Austin narrowed his eyes skeptically.
“You're the one who said you don't cook a lot.”
“All right.” He held up the spatula defensively. “Don't get all het up about it.”
“Het?” I asked. “Never mind, I haven't had enough caffeine yet.” I started lining up the bacon on the sheet.
“So, I talked to Thor last night.”
“Oh yeah? About what?”
“You.”
I lifted my gaze to his.
“Get that man drunk and he'll beat his own gums to death.”
I blinked.
“He talks,” Austin translated. “A lot. He told me all about stalkin' you and fallin' for you and screwin' things up with you.”
“It happened as it was meant to.”
“Yeah, he said somethin' similar.” Austin glanced over at me.
I shooed him out of the way so I could put the bacon in the oven. “It was weird at first—the whole dating his father thing. But gods don't think like that. To them, the awkwardness was the fact that they were related, not how they were related.”
“Is it true about you and Odin being married in a past life?”
“Yep.” I leaned against the counter nearby. “When I died, Odin asked Azrael to take me to the Viking Well of Souls instead of Christian Heaven.”
“Azrael? Your husband?”
“One and the same.” I grinned. “My men and I, we were destined to be together. Connected from the start—before that even. The only one who kinda snuck in there was Re, but that's a long story about a future that won't happen.”
Austin gave me a long blink.
“As I said, another time.”
The coffee maker beeped and I went to pour us some coffee.
“You've got an amazing life, Vervain.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “Yeah, I do. Sometimes it gets scary, but we pull through.”
“I noticed that Viper's wearing a wedding band.”
“You notice a lot.” I chuckled. “But it's not a wedding band. We didn't have a ceremony or anything, just made a promise to each other.”
“In the country, that counts,” he said softly.
“It counts here too, but it's still not a wedding.”
“I think I want in.” He put a pancake on the plate and met my stare.
I gaped at him. “Austin, I like you but—”
He started laughing uproariously.
