“Son of a pus bucket,” I swore, the fear that gripped me driving away the misery about Ben. Had Loki gone after my mother once he had failed to grab me? “Where are you, exactly? I mean, what town?”
“Brustwarze.”
“I beg your pardon?” Did she just say breast warts at me?
“Brustwarze. It means nipple.”
“You’re in a town named for nipples?”
“Yes. It’s near Heidelberg.”
Oh goddess, it was true—it had to be true. Who else would want to kidnap my mother but Loki, who had sworn vengeance on me the last time we’d met?
Well, that was pretty much all she wrote. I couldn’t sit here and let Loki do who-knew-what to my mother. I had to save her. I had to go to Germany, go back to the GothFaire.
Ben. Was he there? He frequently visited his sister. Would I be able to cope having to see him again?
Did I have any choice?
“I hate it when life does this to me,” I snarled, shocking Imogen.
“I beg your pardon?”
“It’s nothing important. I’m catching the first plane I can to Germany.”
“What?” she almost shrieked. “You’re coming out here? Now?”
“My mother’s missing, and I have a nasty feeling I know who’s behind it,” I said, logging into a travel Web site. I punched up flights to Germany, bile rolling around in my stomach. I didn’t want to go, but there was no one else who could tackle Loki. Besides, it was my responsibility. Loki had threatened vengeance against me because of actions I took, no one else. It was only right I should be the one to face his wrath.
St. Fran the martyr. What a depressing thought.
“But, Fran, I’m sure your mother is fine, just fine. Maybe she told Peter she was going to be away for longer and he didn’t mention it to anyone.”
“You can check on that, but I doubt it. It’s not like my mother to ignore her cell phone. Looks like I can be out there in about twelve hours, if I get cracking. It’ll eat up a big chunk of my new apartment money, but that can’t be helped.”
“Twelve hours . . . oh, but Fran! What about Benedikt?”
“He’s there?” Excitement shimmied down my arms before I told my Inner Fran to get with the plan. I was not excited about the thought of seeing Ben again.
“Yes, but, Fran, I think you should—”
“I know, I should have a long talk with him. And maybe I will. But right now, I have to find my mother.” My gaze fell on the clock. “Crap. Gotta get moving or I won’t make the airport in time. See you when I get there.”
“But, Fran!” Imogen sputtered something, but I didn’t have time to argue with her. I said good-bye, hung up, then quickly punched in Eirik’s cell phone number, trying to calm my wildly excited nerves. Part of me was panicking at the thought of Loki having my mother, the other was focused on the idea that I would see Ben in just a few hours. I hadn’t seen him in almost five years. Would he make a scene when I showed up at the Faire? Would he try to persuade me that I was meant to spend the rest of my life with him?
“This is Eirik Redblood, Viking warlord, left hand of the goddess Freya, and right hand of the virgin goddess Fran.”
“Oh, for the love of . . .” I took a deep breath, deciding to hold off the argument about the Vikings’ latest name for me. “Hi, Eirik. It’s Fran. How fast can you guys get to the airport?”
Silence answered that question for the count of five. “We are going after Loki?”
“You’re darned tooting we are. He’s taken my mother, and no one—no one—messes with my family!”
The sound of murmuring answered that, followed immediately by ear-piercing Viking battle cries. “Command us, virgin goddess!” Eirik declared happily.
“I don’t have enough money to get you guys tickets, so you’ll have to use your weasel money to buy them.” I gave him information on the flight I had booked myself. “Oh, man, passports—”
“We have them. The goddess Freya had them made up, and gave them to us with the weasel gold.”
“Excellent. I hope you boys are all geared up and ready to kick some serious booty!”
“Our enemies will fall!” I heard Finnvid yelling in the background. “We will not fail you, virgin goddess Fran!”
“We will cleave his head from his shoulders!” Isleif growled.
“Normally I’d say I’m not up to cleaving anything, but at this moment . . .” My eyes narrowed as I thought of all the things I wanted to do to Loki. “At this moment, I might just take a swing at him myself.”
The Vikings cheered, and promised to meet me at the airport in time for the flight to Germany.