28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

T he SUV wasn’t as luxurious as I’d expected, but it was gratifying not to be cuffed immediately and stripped of everything I had on me. The driver who met us did take my gun, but that was just good business. He considered over the lighter and the pack of cigarettes, but I gave him a look and said, “Those might be my last fucking request, okay?” After a moment, he shrugged and handed them over before showing us into the back of the car.

The younger brother was inside. He also held a gun on both of us. “Hello, Rolf,” S?ren said pleasantly as he settled into a seat.

“Just keep your mouth shut,” Rolf snapped, his eyes darting anxiously between us. He was shorter than his older brothers, a little slimmer, and had none of the stolid forcefulness of Art?r or the whiplash intelligence of Jakob. He looked even younger than S?ren, honestly, and I was a little surprised that he was the one who’d been sent to fetch us. “Both of you.”

“Talking passes the time better,” I said. “How have you been since Chicago, Rolf? Not running after us, obviously.” I took in the slight tremble in his hand, the slick pallor of his face, and came to a few conclusions. “I guess someone had to hang around and be the gopher for your dad while your brothers were busting their asses.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“I know, I know.” I held up my hands. “Or rather, I guess I don’t. It’s not like I know what being cooped up with a megalomaniacal, magic-wielding, abusive parent is like. How’s your shoulder, by the way?” Rolf was holding his right side very stiffly, and I remembered from before his father’s penchant for grabbing Rolf a little too hard by the arm and shaking him to make a point. It looked like the last time he’d done it had resulted in dislocation.

“It’s none of—it’s—”

“Is he still injuring you?” S?ren frowned darkly. “He no longer has the excuse of his temper, and that was a poor reason to begin with.”

“I’m fine ,” Rolf bit out. “Just keep your mouths shut, all right? We’ll be there soon.”

I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t stop looking at Rolf either. He squirmed under my scrutiny, and I suddenly realized what was going on here. Rolf was a test, a chance for me to prove my intentions. If I meant to go in guns blazing, the best way for me to start things off would be to take Rolf hostage. Maybe ólafur had hoped I’d kill him, which would give him leave to dispense with some of the formalities that were coming up and just blow me to smithereens once he had S?ren safe again.

No, nope, wasn’t gonna do it. Formalities were going to save my ass once “negotiations” got going. Formalities were keeping Andre alive right now and what made me more than 50 percent sure that Jakob had been blowing smoke up my ass when he’d talked about killing Marisol and my mother.

Magic was a tricky thing, and the older it was, the more formalities and ritual became a part of it. I didn’t know much about Icelandic lore, but I did know that ólafur wasn’t going to start things off inhospitably, not now. Being inhospitable had cost his family too much. I had no doubt he’d never meant to kill me after he realized what was going on, not even when he sent Art?r after me. We had bargains to discuss and sacrifices to lay at S?ren’s feet before there could be any killing.

Rolf being here, and being so obviously out of his depth, was an invitation for me to break the rules of hospitality before ólafur did. He was bait, plain and simple, but I wasn’t about to swallow this worm down. Besides, the kid had obviously been through enough.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Shut up.”

“There’s no need to be a broken record. I’m just asking a question.”

“We’re going to my land,” S?ren said, eagerness shining in his eyes. “I can feel it drawing closer. My power is growing.”

“That’s nice.” I wanted S?ren nice and powerful for what was going to go down. “You’ve missed it, huh?”

“As you have missed certain vital things yourself,” S?ren said, and I reached out and took his hand.

“It’ll all be worked out soon.”

Rolf stared at the two of us like he couldn’t believe his own eyes. “What the hell?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing with it?”

“Which one of us are you referring to?” I asked. “Me or S?ren?”

“ It! The landv?ttir, obviously!” I felt S?ren’s fingers tighten around mine, probably with annoyance at being spoken about so dismissively.

“I’m holding his hand. It’s something I like to do with people I enjoy. I understand that you’re probably not used to the sort of relationships that include nonviolent touching, but try not to judge, okay?”

“You really think of me as a friend?” S?ren asked, staring at me.

There was nothing but purple mist in his eyes, no hint of the S?ren I loved, but I was still able to look at him and say, with complete honestly, “Yeah, I do. I really do.”

“You’re crazy.” Rolf’s gun hand shivered, and I really hoped he’d set the safety because an accident would just be ludicrous at this point. “You’re totally crazy. S?ren’s not in there. He’s gone.”

S?ren’s gaze narrowed to a glare as he glanced over at his brother, and I decided to intervene before he decided to change the rules. “The shutting up thing goes both ways,” I said. “If you want to make it through the rest of this ride without complications, I suggest you follow your own advice.”

Thank god Rolf was smart enough to take that at face value. I held on to S?ren’s hand in total silence for the rest of the half-hour trip. By the time the SUV came to a stop outside a long beige warehouse, I didn’t even feel the cold anymore.

This was it. This was endgame: this was where I had to pull it all off. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, felt my body hum with adrenaline and the lub-dub purr of blood pumping through my veins, fast and smooth. Rolf was already out of the car, and before I followed him, I leaned in, cupped S?ren’s face, and kissed him, fast and hard.

“That’s for both of you,” I said quietly, enjoying the dumbfounded expression on his face before I let go of his hand and stepped out into the sunshine.

Rolf was gesturing with the gun toward the offices in the front of the warehouse, but I was more interested in watching S?ren expand as he got within touching distance of his land. His eyes burned brightly, vivid violet, penetrating purple and every shade in between.

He smiled broadly. “It is good to be here,” he said.

“I told you both to get the fuck inside!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nevertheless, I followed directions and walked up to the open door of the office. I took one step inside and then doubled over as a huge fist impacted my gut, just below the diaphragm. The force of it drove me to my knees. I was really happy right then that I hadn’t had much to eat for breakfast, because I’d have lost it all right then if I had.

“Art?r!” S?ren sounded annoyed. “That is not acceptable behavior.”

“It’s less than he deserves,” the eldest brother said with a sneer. “If I were doing this quid pro quo , I’d have punched him in the nuts.”

“Nevertheless.” This time it was Jakob talking, the voice of reason calming the storm that brewed within his family. He stepped forward and helped me to stand up. “We must be hospitable.” He straightened my jacket, his eyes fixing for a moment on the Buddha at my neck, and then reached into my pockets.

“Not on the first date,” I croaked, but didn’t resist his investigations.

“I’m disappointed that you don’t count what happened before as our first date,” Jakob said mockingly as he pulled out my cigarettes and lighter. “It was such an explosively good time.” He held up the items to Rolf. “You were supposed to confiscate everything.”

“I already got his gun,” Rolf snapped. “What’s he gonna do with those, give me secondhand lung cancer?”

“You can’t be so trusting, idiot,” Art?r said, condescension imbuing every syllable of every word. “What if there aren’t really cigarettes in there?”

Jakob was already opening the pack. He nodded, apparently satisfied with what he’d found. He met my eyes and, unwavering, struck the lighter.

A tiny yellow flame appeared at the top of it. “Good enough,” Jakob said and put them both back in my pocket. “ólafur is waiting for you in the other room.” He nodded to the guards. “We’ll handle things from here. Keep watch outside. This is family business now.” They left, and he led the way from the entryway to an office that flanked the main warehouse space. ólafur sat near the far wall in a reclining chair, but he got up when we walked in.

“S?ren!” He came over to us and pulled his youngest son into an embrace. “Welcome back.” ólafur dwarfed S?ren in terms of bulk, although they were nearly the same height. It wasn’t his size that made him so intimidating, though. Some people had a natural ability to fill any space they walked into with the force of their personality, even if they hardly spoke a word. I’d met a few of them over the years: mostly people in positions of power, and quite often men who were more accustomed to taking that power and using it like a bludgeon.

Women could do it: Annie did it―it was one of the things I respected about her immediately. But in all the years of disreputable company I’d kept, all the mob bosses I’d known and killers I’d looked in the eye, no one had ever matched ólafur when it came to sheer, undeniable impressiveness. The closest any of his sons came was Jakob, although his presence was more subdued―a force of intellect instead of raw charisma.

“I was so worried about you,” ólafur said, patting his son gently on the back. Amazing, how tender those huge paws could be when he wanted. I saw Rolf shift uncomfortably out of the corner of my eye. That wasn’t the sort of embrace he was accustomed to. “I know we parted under difficult circumstances, but I’m prepared to make amends. I disregarded your wishes, and I swear on our pact that I will never be so callous of your feelings again.” He pulled back and gazed lovingly into S?ren’s eyes. “Will you forgive me?”

Oh, so beautiful. So calculated to appeal, and even though I knew that S?ren understood what was going on here, he wasn’t unmoved. How could he be? This man had been the one to make the first contract, and he was the father of S?ren’s body double.

“We shall see,” S?ren said at last, and ólafur nodded encouragingly.

“Indeed, we shall see. I will show you, and you will understand everything. I’m very sincere in my desire to make things right, my son.” Now he looked at me, and his smile was exactly like I envisioned a shark might have as it circled closer and closer to its prey. “And I owe my new understanding of my responsibilities to you to this young man. Who would have thought?” When he bared his teeth, I literally had to stop myself from backing away.

“We meet again, Mr. Kelly.”