He glided past, running a finger across my chest and batting his eyelashes at me. “A scotch, neat.”
“Ew, Dad, stop!” Lexi shoved him toward the couch, glancing at me over her shoulder. “Nothing for me.”
I stood frozen for a second, watching them interact, Lexi exerting some light physical assault while Loki laughed and took it. I’d never seen anyone get physical with Loki that didn’t want to be decimated, and yet there he was, acting like a totally normal parent who was taking his punishment for trying to embarrass his kid. It was… jarring. Then again, I hadn’t so much as thought of retaliation when she shoved me in the park.
Maybe it was a Lexi thing.
In the kitchen, I grabbed two tumblers and a bottle of Highland Park. I tried to take my time, part of me curious beyond belief and another part dreading what was to come. The last part of me was already starting to detach. If he’d been watching this whole time, and his timing was too coincidental for any other explanation, then he knew everything. He’d let us get close, but to what end?
That was the question of the evening.
“This place is awfully grand, even for Boston,” Loki commented casually. He accepted the glass I handed him and I sat on the opposite side of the couch while Lexi paced.
He was stalling, and given the cloudy look on Lexi’s face, I could see why. “I needed the space and somewhere a little more subtle than Beacon Hill.”
“I assume you have more stashes like the one downstairs?” He smirked as he lifted the glass to his lips. “I’m surprised Odin hasn’t come for his spear yet. He thought he’d lost it ages ago in battle.”
“Do you intend to tell him it’s here?”
He shook his head. “Save it for a time when you’ll need his help and make it a peace offering. Much as I hate to say it, you may need him in the coming months.” Tension hung heavily in the room, and Lexi was now angrily eyeballing both of us. Loki sighed dramatically and fell back into the cushions, sipping his scotch. “Well, who wants to start?”
The muscle in Lexi’s jaw flexed, but she didn’t make a move to speak, so I asked, “Was that you?” I pointed in the general direction of the park.
Loki smiled slowly and swirled the drink in his glass. “You’ll have to be more specific. I do a lot of things.”
I barely refrained from leaping across the couch and strangling him with my hands, and Loki’s eyes lit up. He was being patient with me, but as he’d said, he was a god and I was an angel, fallen or not. I hadn’t lived this long without recognizing which powers were and weren’t safe to mess with. We were very near equal, but Loki’s lack of sanity made him one of the more dangerous ones.
“Did you set me up to be attacked?” I clarified.
Genuine surprise flashed across his face, followed by something close to hurt. “How could you think I’d knowingly put my own daughter in danger like that? Of course, I didn’t!”
Truth rang in his voice and I nodded. No matter his ultimate goal, he did care about her.
“You were there, though,” Lexi spoke up, eyes narrowed at him as she walked past again. She was trying hard to keep her power in check, but it fluctuated unsteadily, her anger probably making it difficult to control. I remembered that feeling myself. “You were watching.”
“Have you ever seen a demon before tonight?” he asked her softly. She’d opened her mouth to say something else but closed it again and shook her head. I frowned at the trickster, wondering where this was going, but Loki’s eyes didn’t leave hers. “You already know I’ve been watching over you your whole life, in the smallest ways possible. When the fallen restarted their war, they came for you here in Boston, long before Lucifer escaped his bonds.”
I glanced at her, as wide-eyed as she was, then back at Loki. “For what reason? What happened?”
The air around us thickened with a fraction of his power. “Whether it was for recruitment or termination, I didn’t give them the opportunity to make their case.” His power vanished abruptly, the tension in my shoulders disappearing with it. “They’ve approached multiple times—you’ve even had a couple visitors near the bakery that I took care of—but she wasn’t ready until now, and even then I kept both of your auras shielded in that fight. I’m the reason the whole neighborhood didn’t wake up and call the cops when the fighting started.” He tossed back the rest of his glass and set it on the table, giving her a serious look. “Who do you think warned you to take cover from his Angelfire?”
Her cheeks burned. “If you were watching, then why didn’t you step in and help us?”
“You didn’t need my help,” he said. He folded his hands between his knees. “Much as I hate it, Red, you’re not a child anymore.”
“Don’t call me that.” Lexi curled her lip as she ran her hands across her hair. “Only Sophie is allowed to call me that.”
Loki smiled patiently. “Of course. The point is, your power needed to be released, and it was a wondrous sight to see. If I’d thought you were in any danger, I would’ve stepped in. They wouldn’t have touched a hair on your beautiful head.”
The end of that sentence was a snarl and Lexi jumped, turning to pace the other direction again. I finished my glass and set it beside his, waving my hand to make them both disappear. “Did you set this up between me and Lexi?”
Lexi spun, apparently eager for the answer. Loki looked at me with a straight face and replied, “I want grandkids.” Then he turned to Lexi, his posture relaxing again. “I didn’t think that last guy was ever going to leave.”
“What do you mean?” She frowned, finally picking a spot on the wall to lean.
“Your powers usually chase off most guys, but Brad was persistent.” His eyes narrowed at a point on the floor, a malicious smile creeping onto his face. “I had to get into that boy’s fears, and that’s where I found the rats. I also left the subconscious thought about you being super bad luck in his head.”
Flames exploded around Lexi’s fists again. “You? You’ve been screwing with my love life this entire time?”
