Circus of The Darned (16 page)

Loki snarled something under his breath and lunged for me, but the valknut, despite being his

and seeped in his power, evidently didn't like him much, for it suddenly blasted out a reddish

gold light that had Loki leaping backward.

"Very well," he growled, his body starting to shimmer. "We shall do things the hard way."

He shimmered off into nothingness before I could say anything. One second he was there, the

next he was gone, just a few sparkly bits in the air left to indicate that a god had been standing there.

Imogen moaned.

"You OK?" I asked her, kneeling next to her. "How do you feel?"

She rubbed her head. "Like someone struck me. What happened?Ew . I'm lying on seaweed."

I brushed her off and helped her pick seaweed from her long silver blond hair, explaining what

Loki had done and said.

"Oh! He is not going to get away with treating us this way," she said, her eyes fired with anger.

"Just wait until Benedikt hears about this!"

"Um.Yeah."A chill rippled down my arms at the memory of Loki swearing he would take

whoevermattered the most to me. "Maybe we shouldn't tell him about this."

"Not tell him?" Imogen paused in the middle of gathering up her Loki invocation things. "Fran, you cannot keep secret from Benedikt something of this importance."

"Why not, he doesn't seem to have any problem in keeping secrets from me." I handed her the chalice.

She dumped the water from it and frowned at me. "That's different, and you know it."

I didn't see the difference, actually, but an argument about that wasn't going to do either of us any good at that moment. I stayed silent as we walked slowly back to the trailers, Imogen

lecturing me the entire time about having confidence in Ben.

"Fran!"Imogen said as she stopped next to the steps to her trailer. I handed her the things I'd picked up. "You haven't listened to a thing I've been saying, have you?"

"Actually, I have."

She opened the door to her trailer, glanced inside to make sure Ben wasn't up and about, tossing the things onto the seat nearest the door. "You can't just donothing about this! Ignoring it won't make it go away."

"Oh, I know that. And I'm not going to do nothing."

"What are you doing, then?" she asked.

Finnvid and Gils werelaying out on the chaises in the center area, a boombox between them,

getting a tan while listening to music and swigging back what looked like a case of Swedish

beer.

"I'm going to ask Sir Edward for help. Now that I know who I'm up against, I just need to figure out a way to make Loki do what I want."

"Loki?" Finnvid asked, looking up from a magazine with topless women all over its pages. "Did you summon him? Did he like the sacrifice of many small hamburgers we made in his name?

Will he help us get toValhalla ?"

"Yes, I have no idea, and no. He's being really annoying, and I'm going to have to get tough with him," I said as I marched past the two ghosts.

"Gils, wake up," Finnvid said, smacking his friend on the head with the magazine. "The goddess Fran is going to war against Loki. We must help her!"

"No, it's not a war—"

"
Idag dör
vi!" Finnvid shouted at the top of his lungs. "
Nästa hallpats: Valhall
!"

"Shhhh!"I hissed, clapping a hand over his mouth. "Some people sleep in late! And what did you say?"

"Today we die. Next stop:Valhalla ," Finnvid said from beneath my hand. I pulled it back to let him speak since he wasn't bellowing anymore. "Ah, see? The others come."

"Oh, great, just what I… no, no, put down the bow, Isleif."

"Finnvid called us," Isleif said, puffing a little since he had run up from the shore. Behind him were Ref and Ljot, with Eirik emerging at a full gallop from the woods, tucking his shirt into his leather pants. "We go to battle?"

"No! No battle!"

"Yes!" Finnvid said, waving his arm at the other Viking ghosts as they materialized and emerged from various parts of the island, all attracted by his war cry. "The goddess Fran goes to war against Loki! It will be a battle like none other!"

"You can say that again," I muttered under my breath.

Chapter Thirteen

"First, we must draw Loki into an area where he is unprotected," Eirik said, shaking a ballpoint pen that wouldn't write. He made an annoyed sound and threw it down along with the tablet of

paper he'd taken from my trailer. "Gils, do you have your laptop?"

"Yes, right here," Gils said, hauling out a small white laptop. He sat down with it at one of the picnic tables. The rest of the Vikings clustered around him to watch over his shoulder.

"You guys bought a laptop yesterday?" I asked, having a bit of a problem trying to cope with the thought of one-thousand-year-old ghosts with computers.

"Two. Mine is getting a memory upgrade and a Firewire card, and should be ready later today,"

Eirik answered as Gils booted up a graphics program. He directed him to draw a rough map of

the area. "We need .a nice spot to ambush him. How about behind the main tent, where the

Wiccans hold their circle? It is enclosed on three sides."

"Look, I really appreciate everyone thinking they have to help me, but you know, it's probably going to be easier for me to do it myself," I told them, but no one paid the least bit of attention to me.

"The goddess Fran can draw him into the area tonight, when the sun is at its lowest, so Loki's power will be at its ebb," Isleif explained. "Then when he is in position, we will strike."

"I will cut off his head," Gils said.

"And I will cut out his spleen." Ljot brandished a hunting knife with great pleasure.

Isleif's eyes lit up. "I will shoot him full of arrows that will pierce every major organ."

"That's a really sweet thought, guys," I said, trying again to make them see reason. "But this is a god we're talking about, remember? I know the twelve of you are big and bad Vikings, but

Tallulah's boyfriend Sir Edward said that Loki was like nothing he'd seen before, and he had a

whole lot of power. So I don't think you guys are going to be able to defeat him even if you do ambush him."

"The goddess Fran has a point," Finnvid said thoughtfully, looking at Eirik.

"Hmm.Perhaps she does. Loki still has much power. It couldn't hurt to have some help. Very well—Thorir, you and Ref summon the Vangarians."

"The who?" I asked.

"Vikings, of a sort.They sailed primarily intoRussia ," Eirik explained. "We used to war with them, but they will join us in a battle against Loki. Tonight, when the sun is at its lowest, the goddess Fran willdrawn Loki into our trap, and we will spring it on him, killing him once and for all."

The others made happy noises of agreement. I wanted to whap them all on the head with a lady's

small beheading ax."Sheesh! What part of 'he's a god' do you not understand? You can't kill him!

And even if you could, I don't want him dead—I just want him to give me back Tesla, and to

send you all on your way."

Instantly twelve Viking faces turned pouty.

"Oh, for heaven's sake… look, even if I agreed to this plan—and I'm not!—I couldn't help. I've got a date with Ben tonight, remember?"

"The big date," Gils said, pursing his lips. "The goddess should not miss that."

Isleif nodded. "It is important."

Eirik paced back and forth for a few seconds."Very well. We will use some other bait than the goddess to ensnare the god Loki. Then when we have him—"

"I will cut out his liver, cook it before him, and make him eat it while it's still smoking," said an enthusiastic Ljot.

"No liver cutting!" I yelled.

"Then we will hold him prisoner until the goddess is done with her date and can force him to her will," Eirik said, shaking his head at Ljot. I could have sworn I heard him muttering something to Ljot about how later they would cut out Loki's liver, but it could have been my paranoid

imagination.

"Whatever. Just so there's no killing, no liver cooking, and no messing with anyone in

GothFaire. If I hear one more complaint from Absinthe about you guys…"

I shot them all meaningful looks. They all, every single one of them, tried very hard to look

innocent.

"We haven't raped, pillaged, plundered, or murdered anyone in days," Finnvid grumbled.

"Well… we did pillage the McDonald's last night for the sacrifice."

"And see how much good that did," I answered, making a mental note to find out if they had left any money for the hamburger sacrifices.

"You will go now, goddess, and get ready for your date," Eirik said, shooing me away when I tried to see what Gils was busily typing in on his laptop. Just when did he learn to use one? Not to mention learn to type? "We will take care of everything here."

"That's just what I'm afraid of."

"We will summon the Vangarians to help us catch the god Loki. We will not kill anyone. We

will wait for you to come back from your date before torturing him. You see? All is in hand. Go have your date."

I glanced at the sun's position in the sky. "I have about five hours before I have to get ready for my date. Why don't I help you guys, instead?"

"You are a goddess!" Eirik said in a voice filled with fake shock. He grabbed my elbow and hustled me off in the opposite direction from Gils and his laptop. "We would never ask you to work. That would be wrong."

"Uh huh."I let myself be maneuvered, but only because I didn't think there was much the Vikings could do to screw things up so long as they promised no one would be killed and flame-roasted.

"We'll see you later, when the trap is ready for the god Loki." Eirik released my arm and gave me a gentle shove.

I stopped and let him have a bit of a glare."Fine. But stay out of trouble! I'm going to talk to Sir Edward while you guys are making your big plans. Just remember! No killing! No maiming! No

general destruction."

"Be on your way, goddess," Eirik said with one last shove. "We havework to do."

I had work too, but I put that thought aside as I trotted over to Tallulah's trailer. I figured it was much more important to talk to Sir Edward about what he knew about Norse gods than cleaning

the trailer.

My mother had other ideas.

What are you doing?

Cleaning the bathroom in our trailer.Mom caught me as I was leaving Tallulah's. How are you
feeling?

As good as ever.What were you talking to Tallulah about?

I was talking mostly to Sir Edward about Norse gods
. I gave the shower wall one last wipe with the sponge, and called itgood, tossing the cleaning things into a bucket we kept in the cupboard under the sink.

Ah. Imogen told me what happened between you and Loki this morning. You should have called
for me. I don't like the idea of you two standing up to a god.

I snorted as I glanced outside. The Vikings had long since disappeared. They were gone when

Mom found me and dragged me in for some forced cleaning. I figured they were out calling up

all their ghost friends to help them with Loki.
Right.First of all, it was early morning and you
were asleep
.

Fran, you can wake me up if you need me.

I know that. But we didn't need you. We were in control of everything.

It was Ben's turn to snort.
That's why Imogen was struck with a sleeping spell
?

She wasn't hurt. I would have called you if she had been hurt.

Nonetheless
—

Sir Edward said the only way to get a god to comply with your desires is to use his power

against him
, I said, interrupting what was sure to be yet another macho guy lecture.

You're changing the subject
. Irritation seeped into my head with the words.

I giggled and started on the tiny kitchen area of the trailer. With just a couple of counters, a miniscule stove, and tiny sink, it wouldn't take me long to clean it up.
Yep. Do you think the
valknut is going to be power enough to use against him
?

Ben was silent for a moment. I
will see that it is
.

I frowned as I wrung out the wash rag.
Is something wrong? You sound distracted. What are you
doing
?

Taking a shower.

Oh
! For some bizarre reason, a little tiny blush warmed my cheeks.
Right this second
?

Yes. Why? Don't you believe me?

Sure. I just… it's kind of odd talking to someone while they're naked and soapy.

His slow smile stole across my mind.
Would you like me to prove it
?

Prove it? What do you mean?

Sensation flooded my head, the feeling of Ben stroking his hands down his wet, soapy chest, his long fingers leaving a trail as they slid down his breastbone to his belly. The image was so

strong, so clear in mymind, my own fingertips tingled as if it was my hands touching him.

Oh man. You're… oooh.

I was thinking about kissing you a few seconds ago. Now I'm imagining it's you touching me
.

His fingers spread out over his belly. The combination of what he was thinking and feeling made my own stomach turn over in excitement.
But what I'd really like is for you to touch me here
.

His hands slid lower, the soap turning his skin into wet, slippery silk. Igasped, my eyes almost bugging out when he started washing his guy parts. OK, I'm noidiot, I knew he had those parts. I knew what they were and all, having had to sit through a couple of years of sexed and things like that, and didn't think they were that big a deal. And although I was secretly interested in knowing what Ben—all of Ben—looked like, I wasn't ready for
him
to know that I wanted to know.

Is this too much for you
?he asked as he soaped himself up.
If you want me to, I'll stop
.

Well… you have to get the soap off, so I don't think you can stop right now
, I said, my mouth hanging open as I stood there trying not to let him see how interested I was.