So, I had Clara trying to infiltrate witches, Seb going after artifacts, and my dad missing in action. Oh, and fire giants who thought I could talk Surtur down.

Why did everyone have so much faith in my ability to be diplomatic? Odin thought I could keep a leash on Loki and now people thought I could control Surtur.

I preferred Seb’s attitude, that I was best for beating things up and killing vampires. That I could handle. And I wasn’t going to marry somebody I…

Or was I? I shook my head. I’d been right the first time – I shouldn’t have got involved with Kanesha. But I couldn’t bring myself to break up with her now. Or maybe I was just selfish. Wanting to enjoy it while it lasted, knowing it couldn’t. Knowing it couldn’t at all kinds of levels.

It was warmer today, although no true promise of spring was in the air just yet. I hoped for spring, not so much for myself, but for the people around me, the ones complaining about the cold, about the cold that was far too much for this city. People weren’t used to it.

Then I saw them. One of them was the woman who had been with the coven to start with. Another man, darker skinned but not really black. And Clara. They were talking animatedly.

I tugged my hat down slightly and tried to be inconspicuous. The circumstances weren’t right for getting any closer to them, so I couldn’t hear what was being said. But I could watch their body language.

Clara was grinning. I hoped she wouldn’t go over to them. Wasn’t that always the risk? If she did…

It was her problem. Her own responsibility, her own issue to deal with. I couldn’t stop her and I couldn’t, at this point, help her. I couldn’t be seen with her until this was all over.

I sensed the presence of the ghost, and my head snapped around, looking to see  where it was, what it was doing. He, not it. Grandfather.

I couldn’t see him. Maybe he’d abandoned his stolen body and that was why they were all in such a good mood. Maybe they’d even managed an exorcism.

But I moved towards my sense of him nonetheless, trying to ignore the chattering witches. I focused my will on not being noticed, not being seen as anyone important. I was getting good at that. It wasn’t invisibility, but really that would be a bad idea in a city anyway. If you actually had an invisibility cloak or power, people would keep walking into you.

They did anyway. A rather large man bumped into me and then accused me of not looking where I was going. I couldn’t even argue with him that much.

There. He was in the coffee shop…and there he was. Doing his best not to be seen in a corner booth. I slipped into the booth next to him.

“We have a plan.”

“Oh?”

“The girl who’s with them is going to get evidence and then call the cops.”

“…might work.”

“But they kind of…can you give them their priestess back? For now, at least?”

“I’ll think about it.”

I knew that was going to be the best I got out of him. For now, anyway.