Текст книги "Howl for Me"
Автор книги: Dana Bell
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Howl For Me
True Destiny – 3
by
Dana Marie Bell
Dedication
To Mom, who fell in love with Charlie’s new miniature daschund. You know you want one. Dad’s going to come home and find you cuddling it, and he’ll be helpless to say no.
To Dad, who doesn’t complain too much when we critique his local wine collection. Yes, it doestake the whole bottle for your children to make sure it’s good.
And to Dusty, who thinks I’ll eventually get over my obsession with BioWare games. You poor, deluded man. That’s like saying I’ll eventually get over my unholy love of M&M’s.
Prologue
Long ago…
“No.”
Odin held up the third set of bonds with what Fenris assumed was supposed to be a guileless smile. Fenris knew better. Odin smelled wrong. He always had and Fenris suspected he always would. “But surely this bond will be the easiest of all to break.”
He’s lying.Odin’s stench had intensified. Fenris eyed the whisper-thin thread Odin proposed to test him with. He’d broken the last two bonds Odin had placed upon him, but he grew weary of the game, and Odin seemed far too pleased with himself.
“No. The game grows old, and my patience thin. Find some other way to amuse yourself, Old Man. I refuse to be your toy for the day.” And Fenris curled up once more beneath the tree and closed his eyes, content to drowse in the afternoon sun.
“Afraid, oh mighty wolf?” Odin’s voice drifted to his ears and tempted him to comply with the god’s wishes.
But Fenris was the son of Loki and no one’s fool. Odin was up to something and all the honeyed words in the world would not lure him into giving the Old Man what he wanted. “Go away, Old Man, unless the thought of my teeth in your flesh grants you pleasure. Then, by all means, remain.” And he wolf-grinned up at the god, pleased by the hint of fear he saw.
“But Tyr would be pleased to see your strength once more.”
Fenris glanced over at his foster-father, the one being he trusted more than any other, even his wayward father. Loki had placed him with Tyr in the hopes Odin would spare him the way the god hadn’t spared his brother and sister. He knewthat, but at times his father’s avoidance still hurt. The best thing to come of that had been his relationship with the man he respected most in the world.
Whatever Tyr wished, Fenris would do his best to provide. “Tyr?”
Tyr smiled at him gently.
“Perhaps he’d be more willing to play my little game if he has some reassurance, eh, Tyr?”
Fenris tilted his head, wondering where Odin was going with this. He had no desire to play the game, but if Tyr requested, he’d gladly show his strength once more.
“Since you fear such a flimsy, thin rope so much, Tyr will place his sword hand between your jaws. If for some reason you find you cannot free yourself, simply close your jaws on his wrist and we will release you.”
He didn’t trust Odin’s words, but he trusted Tyr’s. “You promise?”
Tyr stepped forward and held out his hand, palm down, his expression gentle, loving.
Fenris laughed and allowed the gods to bind him.
Chapter One
Present Day
“ Jeg er din forlovede, behage spiser ikke meg. Og spiser ikke Tyr, den ville ergre din ny moder.”
“Again.”
“ Jeg er din forlovede, behage spiser ikke meg. Og spiser ikke Tyr, den ville ergre din ny moder.”
“Good.” Logan Saeter, pain in the ass extraordinaire and Jeffrey Grimm’s brand-new brother-in-law, sat back in his chair with a smug grin. “Just say that to Fenris and everything should be fine.”
“What does it mean, exactly?” Because he’d really rather not tell a giant, hand-eating wolf that his breath smelled like a baboon’s ass. Knowing Logan’s penchant for practical jokes, he might be teaching Jeff to say just that.
“That’s not something you need to worry about. It’s a code Fenris and I came up with to let him know it was safe, to trust the one I sent to release him.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” If Jeff were the one bound he’d jump at any chance for release.
Logan snorted, amused. “Why wouldhe? Grimm is more than capable of trying to trick him.” Logan stood and stretched, the taut muscles of his body nearly causing Jeff to groan. If Jeff didn’t find the other man so annoying he’d be perving all over him.
Well, perving over him more. Logan was in a relationship with the other hottest man Jeff knew, and he might have made a play for them both, pain in the ass or not, if it weren’t for Jordan. Logan and Kir adored his older sister and Jeff would never do anything to hurt her, serious gay hotness or not.
Surrounded by luscious man meat and I can’t have a taste of any of it. It’s enough to depress me. Oh well. Jordan’s happy. That’s what counts most.He tried to stare down Logan, aka Loki, the Norse God of Mischief and Fenris’s father. “You’d better be telling me the truth.”
“Trust me. The moment you tell Fenris those words he’ll be eating out of your hand.” Logan walked out of the study, nodding to an incoming Travis on the way out. “He’s all yours.” The evil chuckle he gave as he closed the study door did nothing to ease Jeff’s fears that he was the butt of one of his brother-in-law’s infamous jokes.
Travis slipped into the room. “We’re ready. You?”
Jeff nodded and grinned at his twin sister, Jamie, standing just behind her one-handed lover. After a brief freak-out at being loved by a god, Jamie was settling in surprisingly well. It helped that she’d picked up some new tricks of her own along the way. “Hey, vixen.” Jamie smiled at the nickname only Jeff used for her. “Wanna go to Norway?”
She fingered the earring Logan had given her and grinned. She swore she could feel magic flowing through it, but Jeff couldn’t sense a thing. He’d have to trust her. She’d been what Logan called an instinctual mage before sharing blood with Travis and Logan. Now, his twin sister was a goddess in her own right.
He had a matching earring in his own ear. Logan had sworn it would keep Odin and his magical ravens, Hugin and Munin, from finding them. Something about wards and counter-magic that made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever but had both his sisters and his brothers nodding in approval. Thank God his ear had been pierced for years. He’d seen what Logan had done to Magnus and Morgan to get the earring in. His brothers had screeched like little girls tossed into cold water.
The wusses.
“More than.” Jamie’s arm went around Travis’s waist, her new radiance stemming from the strange magic that now flowed through his twin’s veins. The love on her face for Travis was obvious, as was Travis’s devotion to Jamie.
For a brief moment Travis’s whole body glowed, but the God of Justice got it under control before Jeff had to cover his eyes. “Let’s head out, then.”
He followed the pair out of Jordan, Logan and Kir's condo and headed toward his own. It was strange, really. Only a short time ago he’d been nothing more than one of the private investigators employed by Guardian Investigations.
His parents had been human—or so he thought—his family, normal. Then his grandfather, Oliver Grimm, had kidnapped his twin and tortured her and Jeff’s world had fallen apart at the seams. Lies and betrayals, myths and legends now filled his waking thoughts and his every dream. His father was Thor, God of Thunder and son of Odin. His grandfather was the psychotic ex-leader of the Norse gods, the Aesir and Vanir. His older brothers, his uncle Val, even his once sweet but flighty grandmother were allgods, and had lied to him from the start.
His older sister had fallen in love and married Loki, the baddest of the bad boys, and Baldur, a god who was supposed to be dead. She was now carrying a pair of twins fathered by both men. And his twin had gone and fallen in love with Tyr, God of Justice and Jeff’s boss, and they were off on a merry jaunt to free the world’s oldest laser hair removal candidate.
He was still trying to decide whether to laugh or scream. He was leaning toward both. Maybe then they’d give him some nice happy pills and he could check out of this ongoing nightmare. He’d snap back into reality where his grandmother wasn’t a super-bitch and his grandfather wasn’t a psychopath. He hadn’t touched anything apple since his last conversation with his grandmother, who’d made it clear that he was no longer welcome in her home since he’d accepted Jordan’s relationship with Logan.
Jamie waved her hand and the front door of his brand new condo opened.
He still couldn’t believe he was living in a million-dollar-plus condo in the heart of Rittenhouse Square. He’d been able to make the rent on his last place, but only barely. Now he had a place people would kill for, rent-free. Jamie giggled as the door stopped just short of slamming into his wall. “I didn’t hit the wall!”
“Good girl.” Travis leaned down and kissed Jamie’s neck, earning another giggle.
“Good God.” Jeff shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
“It’s easy.” Jamie waggled her fingers at him. “Wanna try?”
He shuddered. Just the thought of having magic woo-woo powers freaked him out. He was much more of a hand’s-on type. Hell, when he played World of Warcraft he always went for the paladin, warrior or death knight, never the mage or warlock. He’d much rather beat the bad guy with a huge metal stick than throw fireballs. “No thanks. One of us needs to stay sane.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and sauntered out, very much in charge of her little world. Jeff met Travis’s amused eyes and followed his boss out, locking the door behind him. Before he pocketed the key he stared at it, the wolf’s head gleaming in the hallway light. For just a second, he felt as if the wolf winked at him.
Jeff pocketed the key and ran after his twin, eager to end this once and for all. If they were right, freeing Fenris would be the start of something that had been coming for a long time, something he’d never thought he’d wish for so vehemently.
Movement. Sound where there shouldn’t be sound. Fenris lifted his head as best he could and stared at the mouth of the cave. Save for seagulls and crabs he hadn’t had a visitor in quite some time.
Mayhap, finally, his father had found the one to free him. He prayed for the day when a stranger would walk in and utter the words his father had taught him, changing the Norse he’d grown up with to match the modern Norwegian language. He couldn’t remember the last time his father had been to his lonely prison, but Loki had promised him that soon, soon he would be free.
If Odin entered the cave, then only pain would be his lot this day. Odin’s visits were few and far between, but Fen had learned that when Odin came, Fen had a truly bad time. However long Odin chose to stay, the results were the same—more agony than Fen had once thought it possible to survive. As near as Fen could tell Odin would stay for days before his need to inflict pain was spent.
Time tended to blend when you were chained alone in a dark cave.
Pain was his companion every day, but Fen had almost grown used to the agony of the sword through his jaws. Barely able to eat, only the water dripping from the cave walls easing his thirst, if he hadn’t been born of Loki he’d have been long since dead. But he healed over and over and over again, his body trying to repair the damage the sword and bindings and unending hunger did to him every day.
Fen wished he could place his betrayers in his place. Let them feel the icy burn of the sword, the unending pressure-pain of Gleipnir around their limbs.
“We’re here.”
Fen growled. He recognized that most hated of voices. Perhaps he’d come to lose another hand?
“Wow. It stinks in here.”
A light, female voice with a touch of power behind it. Fen cringed. Had his foster-father brought a witch? To what purpose?
“Jayzus, Travis. You sure know the great vacation spots, doncha?”
Everything in Fen stilled. That voice… Something about that voice made body parts throb that hadn’t in centuries. But oh, it was such a goodhurt!
Three figures stepped into the cave. One was all too recognizable, the powerful light surrounding him doing nothing to hide his warrior’s build. One was a slender female with flaming, curly hair and a glow similar to Tyr’s.
Another Vanir then, one of the Lios Alfar. Which one, Fen didn’t know. He didn’t recognize that bright head of red, riotous curls or the vivid, radiant green eyes.
But the third figure did not glow. He was all human.
All delicious.
Fen kept his gaze locked on Tyr, but all of his senses were focused on the flame-haired man who approached him, hands at his sides, palms open to show he held no weapon.
“Jeff? What are you doing?”
Fen knew the words. His father had spoken to him in English often enough for Fen to ken their meaning. Even Odin had taken to English when visiting Fen in his cage. Jeff must be the flame-haired man’s name.
Gods, he smelled good.He smelled sweet, like cinnamon, and Fen had a powerful sweet tooth.
The man smiled, and Fen felt his heart lurch. “ Jeg er din forlovede, behage spiser ikke meg. Og spiser ikke Tyr, den ville ergre din ny moder.”
Fen whined. Did the man just say what he thought he did? Fen tilted his head, ignoring the pain any movement inflicted on his jaws, and sniffed the man once more. If he could have grinned he would have. Yes. Yes, he did, and Fen was going to hold him to it. His father had done it, done the impossible.
He’d found Fen’s mate, and soon Fen would be free.
Tyr choked, and the man lowered his arms. Fen allowed him close, listening to the mutters and curses that flew from his mate’s mouth. “He’s got sores all over him, Travis.” His mate sounded angry, his hands moving over the bindings with a confidence that pleased Fen. Fen whimpered, the best he could do with the sword through his jaws. His healing ability constantly dealt with the damage inflicted every second by that sword. The sores were a result, his body unable to cope with even minor infections. Still he lived, though at times he had wished it weren’t so.
No longer. His mate had come, and Fen would follow him to Helheim itself if he so desired. He longed to lick Jeff, taste his skin, see if he was as delicious as he smelled. It soothed Fen, that scent, made the agony bearable.
“Travis, we have to get the sword out.”
Travis must be the name Tyr went by in the human world. Loki had told him all about moving among humans as one of them. His father had even taken a human name—Logan Saeter. His lover, Baldur, had slid into the name Kiran Tate, and together they’d made a life for themselves.
Fen didn’t resent them. He should, but he didn’t. His father had cried over his bound form too many times for Fen not to know how much his imprisonment hurt him. Even Baldur had shed a tear or two for him, but not even the golden one could free him.
Fen couldn’t be released until Ragnarrok.
“And this!” Strong, lean fingers stroked Gleipnir. “Explain it to me again.
This thing is tissue-thin. Even I should be able to tear it.” Jeff stood and faced Tyr, his hands on his hips, his tone demanding. Fen stood, ready to defend his mate, hobbled though he was.
But Tyr sighed, his expression one of regret. “It’s Gleipnir.”
There was silence. Even the female was looking at Tyr in exasperation.
“Well. That cleared that right up. Not. How about a more detailed explanation, you secretive ass-hat?”
Fen coughed, caught between laughter and fear. Jeff sounded like a handful.
If he kept taunting Tyr, the god would attack him and Fen would have no choice.
He’d place himself between Tyr and Jeff, take any blow meant for the smaller man.
No one would touch his mate and live.
Tyr merely grinned. For some absurd reason the god looked pleased.
“Gleipnir is made from the sound of a cat’s footfall, a woman’s beard, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spit of a bird.”
“Ew.” Jeff wiped his hands on his pants. “Bird spit, huh?”
Tyr laughed, bringing painful memories to the surface, memories when Tyr was his foster-father and all was right with his world. “The dwarves made it so that tugging on it only makes it stronger. Legend has it that Gleipnir will hold Fenris until Ragnarrok, when he’ll be freed to devour…” Tyr suddenly looked uncomfortable.
“It’s all right. I might carry his blood, but he’s not my family. Not anymore.”
The strength of a warrior flowed through Jeff’s voice. “How can we break him free?”
Tyr shrugged. “Hothead’s been trying for centuries. Did he give you a clue?”
Jeff shook his head. He turned back to Fen, and Fen saw that his eyes were the most beautiful shade of hazel. Fen bet they changed color with the man’s mood. Right now, the brown was predominant, his mate thinking hard over a puzzle that had stymied even the Trickster God himself.
“Wait. It gets strongerwhen you tug?”
Jeff exchanged a glance with the female who’d spoken. “It’s worth a shot.”
“Don’t pull the sword until you’re sure he won’t hurt you. Logan didn’t say what his temperament was like.”
Fen snarled. He’d never hurt his mate. Never.
He stopped mid-snarl. Tyr had spoken to his father? Since when? The two hated one another.
“Shh.” A strong hand stroked his head and Fen leaned into it, tamed instantly by Jeff’s touch. Jeff’s fingers stroked near where the blade exited his jaw. “I’m going to get this thing out of you. Don’t bite me, ’kay?” Jeff lifted his hand and shook it out. “Blech. Dog drool.”
Fen wouldn’t bite. Not yet. It wasn’t time. He’d bite when he claimed Jeff, not before.
He wanted to howl his agony when Jeff ripped the sword from his jaws, but he held still, only the shudder of his body and a single whine betraying his pain.
Jeff threw the sword away from him and stroked Fen’s head once more.
Fen’s quick healing took over, closing over the wounds, leaving behind not a trace of pain. Even if Gleipnir never came off Fen would be forever grateful that the sword, at least, had been removed.
“Holy shit.”
He stared over at Tyr, who was watching Jeff way too closely for Fen’s comfort.
“What?” Jeff’s attention was now on the bindings, his clever fingers stroking over them once more.
“Logan told me neither Kir nor he were ever able to move the sword.”
Of course not. They weren’t his mate.
“Maybe it needed to be someone of Grimm’s blood?”
Fen shook his head. No, Kir was of Grimm’s blood, and he hadn’t been able to budge it.
“Nope. Kir is Grimm’s son, remember?”
“True.” Fen felt something move on his leg. “Ah. I think I’ve got it.”
The fetters were gone. Gleipnir lay in a pile at his feet.
He was free.
Fen stood for the first time in centuries on all four legs and let loose his song.
Fenrisùlfr was free!
His legs shaky, he placed himself between Tyr and Jeff, rubbing himself up against the delicious man who’d declared himself Fen’s by both word and deed.
Never again would Fen be alone, left in darkness and anguish.
He was free.
Tyr went to take a step toward Jeff, but Fenris growled. Blood still dripped from his jaws, the last of the wounds still bleeding sluggishly.
Tyr pushed the female behind him, his eyes wide. “Could you repeat exactlywhat you said to him? I didn’t quite catch it.”
Jeff tried to move around Fenris to get back to Tyr and the female. Fenris responded by backing into him, pushing him farther into the cave and away from Tyr. Despite his weakness it wasn’t that difficult; he came up to Jeff’s chest.
Jeff pushed against his rear, but Fen refused to move. “ Jeg er din forlovede, behage spiser ikke meg. Og spiser ikke Tyr, den ville ergre din ny moder.”
“I thought you spoke some Norwegian.” Tyr was grinning. He, at least, seemed to know what Fen’s mate had said.
“Bits and pieces only.” His mate was scowling now. “What did my dickhead brother-in-law teach me to say?”
“Roughly? ‘I’m your mate, please don’t eat me. And don’t eat Tyr, it will piss off your new mother.’”
Fen could hear his mate’s teeth grind together. Hadn’t he known what the words would mean? “Remind me to thank him when I get home.” The resigned tone of voice would have worried Fen if his mate’s hand hadn’t moved to stroke his head again. “Wait, mother?” Jeff laughed, and Fen was enchanted. The man threw his whole being into it, his head back and his mouth wide. Fen bet he did everything else the same exact way. “Never mind. I won’t have to do a thing.”
Fen couldn’t help himself. He reached up on his hind legs and licked his mate’s cheek, his joy making Fen happy. Jeff lifted his shirt to wipe his cheek off, making Fen even happier. He shifted to his human form and petted his mate’s washboard stomach, the lean muscles rippling under his palm. “ Meget pen.”
Jeff pulled his shirt back down and blinked, obviously startled to see him as human. “Travis? What did he just say?”
“That you’re very pretty.”
Fen stood and gripped Jeff’s hand in his. He stared into his mate’s eyes, watching them change from brown to emerald green. “ Mine.”
Jeff gulped. “Um. Right.” He turned to Tyr. “We need to go now?”
His warrior mate had turned into an unsure, frightened man. Fen was even more determined to protect him. “Go. Yes.” Fen tugged Jeff toward the cave entrance, keeping him away from Tyr. “No stay.” He’d have to get used to speaking again. It had been so long since he’d given voice that forming words, no matter the tongue, felt wrong somehow, his voice far too gravelly, almost like his wolf’s growl.
Tyr nodded. “You’re right. Grimm will be here soon.” He held up his left hand and the stump of his right. “We’ll go first, so you know we mean no harm, Fen.”
Fen growled. Tyr had lost the right to call him that centuries ago.
The female stepped out from behind Tyr. Her scent was similar to his mate’s.
“There’s a lot happening you don’t know, but Tyr isn’t your enemy. He never really was.”
Fen kept the low growl going. The female was deranged if she believed that.
“Not now, Jamie. Once we’re on the plane, we’ll fill him in.”
“On everything.” Jamie was glaring at Tyr.
Tyr nodded. “Of course, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart? So, the female was Tyr’s mate?
“C’mon, vixen. Time to blow this Popsicle stand.” Jeff reached for the female, and Fen pushed him back. If the female belonged to Tyr she wasn’t to be trusted.
He felt a blow to the back of his head and turned, stunned, to stare at his mate.
Jeff shook his finger at him, all hints of his earlier fear gone. Fen’s warrior had returned. “Bad dog.”
Fen blinked. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had done something like that. None had dared.
Not even Odin.
Jeff held out his hand to the female. “Let’s go, sis.”
Their hands met, and Fen watched, helpless, as the female led his mate out into the sunshine, hand in hand.
“They’re twins. You’ll get used to it.”
He turned to Tyr, tempted to attack him then and there.
“Your father sent us. He went to visit your sister with Kir and Jeff’s half sister, Jordan.” Tyr grinned. “Logan and Kir are both married to her.”
“ Jeg hater deg.”
The grin faded from Tyr’s lips. “I know you hate me, and you have good reason to. Maybe once you know everything, you’ll hate me a little less, but I can’t hope for your forgiveness. Just know, none of us were in our right minds when we did this.” Tyr waved toward the cave. “If I could go back and make sure none of this happened I would. Even if I lost Jamie over it.”
Fen couldn’t believe him. Believing in Tyr’s love had been what put him in the cave in the first place.
Tyr nodded as if he understood. “Let’s go. They’re waiting for us.”
Fen nodded, but kept Tyr in front of him at all times. He wouldn’t give his back to the man ever again.
Jeff watched the werewolf walk, half his attention on Travis and half on the ground, and was glad Tyr was keeping Jamie away from him. He didn’t think Fenris would differentiate between Travis’s fiancée and Jeff’s twin. He’d just see Tyr’s woman.
He ought to have realized how pissed off Fenris would still be at Travis. He should have tried to convince Tyr that some of the others should have handled this, like Uncle Val. Maybe.
Then again, if Fen decided Jamie was some sort of threat there was no one he’d rather have defending her than the God of Justice. When Jamie had been in the hospital, beaten and brutalized, Travis had stayed by her side. The expression on his face had said it all. The man might be a god, but he worshipped the ground Jamie walked on.
He’d never been frightened of Travis. Not once had he felt any discomfort around the man he’d known since he was sixteen. But when someone mentioned Oliver Grimm in front of Travis, his expression filled with the need for Grimm’s blood. Jeff never wanted that expression turned on him, ever. Jeff figured Fen was the first step in Travis’s plan to get it. According to the old Norse prophecy of Ragnarrok, Fenris was supposed to kill Jeff’s grandfather, something Jeff couldn’t be happier about.
“What is that?” Fenris spoke clear, if highly accented, English, his Ws sounding very much like Vs. Logan must have been preparing his son for his eventual freedom by teaching him English as well as modern Norwegian. He wondered what other languages he’d taught his son.
Jeff looked toward where Fenris was pointing and shrugged. “Helicopter.”
Fenris looked at him as if he’d just said “jalapeño anal lube”.
“What? We couldn’t land the plane here. Too rocky.” Jeff strode confidently toward the helicopter and tried not to show how much it scared the bejesus out of him. He hatedflying in the loud, rocky thing. Might as well put blender blades on eggshells and see if they flew. But Travis had been right, as usual. Anything other than the helicopter might have given Grimm a chance to catch up to them.
It could go where planes couldn’t, no matter how terrifying they were.
He climbed into the helicopter, somehow not surprised when Fenris chose to curl his very stinky body as close as possible to Jeff. Jamie sat up front with Travis, who flew the chopper with an astonishing degree of professionalism.
Apparently he’d flown one in ’Nam and had kept his pilot’s license up ever since.
Jeff shoved a headset over Fenris’s ears. “Someone needs a bath and some clothes pronto,” Jeff yelled into his headset’s microphone.
Fenris jumped and turned his head, no doubt wondering where the other Jeff was who’d spoken in his ear.
Jeff grinned. This was going to be fun.
“We can’t afford to stop off at a hotel. We’ll just have to throw something on him at the airport and get him out of here.” Travis flew closer to the water than Jeff felt comfortable with. If he opened the door he was afraid his jeans would get soaked in the spray.
“Do youwant to fly home with that smell next to you?” Jamie asked her fiancé tartly.
“He’s not going to be in the cockpit, is he?”
Jamie smacked Travis’s arm.
Fenris watched the whole thing with wide, fascinated eyes. Jeff wondered if anyone had dared lay a hand on Tyr back when he’d been all I’m-A-God-Don’t-Fuck-With-Me.
Fenris scowled. “ Jeg er beklager jeg duft dårlige, men du prøver å være bundet i en hule for et par århundrer og se hva du duft som.”
Travis choked on a laugh.
Jamie scowled back, her eyes narrowing. “Travis? What did he just say?”
Travis chuckled. “‘I’m sorry I smell bad, but you try being chained in a cave for a few centuries and see what you smell like.’”
Jamie looked like she was biting back her own laugh. “Point taken.” She turned back around. “There’s the airport.”
“I want you two to fill him in as much as you can on the way back to Philadelphia. I’m sure he’ll have questions but I’m hoping most of them can wait until after we reunite him with his father.”
Jeff felt Fenris clasp his hand. “How?”
“How what?”
“How did you free me?”
Jeff grinned. “Chinese finger trap.”
Fenris’s head tilted, much like a dog’s.
“It’s a child’s toy that traps your index fingers.” Jeff picked up Fen’s hands and showed him, placing them tip to tip. “The more you tug, the stronger it gets.”
Fenris nodded as if he understood, but Jeff wasn’t so sure about that.
“But when you push your fingers together and gently twist, you can pull your fingers free.” He pulled Fenris’s fingers apart. “You just have to be careful not to tug or it tightens right back up again. It’s a test of cunning, not strength.”
Fenris was staring at him with those huge, dark eyes as if Jeff was some sort of god rather than a private detective who enjoyed children’s games. “ Tusen takk.”
“Thank you,” Travis translated.
“You’re welcome.” Jeff tried to drop Fenris’s hands, but the wolf held fast.
The heated smile on his face as he lifted Jeff’s hands to his lips would have made him shiver, except Fenris chose that moment to lick Jeff’s knuckles rather than kiss them.
“Ugh. Dog drool.”
Jamie giggled, the heartless bitch, and before he knew it they were at the airport. Travis landed the helicopter and handed Jeff his button-down shirt, leaving him in a plain white tee. “Make him put this on. Jamie and I will run in and get him some pants, then head to the plane. You have the passports ready?”
Jeff nodded. Logan and Travis had both “magic’d” their passports so Rina couldn’t fuck with them and stick them in Norway indefinitely, there to be picked off at his grandfather’s leisure.
“What size…? Never mind.” Jamie eyeballed the naked man. “I’ll guess.”
Travis grabbed hold of her arm and practically dragged her out of the helicopter. He turned and pointed his finger at Jeff and Fenris. “Stay put, you two.”
Jeff saluted. “Aye aye, boss man.”
Travis rolled his eyes and closed the door.
Fenris licked his fingers again.
“Stop that!” Jeff yanked on his fingers again, and this time Fenris let them go.
“ Ja kjære.”
Jeff leaned in close, scowling, trying somehow to gain the upper hand. “In English.”
Fenris grinned, his fangs showing, his eyes glittering with dominance. “Yes, dear.”
It took everything Jeff had in him not to back down, but fuck if some overgrown Pomeranian was going to make Jeffrey Grimm cower. “I’m not your dear.”
The amusement on Fenris’s face merely grew. “ Du er mitt.”
From the hot look Fenris cast over him, Jeff was pretty sure he could figure that one out. “I’m not yours, either.”
Fenris snarled, the sound deep, feral and far from human.
Jeff snarled back, knowing he sounded more like that overgrown Pomeranian than Fenrisùlfr ever would.
