The good news is –’ she put a finger to her lips – ‘I can pick my own strike force. So all of you … consider yourselves warned.’
I wanted to hug her, to tell her how much I appreciated everything she’d done, but I knew Sam wouldn’t be comfortable with that. I settled for a smile. ‘Any time, al-Abbas. Now that Odin has given us permission to travel the worlds, maybe I can come visit you in Dorchester.’
‘That,’ she said, ‘is a truly mortifying idea. My grandparents would kill me. Amir would –’
‘Okay, jeez,’ I said. ‘Just remember: you’re not in this alone.’
‘Noted.’ She bumped me with her elbow. ‘And what about you, Magnus – back to Valhalla for the feast? Your hallmates have been singing your praises. I even heard a few Valkyries speculating that you might be made a thane one of these centuries.’
I smiled, but I wasn’t ready to think about one of these centuries. I gazed across the Public Garden. A taxi was just pulling up in front of the Cheers bar on the corner of Beacon and Brimmer. The ceramic jar weighed heavily inside my winter coat.
‘First I have an appointment,’ I said. ‘I have to keep a promise.’
I said goodbye to my friends. Then I went to meet my cousin.
SEVENTY-TWO
I Lose a Bet
‘This is way better than the last memorial I attended,’ Annabeth said. ‘Yours.’
We stood on a ridge in the Blue Hills, watching my mother’s ashes drift across the snowy trees. Far below, the sun glittered on Houghton’s Pond. The day was cold, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I felt warm and calm – more right than I’d felt in years.
I tucked the empty ceramic jar under my arm.
‘Thanks for coming with me,’ I said.
Annabeth’s grey eyes studied me, the same way she seemed to study everything – assessing not just my appearance, but my composition, my stress points, my potential for renovation. This was a girl, after all, who had made Parthenon models out of runestones when she was six years old.
‘Glad to,’ she said. ‘Your mom … from what I remember, she was great.’
‘She would’ve liked the fact that you’re here.’
Annabeth gazed across the treeline. Her face looked sunburned from the wind. ‘They cremated you, too, you know. I mean that other body … whatever that was. Your ashes were placed in the family mausoleum. I didn’t even know we had a family mausoleum.’
I shuddered, imagining those ashes in a porcelain vase in a dank stone cubbyhole. Much better to be here, in the fresh air and the frigid sunlight.
‘Pretending I was dead couldn’t have been easy for you,’ I said.
She brushed a strand of hair from her face. ‘The service was harder on Randolph, I think. He seemed pretty shaken up, considering, you know …’
‘That he never cared about me?’
‘Or any of us. My dad, though … Magnus, that was difficult. He and I have had a rocky history, but I’m trying to be honest with him now. I don’t like hiding things.’
‘Sorry.’ I spread my hands. ‘I thought it was better if I didn’t drag you into my problems. For the last few days, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. Some … some dangerous things were happening. It had to do with my father’s, uh, side of the family.’
‘Magnus, I might understand more than you think I do.’
I thought about that. Annabeth did seem more attuned, more grounded than most people I talked to – even most of the people in Valhalla. On the other hand, I didn’t want to put her at risk, or threaten the tenuous relationship we were starting to reconstruct.
‘I’m okay now,’ I assured her. ‘I’m staying with friends. It’s a good place, but it’s not the kind of arrangement most people would understand. Uncle Randolph can’t know about it. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone, not even your dad.’
‘Hmm,’ she said. ‘I don’t suppose I get details?’
I thought about what Frey had told me: You should talk. You will need her help before all is said and done. I remembered what Sam had said about her own family – how they’d attracted the attention of the gods for generations. Randolph had hinted that our family was the same way.
‘I just don’t want to put you in danger,’ I said. ‘I kind of hoped you could be my one connection to the regular world.’
Annabeth stared at me. She snorted and began to laugh. ‘Wow. You have no idea how funny that is.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Magnus, if you had any clue about how weird my life is –’
‘Okay, but being here with you?’ I said. ‘This is the most normal I’ve felt in years. After all the crazy fighting between our parents, the stupid grudges and years of not speaking to each other, I was hoping we could make our generation of the family not so messed up.’
Annabeth’s expression turned serious. ‘That kind of normal I like.’ She extended her hand. ‘To us, the Chase cousins. Here’s to being less messed up.’
We shook on it.
‘Now spill,’ she commanded. ‘Tell me what’s been going on. I promise I won’t tell. I might even be able to help. I also promise that, whatever’s been going on with you, my life is weirder. It’ll make yours look downright suburban.’
I considered everything I’d been through – death and resurrection, fishing for the World Serpent, fighting with giants, running from monster squirrels, binding a wolf on a disappearing island.
‘How much you want to bet?’ I said.
‘Bring it on, cousin.’
‘Lunch?’ I suggested. ‘I know a great falafel place.’
‘You’ve got a bet,’ she said. ‘Let’s hear what you’ve been up to.’
‘Oh, no,’ I said. ‘Your story is so amazing? You go first.’
Epilogue
Randolph hadn’t slept since his nephew’s funeral service.
Every day he visited the mausoleum, hoping for some sign, some miracle. He cried real tears, but not for young Magnus. He wept for everything he’d lost – everything that might never be recovered now.
He came in through the back door of the town house, his hands shaking so badly he could barely work the lock. He removed his snow boots and his heavy coat, then padded upstairs, going over what he’d said to Magnus on the bridge for the millionth time, wondering what he could have done differently.
He froze in the doorway of his office. A man in a priest’s frock was sitting on his desk, dangling his feet.
‘Visiting the gravesite again?’ Loki grinned. ‘Honestly, I thought the service provided some excellent closure.’
‘You were the priest?’ Randolph sighed. ‘Of course you were the priest.’
Loki chuckled. ‘A young life cut short, but let us celebrate his gifts and the impact he had upon us … I was improvising, of course. But that’s what I do best.’
Randolph had seen the god of lies a dozen times before – when Loki had chosen to send his essence to Midgard – but it was always a shock – those brilliant eyes, the hair like flames, the ruined lips and the scars across his nose. He was unnaturally handsome and unnaturally terrifying in equal measure.
‘You’ve come to kill me, I expect.’ Randolph tried to remain calm, but his heartbeat still pulsed in his ears. ‘Why did you wait this long?’
Loki spread his hands magnanimously. ‘I didn’t want to be hasty. I needed to see how things played out. It’s true you failed. I could kill you, but you might still be useful. After all, I still have something you want.’
The god rose from the desk and opened his hand. Above his palm, flames flickered, consolidating into the miniature shapes of a woman and two girls. They writhed in the fire, reaching out to Randolph, silently pleading.
Only Randolph’s cane kept him from collapsing. ‘Please. I tried. I didn’t – I didn’t anticipate the dwarf and the elf. Or that cursed Valkyrie. You didn’t tell me –’
‘Randolph, my dear friend …’ Loki closed his hand, extinguishing the fire. ‘I hope you’re not making excuses?’
‘No, but –’
‘I’m the master of excuses. You’d have to try really hard to impress me. Just tell me, do you still want your family returned?’
‘Of – of course.’
‘Oh, good. How nice. Because I’m not done with you. Nor am I done with that little boy Magnus.’
‘But he has the sword. He stopped your plan.’
‘He stopped one facet of my plan. Yes, it was very educational.’ Loki stepped forward. He cupped his hand on Randolph’s cheek – an almost tender gesture. ‘I must say, your nephew is impressive. I don’t see the family resemblance at all.’
Randolph smelled the poison before he felt it. Acrid steam curled into his nostrils. The side of his face erupted in white-hot pain. He fell to his knees, his throat seizing up in shock. He tried to pull away, but Loki’s hand stayed stuck in place.
‘There, there,’ Loki said soothingly. ‘It’s just a little taste of my life – the snake venom that is splashed in my face every day. Perhaps you can understand why it makes me a tad grumpy.’
Randolph screamed until his throat was raw.
‘I won’t kill you, old friend,’ Loki said. ‘But I do punish failure. Absolutely!’
He took the hand away. Randolph crumpled, weeping, the smell of burned flesh in his nose.
‘Why …’ he croaked. ‘Why …?’
Loki raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. ‘Why what? Torture you? Continue to use you? Fight against the gods? It is my nature, Randolph! Now, don’t fuss. I’m sure you’ll find a way to explain the horrible hand-shaped scar on your face. I think it lends you a certain … gravitas. The Vikings will be most impressed.’
Loki strolled to Randolph’s display cases. He ran his fingers along Randolph’s collection of trinkets and talismans. ‘Ragnarok has many triggers, my friend. The Sword of Summer is not the only weapon in play.’
He plucked a necklace from the display. His eyes gleamed as the small silver hammer pendant swung between his fingers.
‘Oh, yes, Randolph.’ Loki grinned. ‘You and I are going to have lots of fun.’
Glossary
AEGIR – lord of the waves
AESIR – gods of war, close to humans
ALF SEIDR – elf magic
ANDSKOTI – the Adversary; the new, magic-infused rope binding Fenris Wolf
BALDER – god of light; the second son of Odin and Frigg, and twin brother of Hod. Frigg made all earthly things swear to never harm her son, but she forgot about mistletoe. Loki tricked Hod into killing Balder with a dart made of mistletoe.
BIFROST – the rainbow bridge leading from Asgard to Midgard
DRAUGR – Norse zombies
EIKTHRYMIR – a stag in the Tree of Laeradr whose horns spray water non-stop that feeds every river in every world
EINHERJAR (EINHERJI, sing.) – great heroes who have died with bravery on Earth and become soldiers in Odin’s eternal army; they train in Valhalla for Ragnarok, when the bravest of them will join Odin against Loki and the giants in the battle at the end of the world
FENRIS WOLF – an invulnerable wolf born of Loki’s affair with a giantess; his mighty strength strikes fear even in the gods, who keep him tied to a rock on an island. He is destined to break free on the day of Ragnarok.
FOLKVANGER – the Vanir afterlife for slain heroes, ruled by the goddess Freya
FREY – the god of spring and summer, of the sun, the rain and the harvest, and of abundance and fertility¸ growth and vitality. Frey is the twin brother of Freya and, like his sister, is associated with great beauty. He is lord of Alfheim.
FREYA – the goddess of love; twin sister of Frey; ruler of Folkvanger
FRIGG – goddess of marriage and motherhood; Odin’s wife and the queen of Asgard; mother of Balder and Hod
GINNUNGAGAP – the primordial void; a mist that obscures appearances
GLEIPNIR – a golden rope made by dwarves to keep Fenris Wolf in bondage
HEIDRUN – the goat in the Tree of Laeradr whose milk is brewed for the magical mead of Valhalla
HEIMDALL – god of vigilance and the guardian of Bifrost, the gateway to Asgard
HEL – goddess of the dishonourable dead; born of Loki’s affair with a giantess
HELHEIM – the underworld, ruled by Hel and inhabited by those who died in wickness, old age or illness
HLIDSKJALF – the High Seat of Odin
HOD – Balder’s blind brother
HONIR – an Aesir god who, along with Mimir, traded places with Vanir gods Frey and Njord at the end of the war between the Aesir and the Vanir
IDUN – she distributes the apples of immortality that keep the gods young and spry
JORMUNGAND – the World Serpent, born of Loki’s affair with a giantess; his body is so long it wraps around the earth
JOTUN – Norse word for giant
LOKI – god of mischief, magic and artifice; the son of two giants; adept at magic and shape-shifting. He is alternately malicious and heroic to the Asgardian gods and to humankind. Because of his role in the death of Balder, Loki was chained by Odin to three giant boulders with a poisonous serpent coiled over his head. The venom of the snake occasionally irritates Loki’s face, and his writhing is the cause of earthquakes.
LYNGVI – the Isle of Heather, where Fenris Wolf is bound; the island’s location shifts every year as the branches of Yggdrasil sway in the winds of the void. It only surfaces during the first full moon of each year.
MAGNI AND MODI – Thor’s favourite sons, fated to survive Ragnarok
MIMIR – an Aesir god who, along with Honir, traded places with Vanir gods Frey and Njord at the end of the war between the Aesir and the Vanir. When the Vanir didn’t like his counsel, they cut off his head and sent it to Odin. Odin placed the head in a magical well, where the water brought it back to life, and Mimir soaked up all the knowledge of the World Tree.
MJOLNIR – Thor’s hammer
MUSPELL – fire
NAGLFAR – the Ship of Nails
NARVI – one of Loki’s sons, disembowelled by his brother Vali, who was turned into a wolf after Loki killed Balder
NIDHOGG – the dragon that lives at the bottom of the World Tree and chews on its roots
NJORD – god of ships, sailors and fishermen; father of Frey and Freya
NORNS – three sisters who control the destinies of both gods and humans
NORUMBEGA – a lost Norse settlement in their furthest point of exploration
ODIN – the ‘All-Father’ and king of the gods; the god of war and death, but also poetry and wisdom. By trading one eye for a drink from the Well of Wisdom, Odin gained unparallelled knowledge. He has the ability to observe all the Nine Worlds from his throne in Asgard; in addition to his great hall, he also resides in Valhalla with the bravest of those slain in battle.
RAGNAROK – the Day of Doom or Judgement, when the bravest of the einherjar will join Odin against Loki and the giants in the battle at the end of the world
RAN – goddess of the sea; wife of Aegir
RATATOSK – an invulnerable squirrel that constantly runs up and down the World Tree carrying insults between the eagle that lives at the top and Nidhogg, the dragon that lives at the roots
RED GOLD – the currency of Asgard and Valhalla
SAEHRIMNIR – the magical beast of Valhalla; every day it is killed and cooked for dinner and every morning it is resurrected; it tastes like whatever the diner wants
SESSRUMNIR – the Hall of Many Seats; Freya’s mansion in Folkvanger
SKIRNIR – a god; Frey’s servant and messenger
SLEIPNIR – Odin’s eight-legged steed; one of Loki’s children. Only Odin can summon him
SUMARBRANDER – the Sword of Summer
SURT – lord of Muspellheim
SVARTALF – a dark elf; a subset of dwarves
THANE – a lord of Valhalla
THOR – god of thunder; son of Odin. Thunderstorms are the earthly effects of Thor’s mighty chariot rides across the sky, and lightning is caused by him hurling his great hammer, Mjolnir.
TREE OF LAERADR – a tree in the centre of the Feast Hall of the Slain in Valhalla containing immortal animals that have particular jobs
TYR – god of courage, law, and trial by combat; he lost a hand to Fenris’s bite when the Wolf was restrained by the gods
ULLER – the god of snowshoes and archery
UTGARD-LOKI – the most powerful sorcerer of Jotunheim; king of the mountain giants
VALA – a seer
VALHALLA – paradise for warriors in the service of Odin
VALI – Loki’s son, who was turned into a wolf after Loki killed Balder; as a wolf he disembowelled his brother Narvi before he was gutted himself
VALKYRIE – Odin’s handmaidens, who choose slain heroes to bring to Valhalla
VANIR – gods of nature; close to elves
YGGDRASIL – the World Tree
YMIR – the largest of the giants; father to both the giants and the gods. He was killed by Odin and his brothers, who used his flesh to create Midgard. This act was the genesis of the cosmic hatred between the gods and the giants.
THE NINE WORLDS
ASGARD – the home of the Aesir
VANAHEIM – the home of the Vanir
ALFHEIM – the home of the light elves
MIDGARD – the home of humans
JOTUNHEIM – the home of the giants
NIDAVELLIR – the home of the dwarves
NIFLHEIM – the world of ice, fog and mist
MUSPELLHEIM – the home of the fire giants and demons
HELHEIM – the home of Hel and the dishonourable dead
RUNES (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
DAGAZ – new beginnings, transformations