Into the Fire (The Unseelie Court Book 4) by Gwen Rivers (free ebooks romance novels .TXT) 📗

I blow out a breath. “I hope Agent Hanson doesn’t know about him.”

“I don’t think they do. I’ve been monitoring their communications since they came for you.”

I don’t ask how, unsure if I want to know all the ways giants go about obtaining information. “And?”

“No one has called in an escaped fugitive. That facility you were housed in? It’s supposedly undergoing renovation.”

Which explained all of the construction equipment I’d seen when we exited the building. “Any idea where Hanson is now?”

“No. In fact, I’d wager she’s holed up somewhere in the mountains, waiting for you to show up at the farm.”

My head pounds. “What if Aiden comes back? The farm is the first place he’ll look for me.”

“Váli isn’t stupid,” she reassures me. “His wolf instincts will let him know you’re not there.”

“Chloe mentioned he was in Asgard.” I pose it casually.

“That’s right.” Her tone is neutral.

“Is he with Freya?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t spare my feelings, Angrboda. I already have Chloe doing that. I need real talk.”

The giantess lets out a sigh. “Yes, he was with her, but not by choice.”

“She’s holding him captive?”

“Him and his sister.”

I frown. “Aiden doesn’t have a sister.”

“Up until yesterday, you didn’t have a brother.” She gestures toward the fort.

I take a deep breath. “Why does Freya want him now?”

“He’s the key for unbinding Loki. Underhill knows it. Fenrir knows it. And the gods know it.”

I brush off a stump and sit. “Tell me about Fenrir.”

She paces in front of me, her agitation plain. “What do you want to know?”

“I guess, how is he in Gretchen? Is Gretchen really a person or has it been Fenrir all along?”

She nods, her eyes taking on a faraway look. “Fenrir is bound by Gleipnir. You’ve read as much in the stories, I presume.”

At my nod she continues, “Right, so what the stories don’t mention is that Fenrir is bound inside a mortal for the span of the mortal’s life. He’s there, like a passenger, though he can snag control for short bursts. Do things the mortals will have no memory of. But the Gleipnir will eventually reign him back in. Until now, he has been unable to make himself known to his host or anyone else.”

That explained how Fenrir had killed our spy, Isolde, but Gretchen had no memory of doing so.

“What changed?”

“Gretchen crossed the Veil. In doing so, Fenrir moved to the foreground, essentially taking over. The girl you know is now the passenger with the wolf calling the shots.”

I let out a breath. “Is there any way to separate them?”

“Not without unbinding my son.” She taps one of her long nails against her teeth, an annoying habit. “But there may be a way to put Fenrir back in his less active role. If crossing the Veil unleashed him….”

I follow her line of thinking. “Then bringing him back to Midgard might restrain him again. Any idea how we can coax him back here?”

She shakes her head. “It will have to be done forcefully and by stealth. You can’t go, neither can I. Chloe can’t interfere and Jedda is at risk as well.”

I nod and then look at her, this giantess who has risked so much to help me. “In case I haven’t said it yet, thank you. For coming to get me.”

She looks away for a moment, then meets my gaze. “Figured I owed you after sending those Valkyries through and bartering magic with Wardon. I never should have trusted Freya.”

I stop in my tracks and grip her arm hard. “Trust her how?”

Angrboda flinches. “She said she wanted to protect Váli, that he wouldn’t return to Asgard unless you were dead. I felt I owed it to him since my relationship with his father is what tore his life apart.”

My mind whirls at this reveal.

“I only knew you by Nicneven’s reputation though. The Ice Bitch never would have accepted him as her mate the way you’ve done.”

“You’re right, she wouldn’t have. But Aiden and my friends mean everything to me.” When I consider how cold and lonely my existence had been before them, I shiver in revulsion. “I didn’t know what I was missing. I let my goodnight kiss become my whole identity instead of just one part of the badass babe I am.”

She grins at that and we fall into step, heading back toward the house. The worn cedar shingles have taken a severe beating from the coastal winds, but the lights glowing from within make the space inviting.

A thought surfaces. “Freya appeared to me. Told me I had to kill Underhill with my goodnight kiss and Seelenverkäufer. Do you know anything about that?”

Her jaw drops. “Nic you can’t.”

I shake my head. “I was told my goodnight kiss could kill anything if I was intent on it.”

But the giantess appears spooked. “Yes, but you wouldn’t just kill Pharaildis. You’d take her place as the new Underhill.”

Legends from the Mist

“Nic?” Garret removes his reading glasses when he spots me in the doorway. “Come for that tour I promised?”

Truthfully, I don’t know why I’ve sought him out.

Maybe because being near him, unlike Sophie or Tate, doesn’t make me feel guilty. Garret has my number—knows I am no good.

Or maybe it’s something to do with the man himself. The calm energy that radiates off of him. He’s a barrier, I realize. As much as the giant sandbar that is the Outer Banks is a barrier between the peaceful tranquility of the inland waterway that is Sophie and Tate and the turbulent sea of my life.

Sophie and Chloe are baking, Tate is watching cartoons and Angrboda and Jedda have taken off for lessons in what I can only assume is magic they don’t want the mortals to witness. Garret seems like the best source of distraction to keep me from losing my mind.

I don’t want to be alone after hearing that the only way to kill my mother and stop the end of the world is to take her place in an immortal prison. I