“So, it didn’t work?” Monica asked.

“He said it was a good try. I didn’t really think it would, but I thought he might not notice me right away. And then he tried to capture me.”

“Oops.”

“So he could use me as bait to try and lure in Hel. It wouldn’t work. He’d get Loki.”

Monica laughed. “Well, that might be a good thing.”

“Not as long as he has the artifact.” I let out a breath. I didn’t share with her about the fire. I didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it.

“I’d think Loki…”

I shook my head. “Anansi’s more powerful than Loki.” I said it softly. “He’s older. I think he’s very old, I think he’s one of the primal deities the first humans worshipped.”

“The one who cheats death. The one who might share with a hunter some of that knowledge.”

That didn’t sound like Monica. It almost sounded like Hunin, but I decided not to bring that up right now. “Exactly. And now he wants to cheat death for everyone and prevent Ragnarok forever.”

“That’s kind of seductive.”

Especially for the woman who still wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to somehow cause it. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to her or to anyone, but I couldn’t be rude after what she’d done. “I think I do need to chat with my dad, though.”

Monica grinned. “No offense, but…”

“It’s fine. I won’t draw his attention here.” I grinned at her, handed her the wig she’d loaned me and ducked out.

A primal deity. Maybe Kanesha was…but could I…no. It wasn’t a matter of whether I could trust her with the offer he’d given, but whether she could trust herself. She was an adult. She could make her own decisions.

Starting to grow up, are we? He’d wanted to try and get me to ask, I suspected. To hold me longer, in the hope he could snag me.

“Hey, dad,” I whispered, then started walking.

He was next to me within half a block. “Nice try with the physical disguise. Works on dwarves.”

I grinned. “You mean you didn’t use magic to put Thor in a dress?”

“No, where would be the fun in that? It was much more fun watching him wrestle with the bodice.” He grinned.

I laughed, but a bit weakly. “I think Anansi wants to kidnap all of the death gods.”

“Let him go for Persephone next. She’d kick his butt,” Loki suggested.

“Until he allies with her mother. After all, if he gets what he wants…” I knew enough of the story to suspect that…

“Which is not what Persephone wants, not these days anyway.” He grinned. “Queen of the Underworld is more fun than hanging out as a perpetual child.”

“Anansi said I was growing up.”

Loki studied me. “Yes. Yes, I think you are.”

“We need to get that artifact away from him and toss it into Mount Doom or whatever.”

“I thought you…”

“Wanted it to use on Surtur? I kind of do, but now I’m thinking it’s too dangerous. Plus, I don’t want Surtur’s power.”

He grinned. “Well, let’s see if we can rope in Coyote and come up with a plan.”

“After Coyote’s last plan. Do you know if that was actually Lucifer?”

“Nah, it was Anansi faking it. He’s good at teleporting people, but fortunately he has to know exactly where you are.”

I resolved to make sure he didn’t have that information. “Then why didn’t he teleport me into a cell instead of trying to get the ghosts to grab me.”

“I don’t know.”

That admission from Loki was always a little bit disconcerting.