Page 92 of Flock Around and Find Out

He tilted his head, staring at me. “Where is he?”

“Who?”

“Your master. What has changed that he would be foolish enough to make you, that he woulddareto allow you to stand before me? Has so much time passed that he’s forgotten his place?” He leaned in, smiling to show teeth that weren’t in the least bit human. Instead, they were sharp, like wolf fangs. “I might have gone right back to sleep if I hadn’t seenyouhere.”

I tried to shove him away, but I had no luck getting him to budge in the least. He held tight, his eyes brighter than ever, something dark inside of them, something crazed and hollow and terrifying.

Thiswas what Galen had tried to warn me about, what he hid. It was the energy of this being but, untempered by Galen, it was so much worse.

For the first time, I understoodwhyGalen was so careful around me, why, as he’d lost himself, he’d pulled away. He’d struggled against this, against the instincts inside this thing.

My crow objected, and after a moment, he yanked away as though burned. He stared down at his hand, his brows furrowed as though he didn’t understand what had just happened.

Usually, my crow went for more random options, but this time?

It seemed shereallydidn’t like him touching us and had gone for a more direct reaction.

“You dare?” he asked, his voice vibrating with an anger that made the ground shake. “Clearly, I’ve slumbered too long. I am going to tear through this world again, remind you all of just how small, how insignificant you are. I’ll plunge my teeth into your flesh and tear it free, picking everything from your bones and maybe, at the end of it, if any of you still survive, you’ll recognize what true power is.”

I stared up at him, entirely unsure how to respond tothat.If it had been just anyone I might have laughed at the villain quality of the monologue, but unfortunately, it wasn’t just anyone.

It was a god who I was pretty sure could carry out that threat if he wanted to.

“I’ll start with you,” he said, his voice so deep that it didn’t sound human at all anymore. “When I’m done with you, he’ll remember why he hides, why he crawls among lesser beasts, to escapemygaze. You can remind him with your broken body.”

He reached for me again, but before he touched me, I found myself on the other side of the room, as though torn from one place and deposited in another.

“Don’t look, he can pull you in with his gaze.” Knot’s voice warmed my ear, soft and oddly calm as he set his hand over my eyes.

“So you were around?” The man’s voice eased, though an undercurrent of hatred rushed through it. It was as though he were more comfortable dealing with Knot but hated him all the same.

It was a deeper hatred as well, something that spawned from many more years than I’d known Knot. Of course, given how much he annoyed me even in the years I’d known him, I could see why someone might hate him.

“You know me—I always show up when you least expect it.” Knot kept his hand over my eyes, and for once, I didn’t struggle, didn’t fight. I didn’t feel the need to.

“You’ve grown bold since I’ve been gone.”

“I like to keep people guessing. You have a nice nap?”

“I did, but I certainly didn’t expect one ofyoursto be the one to wake me.”

“What can I say? She takes after me—a bit brash, a bit ridiculous.”

“As strange as it is to see you create one, I am even more surprised to see youhere,trying to protect her from me. You’ve never given a damn about anyone else.”

“I’m a quality over quantity sort of person. This one’s worth the risk.”

“Be careful you don’t overestimate your abilities, Loki, because you have had to be taught that lesson time and time again.”

Loki?

The name made no sense to me, and for a moment, I wondered if that was some nickname of his. I didn’t have time to think much about it, however, as I stayed put.

“You should hand her over, now. Maybe that will appease me, at least for a while. See, I’ve been slumbering so long that I feel ready to stretch my limbs, to bathe this realm in blood again. I canfeelhow many of us slumber, how many have grown weak. I will wake them, now, draw them together again, and wewillremind this realm who truly rules it. I’ll start now withher.”

“Not a fucking chance,” Knot said, voice amazingly strong.

An angry roar echoed around as a familiar floating sensation ran through me, something similar to when I visited Knot in my dreams. When Knot removed his hand, I found that we weren’t there anymore. Instead, I stood in my own living room with just Knot.

---