Decimation, page 3
“The rot and decay have to eat through the frame, body, seats, mechanics, and everything else, to the point where no pieces can be salvaged.”
I could see how applying that to Vidar would work in theory, but not in practice. “What if the parts are constructed of indestructible materials?”
Anubis stopped his work, set down his hammer, and finally gave me his full attention. “Then I assume that sort of decay doesn’t happen. Would you like to ask me your questions directly, rather than deriving meaning that isn’t there from our existing conversation?”
“I would.”
He took the wrench from me and set it with the other tools, then nodded toward the main building. “Let’s go inside.” He closed the garage door, flipped a switch to turn off the lights, and we headed in.
There was a small kitchen, decorated with the types of antiques that would make any collector swoon, from a still-running, classic refrigerator, to a shelf filled with glasses in a muted rainbow of colors. Anubis grabbed two glasses. “Would you like some water?”
“Please.” I took a seat.
He filled both glasses from the sink, set one in front of me on a coaster, and emptied his in a single swallow before filling it again. He sat across from me.
“I know a lot of you like your vague questions and innuendo, but the dead don’t have any time for secrets or hidden meanings,” Anubis said. “Tell me what you’re looking for, who do you want to destroy, and I’ll tell you whether or not I’m willing to help.”
Here went nothing. “Vidar.”
Anubis’s posture changed in a blink, going from neutral and casual to tense, with a scowl on his face. “I don’t have your answers, but I will help you find them.”
“Like that? Not that I want to dissuade you.”
Anubis clenched his jaw. “Too many souls have crossed my doorstep who never had a chance to realize their potential, because of him.”
I supposed it was a good thing I was looking to destroy one of the few gods who had made more recent enemies than I had.
“Your countrymen have more experience with this than I do,” Anubis said. “Helblindi, for instance. Have you asked him?”
The name took a moment to register. Some gods used Anglicized versions of our names, and others simply picked new ones to match the era. Helblindi—one of Loki’s brothers—was one who had changed his moniker with each new age. Or rather, each new incarnation of the woman he loved.
Last I heard, he called himself Blake now, and he’d managed to keep Luci alive this time. He’d surrendered his power to save her life, and to keep Morgana from killing her.
“I’m not on good terms with Blake.” I’d been on the other side for too long. “However, after he made Morgana impotent, Vidar gleaned all he could from her and the situation. I believe he’s patched all those holes. If he hasn’t, I’m not privy to the details from either party.”
“Therein lies the problem, I assume,” Anubis said. “You’re not on good terms with most of them?”
Was I supposed to feel bad that he knew that? Most knew that. “Which is why I’ve come to you.”
Deep lines creased Anubis’s forehead as he went silent.
I let him think.
“There was Ga-Gorib,” Anubis said. “Thought indestructible, but defeated by being attacked from behind.”
I’d heard the stories, but didn’t have more details than what Anubis provided. “There may be something there, but I’d need to know more.”
“It’s been centuries, but there are people I can ask. There are other stories about taking someone’s power, but I’ll need to look into them.”
“Thank you.” I couldn’t express my gratitude enough. “I’ll be staying nearby, available to talk again when you know more.”
Anubis looked surprised, but simply said, “I’ll be in touch.”
The prospect of an answer was promising, but it wasn’t enough. Every moment I went without a concrete solution was another moment Nico, Magnus, and our children were in danger.
FIVE
NICO
Before I left Bragi… Before I met him… Before I withdrew from the world, I was a different man.
It wasn’t easy to see while I lived it. My outlook shifted with the calendar, with the decades and centuries, a millimeter at a time. From one day to the next, I saw the same man in the mirror.
When my memories rushed back in a single blob, a few hours ago, every moment I’d lived, regardless of its significance, assaulted me at the same time. I had no sense of how old or new a memory was.
Which was where my surge of fear on Magnus’s behalf had come from. Bragi being at TOM, being part of the things those students suffered, was as fresh and new in my mind as the first time I was reborn and the most recent time.
I was starting to make sense of some of those memories now. Realizing that anger was older than the good times I’d shared with him. With Magnus.
That month with Magnus in Bragi’s house, where neither she nor I knew what he was hiding, it was at the surface too. I grasped onto it because I recognized it. I recognized her and that it was recent.
When Dahlia returned with our things, I let Magnus tell Dahlia most of what had happened since they last saw each other—it was a big list for just a few days—while I processed the jumble in my mind.
“It’s safest if you stay here, both of you,” Dahlia said when Magnus was done. “Nico, I’m sure Frey wouldn’t mind getting you an apartment. Or…”
Magnus was sitting up in bed now. She grabbed my hand before I could think of an answer. “Or, you could stay with me.”
This apartment was nearly as big as my house, and her bedroom certainly had enough space for two people. That wasn’t the reason I wanted to take her up on her offer though. With everything right there in my mind, I wanted to be closer to her. “I’d like that.”
“Do you need anything else?” Dahlia asked.
Magnus shook her head. “A shower. A good night’s sleep.”
“More answers that we currently have,” I added. Like, how did I remember everything in a blink. What came next? What had I been doing for the last century?
I knew that answer now, however I wasn’t satisfied with what I saw in my mind.
“I can leave you alone to get the first two. We’ll regroup for the last one?”
Magnus nodded.
Dahlia gave her a quick hug, and offered me a tight smile and a nod, before leaving.
“You shower first,” I said to Magnus. “Your hair will need longer to dry.”
She gave a tight laugh. “I have a diffuser on my hair dryer. I adore that the world is falling apart around us, and you’re thinking about my wet hair. I’m not going to catch a cold.”
“No. It can’t be comfortable to sleep on, though.”
“It’s not. I’ll be back in a few, I guess.”
As Magnus turned toward the bathroom, a thought stood out among the jumble of memories, and I grabbed her wrist.
At her sharp gasp, I let go.
Her, sorry was breathless. “Emotion.”
“I understand.” Something else I was remembering was how Bragi dealt with the same. “I simply want to say, what you told me in the clearing—that you don’t know what we have or where we’re going?”
Lines creased her forehead. “Yes?”
“I meant what I said. We have time, and it’s not the most important thing to figure out now, regardless.”
“I’m glad. Because I still want to.” Magnus gave me a stilted wave. “I’ll be out soon.”
When Magnus emerged from the shower, I took my turn.
Amidst it all, I struggled to sort the snippets of my past into recognizable images. They merged with the time spent with Magnus and Bragi in the cabin over the last week, and with the way Magnus approached life.
After Bragi, but even before, I’d withdrawn from the world. After centuries of losing friends, it was easier to let humanity and gods be, than involve myself with them.
Had that been the right choice?
When I finished my shower, Magnus was just saying goodbye to someone on the phone.
“That was Tatiana,” she said. “She does tattoos, and she doesn’t know if she can help with what I need to control this conduit thing, but she said we should stop by tomorrow, and she’d see what she could find in the meantime.”
“I hope she can help.”
Immortals healed instantly from most damage, but magically inflicted scars were a possibility. A lot of tattoos contained the kind of magic that insured they would stay on the most damage-resilient beings.
“Me too.” Magnus patted the mattress next to her. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why are you still here? Don’t get me wrong—I’m glad—but you know who you are. You know where you can hide. Your life was fine before Bragi called you to revive me, and ever since…”
Ever since, I’d been enmeshed in chaos. The sort of trouble I had intentionally steered clear of. “It’s been a long time since I enjoyed someone’s company as much as I do yours.”
“It’s not just because the sex is good?” she teased.
The talk of sex didn’t embarrass me because I was ashamed of it. It had been a long time since I had a physical connection with someone, and I didn’t know how I’d ignored that need for decades. “The sex is not the reason, but I do enjoy it.”
The twist of her lips made me think she was looking for more of an answer. Or perhaps I simply wanted to give one. “A lot of lives run together when you’ve been around as long as I have.” That sounded cold, rather than reassuring. “You’ll understand in a few hundred years.” That was dismissive.
Magnus shook her head. “I hope I never understand that.”
“Me too.” The answer slipped out before I could consider it.
She tugged at the blanket and crawled halfway under. “Keep me company tonight?”
I slipped under the quilt, and she snuggled into my arms the instant I stopped moving. She was warm. Soft. Vulnerable for someone so strong.
I wanted to wrap her up and hide her from the rest of the world. Was this what Bragi felt?
I couldn’t excuse his actions, and his name made me miss when I’d had this with him.
He wasn’t here now, Magnus was. I would hold her as long as she let me, and I would ignore the whisper in my mind of the last time I had this…
I didn’t sleep much, even after Magnus drifted off next to me. With the silence around me, I had time to sift through my memories. To grab at some and try to make sense of others. It was a slow process, one I didn’t expect I’d ever complete, but putting some order to the pieces was necessary to keep me from losing my mind.
I dozed fitfully, but full consciousness returned early in the morning. It was too easy to lay in bed, holding Magnus, so I did.
When she stirred a few hours later, I couldn’t help but watch her wake up. That slow climb toward consciousness where her breathing shifted. She moved, but didn’t pull away from me. She stretched and slowly opened her eyes.
“What?” She asked the moment she saw me.
I gave her a smile. “Simply enjoying the view.”
She pushed up onto her elbows, and poked my nose playfully. “Watching people sleep is creepy.”
“For the person sleeping. For me it was perfectly acceptable,” I teased.
“You’re right, you are different than before.” Magnus sat up and stretched again, elongating her entire torso, and giving me a stunning show when her shirt stretched tightly over her breasts and stomach.
I didn’t pull my gaze away, and I didn’t try to hide the staring. “In a good way, I assume.”
“Dunno yet. We’ll find out.” At the sound of a knock from the front door, she wrinkled her nose. “Get that?”
“You want me to answer the door in your apartment?”
“It’s almost definitely Dahlia. It’s not like the folks are dropping by unexpec…” She trailed off with a frown. “Yes, please.”
“As you wish, my mistress.” I climbed from the bed and gave her a deep bow.
That earned me a tiny smile, and I pocketed the expression as I went to see who was visiting.
The moment I opened the door, Dahlia slipped past me. “Is she still sleeping? Get up lazy bum,” she shouted.
“She’s awake. She wanted a moment to get decent.”
“By get decent he means pull my hair out of my face.” Magnus emerged from her room wearing the same camisole and shorts she’d slept in, but her wild curls were now restrained. “You’re so noisy.”
Dahlia stuck her tongue out. “You’re so lazy. I want coffee.”
“So you should have brought us some.” Magnus’s tone was still light. The entire exchange could sound crabby under other circumstances, but the women’s smiles and lilting tones made me think this was a typical, fun exchange for them.
Dahlia strolled past both of us. “Am I going to see anything I don’t want to? Too bad. Should’ve hidden it.” She walked into Magnus’s bedroom without pause.
Magnus followed to the doorway, and paused, watching the room.
“Get dressed.” Dahlia tossed something, and Magnus caught it without hesitation. Another something followed, and then a third.
Magnus stripped off the top she’d slept in, and pulled on a sport’s bra. There was no hesitation on her part. No glance back at me. “Still wondering where the coffee is,” she said as she buttoned up the shirt she’d been thrown.
“I’m thinking Seattle.” Dahlia emerged from the shadows of the room to join us.
I had seen close friendships before, but this was unfamiliar. How had I gone eons without witnessing a dynamic like this? It was a closeness even most lovers didn’t have.
Why didn’t you call someone you know? Magnus asked me that last night. A simple question, but it nagged me now.
She dropped her shorts, stepped out of one leg, and used the other leg to kick them into the air and catch them. She tossed her discarded clothes across her room, to land in a hamper against the wall, then shimmied into the jeans Dahlia had provided.
This wasn’t the struggling, sad woman I knew from when she was recovering at Bragi’s. And the traces of paranoia I’d seen on being reintroduced a few days ago had been tucked away as well.
As with me comparing myself to my past, this was a different Magnus. I liked each aspect of her, but I wanted to know more about this one.
“If we’re going to Seattle for coffee, are either of you concerned about being out in public?” I hated to be the disruption in this conversation.
Dahlia looked at me. Stared. Several seconds passed, and she raised her eyebrows.
Magnus glanced over her shoulder. “I assume everyone will stare if you go out like that.”
What? I— Right. I climbed out of bed to answer the door, which meant I was in nothing but my boxers. “I should also dress.”
Magnus grabbed Dahlia’s hand, tugged her out of the room, and moved both of them out of the doorway. “We’ll wait.” Magnus said.
“But not long,” Dahlia called as I closed the door between us.
“He doesn’t know us yet.” Magnus’s retort was still audible. “He thinks this is weird.”
She could feel my emotions. I was used to that from Bragi, but not her. “Not in a bad way.” I raised my voice enough to be heard.
Dahlia laughed. “See? Besides, he needs to get used to it. Hurry and get dressed,” she called. “I’m hungry.”
I saw no reason to argue. In fact, doing so might be dangerous. I quickly pulled on some clothes and rejoined Magnus and Dahlia in the living room.
Magnus hooked one of her arms through mine and the other through Dahlia’s, and a blink later, we were in a new location. The protective shield the two kept around us was a faint shimmer barely visible to me.
We stepped into a building that radiated comfort and familiarity, though I’d never been here before. The scents of roasted coffee and fresh pastries rushed around us.
Magnus wore a bright smile as we strode to the counter. She looked at ease. Happy.
When I walked away from Bragi, it was because he’d cut himself off from caring. He’d withdrawn into himself and the pain he felt around him, and I couldn’t watch it. I couldn’t be with someone who would do that. What I did instead… Was it that much different?
“What are you having?” Magnus and Dahlia asked each other at the same time, and then laughed.
“I don’t know.” Magnus looked at me. “What are you having?”
“Black coffee.”
Dahlia made a rude noise with her lips. “You’re such an adult.”
I was unsure where the insult was. “As are both of you.”
“Nah.” Magnus wrinkled her nose. “We’re in our early thirties, but we’re definitely not adults.”
I didn’t understand, but she seemed confident in her answer.
There were a lot of things I no longer understood about the world around me, and it hadn’t bothered me before. Now, I wanted to learn.
Bragi wasn’t the only one who had pulled back from the world. I had too. After seeing so many people come and go in my lifetime, with Bragi being the most recent disappointment.
Unlike what he did, I didn’t turn to hurting others in order to punish myself.
No. My inaction cost others their lives though.
“I’ve got it.” Magnus’s cheer was a contrast to my darkening thoughts. “I want the chocolate frap, extra whip, and salted sprinks.”
“Ooh.” Dahlia continued to study the menu. “That sounds good, but I want cinnamon instead of sprinks. And a cinnamon roll. Or a fruit tart. Or a blueberry muffin. Fuck.”
“I could get the tart, and you get the muffin. We’ll share,” Magnus said.
This was something I knew and enjoyed. Sharing food and mealtime with friends. “The cinnamon roll does look delicious.”
“It’s decided.” Magnus tugged me toward the counter. “And don’t worry about the other thing—you can have your black coffee today, but we’ll figure out how to undault you.”
