Seemed like it’d be a perfect time to hack out a few more flat-face bears and one-winged owls.
The other gods weren’t there yet, but I knew it wouldn’t be long. I parked the Jeep and crossed to Odin’s house, the cleansing perfume of green and wet and pine filling me.
Tucked beneath a small forest of tall Douglas fir trees, the house wasn’t much bigger than mine. Cedar shakes painted brick red, shingled roof about three years past needing both new gutters and some moss control efforts, it didn’t give off a welcoming feeling exactly.
Neither did the two headless wooden bunnies on the porch on either side of the door.
Or at least I thought they were bunnies. Beavers? I tipped my head. Nope. Ravens.
I knocked on the door. Didn’t have to wait very long for it to open.
“Delaney.” Odin glanced over my shoulder as if expecting someone to be there.
“Crow’s with Myra,” I said. “They’re on their way over here with the rest of the gods.”
He grunted and stepped aside so I could step in.
The outside might have looked like a graham cracker house that had been left out in the rain—a little soggy and soft around the edges—but the interior was quite the opposite.
The wood walls were polished to a soft gold glow. Furniture was mahogany, and the artwork leaned a bit Nordic and tribal, some from local artists, some from Odin’s personal collection that either had never been seen by human eyes, or if it had, probably belonged in museums.
It was clean, uncluttered without giving up the impression of cozy, and something about the place made my shoulders drop.
Anyone in town might expect to find a bachelor’s pad, maybe even expect unmatched socks to be balled up in the corners, or microwave dinners to be stacked on side tables. But it was nothing like that. It felt relaxing, refreshing. A retreat from the world.
Which, I supposed, was exactly why the gods had come to Ordinary. So it should be no surprise that Odin’s house was a home, and a very comfortable one at that.
“Coffee?” He was already moving toward the kitchen.
“Yes, thanks.” I drank down the rest of my latte and walked over to the stone fireplace on the opposite wall. It stacked up to the second floor which was basically a loft space that covered two sides of the upper story.
“You found the powers,” he said. “Mithra have them?”
There was no reason not to tell him the truth. “Did you know all along that’s where they were?”
He came back into the room with two huge ceramic mugs shaped like tree stumps and handed one to me.
“When they were taken outside Ordinary. There was a...sense of his disapproval I got through my power.”
“Could have told me.” I took a sip of the coffee, which was so rich it almost tasted alcoholic.
“Not my job.” He settled in the easy chair. “So Crow’s leaving town?”
“He has to. And that means you’re up next for storing the powers.”
He nodded, like he didn’t really care about that. “Never thought you’d let a warden in Ordinary.”
I didn’t ask him how he knew about that. He was a god. Just because he was on vacation didn’t mean he had no lingering abilities. Or maybe he’d heard it from someone else. Didn’t need god power if you were friendly with the town gossips.
“It wasn’t my idea, trust me.”
“Ryder?”
I nodded. “He’s also a part of some kind of welcome committee for supernaturals in the world and Ordinary in particular. Government agency.”
“Huh. That explains some things.”
“Like what?”
