0765332108 (F) (55 page)

Then Ryan
felt
something pass between Dainn and Danny. The beast froze, and the little girl’s body collapsed like a doll thrown into the snow. Loki fell to his knees beside Danny with a short, sharp cry.

Dainn knelt where the beast had been, his face drained of color. And Mist … Ryan felt her shock and horror, saw the dark Eitr spin madly inside her as if it had no way to escape.

With dazed eyes, Ryan looked for Odin. He was watching the drama play out as if he had nothing to do with it, the corners of his heavy mustache curving up in a slight smile. If he’d wanted to attack them, he and his soldiers could have done it anytime. The fact that he hadn’t even tried scared Ryan more than the pain in his chest.

“Mist!” Odin said.

Her head swung toward him slowly. Ryan had the sense that the world was closing in around the three of them, the storm clearing in a circle wide enough to encompass Valkyrie, god, and Ryan.

Everything else had ceased to exist.

“This is
your
doing,” Mist said to Odin, her face a mask of hatred.

“I underestimated your foolish devotion to the creatures who inhabit this world,” Odin said, leaning his weight on Gungnir’s shaft as Einherjar began to rise from the bloody ground at his feet.

“You speak of the ‘creatures’ who once looked to you for wisdom instead of death,” Mist snarled.

“But I was also their god of battles,” Odin said.

“You incited the peaceful to strife. You were the patron of outlaws.”

“And what are you, Mist? Nothing but a bringer of death.”

“You killed the first living being in our universe.”

“All creation must come from death,” Odin said. “The Eitr of Ginnungagap was the substance from which Ymir sprang, and my brothers and I could not create without the Eitr. His death gave us that power, and with it we made Midgard and its inhabitants.”

“So the legends say.”

“Nothing is beyond the power of the Eitr. It was mine to wield as I chose. But my access to the Eitr was stolen from me, along with the spells I used to control it. I had no memory of how to retrieve that power. My Aesir blamed the Vanir, and the Vanir refused to accept responsibility. So came the war between us.”

“Which the Aesir won,” Mist said. “But it wasn’t one of
them
who stole it, was it?”

A black cloud seemed to settle over Odin’s eye. “No,” he said. “But I know who did.”

33

“Loki,” Mist said.

“Oh, no,” Odin said. “He was never so powerful. But a being reborn into Loki’s son—the offspring of the elf who can also touch the Eitr…”

“Danny?” Mist asked, her voice rising in disbelief. “You think he’s the reincarnation of whatever stole your Eitr?”

“The reincarnation, the embodiment … what difference?” Odin asked. “I did not know until I saw him with Sleipnir and felt his magic, but then I recognized our greatest enemy. And the one from whom I must regain my power.”

“He’s a little boy, and you tried to kill him!”

“I arranged for Dainn to kill him. It seems as if he may finally have succeeded.”

“You’re insane,” Mist said.

“Am I? What better parents could such a creature choose than the greatest of Tricksters and the First Elf?”

“The First Elf?” Mist repeated. “
Dainn?
”

“You knew he was very old, did you not?” Odin asked. “That he came to Asgard a wanderer, with no memory of his past?”

“The First Elf is said to have been born in the time of your father, Bor. How could he have forgotten his true self if you haven’t?”

“I do not know, nor do I care. But he, too, possessed the Eitr when he came to Asgard. He has said he had no knowledge of it, but I saw in him what no other did … not only the light, but the darkness he had hidden away. The noble elf without flaw had a terrible secret. When I learned that Dainn had fallen to Loki’s blandishments in pursuit of his hope to stop Ragnarok, I simply woke that darkness and gave it shape.”

“I know,” Mist whispered. “You turned it into the beast.”

“I sent it to kill Loki,” Odin said. “Dainn failed me that night. He let Loki live and came to Midgard, where at last he became Freya’s tool.”

“He believed Freya’s lies when she said she could cure him.”

“Only death will end its hold on him, and death will come as a mercy. You could have given him that mercy.”

Mist was silent for a long time after that, and Ryan knew she was remembering something important, something Odin might not know. The burst of light, the supernova Ryan had seen so many times …

He laughed, though it hurt and made him cough up blood. It was so clear now. Maybe Odin was insane when he said that Danny had stolen his Eitr before the kid had even been born. Maybe he was lying. But he didn’t seem to know that
Dainn
had stopped Ragnarok with the help of the dark part of himself.

“You have lost Dainn,” Odin said. “His son’s death will have driven him mad. But Dainn is no longer of concern to me. You
are
.”

“I will never serve you again.”

“Your mother bred you for one purpose: to wield the Eitr as she no longer could.” He showed his teeth. “Yes, I know about your many fathers, as I knew you could navigate the fourth circle of magic the first time I met you in this body.”

“You
knew
?”

“Did you believe me when I told you that the tattoo was only meant to track the first three circles of magic? It always responded to the Eitr. The truth was within in it all along.

“You were meant not only to be Freya’s champion, but my destroyer. I made certain that my seed was planted in her womb at precisely the right time. You are my daughter, and now you will give me what I always wanted from you.”

*   *   *

“I always wondered which god had a part in siring me,” Mist said coldly, feeling the dark Eitr dissolve with her shock. “I hoped it wasn’t Thor, but I never guessed it could be you.”

“But you realized that you would not still be alive if you were not kin to me, whatever your magical gifts,” Odin said. “I see that you still doubt me. Know, then, that with the Eitr I can end this war swiftly, with minimal loss of mortal life. Only the wicked will die, and Loki will join his daughter in the afterworld, never to return.”

And you,
Mist thought,
will rule as tyrant, destroying any being who doesn’t bow his head to you
.

“Mist,” someone called weakly behind her.

She spun around. Ryan was lying in bloodstained snow, his arm stretched toward her. She had been utterly oblivious to his presence.

“Don’t listen to him,” Ryan whispered.

A blast of noise and light swirled in around them, and Odin vanished. Mist saw the bodies of mortals broken in the snow where Odin had been standing a moment before. Men and women she had been responsible for.

She
was the killer, the assassin, the wielder of dark Eitr.

“Ryan!” she cried, running to kneel beside him. The blood on his lips told her that he was hurt somewhere inside, and she didn’t dare move him.

“Dainn!” she shouted, looking about wildly. “Gods, Dainn…”

He appeared out of the snow, his clothes sodden and his eyes black wells of despair. Loki trudged behind him, Danny-Rebekka in his arms. The child wasn’t moving.

Shutting off her emotions, Mist forced herself to think only of the living. She looked into Dainn’s eyes.

He was
not
mad, whatever Odin had claimed. But she had no time for relief.

“Dainn,” she said, “you healed Ryan before. I need you to do it again.”

The elf stared down at Ryan, his hands working at his sides, tears freezing on his cheeks. He knelt slowly. Mist looked away from Dainn’s sorrow and saw other shapes emerge from the white, several of her own fighters and a dozen women wrapped tightly in colorful shawls. Gabi was among them.

So was Konur. He ran up to Mist, condensation wreathing his head, and took in the situation with a quick, perceptive glance. His gaze fixed on Loki, who stood unmoving, his expression blank.

“I’ve brought the Alfar from camp,” Konur said without preamble. “Do you need us?”

“Did you see Odin?” she asked. “He was here, and then just disappeared.”

“The fighting is concentrated near the west end of the Polo Fields,” Konur said. “Odin is not there, but the Einherjar are doing considerable damage to your mortals.”

Mist swore. She should be with her warriors, not here. But she couldn’t abandon Ryan, or leave Loki and Dainn alone.

Dainn rose stiffly. “I cannot help Ryan,” he said in a choked voice. Gabi moved up beside him, followed by the beshawled women, and flung herself down beside her friend.

“
Madre de Dios,
” she whispered.

“Gabi,” Ryan said faintly. “Where did you … go?”

“Shut up,” she said. “I have to heal you now.”

The women gathered around Gabi, Ryan, Dainn, and Mist, forming another circle that cut off the rest of the world. Mist searched the unfamiliar faces—brown faces, some old and careworn, others young, all imbued with a quiet wisdom that was a balm in the midst of chaos. Each of them wore a cross around her neck, and some began to chant or sing softly as Gabi laid her hands on Ryan’s chest.

Ryan gasped several times, fresh blood trickling from his mouth. He shuddered, teeth chattering, and suddenly lay still.

“Gabi!” Mist said.

“He’s…” Gabi lifted her swollen hands.
“¡Mis madres, mis hermanas, ayuadame!
”

The girls and women linked arms, and the two nearest Gabi touched her head and shoulder. She laid her hands on Ryan again. His eyelids fluttered. His chest rose and fell in a deep sigh.

Gabi lifted her hands. They were a little swollen, a little red, but she was smiling.

“He’ll be okay,” she said. She looked at Mist, and her smile turned into a fierce expression Mist recognized all too well. “If he wakes up, don’t let him tell you anything! He could die if he speaks any visions.”

“I won’t let him,” Mist said.

The women broke the circle and spoke in soft Spanish, words of comfort and approval. Mist glanced at Dainn, whose gaze was turned inward, and beyond him to Loki and Danny-Rebekka. The girl’s face was slack and pale. Loki came back to life as if someone had turned on a switch, radiating an almost fiery heat. His eyes glowed with savagery.

“If you’re healers,” he snarled, “help my son!”

Slowly Gabi rose, glancing at Mist. “His son?”

“And Dainn’s. Will you help him?” She saw the look on Gabi’s face and said, “Loki won’t hurt you. He cares about Danny too much.”

And it was true, Mist thought. He might not care about anyone else in the world, but he loved his son. Maybe almost as much as Dainn did.

Hesitantly, Gabi moved toward Loki and Danny. Loki conjured a blanket, laid Danny down on it, and stepped back.

After a few quiet prayers and whispered references to El Diablo, the women followed Gabi, who gathered Danny-Rebekka into her arms with great tenderness. Once again the
curanderas
formed a tight circle around the healer and her patient.

Then one of them cried out. The circle broke open, and Mist saw Gabi lying beside Danny in the snow. Before Mist could act, the
curanderas
had carried Gabi a little distance away and were already praying over her, while Danny-Rebekka was sitting up with Loki’s support.

“What’s wrong with Gabi?” Mist demanded. “
¿Que pasa con Gabi?
”

One of the women made a shushing gesture and turned back to the teenager. A few moments later, Ryan—apparently healed but still weak—staggered up to the wall of human bodies and pushed his way through to Gabi.

The women drew apart, heads bent. Ryan knelt beside Gabi, cradling her head in his lap. He looked up at Mist through eyes blurred with tears, a crust of blood still painting his lips and chin.

“She’s gone,” he whispered. “It was too much, healing me and then trying to…” He bent his head, snow settling unheeded on his hair.

“Sweet Baldr,” Mist said, closing her eyes.

“It should have been
me,
” Ryan said. “I knew there would be a sacrifice.…”

“You, too?” Dainn said sadly. He put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “It was not in vain, Ryan. Have courage. This is not over.”

“
No,
” Ryan said, jumping to his feet. “You have what
you
wanted.” He turned to Loki, eyes wild. “Where is Hel?” he demanded.

“I don’t know,” Loki said, rubbing Danny-Rebekka’s back. “She had one of her tantrums, and—”

“I have to find her,” Ryan gasped. Like a wild thing, he leaped into the arms of the storm and disappeared.

Mist prepared to go after him, but Dainn held her back. His eyes were clear again.

“He is driven by his visions,” he said softly. “You must let him follow where they lead.”

“He’s crazed with grief,” Mist said, trembling in Dainn’s grip. “What can he want with Hel?”

“You have to trust him, Mist,” Dainn said. He pulled her into a crouch beside Danny-Rebekka, who gazed at her with a child’s naïve stare.

“Is he all right?” she asked Loki, struggling to put Ryan out of her mind.

“Papa?” Danny said. Before Loki could stop him, he touched Dainn’s arm. Suddenly Mist could sense Danny’s thoughts, see powerful images of a past Dainn himself was only beginning to remember. And this time every detail was crystal-clear.

Freya and Loki had stolen Dainn’s Eitr in Asgard, taking advantage of his trusting nature and his amnesia. Even so, they had barely scratched the surface of his power. The vast majority had remained within him, and with it Dainn had caused the Dispersal. Though he had retained his elven magic and had continued to use it, his most powerful magic remained beyond his reach for many centuries.

But it hadn’t been lost. The greater part of it had been passed on to one being, one innocent child still in Loki’s womb.

Consciously or not, Dainn had poured the Eitr that was so much a part of him—the best of what he was—into his unborn son. But much of the darkness—the “beast” that he had refused to acknowledge for untold years before his coming to Asgard—remained to torment him.