“Road Bomb,” Frigg said. Cheryl nodded like she’d heard of him too.
“Is he here for the murder mystery?” Cheryl asked.
“No, he’s doing a contest Bertie wants to win.”
“Of course she does.” Cheryl chuckled.
“My car or yours?” Frigg asked.
“Mine, if that’s okay with you.”
“It is.” She pushed the door open, and I walked out into more cheers and hugs from my sisters, my family.
Chapter Five
Frigg parkedmy Jeep in the driveway of Ryder’s and my house. “Everything okay?” she asked quietly.
We’d been sitting for a couple minutes in silence with only the muted hush of wind and the cooling click of the engine breaking that quiet.
“It is,” I said.
She leaned an elbow against the door. “You and I haven’t spent a lot of time hanging out together lately. Understandably,” she added. “We both have busy jobs, busy lives, and then there’s summer.”
“So many tourists,” I agreed.
She nodded. “But sometimes it’s nice to be able to talk to someone who isn’t your family, who will just listen to the things on your mind with no judgement.”
“Who said things are on my mind?”
She shrugged. “Maybe there aren’t.”
She waited, and there was comfort in her presence, a feeling of being on familiar, safe ground.
“I’m worried about the wedding. Not that it will happen, not that there will be last- minute loose ends. It’s more…what it stands for. It’s a big change. A change I want, but it’s still a change. We’ve had a lot of that lately,” I said. “Things changing.”
She hummed and waited, and I stared at the house that Ryder and his dad had built. A house that was mine now, too, more home to me than my family home had been.
“I don’t want things to be the way they were,” I said. “Or at least not all the time. I wish… I wish my dad were still here. Mom too. I miss them.
“But I like my life now, who I am. I love this ridiculous town.” I shook my head. “So ridiculous.”
“It’s a good place,” she said quietly. “You’re a part of what makes it good.”
“Thank you. I know the gods are worried about me.”
“Oh?”
“Than told me. Not directly, but in his way. He said you all think I might be the target of some trouble.”
“We gods aren’t of one mind on, well, anything, really,” she said. “Our kind, godkind, isn’t well known for being all on the same side.”
“Crow took me to lunch, Than escorted me to my dress event, and you brought me home.”
“We’ve talked about keeping a closer eye on you. The weapons coming into town reminded us that, even though we’re vacationing, there are still events we should remain aware of. Especially if they involve the demon king.”
“Goap was behind Tish bringing in the weapons,” I said, “not the King of the Underworld.”
“The demon prince’s reasons are his own. But it is Vychoro, the demon king, who is the most dangerous.”
