Free Ever After by Carrie Ann Ryan, Leia Shaw, Marie Harte, Rebecca Royce, Lia Davis Page A

without something meaty to sink our teeth into, eh?”
    Avarr grunted.
    “Yes. Avarr knows too well, hmm?” She winked at him, her blue eyes fathomless and frothing with power. “Now come with me, my lovely pets. I have need of you in Sessrumnir.” Her grand hall, set apart in Folkvang.
    They followed her through a labyrinth of splendor. Vines and plant life in bold splashes of color edged into every aspect of Freya’s legendary palace. As the goddess of fertility, her reach extended beyond people and animals into crops and land. Mistress of procreation, of the earth itself.
    As she passed, the vegetation grew thicker. Flowers bloomed, in grace and thanks to Freya’s love.
    All in all, Hall was glad to worship this particular goddess. He’d heard Thor could be an asshole, and Frigg was too temperamental. No doubt dealing with Odin’s many infidelities took its toll on poor Frigg. A god could do worse than cheat though. Hall didn’t even want to think about what life with the trickster Loki must be like. His goddess, a creature entrusted with the nine worlds’ fertility, took it upon herself to heal with a carnal touch.
    So why couldn’t she see how much he needed Eira?
    She reached behind her and patted his arm. “My advice was not just for Avarr, dear.”
    He flushed and worked harder to shield his thoughts.
    They arrived in her special meeting room soon enough, but to his surprise, several gods and goddesses already filled it. Deities from multiple pantheons sat drinking, eating, and talking with good cheer around the raised dais. A cornucopia of meat, cheeses, fruits, and mead sat along the banquet, a feast fit for the most powerful of the divine.
    He and Avarr exchanged a wary glance. When gods and goddesses from alternate realms put aside their differences to laugh together, an apocalypse had been known to follow. There was nothing more the gods loved to share than the fun to be had with the total annihilation of one human tribe or another.
    Freya sat with a flourish in her throne made of rose petals infused with gold. Then Avarr and Hall took positions on either side of her. Their presence let the others know that to fuck with their goddess would bring serious wrath down on their heads. In Folkvang, Freya’s immense power extended to her guardians as well.
    She smiled with beneficence. “Oh good. You’re all here.”
    “Of course we’re here.” Mercury grinned back. “It’s time for the games to begin.”
    Hall groaned to himself as he noted the deities in attendance. Athena and Mercury weren’t too bad until they started harping on which of their worshippers were better, Greeks or Romans. Even in the present day, when most humans worshipped money, Hall would have told them neither. The Norse still ruled, but he didn’t think they’d appreciate his feedback.
    Horus he liked, even though the Egyptian god’s insistence on keeping the head of a falcon and body of a man kind of freaked Hall out.
    Lugh annoyed him as only Celts could with their ceaseless love of fighting.
    Mithra made his eyes hurt. The Persian sun god shone too brightly, all the time.
    Sedna was a particular favorite, since the Inuit goddess loved animals, though she favored marine life. She gifted Hall and Avarr with a large smile before turning her attention back to Izanagi, a Japanese deity with manic-depressive issues. Deserved, in Hall’s opinion, since Izanagi had abandoned his wife in hell to rot with demons.
    Cagn and Raven, both trickster gods, he trusted as much as he trusted Loki. Not at all. But Quetzalcoatl… The big bastard loved a blood sacrifice as if the Aztecs still ruled their section of Midgard—or Mesoamerica, as the humans referred to it. If not for that, Hall would have pegged Q as his favorite. The guy loved sports and played a killer game of lacrosse.
    Freya clapped once, and a loud boom settled everyone into their seats and into silence.
    “I know we’re missing a few of you, but we have the major