Chapter 9

Five hours later, we arrived in DC. Five hours after Brahma's blasé question. You would think that a god would know better than to tempt fate. Did Murphy's Law work with gods? Did words have more power when spoken by the divine? I'd say yes.

We traveled to Washington via the normal way for gods; tracing. I highly recommend it. No lines, no cramped airline seat, no bad food, no fat business man sitting behind you kicking your seat, and oh, it's absolutely free. Yep; it's good to be a god, or at least a witch with travel benefits.

It made me wish I had enough magic to navigate the Aether on my own. Alas, I was a lowly human witch and could only manage to use a spell to link trace points. To get from one place to another, I had to have the exact chant to connect the two locations. I couldn't just jump in and jump out willy-nilly like Thor did. It was the difference between letting the current take you and actually steering a boat. Basically, I surfed the Aether. I could paddle out and ride back in, but I couldn't navigate the channels. No helm and no rudder.

Navigating the early morning throng in front of the White House was more my speed, although I hated crowds. I managed to get to the edge of the iron fence where I stood and stared while Thor kept most of the jostling people from bumping into me. I couldn't help it, it was America's headquarters, and I was one of those proud Americans. It was also my first visit to DC, and I was excited to get a look at the White House. I have to say that I was a little disappointed, though. Valhalla's way more impressive.

Thor finally grabbed my arm and moved me along. People flew out of his way; barely even touching him. I don't think that they even realized they were doing it. They just sort of were not where he was walking. Fascinating, but not as fascinating as my first sight of the President's house. I continued to stare back over my shoulder as Thor led me off like a deranged puppy who really wanted to pee on one tree in particular; the president's tree.

"Can't I have a minute here?"I tugged on Thor's harsh grip; pulling at individual fingers since his hand was so big that I found it necessary to divide and conquer. "I've never seen the White House."

"It's a big house and it's white."Thor kept walking. "Besides we're not here for sightseeing. I'll bring you back when we're done."

I raised an eyebrow at that. It almost felt as if I were on a date; a very strange and possibly violent date. Well, probably violent, possibly fatal. Thor held my hand even after I stopped resisting and started moving purposefully with him. Then there was the mention of a second outing. That's date talk, right? I looked down at our clasped hands and then around at the rest of our group. No one else was holding hands, not even the Navajo couple. Was this Thor's way of protecting me? He had made a blood oath after all. Maybe he just forgot that he was still dragging me along.

We reached the park across the street and stopped abruptly. Thor looked around expectantly and since the only place I was looking was at him, I knew the exact moment he found what he was after. Yes; I was staring at him. I had nothing else better to do, and he was still holding my hand. I was not completely infatuated. I was not an amateur. I was merely keeping occupied and aware.

I glanced in the direction Thor was looking and then looked immediately back for a more thorough inspection. It wasn't every day that I got to meet two gorgeous Viking gods, and I was pretty sure the guy walking up to us was going to be the second. He wasn't as tall as Thor but wasn't by any means short—over six feet definitely—and his long hair was blond, not red. His features weren't as artistically angled as Thor's, but they'd give Brad Pitt a run for his money. Hell, I think Angelina would have swapped good ol' Brad for either of these two in a heartbeat. If this kept up, I'd need a bib.

"Ull."Thor finally let me go to embrace the newcomer in a fast, manly hug. You know; the quick grab, pat hard, and let go kind of hug that says I must care a lot about this guy because I'm touching him, but let's get this clear... I'm not gay.

"Hey, Dad."Ull smiled up at the bigger man before looking me over.

"Dad?"I shook my head to clear it of the lust-induced fog and tried to concentrate. "Did he just call you 'Dad?'"

"I'm his stepson."Ull moved around his Dad and closed in on me. "And you are?"

"This is Vervain."Thor stepped between us again. "She's going to be working with us."

"Great."Ull pushed past Thor as his smile grew. "I'm looking forward to it, Vervain."He held his hand out to me, but Thor grabbed it before I could and pushed it away as if it were a potential threat.

"I made her a blood oath,"Thor sounded a little more serious than I thought was necessary for a minor protection.

"What?"Ull asked as his eyes widened.

And he wasn't the only one shocked, some of the other gods made sounds of surprise as well. Brahma just looked kinda smug to have known a choice bit of info that the others didn't.

"She's human."Thor let go of Ull and reclaimed my hand. "She didn't trust me, and I believe we need her."

"But, Dad"-Ull's eyes were getting pretty round—"a blood oath… where? Heart or lips?"

"Lips."Thor locked his gaze on his stepson as if daring him to say more.

"Well"-Ull shook his head—"at least there's that."

"So, she really is spoken for."Pan looked supremely disappointed.

I didn't know whether to be really flattered or really creeped out by all of this attention.

"Okay."I used Thor's distraction to yank my hand free and then stood back from the group. "This is starting to sound like something I need to know more about, like, right now."I crossed my arms for good measure.

"She doesn't know?"Ull stared at Thor and then transferred his intense attention to me. "You don't know?"

"So, tell me already."I was not uncrossing my arms until I had an answer... period.

"It's not your place to tell her."Thor glared at Ull.

"No; it's not."Ull was giving Thor's nasty look right back to him and upping the nasty. "It's yours; as in it should've been done already."

"Thor, you honored a human with Blood to Mouth and then didn't bother to explain it to her?"Horus walked up behind Ull, looking just as baffled as I felt.

"Great."I sighed. "I'm honored. Can someone tell me what I'm so honored about?"

"We don't have time for this."Thor simply pushed his hand between my folded arms, grabbed my wrist, and started dragging me away.

"Whoa, caveman."I tried my best to dig my heels in, but let's face it, it was like a parakeet trying to hold back a tornado; just a whole lot of useless squawking. "I don't appreciate this, Thor. I'm going to ask nicely just once. The next time, my sword will do the asking. Now, please tell me what's going on."

"You have my protection."Thor didn't even glance behind us to see if everyone was following. "That's all you need to know. You'll not be harmed if I can help it."

"Uh-huh."I looked behind me.

The gang was all there and completely fascinated by our exchange.

"What's the difference between lips and heart?"I tried again.

"I don't have time to give you an anatomy lesson."He kept walking.

"Witty, very witty."I looked behind me again, this time for help, but they were all wearing matching I don't know whether to be pissed off or amused stares. "What's the difference in the oath?"

"Obviously, a blood oath to the heart is a pledge of love,"he sounded as if he were schooling a three-year-old.

I don't like being patronized. Come to think of it, I don't know anyone who actually enjoys being patronized; including three-year-olds.

"Well, obviously."I rolled my eyes. "And obviously, I'm an idiot because I thought I knew enough about blood oaths to be able to assume that you're giving me one meant that I could trust you."

"Odin's beard, woman!"Thor finally stopped and turned so suddenly that I ended up smack dab in the middle of his chest.

I don't think Thor even felt it. For me, it was like accidentally walking into a telephone pole... which I've done before. Don't laugh; I'm a klutz and it happens to hurt. And don't even get me started on the splinters.

"That was the whole purpose of the oath; to let you know you can trust me,"Thor huffed.

I couldn't stop from laughing, even with my suddenly aching chin. It kind of just spurted out in a surprised guffaw. Thor looked down at me and then grabbed my upper arms to bring me off my feet so he could glare harder. It only served to burst the giggle dam, and I started laughing even more.

"What's so damn funny?"He actually shook me a little.

"It's just..."I had reached the point where exhaustion and anxiety had made me sensitive. If Thor had said something mean, I might have cried, but as it stood, everything had become funny. He could have said "doorknob,"and I would have laughed harder. "It's just…"

"The suspense is killing me,"Horus' dry tone came from behind me; inspiring another round of laughter.

People walking by were giving us funny looks. The children with those people were smiling, though. They knew a busted giggle dam when they saw one.

"Okay, okay."I took a deep, calming breath. "It's just that you're a god so it's kinda funny to hear you swear using another god's name. Like, you just took another god's name in vain. Isn't that breaking a god rule or something?"I giggled. "The only thing that would've been more amusing is if you'd said 'My beard, woman.' Much funnier and probably not a rule breaker."

The assemblage of gods stared at me with different degrees of disgust and amusement. Thor just looked confused.

"I don't have a beard,"he said simply.

That's when the others finally saw the humor. Their laughter, unfortunately, did nothing to improve Thor's mood. He just snorted, put me down, and resumed walking.