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.