Brimstone Kiss: Phantom Queen Book 10 - A Temple Verse Series (The Phantom Queen Diaries) by Shayne Silvers & Cameron O'Connell

Author:Shayne Silvers & Cameron O'Connell [Silvers, Shayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Argento Publishing
Published: 2020-03-11T16:00:00+00:00

28

Despite knowing the trouble Ryan’s arrival could mean for this realm and its inhabitants, the news that its ruler had been supplanted came as quite the shock. So much so, in fact, that I had to spend at least a minute processing Loki’s pronouncement. Of course, the next logical question was the obvious one.

“Then who is in charge?”

“The individual responsible for those malformed monsters that hunt you, I expect. I haven’t been able to sneak past my daughter’s guard dog to find out for myself.” Loki pinched his shirt between his fingers. “Illusions are one thing, but getting the smell of dog out of your clothes? Good luck.”

“That’s why you’re tellin’ me all this,” I said, clapping a hand to my head for being so dense. “Ye want to know who it is.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong.”

I lowered my arm, slowly.

“You see,” Loki continued, “I don’t much care who it is. I just want them stopped. Murdered, actually, assuming they’re alive. Oh, but also tortured, if you can manage it.”

“Would ye like me to make ye a cup of coffee while I’m at it?”

“No thanks. I’m stimulated enough as is.”

I rolled my eyes. “And what makes ye t’ink I stand a chance against him if he managed to overthrow your daughter? Isn’t she one of the jötunnar?”

“So it’s a him, then?” Loki pursed his lips, amused to see me squirm with the knowledge that I’d given him a clue. “Hel is very powerful, it’s true, but also easily fooled. She gets that from her mother, obviously.”

“Obviously,” I drawled.

“It’s quite possible she was taken in by this usurper. Tricked, somehow. Helheim has been her home for a long, long time. Few gods ever visit who aren’t already dead, and Valkyries make for poor company.” Loki eyed me up and down with disdain. “Anyway, she makes an easy mark.”

“So ye want me to, what, rescue her? After I torture and murder the person responsible, of course.”

“I’ll leave that bit up to you. Keep in mind, however, that Helheim without Hel would be a lawless wilderness full of abandoned souls with no one to shelter or guide them. If you can live with that on your conscience, then far be it from me to try to convince you otherwise.”

So, that was his plan: use me to do the dirty work and help his offspring, aware that the only way to right the wrongs that had been done here was to see order restored. Of course, that meant he was relying on my altruism—my sense of justice.

“So, what’s in it for me?”

“Pardon?”

“Well, it seems to me ye get to see your daughter returned to her throne, these beasts returned to their less horrifyin’ states, and all ye have to do is sit on your ass in some cave, keepin’ your son as far away as ye can from an old, one-eyed man and his stick.”

This time it was my turn to smile as Loki flinched, betraying the reason he’d holed up in this cave with all its runes.

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