Page 14 of Fenrir
Grace sighed.This was bad. So very bad.
* * *
Fenrir wokeup and blinked several times. Where the hell was he? The scent of pancakes hit him, along with eggs and meat. His stomach grumbled. He peered around to find himself in Loki’s penthouse.
He grabbed his head. What the hell had happened the night before? Memories rushed back. Grace. He’d met Grace. Loki had found him in the street, calmed him down, and promised to find Grace. Then they’d gone to Odin’s, where he’d drunk enough to kill a fire giant. From there, things got fuzzy, but he assumed Loki had brought him home, where he now hung half on half off the couch.
Footsteps padded softly toward him, and he squinted into the light to see Val bring over a large tray and set it on the coffee table.
“He would have put you into bed, but it took everything he had just to get you here and on the couch without waking up Freyette.”
Fenrir groaned. “Sorry, Val.”
She chuckled. “Trust me. If you had woken up Freyette, it would have been your dad who cared for her. I would have just continued to sleep through it, like you.” She chuckled and touched his shoulder. “You doing ok?”
He nodded and sat up, but his head pounded from the alcohol. Somewhere between turning eight hundred and a thousand years old, alcohol started affecting him differently. Though it left his system pretty fast, the lingering effects did not.
“Where’s Loki?” He grabbed the glass of water off the tray and chugged it.
“Going to fulfill his vow to you.”
Fenrir almost choked. “He told you about that?”
“Of course. We share everything. And trust me, there is no better way to get your dad to do something than to tell me. I seem to have a way of making him do just about anything I want done.” Her eyes sparkled. “It’s kind of nice.”
Fenrir smiled. “Very true. I’ve never seen him so quick to want to make someone happy before.” He looked over the tray of food. “You didn’t have to do all this.”
She shrugged. “What else am I going to do? Freyette isn’t up yet. We have a maid to clean. I don’t have anyone to battle. No mandatory training. No job. The least I can do is learn to make food that isn’t burnt, too spicy, or raw in the middle. I’m still working on that last one, so you’ve been warned.”
Fenrir picked up a pancake, folded it, and shoved it in his mouth. “Well, you got the pancakes right.” He gave her a thumbs up. “And I’d be happy to spar with you if you ever need a partner.”
She picked up a napkin and handed it to him, and he wiped his mouth.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. Right now, I’m just trying to get used to this post-baby body of mine. When I am ready, though, I’ll let you right now.”
He nodded and went to grab another pancake, but Val coughed, and he stopped. Picking up a fork and knife, he cut it in half and then shoved it in his mouth.
She laughed. “You’re a work in progress, Fen, but you are definitely more teachable than your dad.”
There it was again. That nickname.
A cry came from down the hall, and Val sighed. “The boss is awake.”
Fenrir stood. “Let me get her.”
Val’s eyebrows drew together. “Really?”
A pang of anxiety shot through him. “If you don’t trust me to, that’s ok, I don’t-”
Val laid her hand on his arm. “Fenrir, you are her big brother. Of course I trust you. It’s only that she is just waking up, so she probably needs to be changed.”
Fenrir shrugged. “How hard can it be?”
A smile slid across Val’s face. “You know what? Go right ahead and get her royal wiggliness.”
Val chuckled as she returned to the kitchen, putting dishes and pans into the sink.
He stared at her for a moment and then started down the hall where Freyette had begun to cry.