Page 48 of Grave Curse

“Ask Tyr.”

“We’re in a weird place, and I’m not sure I fully trust him.” There. I said it. My mind was a hopeless tangle of confusion and emotion, and I needed clarity from someone who was on the sidelines to help me figure it all out. “I’m not mad about this, if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, I’m not thrilled aboutit, but it was six years ago, and if Jake had truly loved me, he would have manned up and fought like hell for me.”

“I don’t think he knew how. Not against Gravedigger might, anyway, which means he was never going to be a good fit for you, Ginge. You might think it was all lovey-dovey at the time, but I guarantee you, that uptight preppy douche would’ve bored you out of your goddamn gourd within six months. He wasn’t right for you.”

That shouldn’t have been his call to make, or Tyr’s, but at the moment I had other fish to fry. “So, whoisright for me? Because Tyr thinks it’s him, or at least that was the impression he gave when he said the only babies I’m ever going to have in my lifetime are his.”

“Hot damn! About fuckin’ time, too. Alice and I are three ahead of you with Cyrus, Alex and Catherine, so you guys better start screwing your brains out and get this baby train rolling.”

I stared at him. “I had no idea the Colgraves were so baby-bonkers.”

“I’m pretty sure Hel isn’t, but for the men in our family, it’s all about making that next gen, you know? I wanted a good half dozen but Alice is drawing the line at four, which I get. Catherine’s birth wasn’t the easiest, so I’m ready to count my blessings exactly as they are. I never knew I could be this happy.”

As our drink order arrived, I couldn’t help but smile at my friend. Back in the day, Loki had been as wild as his namesake, so seeing him as a settled family man who was clearly gaga in love with the woman he called Stems made my heart sing. “I’m so happy for you, Loki. You deserve all the good things in life.”

“So do you, and so does my brother. You guys went through the worst kind of hell growing up, with Uncle H pitting you two against each other the way he did. He did it because it hurt both of you, but I think he also did it because he was probably scaredshitless over the possibility of you two combining forces against him.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a reason why a massive chunk of Chicago Gravediggers jumped ship and went over to Tyr’s new chapter of the Gravediggers, Ginge. You were only eighteen and Tyr was twenty when he, shall we say, took care of Popcorn like it was fucking nothing, and you sliced up my worthless cousin Marvel nine ways to Sunday. After that night, everyone looked at you guys differently—like the two of you were something special together. Unbeatable. It’s like you became as much of a power couple that can exist in the biker world.”

I scoffed and sipped my hot drink.Mm, yummy. “No way.”

“I’m being as real as I can be on this, so you’d better listen up. You know that old saying about throwing a person to the wolves, only to have them return as leader of the pack?”

“Yeah.”

“That night, my uncle was stupid enough to throw you and Tyr to the wolves in the Rumpus Room. The two of you walked out of there as leaders of the pack, and by damn, Hades knew it. Respect for him nosedived while the exact opposite happened for you and Tyr, because you didn’t just survive that night, Ginger. You beat Hades at his own game. You made that bitchy cunt look fuckingsmall.”

Without thinking about it, I smoothed a hand over my sweater-covered, scarred forearm. “What I wouldn’t do to beat that bastard right now.”

“With you and Tyr finally getting together, youare. That’s the ultimate victory over Hades and his never-ending petty bullshit, and everyone knows it.”

“I’m… not sure we’re actuallytogether,” I said carefully, feeling my way as our food arrived. “Here’s the thing, Loki. I’m having trouble trusting your brother for a lot of reasons, mostof which can be laid at Hades’s feet. I get that, and I swear I’m trying to work my way past it. But there’s also Tyr’s behavior, which seems so out-of-character that I can’t help but question what his real motives are.”

He glanced longingly at the fries mounded on my plate next to the juiciest cheeseburger in the world. I nudged my plate toward him and grinned when he happily grabbed up some fries. “Tyr’s always been weird, Ginge, and I can say that because I’m his brother. What kind of behavior’s got you in a twist?”

“It’s just the sudden change in it, I guess. I mean, until last week we were cold-war frenemies, at least in my mind.”

“Not in Tyr’s.”

I picked up my burger dripping with cheese, grease and all the universe’s condiments, and pointed it at him. “You don’t know that.”

“Oh, I do, but at the moment I’m more interested in this change in behavior. What kicked it off?”

Of course he asked a question just as I took a monster bite of my burger. Typical. “I cut my hand and bled all over the place. I also kind of freaked out, because I hate the sight of blood. He kissed me in lieu of a smack in the face, and then… I don’t know. I guess it’s like he said, the genie can’t be put back in the bottle once something like a kiss happens.”

He nodded while inhaling the piece of pie in front of him. “Sounds about right.”

“He’s never shown any interest in me as a woman. Yet come to find out, the man owns the Vixen’s Den propertyandmy loft. More than that, he’s basically catered to my every whim when it comes to those properties, and I never even knew it was him making all my wishes come true.”

“Shit,” Loki muttered, piling more fries onto his now-empty pie plate. “I didn’t know about that.”

Join the frickin’ club, pal. “I tried dating the tattooist next door to Vixen’s Den. Days later the poor guy gets evicted because of it. That was another thing that may have sparked the change in Tyr—me, going on a date. But what the hell else am I supposed to do? I’m going to be twenty-nine in a handful of days, Loki, and I look around and see that everyone has someone to love in their lives—a significant other, kids, whatever. Me? I have no one, because Tyr chases everyone away. I’d think he wants me for himself, but he never approached me until I was freaking out over losing a pint of blood. So why now, when he’s in a war with Hades? Why not ten years ago when I lived with you guys after my mom died?”

“Beats me.” He shrugged before downing his coffee. “Maybe he knew you needed some serious time to heal after losing your mom. Or maybe because Hades made you hate everything about Tyr and you needed time to just decompress. Or maybe it’s the curse that’s got him all fucked up.”

He said that last bit as though talking to himself, so I wasn’t sure I heard him right. “Sorry? Did you saycurse?”

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