Loki's Wolves (28 page)

As they walked into the living room, Fen ordered, “Sit.”

“I’m fine, Fen. Honest! It’s just a little sore, but not broken.” She held out her arm. “I can—”

Fen growled and pointed at the sofa.

“You’re being silly,” she objected, but she still sat. She was tired, and she was sore, and they both knew it. He’d spent almost an hour trying to convince her to go home. Even if her mom couldn’t keep her safe, he was sure that Kris and a few other wolves would protect her from the Raiders. Fen’s biggest objection to her coming along was that it was dangerous, and here she was, already injured—not that he hadn’t been as well. Strangulation by troll had to have been pretty painful. The problem with arguing with Fen, though, was that he didn’t see injury to
himself
as a big issue.

So Laurie sat on the sofa while Fen wandered off to get her something to eat. It would make Fen feel better to look after her, and it didn’t hurt her to let him. She could hear him talking to Baldwin, and she smiled. That was good for him, too. Whether it was because of the other boy’s god powers of likability or something else, Fen obviously really
liked Baldwin. Matt and Astrid were talking as they walked in the room, and the twins were absentee. Laurie felt oddly alone.

Then Matt headed to the kitchen, and Astrid walked toward her.

Laurie tried for a cheerful voice as she said, “Hi.”

“Hello.” Astrid sat down beside Laurie.

“Thanks for the save last night,” Laurie said.

Astrid laughed. “They followed me here, so it’s not actually a
save
, right?”

At that, Laurie relaxed. “Well, you defeated them, so that’s the important part.”

The smile Astrid gave her was as friendly as one of Baldwin’s. It made Laurie feel less alone. Astrid was like her, too: not really one of the important descendants, but still a part of it all. Maybe that’s why Reyna and Ray weren’t as friendly as Astrid—maybe they didn’t think she should be here. Fen and Matt certainly thought Laurie ought to go home. It was only Odin who had seemed to believe that she should be there.
Kinda like Astrid. We’re both here because of him.

“I met Odin. He seemed… nice,” Laurie told Astrid. “You must miss him.”

Astrid laughed. “Nice? Odin? He’s a freak, but it’s not all his fault. I mean, we are who we are because of some story that was written forever ago.”

“I hope not!” Laurie shook her head. “He was a little different, but like Fen and Matt and… everyone”—she gestured toward the kitchen and upstairs—“he’s got a huge responsibility. We’re lucky that we don’t have to do what they’re going to. I mean, we’ll help, but it’s not the same.”

Fen had come back while she was talking. He handed Laurie a plate and then glared down at Astrid like she was a bug he didn’t know whether to squash or eat.

Astrid seemed oblivious. She smiled at him and said, “Hi.” But she didn’t move to a chair so Fen could have her seat.

Laurie didn’t say anything. They could figure it out; she was going to eat. As she chewed her sandwich, she wondered briefly if his protectiveness was a result of his wolfy-ness. Now that she knew that he was
wulfenkind
, so many of his behaviors seemed logical to her. He had declared himself her protector when they were little, but he’d gotten worse when her dad left. Fen—and her father—both knew that there were seriously scary things out there because they were aware of the shape-shifting thing. Knowing there were big bad wolves out there
and
being wolves had to make them more worried about the family members like her who weren’t wolves.

But none of that meant that he should be so snarly to a girl who had done nothing but save them last night. He still hadn’t moved, and now Astrid was staring up at him.

“Can you scoot over?” Laurie asked. “He’s still acting like I’m hurt.”

“Sure,” Astrid said. She slid to the other end of the sofa, and Fen flopped down between them.

He sat there silently, and conversation suddenly seemed impossible as a result.

After a few moments of tense silence, Astrid said, “So you and Laurie are Loki’s great-great-whatever kids?”

Fen looked at her, but all he said was, “Yeah.”

Laurie smiled gratefully at Astrid. This was a topic they could discuss, one that would lure Fen out of his silence. “We are. That’s why Fen does the wolf thing. I’m not a shape-shifter, though. Fen’s going to fight with Matt against the serpent.” She smiled at Fen. “I’m not going to fight, but I’m not too bad at tricking trolls.”

“Or you could go home,” Fen suggested.

Instead of arguing with him in front of Astrid, Laurie took another bite of her sandwich. She was sick of everyone trying to get rid of her. Just because she didn’t need to be present to fight the serpent didn’t mean she couldn’t help.

Matt walked toward them. He looked so much more confident than Laurie ever felt. Maybe that’s what it was like to be a champion. She had moments of feeling sure, but those were when she was doing something worthwhile, not when Fen was acting like a crazy guard wolf.

“At Ragnarök, Loki led the monsters.” Astrid glanced at Matt. “But like Matt says, we don’t have to follow the stories, so you shouldn’t worry about that.”

“Okay…” Laurie said. That seemed like an odd thing to say. Of course Fen wasn’t going to lead the enemies! Astrid was probably trying to be reassuring, but she had sounded a little suspicious.

Instead of sitting, Matt stood behind the chair with his hands on the back of it. “We’re all awake now, so let’s plan. We can’t sit around waiting for monsters to keep attacking us.” He raised his voice and called, “Ray? Reyna? Baldwin? Conference time.”

Baldwin came in and flopped down on the floor beside Fen. The twins strolled lazily down the stairs and into the living room. They stayed back a bit, but they were technically present.

Matt stood beside the empty chair and looked at all of them. “We have our team, so now we need our stuff.”

“What
stuff
?” Reyna asked.

“Feathers, Hammer, shield,” Matt recited. He turned to Astrid. “Can you reach Odin?”

“I wish,” she said with a sigh. “He’s wandering around as usual. That’s why he sent me here. He’ll show up eventually, but until then you’re stuck with me. But I do know where we should start. Mjölnir. Our champion needs his Hammer.”

Matt blushed and shook his head. “We’re a
team
, Astrid.”

“Oh, I know. But the serpent is the big baddie in this fight, and you need to defeat it alone.” She gave a little laugh. “You’re the lead singer in this band, Matt. We’re the backup. Hopefully, really good backup, but still backup.”

Matt looked uncomfortable and opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything, Fen spoke up, “Pinkie here has a point. Might as well get Thorsen’s Hammer next.” He slouched back into the sofa then and folded his arms. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Excuse me?” Reyna said. “If this is your idea of planning, it’s a wonder you survived a minute.”

“What?” Fen drawled. “You and Ken have a better plan?”

“Who’s Ken?” Baldwin whispered.

“Hold on,” Matt said. “Reyna, are you objecting to going after the Hammer? Or are you objecting to focusing on me? Because I never said I was special or—”

“Chill, Thorsen.” Fen shook his head. “I was serious. You need the real Hammer. Your little whatsit is only good so long.”

“But do we know where Mjölnir is?” Laurie asked. “We do know where the shield is, so I say we get that first.” She looked at Astrid. “Unless you know where the Hammer is, since you suggested getting it…”

“I was hoping you guys did.” Astrid looked at Matt. “Did the Valkyries give you any clues? The Norns maybe?”

He shook his head.

“Can you contact them? Ask?”

“I can ask if and when they show up. Until then, we’re stuck….” Matt straightened. “No, we aren’t stuck. Laurie’s right. We know where the shield is.”

“Great, but we need the Hammer more,” Astrid said.

Fen growled loudly enough that Reyna and Ray exchanged a look, and Laurie hoped that she wasn’t going to have to step between them. His temper was never good, but today it was worse than usual because he was worried about her.

“Being Odin’s girlfriend doesn’t make you a part of this,” Fen said.

Astrid jumped up, glared at him, and ran out of the room.

Casually, Fen looked at Matt. “So how do we find the Hammer?”

No one said a word. Matt glared at Fen, and then he walked out. Laurie wasn’t sure what to do. The twins fled back upstairs, and Baldwin looked from the doorway to Fen to her. He didn’t say anything or follow Matt and Astrid.

“Fen…” Laurie started, but she wasn’t sure what to say.

Fen stood. “Tell me when there’s a plan,” he called as he left the room.

He was being a jerk, but Astrid was going to need to be less sensitive if she was going to be around them. If she was going to run away every time Fen said something rude, she might as well never sit down. Laurie liked her, and she liked
the idea of having another girl around in addition to Reyna—who hadn’t warmed up to Laurie… or anyone else, either. However, Laurie was going to have to talk to her. No one had run away when Astrid pointed out that Laurie and Fen were descendants of the god who fought on the other side—or when trolls, Norns, Valkyries, or mara appeared.

M
att needed to make Astrid feel better. It was like being on the boxing or wrestling team. You might fight the other guys at practice, but at a tournament, you had to support each other. Help each other. Cheer each other on. Whenever there was a problem—like one guy razzing another—Coach Forde would send Matt in to cool them down. He supposed that meant he was good at it. Now it was up to him to make things right. Bring the team back together.

But what if Astrid took it the wrong way? What if she thought he liked her? He did like her, as a person. But the way she kept looking at him and talking about him… his
cheeks heated just thinking about it. She probably didn’t mean it like that. She had a boyfriend. She was just being super-nice to him because he was being nice to her. Like at school sometimes, when he was nice to new kids and all of a sudden they were sitting beside him at lunch and walking home from school with him.

But what if, by chasing her, she thought he meant something else. He’d have to tell her it wasn’t like that. Or, worse, she’d tell
him
it wasn’t like that for
her
—
You’re a great guy, Matt, but I have a boyfriend
. He’d probably burn up with embarrassment.

So he followed her for a bit. Then he imagined her looking back and seeing him
following
her and how much worse that would be.

“Hey, Astrid,” he called, as calmly as he could. “Wait up.”

She turned and when she saw him, her whole face lit up in this smile that made him stumble over his feet.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, pointing to the house. “Fen didn’t mean to snap at you. Everyone’s just really tired and freaked out. You’re right about Mjölnir.”

She walked toward him. “Thank you. You’re the brains
and
the brawn of this operation, aren’t you?”

“No, we all are. It’s a team effort. Fen has a point. We don’t know where Mjölnir is. But we do know where to find the shield.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a deep sigh.

“Sure, I can’t wait to get Mjölnir,” he said. “But the Valkyries say the shield is just as important.”

“But if you know where it is, you can get it anytime.” Her fingers touched his arm. “You need Mjölnir.”

He brushed back his hair, “accidentally” dropping her fingers from his arm.

“There must be someone you can ask,” she continued. “The Norns. The Valkyries. I bet you could call them. Ask them for help finding Mjölnir.”

Matt shook his head. “I need to find it myself. It’s part of the test.”

“Test?” She gave a scornful laugh. “If they’re testing you, they don’t know you very well. Anyone can see that you’re ready. And who are they to test the mighty Thor? You’re the important one. You always have been. Even these days, everyone knows the name of Thor. Can they name a Norn? A Valkyrie? Most don’t even know what they are.”