Death Lord

22

At the very last minute he’d switched sides, warning Lucifer of the attack, including the team sneaking into the castle from the back. The team that had contained my first mate, Soria, who’d died that night before I could save her. All so Loki could save his own tail. Cowardly bastard.

But Loki had reason to hate me too. After all, I’d killed his son, Fenrir.

Eira stepped between us, breaking the rising tension before it could escalate into a fight, or something worse. “Thanks for meeting with us so quickly.”

Loki’s gaze snapped toward Eira and he rose to his feet to embrace her. “Eira, darling. Always lovely to see you.”

F

or a split second, I watched his face soften. Even if he didn’t like me, hopefully his love for Eira would be enough to compensate. From that look alone, I knew that it wasn’t likely that he would trick his own granddaughter.

“Sit and have a drink with me,” Loki said, gesturing at the table. Eira slid into the booth across from him, and I grudgingly scooted in beside her.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to keep the hostility out of my voice. I’d expected that he’d call her, not show up out of the blue at my father’s hotel.

“When I didn’t hear from Eira after I sent her on this mission, I came to New Orleans to make sure she was okay,” he said, tilting his chin up at me like he was daring me to question it.

“Is that right?” I asked, meeting his gaze head on. I didn’t believe him for a second. If he was in the city, why hadn’t he contacted her sooner, or reached out first? If there was one thing Loki was good at it was lying, and he would do it more often than telling the truth.

But Eira didn’t seem bothered by his answer and shot me an exasperated look. “Be nice,” she muttered.

“Let me get you some drinks,” Loki said, breaking my stare first. It didn’t feel like a win. “You both look like you need some.”

“Good idea,” Eira said.

Loki flagged down the server and we ordered our drinks, before he spoke again. “What have you found out so far?”

“I found my brothers. They’re alive, along with the other shifters and imps that went missing, but they’re not exactly safe.” She bit her lip and glanced at me, like she wasn’t sure if she should keep going.

“What do you mean?” Loki asked.

“Two of the Furies are here,” I said. “Alecto and Megaera. They’re trying to bring Tisiphone over from Void next.”

Loki’s eyes widened slightly. “The Furies? That’s...unexpected.”

“They’re gathering together shifters and imps like cultists, putting them under some sort of spell, using anger and envy to control them,” Eira said, rubbing her hands over her arms as if she was cold. I had the sudden urge to wrap my arms around her, to protect her from whatever was bothering her, whether it was a chill in the bar or the memories in her head.

“I see,” Loki said, frowning as he tapped his fingers slowly on the side of his drink. “Anger and envy. Yes, of course.”

“They need to be stopped,” I said. “You know what kind of damage they can cause.”

“Yes, I remember,” Loki said, giving me a hard look.

“We need to send the Furies back to Void, but we don’t have a key,” Eira said. “That’s why I contacted you.”

“Of course,” Loki said, leaning back with an amused grin. “And lucky you did, because I doubt anyone else could help you with this problem.”

“Do you have one?” Eira asked, sitting up straighter.

“No, but I did once. I hid it in Faerie to keep it safe.” He tilted his head. “I can’t get to it, but perhaps you can.”

“How?” I asked.

Loki shot me another amused glance. “Eira has a key to Faerie. Didn’t you know?”

I gritted my teeth. It took pretty much all of my willpower to not punch that smug look off of his thin, foxy face. “No, she failed to mention it.”

Eira shrugged. “I used to be a messenger between Earth and Faerie, and I still have a key. There was no reason to mention it before since it was here at the hotel.”

“But surely an Archdemon such as yourself can get to Faerie too,” I said, giving Loki a pointed look. “There must be another reason you need us to get the key.”

“Well, there is one tiny little complication,” he admitted.

“Here we go,” I muttered.

Loki ignored my comment as he continued. “I left it in a cave with a basilisk for safekeeping. The beast can see through illusion magic, which is why I can’t get it myself. Of course that also means that no fae can get to it either, especially since it can kill with a single glance. A perfect hiding spot, don’t you think?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “If it can see through your illusion magic, how did you get it there in the first place?”

“I had help.” Loki smiled mysteriously at me. I expected him to elaborate, but in his typical, slippery manner, he didn’t say more.

Eira cleared her throat. “Okay, so it’s in a cave with a basilisk that you can’t get past because it sees through your illusion magic and can kill with a look. What makes you think we can get past it?”

“Because you have the God of Death sitting here with you. It shouldn’t be an issue for him.”

“And what do you want in return?” I asked, because obviously Loki wanted something. He wouldn’t help us unless it benefited him in some way.