eyes remain on my sister. “Because it cost him nothing, princess. Don’t make the mistake of trusting my brother. Ever. Believe me, it will always come back to bite you.”

  “Well, it hardly matters. He knows now.” Styx turns to Stephen, though his eyes linger on Tyr first. “Cyril Mikhailov is the name of that royal, the one who visited you, right, Krueger?”

  Since I’m still looking right at Tyr, I see the assassin shift slightly in his seat at the name. I frown before my eyes go back to the bruin king.

  “Yes, it is,” Stephen says. “Gods, that one is an oily bastard.”

  “A dead one. He kidnapped Carly while we were in Norway.”

  Ana gasps, her hand going to her heart. Tyr wraps an arm around her as Jett and Seph start pelting me with questions.

  When they are done, Tyr shakes his head. “Guess the succession is moving right along, eh? At this rate, you’ll be in the top ten before you know it, Krueger.”

  Stephen grimaces. “One throne is enough, thanks.”

  Styx is looking at Tyr again. “About Mikhailov—”

  Jack interrupts, getting to his feet, his eyes narrowed. “Seems to me the solution here is clear, Styx. Take the Eitr and go. Disappear again.”

  My heart seizes in my chest.

  “It would solve much,” Tyr muses.

  Styx seems to grow bigger and more menacing between one breath and the next. “Except I would be gone and Carly would be at Odin’s mercy.”

  “With you out of the picture, there would be no reason for him to come after her. And we could protect her.”

  “From your All-Father?” Styx sneers, taking a step toward Jack. “You expect me to take that kind of chance with Carly’s life?”

  “Seems you’ve already been gambling with her life.”

  “Says the asshole who played Russian roulette with his woman’s future.”

  The air is beginning to crackle and turn eerie shades of green and blue. The house trembles as thunder rolls overhead. The smell of ozone drifts through the open windows.

  “Boys, boys.” Jett gets to her feet. “Put away your dicks for a moment and let’s think this through.”

  “If Cyril knew, it seems your secret was never as safe as you thought.” Ana speaks up for the first time, sounding thoughtful, her cool, reasonable tone easing some of the tension in the room. “Or at the very least, it was beginning to come to light even before Mom sent Carly to
Asgaard.”

  “Perhaps. But she sure hastened things along, not to mention putting a big old target on her daughter’s back—and the backs of every witch in the realms. Isn’t that so, Oriane?”

  Styx’s voice cracks like a whip. When I turn, Mom is standing in the hallway behind me, smiling weakly.

  “What’s all this, sweeties?”

  My mother doesn’t age, not really. She’s still the beautiful woman with long golden hair I ran to whenever I needed to be soothed. For most FTCs, age is in the eyes. Not something humans would notice, at least not consciously. It’s a deepening of awareness and life and loss and knowledge.

  I remember her eyes when she came to Gee’s after the break-in, a few nights after I ate all those men’s souls. Her gaze took in every bit of me, from head to toe and inside out, before going soft and warm. She was the only one who didn’t try and make me talk. She just picked up a brush and started working on my hair, talking without any expectation of a response. Smoothing the snarls out of my soul and my curls all at the same time.

  Mom has always been very good at multitasking. And avoidance.

  “How did Asgaard go?” she asks, easing into the room.

  I take a deep breath. “Probably about as well as you expected.” She blinks at me. “Odin wants to kill us all. Starting with me. So, Mom, I have a few questions.”

  One by one, I tick off my list, the others adding other questions as we go, filling in the puzzle each of us has only ever had pieces of.

  Where did she get the Eitr from all those years ago?

  Why did she send Ana back in time to make sure the Vasilisas would find it? Why did she then have Ana take it back?

  Why send me with it to Odin?

  Did she really plan for him to discover who Styx was? And why? Did she plan for me to kill Odin?

  And she has the same answer for all of them. The same old answer.

  “I can’t tell you that,” she whispers. “Not yet. Very soon, I promise.”

  I want to believe her, like I’ve believed her so many times before. But . . . when is she going to believe in us?

  When is it ever going to be enough? Because right now, I need to know why. My mother is saying she put a target not only on my back, but on the backs of our entire family, our whole race.

  “Very soon we may all be dead.”

  “You don’t really believe that, Carly,” she whispers.

  But for the first time, I’m not sure. My instincts are as jumbled as my emotions at the moment, but as I look at my mother, one thing comes across loud and clear. She is going to hurt me. Hurt me terribly. Very soon.

  Dread creeps into my stomach, black and cold. I shiver and Styx steps up behind me, his hands on my arms.

  “If ever there was a time for truth, this is it, Oriane. Your family needs you, can’t you see that?”

  “Soon,” she says again, her eyes on mine, but all I can see there is fear. I turn away and let Styx pull me into his arms.

  “I think you should leave,” he says coldly.

  My hand tightens on his chest, but the muscles there are like iron.

  There is no disagreement from the others in the room. My sisters are silent, pale and sick looking, but silent. My mother has messed with all our lives, made us risk so much time and time again, but this time it’s too much.

  Pressing her lips together, my mother turns away, her eyes downcast, lips trembling. But she pauses on the threshold, looking right at me.

  “I love you, Carlisle Grace. Just remember that.”

  With a sigh, her gaze takes in my sisters. “I love you all, and everything I’ve done comes down to that one simple truth.” There are tears in her eyes as she turns and walks down the hall.

  I take a step toward her, my eyes burning, but Styx throws out an arm. “No, Carly,” he says quietly. “Let her go.”

  18

  The door shuts. I bite back the tears, but my legs give way. Styx’s hard arm slips around my waist, yanking out a chair before he eases me into it.

  Then he looks at Jack. “We have to figure this out. Who can we count on? What about Freya? She is your sister.”

  Jack sighs. “And she hates me. Tyr would know Freya’s mind better than I do.”

  Everyone looks at the assassin. His answer is slow in coming. “I can’t say for sure, but she is attached to humans. More so than the other gods, I would guess. She already threatened the Firebird Prince for us.”

  “Not the same as threatening the All-Father, I fear.” Jack looks grim.

  Tyr shrugs. “True.”

  “Seems simple enough. Let’s kill Odin before he can go after Styx or Carly.”

  Tyr makes a soft sound of disbelief at Jett’s blithe words.

  Ana gives him a look I don’t quite understand. “Gods have been the targets of assassins before. They can be killed.”

  Seph raises her hand. “I can attest to that.”

  “I tried that,” I say quietly. “Remember? But Styx says it’s not safe.”

  After Styx explains, Jack curses. “If we can’t kill Odin, then what?” Silence falls.

  Nobody says it, but everyone is thinking it. War.

  “Us, the bruins, perhaps Merry and the gnomes, Freya. Hell, probably even most of the FTCs in the Americas. But even if we get them all, it’s not enough,” Jett mutters before giving Styx a considering look. “Unless you’re as powerful as everyone says. You could devour his army before they even got here.”

  “No,” Jack speaks up instantly. “No.”

  “He’s right.” Styx raises a hand as I open my mouth to protest. “If I started down that path, I’d not be able to stop.”

  “Yes,” the elemental says dryly. “We’d really prefer you not eat the world and us with it.”

  Styx glowers at him. “I do have other talents.”

  Jack snorts. “I’ve seen your talents, remember? Tearing the world apart won’t help us either.” The air is starting to crackle again. I’ve had enough.

  “Let’s sleep on it.” Everyone looks at me like I’ve gone round the bend, but I lift my chin. “Come on, we don’t have to solve everything tonight. If Odin plans to come after Styx and me, it’ll take him at least until morning.”

  “Actually, I’d say we have more like a few days,” Stephen mutters, the look on his face considering. “Odin has to be assessing all the same things we are.”

  “All right then.” I get to my feet, still feeling shaky from Mom’s departure. “Styx and I are going north for the night.” I give him a firm look. “To your cabin.”

  His lips tighten, but he doesn’t argue. With a nod, he turns back to Jack. “We’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Fifteen minutes later, I run out to the garage to throw my backpack into the trunk of Ana’s Volvo. Styx is still inside, but I couldn’t take another minute in that house. It’s all so wrong. Mom leaving. Us facing war with Odin, for the gods’ sakes. I rub my shoulders, fighting a chill, even though it’s about as warm as Duluth ever gets.

  When I turn around to leave the garage, Loki is standing just inside the door. He puts a finger to his lips and shuts off the light. The sudden darkness presses against my eyelids as I reach for my magic, whispering soft and low.

  His amused voice cuts me off. “I wouldn’t, if I were you. Besides, I’m not here to hurt you.” He cocks his head as my eyes slowly adjust, focusing on the blue pinpricks that are his eyes. “Actually, maybe I should let you be the judge of that.”

  I fold my arms. “Get on with it then. What does Odin want from me?”

  “Odin?” he laughs softly. “Odin knows nothing about this game.” His smile has my stomach doing somersaults.

  “What are you talking about? What game?”

  “The game your mother and I have been playing for a very, very long time. And I just took the queen, the only one that matters.” He cups his hands together, then slowly pulls them apart. Purple mist unfurls to fill the empty space and within it is my mother’s face. Strained and white, s
taring up at me with tears running down her face.

  My chest seems to tighten and crack.

  “I knew you all would give up on her eventually,” he continues softly, looking down at the image in his hands. “I warned her. There’s only so much trust people have to give, and when you erode it as much as she has, one day when you need it . . .”

  Nothing he is saying is making any sense to me. “Where is she?” I hiss.

  Loki brings his hands together with a sharp clap that makes me jump. “Somewhere safe. For now.”

  There is no mistaking the threat in those last two words.

  “What do you want?”

  “Something that only you can do.” His eyes shouldn’t be visible in the darkness, but he is a god. Twin flames of chaos regard me, twirling in mad circles. “Well, you or your monster boyfriend.”

  “Don’t call him that.”

  “Ah, having a hard time facing it, are we?” Loki tsks. “He is death, the ultimate monster that stalks above and below. He is the terror of the storm, the reason children huddle under their covers in the night. He took your sister and your friend. He’ll take everyone you love in the end.” His smile is sinister and cold. “That is the creature that holds your heart, child. The eater of worlds. And I bet he’s shared some of his darkness with you already. Did you forget about the prophecy? Your crown is showing.”

  My head is aching, and I can’t get Mom’s tear-streaked face out of my mind. “Seph’s prophecy? What does that have to do with me and Styx?”

  He laughs. “Haven’t you heard the full rhyme yet? Dear old mom still keeping that close, I guess. Well, you’ve at least heard the rumors. All Oriane’s daughters become queens; all are destined to receive magic that is not theirs.”

  “Elemental magic. Styx is not an elemental.”

  He wags a finger. “No. He isn’t. But neither is the bruin king.”

  I blink at him. “That’s splitting hairs. Healing is still earth magic.”

  “And what about magic that is not of this earth? Or even of this realm? The ability to walk through worlds. What kind of magic would you say that is? Personally, I’ve taken to calling it star magic, but call it what you will.”