I was wrong. It wasn’t Seb who showed up – it was Father Will.

“I hear you have somebody who needs…”

“Derek here could use some explanations of the way the world worked.”

She’d made the right call. Derek, who had finally introduced himself, relaxed immediately when he saw Will’s collar.

“I’ll take him in hand. What beat him up?”

“Not sure. He’s lucky he got away with bruises, though. I thought of setting Zaid on him but Thruor’s right, you’re better.”

Will laughed. “Zaid would either scare him out of the business or…”

“Who’s Zaid?”

“Egyptian priest. Or priestess. Either way.”

Derek blinked, then it dawned. “Oh. One of those weird non-binary types.”

“And very talented.”

I did wonder if Derek was just lucky, though. That had been a nasty fall for a mortal.

Maybe his guardian angel had slowed him on the way down. I might ask Sarael. Or not. Will was the right person to deal with him right now.

“You’ll have to meet them at some point, but for now, I think…I’m going to take you out of the depths of weird for a bit.”

I grinned at Will. “Is that what I am to you now?”

“You,” he said. “Will always be my favorite bit of weird.”

I grinned, then watched priest and (limping) hunter leave. “Good call, Thruor.”

“Zaid would be a good one too. They’re an excellent teacher and not as far away in beliefs as we are.”

I thought about that and then nodded. “But maybe he needs to work up to Zaid.”

I wondered who the guy with the locks was. Another potential ally, possibly.

It was good to at least know who the players were. Especially if…

If some kind of war started. We’d already had a small one. I shuddered at the way the thought came into my mind randomly. When things like that happened, it usually meant that whatever I’d just thought about was something likely to have a kernel of truth.

Or maybe I was just afraid that Ragnarok was moving closer while I wasn’t looking. I often had that thought.

I had to remember it wasn’t all my responsibility, prophecy or no prophecy.

Then my phone rang. It was Kanesha. “Hey, where are you?” she asked.

“Thruor’s place.”

“Shall I come over?”

I glanced at the others…including the surprisingly quiet frost giant. “Sure. But be aware Angrboda’s here.”

“Alright.”

Thruor, having heard that, and seeing that we no longer had loose cannons around, was heading into the kitchen.

A nice relaxing evening with friends.

Well, friends and sort of friends. I mean, where does your dad’s ex fall? I still wasn’t entirely sure.

But Thruor was getting the mead, and that usually turned people into friends quickly enough.

“You guys are…”

“Too nice for demons?” I grinned. “She’s a frost giant. And the other one is a valkyrie.”

He looked at Thruor dubiously. “I don’t want to end up in Valhalla.”

She laughed. “Not to your taste, eh, all the drinking and fighting?” She grinned at me.

He looked down. “Uh…”

“You aren’t going the right way about going to Heaven if that’s your goal.”

Thruor wrinkled her nose. “Boring.”

Angrboda elbowed her before I could, then we both laughed.

“Well…”

“I wonder if Sarael’s around. He might be able to convince the kid that he’s not being the smartest here.”

“Who’s Sarael?” he finally asked.

“An angel I know,” I told him, bluntly. “An unusual one. He has a sense of humor.”

“…they generally don’t?”

“Angels,” Thruor explained. “Tend to take themselves very seriously. The thing is, kid, every myth is real, every story is true. Not literal, mind, but true.”

He frowned. “But…”

“That doesn’t mean any of us want or need you to worship us as well as the God you’ve chosen. But we’re real, and not all of us are evil. And if you don’t start getting your mind around that, you’ll be dead.”

“And?” he said, defiant for a moment.

“And you might find he’s not as happy with you as you think. If nothing else, no God is happy with a follower who gets himself stupidly killed.”

That seemed to get through to him. I headed to find Thruor’s medical stuff – the kid was going to need multiple ice packs, at the very least. Maybe we could recruit him once we had his head on straight. I came back with those and a couple of painkillers. “Aspirin or tylenol?”

“Aspirin.”

I offered him the bottle and a glass of water. He took two. “So…what are you?” He looked right at me.

“I’m Loki’s daughter.”

He almost choked on the pill. “And you’re trying to tell me you’re not…”

“I’ve met demons. My father is quite different, although you probably don’t want to get on his bad side.”

“He might throw mistletoe at me or whatever.”

“Nah, he’s more likely to find some way to sneak hot pepper in your lunch.”

From the look on his face that was a worse fate. Maybe I should get him some cayenne brownies. Just to be evil.

Or at least to be the trickster’s daughter.

“Okay. I…” He sighed. “How do I tell?”

“Usually evil entities are actually doing evil things. And I know somebody who can help you identify demons.”

“You can’t help?” He was still eyeing me warily.

“I can’t teach you the way I do it. It’s innate.”

“Oh, right.”

Thruor was already on the phone. I knew exactly who she was calling.