Page 5 of Fenrir

“You tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Really? That’s what you want? You want me to just solve the problem for you?”

“Why not? You are very good at problem-solving.” He threw her a sexy smile.

Val rolled her eyes and went back to chopping. “Sorry. That smile won’t work on me. Neither am I flattered by the hollow words meant to take the responsibility off you and put it on me. He’s your son. For once, think about him and what he needs, and then try to help find a solution instead of having someone else do it for you. You said when Freyette was born that you were going to step up. Well, don’t just step up for her; step up for your other kids too. Starting with Fenrir.”

“What he needs is a mate and a family. I had hoped that him doing that calendar thing might bring some women to his door, but he chickened out.”

“You and I both know that he would never do it. I don’t even know why you signed him up for it in the first place.” She shook her head. “You need to help him find someone. Someone serious. Someone real.”

Loki sighed and looked down at his daughter. “Well, since he won’t go out with anyone, I might suggest we only have one choice then, don’t we, Freyette?” He kissed his daughter’s forehead. “We’re just going to have to send him to the speed dating event tomorrow.” He looked over at Val and winked. “He won’t get as lucky as I did, but maybe Aphrodite will work her magic and find him someone almost as good.”

Val rolled her eyes. “If you are going to try and flatter me into getting naked with you, I suggest you not use our daughter to help you do it.”

CHAPTER4

Grace sighedwith relief as she set down her last tray for the night and untied her apron. She’d been working at Odin’s place for six months, and as much as she enjoyed the atmosphere and the people she worked with, she left every night exhausted and alone.

She’d done exactly what her mom had told her to do. She’d found The Raven Weaver. She’d met Frigg and been introduced to Odin. She’d found a place to live with some… interesting roommates. She’d gotten a job. But she had yet to find the destiny Fay had spoken of. Unless her destiny consisted of opening a library because she’d bought enough books from Váli’s bookstore, she was sure she was single-handedly keeping him in business.

She’d tried going to Frigg’s bar several times, but it hadn’t been for her. The moment she’d started getting hit on, she’d taken off and gone home. It wasn’t that she was scared of them… it had been something else. Something she couldn’t explain. She’d just known that it wasn’t right. Ever since arriving in the Underworld, she’d felt a pull toward something, but she’d not understood what that pull was. There had been times when she felt the pull stronger than ever. A pull telling her to walk down a particular street. Or to look a certain way. A couple of times, she’d felt it almost overwhelmingly while working, but every single time nothing had been out of the ordinary when she looked around. And the feeling had faded almost as quickly as it had come on.

Several times she’d wondered if it could have been her mother, the Moon Goddess, but her gut had told her that what pulled on her wasn’t her birth mother. It was something or someone else.

Grace walked to the back room. Several of her roommates and other servers chatted and touched up their makeup and hair in the long, full-length mirrors.

“Hey, Grace,” said her roommate Vivian.

“Hi, Viv.” Grace reached for her coat.

“How were your tips tonight?”

Grace shrugged. “Same as always, decent.”

One of her other roommates named Brigeeta, giggled. “See, Grace, that’s why you should let me bite you and make you a vampire. Then you can compel those demons to give you better tips.”

Grace chuckled and shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

Her roommates, Brigeeta and Vivian, had offered to make her a vampire when she’d gotten to the Underworld, but she’d declined. They’d said something about the fact that since they were descended from Incubus demons, they could change her from a werewolf to a vampire. Grace was pretty sure that the Moon Goddess as her mother outweighed their drops of Incubus bloodline.

“What kind of sup are you again?” asked Brigeeta.

“She’s a shifter, duh. How many times has she told us that?” said Vivian, rolling her eyes. “I swear, girl, you have no brains at all. Are you sure you aren’t a zombie instead of a vampire?”

Brigeeta smacked Vivian’s arm, and Vivian smeared the lipstick she was applying. Brigeeta squeaked as Vivian rounded on her, her eyes flashing red, and she bared her fangs.

“I’m sorry,” said Brigeeta. “I didn’t mean to.”

Brigeeta, Vivian, and the other vampire girls had been friends for almost a century, but the look on Vivian’s face was murderous.

“What are you guys getting so dolled up for?” Grace pulled on her coat.

Brigeeta giggled and turned to Grace. “It’s speed dating night at DeLux Café.”

Grace smiled, glad she could ease the tension in the air. “Sounds fun.”

Brigeeta squealed again and grabbed Grace’s hands. “You have to come with us. You have to. It’s so much fun. You get to meet all kinds of different guys. And even if you don’t find your fated mate, we usually find at least someone to spend the night with.”

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