Of course, once we were off the parkway it wasn’t as much fun, the road full of traffic. Big rigs crawling in the inside lane, and me feeling, well. Nervous.

 

Definitely nervous. I’d gotten so tense I probably needed a spa day. Or some other way to outright force me to relax.

 

Well, if nothing went wrong on this trip it would help. The problem was convincing myself there was any likelihood of nothing going wrong. Before nothing did, by which point it would be essentially too late, I’d be back and facing all of the same decisions.

 

A hawk circled above the highway, looking for roadkill. Clean up crew, I thought wryly. But definitely a hawk, not a raven. Hopefully Odin would leave me alone and let me take a vacation.

 

Unless I was needed. And maybe I could avoid being needed. We kept heading north. Through that east coast megalopolis I talked about earlier, but at least there were some breaks in it. A farm. A field with horses in it. Small stands of trees.

 

An outlet mall.

 

It was all so ordinary, so banal. So much as if the real world was hidden behind a veil.

 

Maybe that was what I needed, though.

 

Finally, I spoke, “I’m too anxious.”

 

“I know. Maybe…”

 

“Maybe we should stop somewhere good for relaxation.”

 

“I think you just need to…” She pauses. “Worry about the bad guys when they show up?”

 

It was good advice. “Well, we’re not stopping at the outlet mall.”

 

She laughed. “Maybe at the end of the trip.”

 

I thought about that. “Maybe. It might not be bad. Right now, though, I don’t want to even think about clothes.”

 

Kanesha laughed again. “What about swords?”

 

“Those too.”

 

I just hoped I could find it in myself to follow her advice. She was right. I’d be a wreck if I didn’t stop worrying about what might happen as opposed to what already did and had.

 

And right now, nothing was, so I could relax and focus on driving. After I switched off with Kanesha, I curled up in the shotgun seat and just watched America go by.

 

Thought of the various places I’d been. Thought of how none of them could really be home, and how I had to remember that, see it as truth. My true home wasn’t even in this reality.

 

That helped.

 

It helped a lot. Leave it, Sigyn had said. I realized she didn’t necessarily mean physically.

 

I could protect it, and care about it, without letting myself be so emotionally tied.

 

I would, though, never leave Kanesha. No, maybe not never, but…

 

I loved her. And there were all kinds of different kinds of love. I loved protecting people, but that didn’t mean I loved them all.

 

It was a clarity of mind I hadn’t experienced in a while. I analyzed it, appreciated it, and then closed my eyes.

 

Starting with getting a car. I was lucky – it only took me a day to find what I was looking for.

 

A camper was, of course, out. I needed something I could park in a city, although I had no intention of driving into Manhattan, but rather finding a park and ride or something. But I also wanted something we could sleep in in a pinch.

 

I ended up with, of all things, a beaten up Mercedes. It was so cheap I checked the trunk for bodies before driving off. I heard one story about a TV presenter who, as part of a stunt, bought a cheap ancient Merc in Miami. It didn’t have a body in the trunk. Just a bloody hoodie.

 

Presumably they disposed of the body before dumping the car. The only thing I found in the trunk of this one was an empty beer cooler, which I decided we’d just keep. Probably not for beer, mind. For soda, though, it would be perfect. It smelled of cheap cleaning fluid, but it started, it had been serviced, and the seats were leather.

 

If we broke down it would be entirely my fault, and I’d take full responsibility for it. I managed to get basic insurance quickly – fortunately, car insurance agencies seem to be used to wheeled impulse buys. Kanesha laughed when she saw it.

 

“Okay, why was it cheap?”

 

“I don’t know. I checked it for bodies. It probably drinks gas like nothing else, but we can sleep in it if we need to.”

 

She walked around the car, then nodded. “Okay.”

 

“I also got the windscreen washer fluid filled, and I got like a car first aid kit.” I grinned. “So…”

 

“I packed. You still need to.”

 

I also had to tell the landlord I’d be gone for two weeks, otherwise they’d put notices on my door and it would become obvious to a thief that I wasn’t there. And pack.

 

But then we could get out of here, and I found myself quite antsy to. And to some place that wasn’t Los Angeles.

 

That was somebody else’s problem, though. I knew that at some deep level. Not my issue to fix. And as frustrating as that was, I was also relieved. I had, after all, quite enough on my plate without yet more stuff to worry about. This trip would probably cause me to run into something, too.

 

Or just hunters, like dreadlock guy, although he’d apparently satisfied himself that I wasn’t a threat or whatever he’d been worried about and, well, left. Unless he’d gone the same way we were.

 

By the time I got back to the car, Kanesha had filled the cooler with soda, stocked up on snacks and was eyeing the entertainment system. “Won’t hook up phones.”

 

“We can get some CDs.” For now, I tuned the radio. It crackled, then hooked on to a station. No, it wouldn’t hook up a phone or get Sirius, but there was still radio.

 

And there was us, and heading out of town with the road beneath our wheels, at least as fast as DC’s traffic allowed.

 

No sense of foreboding, either. But that meant only that the threat was not immediate.

 

For now, though, I decided to enjoy the open road.

 

“So, Los Angeles was a wash?”

 

I sighed. “Los Angeles is possessed. I mean, the entire place.”

 

Kanesha blinked. “I thought that was an urban fantasy trope.”

 

“So did I. But it’s not…it’s not something I can deal with right now. Maybe I know somebody who knows somebody, though.”

 

She nodded. “So…”

 

“So, you don’t have to start classes again for two weeks. How about we just…not be here for those two weeks.”

 

She laughed. “Road trip?”

 

“Road trip.”

 

“Where to, though?”

 

I considered that. “We’ve already done the Outer Banks this year.”

 

“And I’m not letting you anywhere close to that selkie!” she teased.

 

I laughed, but realized I was blushing. “So…we go north instead.” I grabbed her laptop and pulled out a map. “North to New York, along the coast to Boston, up into New Hampshire and then to Albany, then Niagara Falls.”

 

“I like that. I hear the Canadian side’s better, but…”

 

“Then we go back through Pittsburgh, Morgantown, and back through the mountains. Should be doable comfortably.” I grinned.

 

“So, we…”

 

“I’m buying a car. It won’t be anything great, but in the long term, I think we need one.”

 

And I already had a thought, but I wasn’t sure I’d go through with it.

 

“Okay. I think I like that. We’ll just…”

 

“Stay in motels when we feel like stopping, go off itinerary if we want to, and hope no fire giants show up.” It would be much more relaxing if I thought that last was anything more than hope.

 

But maybe we’d confuse him. Or maybe he’d think I was making a target of myself.

 

Or of Kanesha. I was surprised he hadn’t tried to kill her yet. If he wanted me to hate him? He was missing a great opportunity.

 

But this would take me out of town long enough to calm down and if he followed us? I’d deal with that then.

 

“I like it.” She grinned. “As for the fire giants?” She made a stabbing motion.

 

I grinned back. “Wish it was that easy, but yeah.” Anything less than Surtur or his elites we could deal with.

 

I knew that. But I also knew bad things could still happen. Many of them.

 

I put in my notice at the apartment, and started to reach out to modeling agencies elsewhere. Kanesha’s suggestion was a good one.

 

I felt as if I was tearing her away from everything she was and everything she wanted to be. I knew how much teaching mattered to her. I’d taken her and turned her into something else for what?

 

Because I loved her? Was it real? Could it be…and I knew that for self pity and headed it off before I descended any further down that path. I could waste hours on that.

 

Of course, Baltimore was close enough that I could still work for this agency. But…I couldn’t help but think it wasn’t far enough away.

 

Leave it.

 

My mother knew, though, what it was to be loyal to a lover. She knew about that obstacle. Maybe I should have asked her for advice.

 

Then I found the opportunity. On the west coast. And maybe if we went there the slow way…a road trip.

 

We both had our license. We could buy an old junker, get minimal insurance, I didn’t have much I was attached to and neither did she, not since the fire.

 

We were both kind of sort of adults. I pulled out my cell phone, shook my head. Then sent off the application.

 

I’d talk to her, of course, but I didn’t want her to plan for something which might not happen. Then I kept looking through things, but my mind went back to that agency.

 

Not Hollywood, per se, but close. Would it be too obvious for me? Was anything I did not too obvious, short of asking if I could flee back to Asgard.

 

Where I couldn’t take Kanesha.

 

Where I clearly wasn’t meant to be right now. No. Besides, I wasn’t running. I was tactically retreating so that…

 

…so that he didn’t think I had attachment to any particular place. Of course, I did. I had attachment to Seb and Clara and Will.

 

None of whom were going to come with me. They could manage, though. Derek would stop being my problem.

 

Other things would take his place. I didn’t want to do this, and I knew that was the weapon Surtur had.

 

I had to let go of the place. Not so much the people. People could move, people could run and survive. Places were more vulnerable.

 

I got an email back almost right away. They wanted to fly me out for an interview. In Los Angeles.

 

I did not want to go to Los Angeles in particular, from what I’d heard of the place.

 

But I knew I had to do what my mother said. For once.

 

I could send out a mental call for help stronger than any I’d sent before, reaching into whatever connection held us together.

 

Surtur heard it. He laughed. “Think about it.” And then he and his bodyguards were gone in flames.

 

I ran for the burning building. Maybe I could get some people out.

 

I really was going to kill him, consequences be damned. I wanted to in that moment. But I’d also felt that connection.

 

It wasn’t my task.

 

It wasn’t my task. But I wasn’t going to acquiesce to him either. If what I’d felt was fate, then I was going to make my own.

 

I had choices. And I could feel those, too, for a moment, perhaps a sense of the edge of the web the Norns wove.

 

Which wasn’t about taking away choice. It was about consequences.

 

I ran into the building. I took precautions against the smoke, of course. It wouldn’t hurt me, but it would slow me down. I was determined to get people out.

 

I managed to save three before the professionals showed up. It was an office building, which meant, at least, no kids. Then I stood back and let the firefighters do their job.

 

Thruor showed up. “Surtur?”

 

“He’s now changed tactics to threatening the entire city if I don’t go with him. Of course, if I do…”

 

Her eyes darkened. That’s not usually literal. In her case it was. “I’m going to…”

 

“Kill him for me?” It almost sounded like a request.

 

“It’s tempting.” She let out a breath. “Very tempting. Odin can’t intervene in this directly without starting the war.”

 

“I know.” I looked at the flames. “I tried to stop him, but…”

 

“Your fire magic is not going to be as strong as his. No chance. Don’t feel bad about it.”

 

“I’d rather not have fire magic at all. It…the more I use it…”

 

“Can you stop?” she asked, almost thoughtfully.

 

“I don’t think so.” No, I knew I couldn’t. And I knew it was drawing me, pulling me, closer to other sources of flame. “I haven’t…until now I don’t think I really wanted him dead except as the only way to make him go away.”

 

“Be careful. Hating him…”

 

And I understood. “…can forge a bond as easily as loving him.” I shook my head. “I don’t think I can help it, though.”

 

“Then we need a council of war.”

 

Odin couldn’t interfere directly. Heaven wouldn’t. Neither would Zaid’s alien, desert gods.

 

We had to find out who’s task it was to kill Surtur.

 

Hopefully the kid had run.

 

Surtur, flanked by two giantesses, both of them armed. Both of them smiling at me in a way that did not put me at ease.

 

“Siglaugr.”

 

I wanted to ignore him. But being civil was also a weapon, of sorts, so I nodded.

 

“This has gone on long enough,” he continued.

 

“You didn’t bring enough to take me.” Bravado, perhaps, but…

 

“I have learned my lesson.” A bit of a smile. “I need you. My people need you. And so…” The smile became something else. “If you do not come with me I will burn this city.”

 

He could do it, too. “No.”

 

“You would…”

 

I smiled. “Call your bluff, yes. You and I both know you intend to burn this world.” My heartrate was elevating, though.

 

He could do it.

 

He would do it. But if I went with him, he would destroy the world.

 

“Ah, but…”

 

I cut him off. “And it would still be, in part, my responsibility. You know it as well as I do. Let’s not pretend.”

 

He lifted a hand. Flame came from it. I wasn’t afraid of his fire – I was far more afraid of my own.

 

Which wanted to rise in answer, and for a moment I felt it. A kinship. A bond to him. I forced the thought away.

 

“So, this is what your protection of them is worth?”

 

“This is what your honor is worth,” I retorted. “You had it, once. You’re throwing it away – and for what?”

 

“My people’s survival. You’ve seen our world. You have not seen that it is dying.”

 

I let out a breath. “These people are under my protection, but it has its limits. I can’t stop you and if I go with you it will be worse.”

 

“What if I showed you?”

 

Maybe he wasn’t going to do it. Maybe he was afraid to.

 

“You aren’t going to convince me. You might have convinced me to help you.”

 

“There’s only one way you can.” He looked at me. “You can give me an heir who has Aesir blood.”

 

So, that was, as I’d suspected, what this was about. “You could try…”

 

“I’m sorry. It’s too late for anything else.”

 

One of the women said something it took me a moment to translate.

 

“A demonstration, then.” He pointed at a random building.

 

I reached for my own fire, trying to counter his, but mine was a bonfire compared to a firestorm.

 

I could not stop him.

 

I decided that while I didn’t mind planes, I hated airports.

 

I also hated the feeling of dread, the feeling whatever I did would be wrong. Clara was trying to get together as much magical power as she could to try and ward the entire city. She rather thought it had been done once, that there were even patterns in the streets that could help.

 

I thought that might be an alternative. To me keeping moving, never attached to one place, dragging Kanesha with me into a nomadic lifestyle I knew didn’t really suit her.

 

And what did I have…oh no. I was not going there.

 

I was not running away. So, what was I running towards? Was I letting chance guide me to the west coast?

 

Leave it.

 

I knew where she was going. Kanesha I could protect simply by keeping her close to me. I’d already proved I couldn’t, yet, protect an entire city, not from a fire giant king. Not from somebody who’s power was so close to mine and yet so much more powerful.

 

Allies.

 

Allies in Jotunheim. Angrboda. But I knew if…if she was capable of taking on Surtur directly, would she?

 

Probably not. She had no real reason to care.

 

And then there were the dwarfmaid twins. Maybe they could help, somehow.

 

If it came to war, they would.

 

If it came to war, I rather thought I would already have failed. Even if part of me wouldn’t mind it.

 

Part of me rather thought it would be fun. My father’s influence? No, he was a trickster, not a fighter.

 

But there was a part of me that seemed to stir at the thought of leading an army. I rolled my eyes. I did not want to be a queen. I did not want to be a general.

 

Did I?

 

And then there was that feeling of a connection between me and Surtur. Thruor was right. It was hate. An enemy could be as connected as a lover.

 

He wanted to make us both.

 

And there was power in that, I realized. Power in a bond formed in such a way…but I would not allow myself to be used.

 

For the power would go only to the one who intended the bond to form. Not my task to kill him.

 

I wondered if fate would mind…

 

…no, that was hate too. And I understood why mother had said to leave.

 

To avoid the confrontation until I had calmed down enough that it would not be based off of hate.

 

I scrambled onto the rooftops, but I didn’t see him. Or smell him – I’m not, after all, a dog.

Fortunately, fyrhunds can climb, or…maybe he teleported to get up there with me. There.

There was a shape, hiding behind the roof ridge. I ran to the top of it, dodging a bullet that angled past me. It grazed the fyrhund, who yelped, but didn’t seem significantly hurt.

“Why are you shooting at us?” I asked as I powered down the ridge, tackling him into the roof.

“Wasn’t shooting at you. No quarrel with you. Just with that asshole.”

“I don’t care what he did to your kid sister, you almost hit me.”

The look on his face showed I’d struck home. Of course, it was a guess.

“He deserves…”

“Oh, I know he’s an asshole, but do you deserve to end up in jail?”

I managed to get my hands on the gun and flip it away. It went off the edge of the roof to crash into a dumpster below.

“You could let me go.”

“Oh, I don’t intend to keep you. Just teach you a lesson about taking pot shots at people in the open.”

Which I hoped this would be. A lesson.

“So, what am I supposed to do about him?”

I considered that. “I wouldn’t stop you from beating him up, I suppose.” Of course, Kanesha would have him well clear by now. “But I don’t like unnecessary killing.”

“He knocked up a fifteen-year-old.”

“Again.” Maybe he’d be doing the world…or young women…a favor.

“You didn’t know what he did. You just guessed.”

“I know what he’s like.”

“He should be in jail. Or dead.”

I couldn’t entirely disagree. Something led me to speak. “He will be soon.”

“Which?”

“Dead. He’s old.” I wasn’t sure how I knew that – no, I didn’t. The fyrhund did, and had told me in subtle telepathy.

“Doesn’t look it.”

“He’s good at hiding it. As for the kid…the kid will be fine.” I thought of Derek. And thought that I’d have to take steps.

“She refuses to abort.”

“Brave of her.”

Then the rooftop suddenly became quite a bit hotter. I released my prey. “Run.”

He did.

I turned to face the new arrival, knowing what I would see.

When he stopped, “It’s a wardstone. It’s meant to protect him from mental influence and deceit. So that he can identify the next demon he meets.”

“That seems reasonable enough, but it’s scaring his mother.”

“She has no reason to love me,” he admitted, regarding me thoughtfully. “Neither do you.”

“But my goal is for Derek to be able to look after himself so I’m not eternally chasing around after him.”

He laughed again. “Consider it practice for your own children.”

I hadn’t thought that much about having children, although I was sure it would happen at some point. “He should be your responsibility, not mine, but…”

“I am respecting his mother’s wishes, whilst helping as I can. By all means, get a witch to check the stone.”

“His mother is a witch,” I pointed out.

“She wasn’t much of one when I knew her.” A pause. “But I suppose that was a while ago.”

Efreets lived a bit longer than humans. I wondered how old he was. I was glad I’d done more research on his kind, tried to develop more of an understanding.

They were mortal, after all.

The report of the shot sounded a moment later. I reacted, hitting the deck and pulling the efreet with me. Kanesha, I trusted to get down herself. She did.

“Tell me that was a firework,” he said, softly.

“It wasn’t.” I picked myself up. “Stay down. See if you can’t come up with a decent spell.” I didn’t care if I got shot, not really. But I stayed in a crouch, moving behind a car as I tried to locate the sniper. I wasn’t sure which of us they had aimed at, or even whether it hadn’t been aimed at us at all. It didn’t matter.

People who took pot shots in public places deserved to go down, but whoever it was appeared to have run.

“Stay with him. I’m going to go track down the sniper.”

Kanesha nodded. “Actually, we’ll go somewhere really public. There’s a cafe that should still be open.”

“Good idea.” I looked around. Then I looked at the dog. He was pointing his nose upwards.

Rooftops. Great. I wasn’t really that good at freerunning, but I had to find this guy.

Even if he was just mundane, I still had to find him.

Pizza did help. We sat outside, and I called the fyrhund. He padded up to me, and sat down, in bloodhound form. As if he’d sensed that a manhunt was in the offing.

Kanesha reached down and fondled his ears. Without getting burned.

“Risky.”

“I think I trust him not to hurt me.”

“Deliberately,” I pointed out.

He panted and wagged his stern. I finished my pizza and paid the check. “Okay, let’s go find the deadbeat dad.”

“Deadbeat dad?” the waitress, not quite far enough away, asked.

“Yeah. Friend of ours. His sperm donor’s in town and we’re going to corner him and get him to actually at least pretend to be a father,” I explained. Which was even, somewhat, true.

“Oh. Good luck. Nice dog.”

The fyrhund lolled his tongue at her. Then stood up as I did. I murmured to him. “Find the efreet.”

I trusted there would only be one in the city.

“What if there’s more than one?” Kanesha commented.

“Seems unlikely. But I suppose if we find the wrong one we cross them off the list.”

She laughed. “I don’t have to get up early.”

It was rather late at this point. But I didn’t want to wait any longer. “If you have to go sleep, go. I don’t plan on fighting him.”

“Nah. Let’s go.”

The fyrhund led us away from the restaurant. I got a sense, almost an image from him. “It’s not that far, at least. Or at least there’s an efreet a few blocks away.”

“In the direction of Derek’s place?”

“Yup. Maybe he’s staking it out.” He didn’t want to deal with his ex, but he could watch hidden. “She’ll spot him eventually, though.”

“Maybe she’ll let him stick around as long as he doesn’t talk to Derek.”

“Maybe.” I was skeptical, though. She didn’t like him. She had every reason not to like him. To be honest, I didn’t like him with a lot less reason. “At least it shows it’s probably the right guy.”

Or girl. There were female efreet, after all. But he wasn’t all the way to Derek’s.

We spotted him leaning against a wall, smoking a cigarette. It wasn’t tobacco.

“Ugh,” Kanesha pronounced. “I hate the smell of weed.”

He looked up. “You.”

“Yeah. Us. Don’t worry, we aren’t here to beat you up.”

“You’re here to pass some message from my son.”

“I’m here to find out what the heck you gave him.”

The efreet started to laugh.