I was left wondering if she would find the time – and worrying a little bit about what might be happening in Vanaheim.

It wasn’t my concern, though, and I really needed to learn to let other people worry about the things they were supposed to worry about. A bad tendency of mine, that, to worry about things I couldn’t stop.

I was finally beginning to realize that was the problem, not me not being able to solve everything. We’d taken out the fire giants that did that to Clara, but not whoever they were working for.

I should worry about that and let Freya take care of Vanaheim. On the other hand, I rather thought knock down supernatural battles on the Mall? Those were my problem. Angrboda was more my problem too.

The worst part about that was that I rather liked her, despite all the awkwardness. I could tell that we could be friends, if either of us was willing to look past family history. And politics. And the fact that she wanted me to be on her side when Ragnarok finally came.

I was on the side of delaying it as much as possible, but what when it did happen? Who’s side would I be on?

I realized I didn’t know. I realized that I just wanted to put it off forever, to…to do exactly the sort of thing Anansi had done with the artifact, on a larger scale.

I liked Angrboda. I liked Odin despite what he’d done to me; or maybe even because of it. I loved my father.

I didn’t want any of them to fight each other. The only one I had a problem with was Surtur, and that was because of his ideas of courtship.

No, it was because he was the one who really wanted to watch the world burn. Loki would laugh when it happened, but I knew he didn’t really want to light the touchpaper.

Unless it really was the best thing to happen. Unless it really was the right path to take. I shuddered.

But, I also had life to worry about. Monica wasn’t working any more. She didn’t seem entirely in this world, last I’d seen her, and besides, the chemo had cost her her hair.

It wasn’t the same doing a shoot without her; even if I hadn’t made note of a frost giant watching me. Worked for Angrboda, no doubt, or some friend of hers. He watched the entire shoot, then saluted me as I left. Blinking, I lifted my hand in a half wave in return, not sure what else to do.

Respect. They were enemies of the gods, but were they my enemies? Gah. I realized I had gotten entirely turned around and confused and it was all her fault.

Fastening my coat I trudged out into the snow. It wasn’t a lot of snow, but it was enough for people here to forget how to drive, and I sensed Skadi’s laughter with every slip and slide.

Skadi.

She was a frost giant. She was the woman who had fought Asgard to a stand still. Maybe…maybe she was a good one to ask for advice. She knew about making peace between gods and giants, after all.

One thing I didn’t get out of Angrboda was, of course, what she was doing here. I was pretty sure, though, that I could blame the giant’s presence on her ex.

Loki had got her attention and now she was paying attention to events on Midgard again. Which we didn’t need.

Set piece battles on the Mall, we really didn’t need. And Angrboda had her own motivation for wanting Ragnarok.

Or did she?

Fenris and the serpent both die during the last battle. She wanted Fenris freed, but I doubted she wanted her wolf-son dead. She’d probably rather stall Ragnarok until she found a way to achieve that.

Which meant we might be on the same side, roughly. Not saying I trusted her, but… I didn’t think we were enemies.

Or at least, I didn’t think we were currently opposed. She’d still scared poor Raina further. I was pretty sure the young witch was going to hide in her coven’s base for weeks. Which was my fault. I’d got her into the situation.

So, if the frost giant was Angrboda and the fire giants were after me, what was with the Vanir? From what Monica had said, she hadn’t seen Frey or Freya, nobody high ranking. Just denizens of Vanaheim and, perhaps, some of Freya’s warriors. But that was bad enough.

How did I stave this off or, at the very least, get them to take it outside – the city? Without knowing what the fight was about, I wasn’t sure.
Which meant, I decided, trying to get Freya’s attention. I believed Monica, in a way I might not have if Angrboda hadn’t shown up. Not that I thought she would lie, but a seeress might not always be able to tell the difference between a vision and last night’s cheese. Especially as she hadn’t had the ability very long at all.

And was paying a price for it I still didn’t agree with. I ducked around a tree and sat down on a log in a quiet corner of Rock Creek Park. Out of sight, out of mind, and in a perfect location to, I hoped, chat with a goddess.

Two of her warriors stepped out from behind a tree almost the second I thought about her name. I recognized one of them, although not by name.

“Hello. I want to talk to your boss.”

“She’s slightly busy.”

I nodded. “Well, I don’t want her to be even busier.”

“You have reason to believe…”

“I have reason to believe we’re going to have giants fighting on Midgard, and the vision also included Vanir breaking it up.”

The man laughed. “Oh. Oh dear. What’s your reason?”

“Seeress.”

He nodded. “Well…we would try to break it up.”

“I’d rather try to prevent it from happening in the first place and scaring the mortals.”

Again, the same nod. “I’ll see if she can find the time to talk.”

That, I supposed, was all I could ask for.