Trapped Read Free Page A

toward a ten-dollar fan and we’re standing on the fan. Jesus spoke to me of cataclysms, plural, and maybe we could avoid them if we got rid of both Loki and Hel, but who knows if Ganesha and his gang will let me pursue that now, because I promised I’d wait until— «
    » Atticus, « Granuaile said, touching me gently on the arm. » You’ve stopped making sense. Calm down. «
    » Right. Thanks. I need to slow down. You know what sucks about prophecies? «
    » They never predict anything fun, « Granuaile answered. » Just once I’d like to hear a prophet tell someone, ‘Thou shalt win a bitchin’ Camaro on a game show.’ «
    » Good point, but I was going to say that everybody has them. Prophets have been around as long as prostitutes. «
    › Often in the same bed, ba-doom-boom! ‹
    » You can’t figure out who to believe, « I continued, » so you wind up treating all the prophets like Cassandras, but some of them really are correct. Hitting on the right one before their prophecy comes true, though—that’s the trick. Worse odds than roulette. «
    » You hit women named Cassandra? « Perun said, frowning. » Is not right to hit women, even if name is ugly. «
    » What? Perun, I think you misunderstood. «
    » Oh. « He looked crestfallen. » I am reminded many times. English is not best language for me. «
    » I speak Russian now, though it’s not my best language either, « Granuaile said. » We could switch to that if you’d like, if you would talk slowly and pronounce everything clearly. «
    Perun grinned. » Da , that would be wonderful! « We made the switch, and I tried to speak slowly for Granuaile’s benefit.
    » I’ve been thinking for a while now, « I said, » that this prophecy about the world burning might be linked to Ragnarok, thanks to what we did in Asgard. That’s why seeing Loki free is seriously disturbing. His release was always the trigger of Ragnarok in the old tales. «
    Granuaile frowned. » Yeah, but wasn’t he supposed to ride a ship of the dead up to the Field of Vigrid, and it was a ship made of toenails or something? «
    » He was, « I said, nodding, » but nothing is going to go the way it was supposed to now. Regardless of any prophecies, a free Loki isn’t a good thing for anyone. How’d he get to your plane, Perun? «
    The great Russian god shrugged, his impressive personal thatching communicating the depths of his frustration.
    » I don’t know. I was in Alaska in the form of an eagle, eating a trout I’d just caught from a river, when I felt that something was wrong. I went to my plane and found Loki there, setting fire to everything. I threw lightning at him and he laughed. He was not hurt at all, and he said he was waiting for me. «
    » Why? « Granuaile asked.
    » He was mad because I helped to kill Thor, « Perun explained.
    » But he hated Thor, « I said.
    » I know. He said that killing Thor himself became his dream during those years he was tied down under the great snake. Then he said, since I had taken away his dream, he would take away my people’s dream. He left me a harvest of ashes. «
    » That’s terrible, « Granuaile said.
    Perun nodded at her, grateful for the sympathy. » After that he said, ‘You are like Thor, so I will kill you instead.’ He attacked me, and he was very strong. Stronger than I thought he would be. I began to fear him, and I panicked. I asked the earth to find you. «
    That didn’t quite compute. » You never heard that I died? «
    Perun looked at me curiously. » When was this? « He poked me with a finger to make sure I was real. » You do not feel like a ghost. «
    » No, I mean I faked my death. You never heard about that? «
    The thunder god shook his head. » I have been an eagle for too long, I think. I lost track of the years. «
    I knew what he meant; it was dangerous to spend too much time in animal form, because it became so easy to focus on the basic needs of survival and let all one’s other cares drift away.