Free 0765332108 (F) by Susan Krinard Page B

moments before.
    Loki set down his glass with great care and rose to stand over Dainn’s chair. “Tell me,” he said, “would you attempt to kill me now if the beast was loose?”
    “You would destroy those I would protect, as well as mortal civilization.”
    “You truly believe that my dominion over this world will be worse than that of the Aesir, but I don’t intend to rule as some sort of dictator once my experiment with this city is complete. There will be but one law. Every man for himself. Survival of the fittest. True, unfettered liberty.”
    “Chaos.”
    “Naturally.”
    “And then you will appear as the savior, to rescue mankind from itself.”
    “I certainly have no intention of allowing the species to become extinct. Mortals are far too amusing.”
    “Yet you claim this is a better fate than what the Aesir will bring?”
    “The Aesir will rule Midgard with no more regard for its inhabitants than I. This Earth will become a new Asgard, with a population of properly subservient menials to cater to Odin’s bottomless lust for veneration. That is, of course, if Freya allows it.”
    “Do you believe she would temper their rule?”
    “You truly have no idea.” He gazed at Dainn’s averted face with bitter satisfaction. “Do you never wonder why Freya has failed to bring even a single one of the Aesir or Einherjar warriors to Midgard, in spite of Danny’s ‘assistance’ with the bridges?”
    Dainn didn’t look up, but Loki knew he was listening intently to every word.
    “Can it be that her access to Asgard’s Shadow-Realm is still restricted, or could there be a more sinister reason?” He chuckled. “The Sow never told you the truth about our Hnefatafl game for Midgard, did she?”
    “She told me everything,” Dainn said, his body as rigid as if he were bracing himself against a physical attack.
    “Oh, not everything, I think,” Loki said. “You see, our agreement wasn’t made with the approval of Odin or the other Aesir.”
    Dainn looked up. “What?”
    “Freya desired to rule as much as I did, but not as only one among the gods. The one thing Freya and I always had in common—besides you, of course—was our opinion of the All-father as a blustering oaf. An oaf with power and a certain cunning, yes, but an oaf nonetheless.”
    “You’re mad.”
    “To the contrary. Odin was always the mad one, even if I was the only one to see it. When Freya and I met after the Dispersal, we agreed that she would use her magic to keep the other gods in a suspended state until we could determine which of us had the right to this world.”
    “Now you are lying. Freya hasn’t that much power.”
    “Oh, I know you’d prefer to believe in my lack of honesty rather than accept that you took part in yet another betrayal of the Aesir and your own people.”
    Dainn released his breath and rested his hands on the arms of the chair. “If you made such a bargain, it was not while you were in Ginnungagap. Freya intended to take your part at the Last Battle, did she not?”
    “I should have known better than to try to deceive you,” Loki said with a mocking twist of his lips.
    “And Odin sent his Treasures to Midgard before the end. He knew—”
    “That Ragnarok, the Last Battle, would fail to bring the end of all things. You knew that when you came to Midgard. He intended to secure the Treasures for whatever future lay in store for the Aesir, and he knew that future would lie in this world. But he never suspected that others had access to the alternate prophecy that provoked him to take such actions in the first place.”
    “Alternate—”
    “Freya hates Odin, but you know very well that she is not above employing her sensual talents to obtain what she desires. She heard of the second prophecy given to Odin, and determined to learn the truth of the rumor.”
    “She seduced him.”
    “Odd that it never happened before, in my opinion. It isn’t as if Odin was ever faithful to Frigga, or any of his