Loki's Gambit, page 107
part #1 of I Bring the Fire Series
Cockily as he can manage, he says, “I think I have an idea.” He doesn’t feel cocky though. All of this weirdness is leading in one direction—but it’s a leap in logic Bohdi doesn’t want to take.
Lache chuckles, low and rich, and someone’s hand skims over a very sensitive bit of anatomy under the table. Bohdi feels warm and dizzy again.
“Spend the night with us. Know us carnally,” Lache says with a wide predatory smile. “That is all we ask. Do you accept?”
Bohdi stares at her a moment. It’s exactly what he expected, and even if it’s weird that he expected it, why question the best thing that’s ever happened to him?
Bohdi grins. “When do we start?” As soon as the words slip out, he feels his smile slip away. Something else washes over him. Dread? Suspicion? He can’t name it. Addie licks her lips, Chloe purrs, and Lache pushes the chalice toward him. “First, drink this.”
Bohdi looks into the chalice and the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as his nerves begin to light up in a not helpful way.
When he’s nervous, he tends to talk. “And Amy thought I wouldn’t need my condoms,” he says. A harmless joke. But mentioning Amy is a mistake. He feels a twinge of…something…even if he shouldn’t. He thinks of his head pillowed on Amy’s knees and fights a scowl. There’s nothing between them, he has nothing to be ashamed of, and three birds in hand is definitely better than…he doesn’t remember the rest.
Not quite ready to take the first sip, he pats his back pocket. “But I left them in my wallet.” Which he forgot. Not that he cares…Even if wearing a condom is the one thing Steve is constantly badgering him about. He glances around the table. This is the one time he should just throw caution to the wind.
He hesitates anyway. “But I guess you’ve magically taken care of that…” Why is he even asking? Why is he suddenly a hopeless puddle of indecision?
Lache sits back in her chair. “Drink.”
Bohdi stares at her perfect face. His mouth is wet, his body is hot, but his brain is screaming…something. He can’t really hear the words. Addie, or maybe Chloe is running her hands right up to the bulge in his pants and Bohdi thinks his eyes are about to cross. Reaching down he catches the straying hands.
Addie and Chloe giggle and more hands light upon his legs. Even though he’s practically swaying in his seat, Bohdi’s brain is becoming increasingly pesky. Staring at the green liquid, words begin slipping out of his mouth. “Is this like a liquid condom? Because that would be great. Condoms suck.” Bohdi bites his lip. Stupid, stupid, stupid brain.
No one answers his question.
Bohdi lifts his eyes to the Norns.
“It’s not an issue,” Lache says, a bit too casually.
Dropping Addie’s and Chloe’s hands, Bohdi just manages to pull his arm up in time to catch the sneeze.
Addie, Chloe, and Lache all lean back, eyes wide. Chloe’s mouth drops in a small “o.”
Addie snaps something at Lache, and Lache glares at her sister.
Sniffing, feeling like an idiot, Bohdi searches his pockets for a tissue. “Here,” says Chloe, passing him a bit of silk. He’s distantly aware of Lache saying something snippily to Addie.
Bohdi takes the handkerchief from her hands. Pressing it to his nose, he is unable to meet her eyes. He remembers Amy’s question. “Do you sneeze when people lie to you, Bohdi?”
He sniffs into the tissue and recalls Thor’s words, “The Lord of Chaos can sense lies…”
He blinks. A shiver running through him, he raises his eyes. Addie and Lache are still arguing in another language, but Chloe’s eyes are on him, soft and sad.
“Am I…?” Bohdi whispers. He can’t even finish the sentence, it’s too ridiculous. Lord of Chaos? Destroyer? Him?
“Do you have a different question for us?” Lache says, turning away from her sister. “The price would still be the same.”
For a moment, he wants to ask. His hands clench at his sides. But he needs to find his parents.
He shakes his head and looks at the green liquid. It smells vaguely like cough syrup—but worse. He doesn’t think he’d want to drink it if smelled like chocolate chip cookies. Pushing it away, he says, “You know, if this is an aphrodisiac, I don’t need it. I may be only human, but I am in my twenties, I can go a few rounds without it.” Even if he’s rapidly finding himself not in the mood.
He blinks. He’d asked if birth control was covered…and then he’d sneezed.
Addie picks up the chalice. “It’s not poison, it will not incapacitate you. It is a gift. You’re practically infertile. Without help you’re likely never to have any children.”
Lache and Chloe both inhale audibly.
Addie turns defensively to them. “He was already suspicious.”
That’s true, but having his suspicions confirmed is another matter. Bohdi feels like he’s just been thrown into a cold shower. Actually, no, cold showers don’t really work. This works.
It’s not that he doesn’t like kids. Kids are cool. Even good kids like Claire are natural little mischief makers. But he’s not ready to be shackled to that sort of responsibility right now, especially to three women he’s just met, even if they are saying that it may be his only shot. Or three shots. Or something.
A little lump forms in his throat. And what a way to learn all your little swimmers are floating belly up.
Addie pats him gently on the shoulder. “Even with this rather potent brew, it will probably only work for one of us.”
“Errrrrr…” he says.
Chloe’s eyes widen. “You’ve frightened him!” Putting a hand on Bohdi’s opposite shoulder, she says, “Remember, in the United States if a man father’s a child, even unknowingly, he is bound to support it.”
“Ohhhhhhh,” say Lache and Addie in unison, nodding their heads knowingly.
Looking suddenly understanding, Addie puts a hand on his. “We really don’t require anything else from you.”
Bohdi doesn’t feel the faintest desire to sneeze. Nor to drink the “medicinal” fluid in front of him.
Shaking her head, Lache says, “We don’t want you to stick around.”
Bohdi sits up straighter. That doesn’t make him want to sneeze either. Or feel better.
“Don’t get us wrong, we like you,” says Lache.
“Your visit has already been very exciting!” says Chloe, with an emphatic nod.
“But you and the girl have brought a lot of trouble with you,” says Addie. Shaking her head, she says, “You’ve killed, displaced, and ruined so many of our guardians.” She sighs. “We can’t allow Nornheim to be a nice place for hominids to visit.”
Lache shrugs. “Most of you are useless to us.”
Chloe leans in toward Bohdi and says, “And humans are like chocolate for Nidhogg.”
Bohdi raises an eyebrow at that.
Lache sighs. “He loves you, but if he eats too many, he gets horribly sick.”
Bohdi looks down at the green chalice. “Well, that’s a shame,” he says, more to stall than anything else.
The three women laugh.
Reaching out a hand, Bohdi lifts the chalice. The room and the Norns are reflected in the liquid and the chalice’s crystal surface. The women are beautiful—even in the fractured reflections. They’re also ancient, powerful, and supposedly they know all that has happened.
He pulls the chalice closer. Making a baby and leaving, that would be an act of chaos, wouldn’t it? And chaos is what they’re implying Bohdi is. He scowls. That thought is too big for his brain; he can’t believe it.
And he can’t abandon even a theoretical child on purpose. Maybe it’s because Steve has infected Bohdi with his morality. Maybe it’s because Bohdi saw Steve’s depression when he found out Claire would be moving away, or because he saw Amy fall apart at the sight of her almost child. Or maybe it’s an echo of the life he forgot—Hindi has a ridiculous number of words for family relationships. He swallows. Does Hindi have a word for child of a past life? He can't remember…but he does remember the little redheaded girl. “Eisa,” he murmurs. That’s what the Norns want.
Chloe scoots closer to him. “You heard me earlier when I spoke about her.” She puts a hand on Bohdi’s knee. Instead of going warm, his muscles tense.
Chloe’s face is painfully lovely. And now her eyes are wide and earnest. “Yes, we would love a child like Eisa, but we would love any child you gave us. Like we loved Jörmungandr…”
“And little Heimdall,” says Lache.
“My first little adze,” sniffs Addie.
Bohdi exhales and watches the ripples it causes in the surface of the green medicine. Jörmungandr…the world serpent, and in myths one of Loki’s children. He blinks. Not his. Not him. No way.
Tipping the chalice slightly toward his mouth, he winks at the Norns. “How could I say no?”
The three women lean closer. Addie’s and Chloe’s hands are still on his thighs. Raising an eyebrow, Lache says, “You really can’t.”
He feels a rueful smile on his lips. And he thought spiders were bad. He thinks of the man and woman in the picture on his phone. He may never know them, but leaving another orphan, even a half orphan, would be dishonoring their memory…or the memories he doesn’t have.
He sniffs at the contents of the chalice again. It smells revolting. Swirling the chalice like a glass of wine, he lets his eyes rove the room. The enormous heavy door he entered has no knob. There’s only one way out.
Holding the chalice loosely in one hand, Bohdi puts it to his mouth. Eyes on Addie, he says, “So does this stuff taste good?”
She waves a hand. “It’s palatable.”
Bohdi’s eyes screw shut. A sneeze rips through him, splashing liquid, and knocking the chalice from his hands.
The Norns gasp. Bohdi opens his eyes to see the chalice on its side, liquid spreading across the table.
Ripping off the vest he’s wearing, he throws it on the spill, edging around the table toward the window as he does. “I’m so-so-so sorry!” he says.
“Addie, you shouldn’t have lied to him!” says Chloe. “You knew what would happen!”
Bohdi backs toward the window, feeling a fresh breeze buffeting his back.
Lache stands up and spins toward Bohdi, eyes narrowed. “Did you spill the potion on purpose?”
Bohdi’s back hits the window ledge. If he remembers right, the staircase is just over seven feet down. “Why would I do that?” he says, spreading his hands.
Chloe and Addie both rush to their sister’s side.
Narrowing her eyes, Addie says, “You already gave us your word to cooperate. You’re bound to us.”
Bohdi starts at that. And then remembering his words when he first sat down at the table, he can’t help the shit-eating grin that crosses his face. “Nope. I only asked when we would start.”
Chloe makes a little sound of “Ahhhhh!” which causes her curves to expand in wonderful resolve-breaking ways.
He winces away from the sight. And then, biting his lip, he turns and vaults through the window into the Nornheim evening.
From behind him he hears a screech of “Nidhogg!”
Before Bohdi knows what is happening, a shadow darts out below his feet.
The dragon roars. “What—”
Which is the exact moment Bohdi’s feet connect with the dragon’s head, his hands reaching instinctively for its tentacle eyebrows.
“—is it my mistresses?” finishes the dragon.
“Catch him!” roar the Norns.
“Errrrr…Hi, Nidhogg,” says Bohdi, looking into one of Nidhogg’s enormous green orbs.
“Mmmmm…chocolate,” chuckles Nidhogg. His tongue slips out of his mouth, it’s long and black, and it looks like it will be able to reach Bohdi’s perch.
Bohdi doesn’t have time to pull out his knife. He bites down hard on one of the tentacles he’s holding. It tastes better than the potion smelled.
The tongue retreats, and Nidhogg squeaks. A bit of smoke puffs from his nostrils.
Releasing the tentacle, Bohdi slides down Nidhogg’s neck and jumps to the staircase. Above him he hears the Norns screaming and the eagle give a shriek.
Feet connecting with the steps, Bohdi executes the next part of his escape plan. At the top of his lungs he screams. “Thorrrrrrrrrrr!!!!”
“You’ll pay for that!” Nidhogg roars. Bohdi hears the rush of wind behind him, and the shriek of an eagle above him.
Putting a hand on the column surface, he looks behind him to see Nidhogg’s maw, open, pulsing with fire, and rushing toward him. Bohdi skids down the steps. He hears an abrupt, “Urrrrfffffffff.”
Turning again, he sees Nidhogg’s snout snapped closed, his eyes wide and watery. The dragon’s head pulls a little further forward and then snaps back. He’s stuck.
Bohdi’s about to cheer when Nidhogg opens his mouth again, and a little ball of flame starts to dance on his tongue.
Taking off down the stairs again, Bohdi again shouts, “Thooorrrrrrr!” He feels heat on his back just as he reaches a bend in the undulating shape of the column. He turns the corner and a bolt of fire shoots past his left elbow. “Thooorrrrrrrrr!” he screams.
There is no answering lightning, just the screech of an eagle above his head. Bohdi resumes his mad dash down the stairs. The steps are lit by the sparkling lights within the column, but still, it’s getting dark. He hasn’t gone five more paces when he slips, tumbles, and rolls right over the side of the stairs, barely catching the edge in time.
An eagle screech rips through the night. Bohdi screams as a feather lands right next to his hand. Dangling from the stairs, he looks down. It’s hard to judge at night, but the next set of steps is at least eight feet below. He looks up, sees a shadow of the eagle descending, and feels the wind of its wings on his back. His body seizes up in indecision. He can let go or pull himself up. Closing his eyes, he presses his head to the column surface, arms beginning to tire from the hang. Does it matter which way he goes? It’s a friggin’ eagle, it’s flying and…
A light flickers beyond Bohdi’s eyelids, a boom fills the night, followed by the scream of the giant bird.
Bohdi opens his eyes and sees an enormous dark shadow falling in the periphery of his vision. And then he feels a hand hauling him up from the waistband of his pants. Before he’s even aware of what’s happening, he’s in Thor’s chariot, across from Amy. She’s cowering against the far wall, clasping his pink shirt. And then they’re streaking off into the darkness. Behind him, he hears the Norns shout, “Nidhogg!”
Releasing Bohdi, Thor shouts, “Chariot, up and away!”
Without Thor to hold him upright, Bohdi sinks to the floor across from Amy.
Arms tucked around her knees she says, “Where is your vest?”
Bohdi looks down at his naked chest. His mouth drops open, but instead of a pithy response, all that comes out is, “….errrrrrr.”
Thor’s snort is audible even above the rush of the wind.
Mr. Squeakers pokes his head out of the V in Amy’s tunic, and then disappears.
“Oh,” Amy says, eyes wide. Her shoulders slump slightly.
Bohdi bites his lip, preparing to say It’s not what you think, even if it almost was. But he’s interrupted by a roar from below, so mighty it shakes the chariot.
Amy and Bohdi both look over the edge. Amy gasps.
Spreading his enormous wings, Nidhogg is launching himself up from the base of the column.
Bohdi exhales. They’re ascending rapidly, and they’re already miles from the base of the column. Below them, the Sea of Sorrows is sparkling beneath Nornheim’s moons. “We should be okay,” he says.
At his words the chariot shakes.
“Uh-oh,” says Thor.
Amy’s and Bohdi’s eyes meet, and then they both look up at Thor. “Uh-oh?” says Bohdi.
Thor looks down at them. “I think the Midgardian expression is, we’re running out of gas.”
“Uh-oh,” says Amy.
“What?” says Bohdi.
Thor’s nostrils flare. “Did you think my magical chariot could just replenish its magic…magically?”
Bohdi snips. “It doesn’t seem like a ridiculous assumption.”
Looking down at Amy and Bohdi, Thor says, “I need to summon my father. We won’t make it to the Earth World Gate.”
Amy inhales sharply. The chariot trembles beneath them.
Meeting her eyes, Thor says, “But you have my word, I will return you to Earth, if that is where you wish to go.”
Amy looks over the side of the chariot and her eyes widen. “I don’t think we have a choice.”
Bohdi’s gaze follows hers. Nidhogg is below and to the east of them, but closing in fast. “Can we just not be dragon kibble?” he says.
“Hmmm…” says Thor. He looks Bohdi up and down and narrows his eyes. “I have an idea…but it is so outrageous it cannot possibly work.”
Before Bohdi can ask what that is about, Thor roars, “Get back.”
Amy and Bohdi scoot toward the front wall of the chariot, just as Thor spins it around.
Dropping his visor and raising his hammer high, Thor shouts, “Down chariot!” At the same time, sparks start leaping off the hammer, making the world around them as bright as day.
The chariot plunges. Nidhogg roars, and with an easy flick of his wings, adjusts his flight to intercept them. Bohdi looks up at the sparking hammer. It may be a beacon for Odin, but it is also a beacon for everything else.
“Chariot, halt now!” Thor says. They are so close to the sea, Bohdi can hear the crash of waves beneath them.
“Don’t look over the edge,” Thor shouts, voice nearly drowned out by the sound of waves, thunder, and the fizzing of electricity.
…Which of course makes Bohdi peek. In the hammer’s light he sees what looks like a river of inky black surrounded by deep blue.
“What?” he hears Amy whisper. He looks to the side and sees her eyes glued on the water. It makes him feel good to know he isn’t the only one who can’t obey basic instructions. Her gaze meets his. “An undersea chasm?” she whispers.
As soon as she says it, the inky black river shrinks and vanishes. Bohdi shrugs, and then the sound of flapping wings above makes him lift his eyes. Nidhogg is dropping toward them, opening his maw, a bright ball of fire dancing on his tongue.
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