Celeste pointed at her mother. “Bring her.”
Tyr nodded, hefted her mom over his shoulder like a sack of flour, and together, they strode from the room.
They reached the bottom of the steps, and Tyr stopped short. Celeste scanned the bar. Shattered chairs and bodies lay dead or unconscious on the floor. She blinked several times, takingin the scene. Everyone. Every single male in the bar littered the floor.
Several bloodied women lay on the sparkly runways. She touched their minds in turn, making sure they were still alive.
The men, though… less than five were so lucky.
“Finished?” Heimdall sat at the bar, drinking from a bottle of whiskey.
“Someone had fun,” said Tyr. “Thought you weren’t supposed to interfere.”
Heimdall shrugged. “I saved as many of the women as I was able. Some I couldn’t stop from attacking, though, so I had to knock them out. They shouldn’t have to suffer for your temper tantrums.”
“Maybe you should work for me. Not spend all your time at Frigg’s.”
Heimdall sipped his drink. “We leaving?”
Tyr snorted. “You already know the answer.”
Heimdall downed his drink. “Let’s finish this.”
They walked over the bodies littering the floor, and as they pushed open the front door, noise on the streets assaulted them.
The group stared at the chaos outside the strip club. A complete riot ensued all around them. Men beat each other. Women screamed and slapped each other. Dogs barked and snarled at everything that moved. The entire street was littered with crashed cars. It was mayhem. Sirens wailed in the distance, and a helicopter flew into view.
Celeste took Tyr’s hand, and his eyes clouded in regret.
“It’s not your fault.”
Tyr shook his head. “Yes,Fylgja. It is.”
Celeste’s heart pounded,and her leg bounced in the front seat of Amezodile’s SUV as they headed back to her mother’s house.
Please, please, please, let him be okay. She let down her shield and reached for her father again, but there was no response.
The best she could think was that her mother had him in the house somewhere warded that Celeste didn’t know about, and his abilities didn’t work where he was being held.
Tyr squeezed her hand, and she tried to smile, but her mouth wouldn’t work. At least his eyes had returned to normal, and the red aura had left.
As they pulled up in front of her house, a pit grew deep in Celeste’s gut. She sucked in several breaths.
“I should go first.”
Celeste shook her head.
He looked like he might argue, so she jumped from her side of the vehicle before he said anything.
“Celeste!” Tyr leapt from the car and met her at the front, where the high beams fell across the now-dark yard.
The car door opened behind them, and Celeste turned to her mother. “Where is he?”
Heimdall joined them.
Her mother’s gaze bounced between them.
Heimdall grabbed her mother’s arm and jerked her forward. “Tell her,” he ordered.