Free Gods by Ednah Walters

focus back on Hayden. A man acting stupid around her was nothing new.
    “A friend of the family,” was all she said, and he started scratching himself as though he was covered in poison ivy.
    “You put a whammy on him, didn’t you?”
    “Yep. That’s what he gets for stripping me with his eyes.”
    I laughed. “I would have made him strip and run down the street naked. You are too nice.” We reached the common room, where the officers’ desks were. “Sullivan’s out, but Davies is around. I can always tell by their desks—coffee and half-eaten donuts. Davies is probably in the break room.” Hayden nodded and started across the room. I watched officers look up to stare at her as she passed their desks, then duck their heads when she looked at them. Jeez. Some of them were old enough to be her grandfather.
    “Howdy, Miss Celestia,” Officer Martinez said as I passed his desk. “You brought us a case?”
    “Not today.” I answered a variation of the same question all the way to Dad’s office. Whenever I used to come to the station, it was always after I’d been in a trance and witnessed a crime. Sometimes I helped them solve a case and other times I stopped it.
    Dad must have seen me coming because he opened the door before I reached it. A chuckle escaped him when he saw the box.
    “Hey, kiddo. I hope that’s for me,” he said, grinning.
    “It is, and before you ask, I didn’t have a vision and I’m not here on a case.” I showed him the cup of coffee.
    He accepted the bribes, put them down on his desk, and surprised me with a hug. “I was sure you were going somewhere today,” he said from somewhere above my head. “Or should I not ask?”
    “We did go, but I came home early.”
    He waved me to a chair. Instead of sitting, he opened the box, removed a blueberry scone, and bit half of it off.
    Dad had never been a hugger, but that changed after he almost lost me three times. That was how he saw the three incidents that had rendered me unconscious since I met Eirik. I was still surprised he’d not decided Eirik was bad for me. Maybe it was the visit to Hel, which we hadn’t discussed yet, or the fact that he never saw my last injuries. If he’d seen my injuries before Eirik healed me, he would have lost it.
    “Not that I don’t mind the scones and the coffee, but to what do I owe this visit?”
    “Can’t I visit you without an ulterior motive? I wasn’t exactly around for three weeks.”
    “You are right, sweetheart.” He knew I was lying, but chose not to pursue it. He walked around the desk, took his seat, and leaned back as he munched on the scone. He hummed while I grinned. It was nice to see him so relaxed. “Do you think you’ll be ready to go back to school on Monday?”
    “Yep.” I rested my elbows on the desk and watched him demolish another scone. “I asked Hayden to bring homework packets from my teachers tomorrow, so I can start working on them this weekend.”
    “That’s good. Do you need money?”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    “You want to spend the weekend at Hayden’s?”
    “No, Dad.”
    “Eirik’s place?”
    “Dad.”
    “You can go. His parents assured me they’d make sure he behaves whenever you spend time over there.”
    My jaw dropped. “Assured you? What did you tell them?”
    “That you are my daughter and their son better treat you with respect or he’d have to deal with me. If he wants to make an honest girl out of you, he can ask for your hand in marriage when you are twenty-five. Until then, he keeps it in his pants.”
    I covered my face. There was no way I was going to face the goddess and Baldur after this. A portal opened and Hayden appeared. She was already inside the car. She waved then the portal closed. Not sure about what to tell him without screaming, I stood and started for the door.
    “Leaving already?” he asked.
    I sighed and turned. “You just can’t go around telling people things like that and think it’s okay, Dad. How am I