“Kill the wolf before he kills you.”

He sat back in his seat. The only reason he’d kept Fenrisùlfr alive was to appease Tyr. If the God of Justice had been roused, then his rule of the Aesir and Vanir would have been challenged, and Grimm couldn’t have that. Now that Tyr was no longer under the influence, keeping Fenrisùlfr alive was no longer a necessity. “Do it.”

“Clean kill or fun kill?”

He loved the way her mind worked. “Oh, fun kill. Definitely.” If this didn’t work it would be time to go for the clean kill. Grimm was almost done playing, but making Loki hurt through his children was a game that never got old.

She grinned at him, both of them in perfect accord.

Chapter Four

“I still don’t understand why I had to throw away perfectly good apple juice.” Jeanne huffed out a breath and glared at her children as they finished cleaning up the mess they’d made. “It’s not like it was drugged or something.”

Jeff and Jamie exchanged a look. How should they tell their mother that she might be wrong?

“Something strange is going on. Your father’s been acting weird, you two go away for weeks, Jordan won’t answer her phone and the Old Man is missing, presumed dead. Oh, and my mother-in-law has now become my monster-in-law.” Her hands landed on her hips and Jeff cringed. “You two are going to tell me what’s going on, or so help you God you’ll live to regret it.”

“Mom—” Jamie started as she took her seat again.

“Don’t you Mom me, young lady. You think I can’t tell when my children are hiding something from me? Either you tell me the truth or I’ll march myself down to Jordan’s condo and drag it out of her if I have to torture her.”

Jamie flinched and swallowed. She might be healed, but the memories ate at her. When it got really bad only Jeff, Travis or Uncle Val could calm her. Not even Jordan could keep Jamie’s memories at bay.

“Jamie?” The anger turned to protective concern, reminding Jeff where his own temper came from. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” But the speculative look on her face said his little sister was thinking of telling their mother anyway. Oh boy. Jeff sat back down and prepared for the fireworks. Jamie was going to tell their mother everything. When she did, Grimm wouldn’t be able to dig a deep enough hole to hide in.

Fenris started at the sound of a knock on the front door. Jeff still wasn’t back, and he’d decided to bide his time in their condo rather than his father’s. He just couldn’t take much more of the “Internet” without losing his mind.

Travis had assured him that he had his own “high-speed connection” in the condo he shared with Jeff. Well, Fen had seen enough “high speed” to last him an eternity, thank you very much. Battery operated, PVC-wearing, vibrating high speed. In new, fun colors, no less. See-through double-headed purple penises?

Which god had been responsible for inspiring humans to make that?

Fen shook his head. Humans had evolved into a very strange species. He was glad Jeff would soon no longer be a part of it. Rubber things you shoved up your ass were not something Fenris wanted to experience, especially not in that shade of purple. No matter how pretty the sparkles were.

He shuddered and clenched his butt cheeks at the thought.

Admittedly, some of the things he’d seen had been interesting. He’d learned a few new tricks, found a few new ideas he’d love to show his mate, if only the man would forgive him and come home.

The knock came again, startling him out of his thoughts. He opened the door, astonished at who was on the other side. “Skuld?”

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed female before him tilted her head with a frown. She seemed confused. “Who?”

“Your name is Skuld, is it not?” Now Fen was confused.

“Uh, no. My name’s Skye, and you’re in my condo.”

“I am not. I am in my own condo.” It was filled with things that reminded him of home. He adored the hand-painted chest, the sturdy leather furniture.

The television he would adapt to, and as for the computer… He shivered.

Perhaps not.

“Look.” She darted a glance behind her. “Can I come in? There’s something really weird going on, and I think the condo manager is out to get you, Mr.

Saeter.”

That piqued his interest. This could be a trap laid by Grimm, but he didn’t think so. When she’d denied being Skuld he couldn’t smell a lie on her. It was possible he was wrong—it had been so long since the last time he’d seen the three Norns of Fate.

He held the door open wider. “Please do.”

She entered cautiously and stared around the room. “Wow. It doesn’t even look like my place anymore.”

“Because it belongs to me and my mate.” He closed the door behind her.

“That’s just it. It doesn’t.” She took a seat on the sofa gingerly, barely making herself comfortable. Fen was careful to take the chair with the wolf heads, unwilling to make her too nervous. She seemed as if she could break at any moment. “I went on vacation recently, and when I got back I found not only has my condo been moved, my whole life has been moved. Hell, even the dust marks are still there.”

Uh-oh. Fen was beginning to get the picture. This woman, who claimed not to be a Norn, had either shaken off his father’s misdirection spell or had never fallen under its influence to begin with. Only two races could withstand the magic of the gods—the Norns and the Valkyries, both female, both powerful in their magic. If this woman wasn’t one or the other, then she was descended from them somehow. Could she be one of Skuld’s daughters? That would account for the uncanny resemblance.

“Hello? Am I boring you? It’s not like this little problem doesn’t affect both our lives, especially with the police involved.”

“Police?”

“Yeah. I think I saw a police detective knocking on one of the condo doors before I got here. If you and your…roommate somehow managed to pull a fast one the cops will figure it out before you can say ten to twenty.”

Pappa was not going to be happy about this. “They are at my father’s, then.”

He stood. “Come. We will clear this up.” He hoped. If Logan couldn’t fix this, then they were all screwed.

“Gods.” Their mother was staring at them as if they’d just told her pumpkins were growing on her behind. “You’re telling me the entire Grimm family is chock full of Norse gods. And that I married one.” One of Jeanne’s eyebrows rose into her hair. Her voice was full of disbelief. “And you’re engaged to one.”

“Yup.” Jamie sipped her coffee, but Jeff could see her hands shaking. “Do you have any creamer?”

“Okay. Fine.” Jeanne stood and snatched the cup from Jamie’s fingers. “If you don’t want to tell me what’s going on, that’s fine. You don’t have to. But you know how I feel about being lied to.”

Jamie took a deep breath. “Mom?”

“Yes?” Jeanne’s voice was as cold as it ever got, which meant it was about as cold as a spring morning. The woman just didn’t have it in her to be mean to anyone.

“Look at my chair.”

Jeff winced. He knew where this was going—up. He now understood why Logan had asked if he and Jamie were ready for Plan A-1, because he had the feeling their butts were about to be well done.

Jeanne shrieked as Jamie’s chair rose a good five feet off the floor. She kept going until her curls brushed the ceiling. She glowed faintly, illuminating the ceiling. “Yeah, Mom. Gods.”

Jeanne was breathing heavily. She stood just off to the side of Jamie’s floating chair, her hands waving under it. She was breathing so hard Jeff was afraid she’d hyperventilate. “This isn’t a trick.”

“No, it’s not. And it gets worse.”

“Worse how?”

Jamie floated to the ground. “Do you want to know what happened to Grimm?”

Jeff decided enough was enough. His mother needed to know everything that had happened to them, especially Jamie. “And what he did to Jamie?”