“Right. Because unleashing the trickster god upon the living world would make our lives any easier. Gods leave here and the first thing they do is remind us that they have their full powers back.”
Thunder broke the sky in half and set off several car alarms. “Point proven,” I said.
“You like him.”
“Crow? The annoying not-my-uncle?”
Odin wore an eyepatch over his left eye. So he had to lean forward and twist to make eye contact with me. “He’s one of your favorites.”
“And you think of Thor as a son.”
“I know Thor,” he said as if that answered everything. “So should you.”
“I know the mortal Thorne Jameson.” I slowed for the light, then turned into the parking lot outside Crow’s glassblowing shop. “Decent voice, good taste in vinyls. Collects rubber duckies. But once he picked up that power and went full god of thunder? I don’t know that guy hardly at all.”
“You know the god power doesn’t completely swallow our personality, nor does the lack erase it.”
“Meaning?”
“Crow is a trickster whether he’s carrying the power of Raven or just blowing balls for tourists.”
I put the Jeep in park, biting back my smile. “You know how that sounds, right?”
He plucked at the dusty sleeve of his flannel shirt. “I meant it how it sounds. Crow isn’t your uncle. He is just very patient.”
“Patient?”
“He knows what he wants, Delaney Reed. And, like a spider, he will wait for his moment to strike.”
I studied his face. No bluff and bluster there. Odin was very serious.
But Odin didn’t exactly get along with the other gods in Ordinary. The rivalry between Zeus and him was on a constant simmer. The petty shots they took at each other’s businesses and life choices kept Aaron, who was Ares the god of war, in a constant state of entertainment.
Other than Thor, who had picked up his power and was therefore unable to return to Ordinary for a year, Odin wasn’t really buddies with the other deities.
“You think Crow’s pulling a long con?”
Odin’s deep blue eye shadowed down darker. A chill washed up my wet, cold skin. Just because gods put down their power didn’t mean there wasn’t an echo, a coal of it caught somewhere deep within them. They were mortal, but they were still the vessels of god power. It made them uncannily charismatic. It made them the flame mortal moths were all too tempted to fly into. And even that tiny spark was enough to make a regular gal like me sit up and take notice.
“Only Crow would know. But he has spent many years becoming your friend, Delaney. Your lifetime. Have you ever asked yourself why?”
“Because he likes me?” I gave him an innocent blink.
He grunted.
“Because I’m likable?” I fluttered my eyelashes. “Possibly even adorable?”
“You are not in the least.” He tried to scowl, but the smile won out.
“Because Crow and all the rest of the gods in town are happy that the family job of keeping this town safe fell into my adorable, capable, likable hands?”
“We’ve had better police chiefs.”
“Since when?”
He shrugged one mountainous shoulder. “I’m sure you weren’t born yet.”
“Well, then I’m the best you’ve had in ages.”
