Eostre folded her hands in her lap. “Have you tried to find her?”
Destiny scoffed. “No. Why would I? She left my dad to raise me alone, and I…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “This isn’t about me. I’m so—. Please, continue. Frigg wanted a daughter.”
“She wanted one desperately, but she couldn’t bring herself to try again with Odin.”
“Can’t say I blame her.”
“She is the goddess of motherhood, so she used her magic to turn anelfenrabbit into a goddess, into her daughter.”
Destiny blinked three times. “You were a rabbit?”
“Indeed, I was, and Helga was furious when I was chosen. Frigg’s sacred animal is the goose, so she believed herself the only natural choice. But spring and dawn are soft-spoken and gentle. She needed a daughter with the same demeanor to reign over them, and Helga most definitely was not the one to do it.”
Destiny chuckled. “Can you imagine the sun shooting into the sky, skipping the beautiful colors of morning’s glory and heading straight to midday like, ‘What up, bitches?’”
Eostre giggled. Then she laughed deep from her belly before clutching it. “Oh, it hurts to laugh. But, yes, that is exactly how morning would dawn if Helga were in charge.”
“And all the flowers of spring would have razorblade thorns.”
“Indeed. Alas, Helga remains a goose who is never happy with what she has, even with the ability to lay golden eggs. She became livid once again when I chose Pete, anelfenrobin, to carry out my holiday and ensure I received the proper offerings to continue my existence.”
“So you made him a rabbit shifter because the rabbit is your sacred animal?”
“Because I used to be one, yes.”
“So, all this. Your life, Pete’s life, Ragnarök… Your goose is cooked because an arrogant bird is jealous of you.”
“Of me, of Pete, and everyone else who has something she doesn’t. She wore an S-shaped neck brace for decades, trying to make herself look like a swan. She is never happy.”
“And now she’s murdering hens.” Destiny crawled to the wall and used it as a brace to stand. Her thigh muscles trembled, and her knees threatened to buckle, but she gathered every ounce of strength she could muster. “Helga has gone too far. I refuse to sit idly by while she destroys your entire world.”
And she’d be damned if she’d let a jealous goose take Pete away from her. With her hands pressed to the concrete, she inched along the wall toward the darkness Helga had disappeared into.
“What’s your plan?” Eostre rose to her knees and braced herself against the wall, panting with the exertion. “How can I help?”
“Save your strength. I can’t have you dying on me before we get you back to the fae realm.” The concrete ended abruptly at a sharp right turn, but the chains stopped her from venturing out of their makeshift prison.
“They fortified this section, which means they probably stored their equipment in here.” She turned and finally absorbed the details of their surroundings. Debris littered the floor, and a decrepit shelving unit sagged on the far wall.
She trudged toward it, her brow furrowing, angry determination igniting in her chest, rolling through her veins and energizing her muscles. “Pete’s not the only one who knows how to pick locks.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
“Think, Pete. You know Helga.”Crimson dumped the contents of her scrying bowl into the sink. “Where would she take Destiny?”
“I don’t know!” He flung his arms into the air and paced the length of the kitchen. “I don’t know anything anymore. I’ve forgotten everything.”
Without his memories, he was about as useful as a bur stuck to a rabbit’s butt. His fated mate was kidnapped, multiple lives were on the line, the end of days was fast approaching, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about any of it because he didn’t know his head from a hole in the ground.
A hole. Why did?—?
“You haven’t forgotten; you just can’t recall,” Crimson said. “There’s a difference.”
“Is there? Because I sure as hell can’t tell.” He stopped pacing and tapped his foot.
“Sir, if I may?” Max raised his paw, and Pete nodded. “You’re known in our realm for your vivid imagination and your ability to find unique solutions to problems no one else can solve. Perhaps if you focused on the knowledge you have, rather than fretting over the unknown, you could ask yourself the right questions and find your mate.”
Aside from the gut-punch reminder that he’d lost his fated mate, that was the most sensible thing he’d heard since…well, since as long as he could remember.
