Page 15 of Fenrir

Freyette was a baby. How hard could it be to change her diaper?

Twenty minutes later,Fenrir walked into the front room, where Val sat sipping a cup of coffee.

Freyette smiled up at him and cooed as she tugged on his sideburns. Fenrir wasn’t sure what his face looked like, but from the giggles that Val tried to hide, he could tell he looked pretty bad.

Val set down her cup. “You know the powder goes on her butt, not your face, right?”

Fenrir snorted. “Tell this little snake that.” He handed Freyette over to Val and rubbed at his face, noticing a sticky tab from a destroyed diaper hanging from his elbow.

“How many did you rip?” Val asked.

Fenrir shrugged and tossed the sticky piece in the trash. “Maybe three or four.”

Val cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Twelve.”

She burst out laughing. “Well, then, you are on par with your dad in that department.”

Fenrir shook his head. “I never knew a baby could turn over and crawl away that fast.”

“I’m just waiting to see if she gets your dad’s teleporting abilities. Then we are in real trouble.”

Fenrir’s eyes widened. “I never thought of that.”

Val nodded. “The terrors of a mother with the god of mischief for her husband.”

Fair enough.

Val handed Freyette a bottle and then turned back to Fenrir. “The food is cold now, sorry. But it probably doesn’t matter anyway. Loki called. He found some info for you.”

Fenrir’s head snapped up from where he was wiping diaper ointment from his t-shirt. He’d found her? Fenrir looked to the door.

“It’s fine. You can go. But might I suggest you stop by your place first and clean up? You smell like a mead distillery and look like a feral band of baby powder demons has attacked you.”

Fenrir nodded and then gave Val a one-armed hug before kissing Freyette on the head. “Thank you for the food. Sorry, I didn’t get to eat it all.”

She shrugged. “No biggie.”

“It was perfect, though.” Fenrir looked at the plate and then quickly took the eggs and sausage patties, piled them between two pancakes, and shoved them in his mouth.

Val shook her head. “Next time you stop by, we are totally working on your manners.”

Fenrir gulped down the orange juice and gave her two thumbs up before jogging to the door.

Loki had found her. He’d found Grace.

Fenrir opened the front door to his small house. The door creaked on its hinges as he forced it open. He stepped inside and turned on the light before closing the door.

He’d bought the small one-bedroom house from a demon who’d gotten married and needed a bigger place over fifty years prior. In the fifty years he’d lived there, he’d done as little as possible to fix the place. It wasn’t his home; it was just a place to lay his head at night, shower, and change clothes when needed. But he didn’t let it get run down, either.

A howl sounded from the living room, and Fenrir walked in and smiled. There, lying on a full-sized doggie lounge, was his only friend, Layla. She lifted her pure white head, jumped off the chaise lounge, and leapt on him.

Fenrir chuckled and caught the wolf midair. “Hey girl, did you miss me?” He ruffled her fur and kissed her cheek. “Are you hungry? You probably need to go out, don’t you?”

Layla woofed, and Fenrir set her on the ground. She trotted to the kitchen, and Fenrir followed after. She sat and waited for him as he walked to the back door and opened it. Layla looked up at him expectantly. He’d trained her ever since he’d rescued her from a troop of demons who had slaughtered her entire pack for sport. She’d been dirty, skinny, and completely alone. So he’d brought her home with him and had nursed her back to health. She hadn’t even been with him a month before he started training her. At first, it had been just to see if he could, but soon he’d decided to try and find her limits. When she turned one, they’d started her real training. Together they’d spent two years tracking down every last demon who had killed her family and had slaughtered them in return.

“Rachaibh.”The moment he gave her release command, she bounded out the door and raced around the enclosed yard. Then he walked to the small refrigerator and pulled it open. Inside sat stacks of steak, prime rib, filet mignon, and a six-pack of beer.

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