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  Reasonably certain that his advice wouldn’t be ignored, Loki returned to the transport ship. The droid barely waited for him to be seated before it took off and headed back to Dallas. He felt a slight weight lift off his shoulders and was irritated to find he’d been feeling guilty about the plight of the captives. They would still be mindless slaves, but at least their living conditions should now improve to some extent.

  When the vessel dropped him back in Dallas, a thought occurred to him. Uldar hadn’t asked how he’d known about the poor state of his captives. A cold finger traced its way down his spine. His allies must have been aware of him when he’d rescued Bianca from her cell and he hadn’t even known he was being watched.

  Chapter Three

  ~~~ Violet’s World ~~~

  VIOLET LED THE WAY through the kitchen to the room at the front of the store. Her two new friends glanced around to see the kitchen was clean and modern and sported stainless-steel appliances. The walls were white and matching tiles covered the floor. Most of the appliances had barely been used when Violet had first arrived. Angels didn’t need to eat, after all. There were several humans, or almost humans, on their team now, which meant the appliances were used far more frequently. Luckily, Sophia’s human vessel was a good cook.

  Nat and Lexi examined the front room next when they followed the others inside. The floor was covered in thick gray carpet and the walls had been painted a soothing shade of cream. Shelves lined three of the walls. Jars, books and strange ornaments were arranged on them. A long counter ran along the back of the room. A cash register sat near the door that led to the kitchen. A large round table with six chairs took up the center of the room. Made of dark wood, the legs were sturdy and it looked heavy. Sophia had given up her job of telling fortunes, but she hadn’t made any changes to the store yet. The sign that advised her as being a psychic was still on the front door.

  “We’ll need more chairs,” Violet said to Nathan. He concentrated and four more seats appeared. They were cheap white plastic ones, but they would do. He’d borrowed them from the basement beneath Elijah’s church where he knew there were spares.

  “Neat,” Nat said in appreciation. She’d used telekinesis many times herself, but this was the first time she’d seen anyone else use it.

  “Who is the extra chair for?” Lexi asked. There were only nine people present at the moment.

  Right on cue, a knock sounded at the door. Sam crossed to unlock it and an African-American man in his mid-thirties stepped inside. His bearing and assessing eyes told the two warriors that he was a cop, even though he wore a dark blue suit rather than a uniform. “I didn’t realize you were back,” the man said to Violet and gave her a quick hug.

  “I only returned a few minutes ago,” she informed him.

  “Who are they?” he asked as he examined the newcomers.

  Violet wasn’t at all surprised to see the detective turn up at such a late hour. He tended to work strange shifts. Fate had probably prompted him to visit the store now. She was an expert manipulator and was well practiced at placing her minions where she wanted them. “They’re Fate’s warriors from their dimensions,” she told him. “Natalie Pierce is a vampire and Alexis Levine is part werewolf, part vampire and part necromancer.”

  “Call me Nat,” Natalie said.

  Lexi added her preference next. “My friends call me Lexi.”

  “This is Detective Calvin Reynolds,” Violet said.

  He stepped forward to shake their hands. Compared to demons, these two women didn’t seem so bad, even if they were apparently supernatural beings. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said.

  “Next is Sophia,” Violet went on. “This is her store.” The plain woman with the long hair greeted them with a gentle smile. To Violet, Sophia had long white hair and was beautiful. As far as she knew, she was the only one who could see the true faces of angels and demons. “The twins are Leo and Briathos, but we call her Brie,” she went on. The blond teens nodded in unison. The boy smiled, but his sister was scowling slightly. “You already kind of know Elijah,” she said with a grin, then turned to the third teen. “This is my best friend, Sam.” She pulled the dark-skinned boy in for a hug and he beamed happily.

  “I guess that means you’re Nathan,” Nat said with a lecherous grin at the only person they hadn’t been introduced to yet. “I didn’t realize we had the same taste in men, V.”

  Nathan was amused to see Violet narrow her eyes at the vampire. “Nathan and Luc are nothing alike,” she said hotly.

  “They actually do look very similar,” Lexi pointed out and received a glare in return. “If Luc’s eyes were blue, he could almost pass for Nathan’s older brother.” Violet’s boyfriend looked around nineteen, which was far younger than Luc’s thirty-something mortal years.

  “I highly doubt that,” Brie said with a sniff. “We are older than the Earth itself.”

  “She wasn’t being literal,” Violet said with an eye roll.

  “Do not start,” Sophia said before the pair could descend into an argument. Her tone was long-suffering, as if she’d been through this countless times before.

  “I think some tea might be in order,” Elijah said. “Would either of you ladies like a cup?”

  “I’d prefer coffee, if you have it,” Lexi replied.

  “I can’t drink tea, but I’d love some blood,” Nat joked.

  Leo sniggered. “I do not think even a vampire would ingest the type of blood that we have stored in the fridge.”

  Intrigued that angels would keep a stock of blood, Nat followed Elijah back into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and reached for a container and handed it to her. Opening the lid, she recoiled from the rancid smell of the thick substance. “Eww!” she complained. “That smells like butt!”

  “How do you know what butt smells like?” Sam asked. He and Leo were standing in the doorway, watching her.

  “I don’t,” Nat confessed as she recapped the container and put it back in the fridge. “I assume it smells a lot like that, though.”

  The teens shared a grin. “I think I like her,” Leo said to his friend. “She seems like fun.”

  Crossing to the boys, Nat put her arms over their shoulders and guided them back into the front room. “You two kids remind me of Geordie and Ishida, two of my closest friends.”

  “In what way?” Sam asked.

  “They both look like teenagers, but are way older. Plus, they have a sense of humor, unlike some.” She shot a mock glare at Violet.

  “I have a sense of humor, Rigor Mortis,” Violet replied. “It just isn’t as old and crusty as yours.”

  Gasping in outrage, Nat let go of the boys and reached for her swords. She froze when Lexi pulled her gun.

  “Don’t make me use this,” Lexi warned them both.

  “Sorry, Mom,” Violet said and sank down onto the chair next to Nathan’s.

  “If this is what having kids is like, I’m never going to let Reece get me pregnant,” Lexi muttered.

  “Why did Violet call you Rigor Mortis?” Sam asked as he took a seat next to Natalie.

  “I’m called Mortis on my world, which means ‘death’ in Latin,” she replied with a glower at Violet. “She thinks it’s funny to call me Rigor Mortis.”

  “Rigor Mortis would mean something like ‘Stiff Death’ in English,” Leo said. He and Sam managed to hold onto their giggles for two whole seconds before they lost it.

  Violet watched the madly giggling teens with a fond smile. “I’ve missed you guys,” she said when they finally had themselves under control.

  Elijah stepped through the doorway carrying a tray of beverages. “Tell us everything that happened to you when you left our world,” he said as he placed the tray on the table. He was especially interested in hearing about his doppelganger from another reality. Thanks to Fate’s warning, they’d already known that Loki would be their next adversary. They needed to know what they would be facing when their next war began.

  Reyno
lds grabbed one of the mugs of coffee, then took a notepad and pen out of an inner pocket of his jacket. He took copious notes while Violet and her two friends related their story.

  Lexi couldn’t help but compare the detective to Mark Steel. One was a cop and the other was an agent for a clandestine agency, but they were similar in many ways. One of Natalie’s friends had come up with a theory. He believed that Fate gathered similar types of people together to assist her chosen warriors with their missions. Without the support of their friends, her champions would have surely failed. She pitied the worlds that had fallen and wondered if it was because their saviors hadn’t had loyal friends like these to help them.

  Chapter Four

  ~~~ Asgard ~~~

  CLASPING A FINE CRYSTAL glass filled with a delicate, fruity wine, Loki paced the floor of his apartment in frustrated indecision. He spared a glance at the table that was laden with soiled dishes. King Rho’s magical necklaces had stripped the will and intelligence from the Asgardian people to the extent where they could barely function. They needed detailed instructions to perform even the most menial of tasks. Seeing his kin in such a mindless state had given him a sour stomach. He would rather live in squalor than have a mute, brainless servant waiting on him hand and foot.

  When he’d first been approached by a Grimgorg shaman a year ago, he hadn’t truly believed they could accomplish the impossible and oust Odin from power. But Rho and his repugnant little people had banished Odin and his warriors, just as their doppelgangers had on so many other worlds.

  Unfortunately, Loki was having trouble finding suitable allies to assist him and the Grimgorg to invade other worlds. He’d been to most of the inhabited planets during the past few eons and he’d caused havoc on nearly all of them. Very few beings trusted him now. He was scraping the bottom of the barrel to find someone to help him.

  The vast majority of his likenesses from other realities had made bargains with a race called Viltarans. Rho had spied on their world to discover they’d all but eradicated their own species in this dimension. They had become a shattered remnant of their former glory. Besides, the Viltarans had already attempted to invade Midgard and had failed horribly.

  This version of Midgard, or Earth as they were calling it these days, had very powerful beings guarding it. Loki and his kind had encountered the angels when they’d visited Earth and had been sent on their way by the celestial beings. It seemed angels were even more powerful than his kind. No other species wanted to take them on.

  Desperation had Loki contemplating approaching beings who might possess the power to do battle with angels. The problem was that they would be very dangerous and tricky to bargain with. He might be known as the God of Mischief on many worlds, but these creatures took mayhem to a whole new level.

  While Rho’s army was large, most of his people were warriors rather than magic users. The angels numbered in the millions and would annihilate them easily. The beings he was thinking of contacting might not be large in number, but they were highly skilled in magic. Far more skilled than even he was, in fact.

  Loki gulped down his drink and plonked the empty glass on the table with a heavy sigh. King Rho was growing increasingly impatient. He’d been urging him to commence their invasion of Midgard for weeks. He didn’t seem to understand that the angelic guardians would smite them all down as soon as they arrived.

  While the angels had tolerated the Asgardians’ presence on Earth for a while, they’d eventually stepped forward to urge them to move on. Thor had issued a challenge that if one of them could best him in battle, he and his kin would leave. A solitary human had stepped forward to take up the challenge. It had soon become apparent that he wasn’t a human at all. He’d been possessed by a holy being.

  Confident to the point of cockiness, Thor had never been bested before. He’d received a rude shock when the angel had called on a glowing blue sword. His skill in battle had been evident immediately as they’d traded blows. Ancient and lethal, the angel had quickly disarmed his opponent.

  Thor’s beloved hammer, Mjolnir, had been sent flying from his hand, leaving him vulnerable to the angel’s glowing blade. He’d conceded defeat, knowing it would mean his death if he didn’t. Proving that the angels were pure of heart, one of them had picked up the usually unmovable hammer and had handed it back to him. The angel had patted him on the shoulder in commiseration that he’d lost.

  Loki smiled a little at the memory of Thor’s consternation when he’d lost that fight. To this day, it still gave him joy to have seen his rival brought so low. True to his word, Thor had rounded up his kin and they’d returned to Asgard.

  Celestial beings couldn’t be killed, so he would have to devise a way to make sure they couldn’t come to the rescue of humanity. There was only one species he could think of who he hadn’t run afoul of so far. They’d been imprisoned on an unpopulated world by Odin several millennia ago. Their crime had been exactly what Loki and Rho were planning on doing to Earth; attempting to enslave the population. He had no way of knowing if the exiles were still alive, but there was one way to find out.

  Striding towards the door, Loki gave a mental shudder at what he was about to do. Once he started down this path, there was no way of telling whether he would succeed, or whether it would backfire on him horribly. Unfortunately, he didn’t possess the power to see into the future. He would just have to take a chance and hope that he would prevail in the end.

  He made his way along the grand hallways to Odin’s throne room. The huge golden throne had been melted down and a much smaller one now rested on a dais. Perched on the gaudy chair, Rho was high enough to stare down at his minions. He turned when Loki entered and scowled. “I hope you are here because you have thought of a new ally for us to approach,” he said grumpily.

  “That is exactly why I am here,” Loki replied. He came to a stop in front of a portal that glowed blue around the edges. He’d infused thousands of the devices with his magic. He’d turned them into doorways that had allowed the Grimgorg to banish Odin and his warriors and to invade Asgard. This one was waiting to be tuned to a new location and reflected his face as he knelt and leaned over it.

  At Rho’s nod, one of his shamans scuttled forward and began to chant a spell. Loki concentrated on the world he’d learned about through reading one of the forbidden tomes Odin hoarded in his private chambers. Few knew about the race that had been banished from the fae realms on another planet so long ago. Even fewer knew about the distant world they’d been exiled to.

  He pictured the planet based on the information he’d gleaned from the ancient book and placed his palm on the device. The silver surface shimmered and a forest appeared. At first glance, it looked like it was devoid of intelligent life. Then the image zoomed in and he made out dwellings in the trees. They were cleverly hidden, but his sharp eyes made out walls, roofs, windows and doorways.

  Rho left his throne and descended from the dais. Already hunchbacked, he didn’t need to bend over to look into the portal. “Who have you chosen to contact?” he asked. His people lived on raised buildings as well, but their huts were pathetic in comparison to these treehouses. They were beautifully made and had apparently grown out of the very trees themselves. Despite its beauty, he sensed a dark malevolence hovering over the village. A sense of foreboding filled him from simply observing the dwellings.

  “Faeries,” Loki replied. Rho sent him an incredulous look. “They aren’t the insignificant little beings that live on your world,” he added. “This particular band rebelled against their Queen. They attempted to take over their world and were banished by Odin long ago.”

  “You plan for us to become allied with evil faeries?” Rho said with a derisive sniff. He found it hard to believe they could possibly be of much use to them.

  “Their magic is very powerful,” Loki warned him. “They have spells that even I cannot duplicate. The Queen of the fae apparently made a deal with Odin to banish the rebels. In return, she promised she and her kin
d would remain in their own realm and to cease interfering with the population of their world.”

  “If these dark faeries have been shunned, then they might consider joining forces with us to exact their revenge on their kin,” Rho mused. “The portals that you have altered will allow them to return to their own planet.”

  Loki felt compelled to warn the Grimgorg ruler about what they would be up against. “If we decide to make a bargain with them, we will have to be very careful. They must fulfil their end of the deal, but they are tricky and they will attempt to worm their way out of it however they can.”

  Rho sent him a wry look. “How will that be any different from dealing with you?” The Asgardian might be afraid to deal with faeries, but Rho trusted his magic would protect him. He’d understated just how powerful he and his shamans were. It appeared the faeries were few in number. His army could easily overwhelm them when they’d outlived their usefulness.

  Flicking the king a dour look, Loki couldn’t deny his words. His reputation as a trickster was well-known. “We will need a volunteer to approach the village,” he said. He certainly wasn’t about to put his hand up for the task. First contact with this particular species was bound to be fraught with danger.

  Rho turned to his shamans and several of them stepped forward. He chose one and gestured at the portal. Stopping long enough to pick up one of the silver mirrors that was stacked off to the side, the volunteer leaped through the glowing blue doorway. He landed safely and tucked the device beneath his arm. It hadn’t been infused with Loki’s magic yet, which meant it was currently just a window that reflected Odin’s throne room. They weren’t about to give the faeries the means to leave their exile until after they’d reached an agreement with them.

  Slowing down when he reached the edge of the village, the shaman took a tentative step forward, then stiffened. He dropped the device and began to jerk as if he was being electrocuted. He screamed shrilly as his green skin darkened and purple blood began to erupt from every orifice. Sending a despairing look upwards where he knew his king could see him, he fell onto his face and lay twitching on the ground.