Witches of East End - By Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,94

from the wet earth and faced her. "Then you shall spend the rest of your existence in a dying world."

"No, Loki, I will not. You will exit as you entered Midgard, through the hole you made in the trunk, and your leaving will close it behind you. The Tree of Life will be whole once more." This was Ingrid's idea, and she hoped her sister was right - that once he crossed Yggdrasil once more, the wound would close and the toxin would disappear.

Loki hesitated.

"It's your only way out of here now that the ring is gone," Freya said. "Without the ring, it is the only path that remains open to you. You have only one place to go. I don't think you want to wait around to see what will happen once Balder gets ahold of you." The God of Light and Fury would be a fearsome enemy now that he was restored to his full strength and no longer bound by the limits of the curse.

Loki didn't respond for a while. He simply stood still, his mind whirling, and then he smiled. "You are more like me than you think, dear Freya." With that he spun around and faced the great trunk of the tree. He uttered garbled words in a language Freya did not catch.

The stars above dimmed as the paths through the great thicket of roots seemed to shift and change in the darkness, revealing a scarred black tear in the face of the tree. The opening looked more like a wound, a mighty rip, and a powerful force emanated from it, blowing a noxious hurricane wind from the shaft. Loki put one hand on the torn bark, for a moment he paused as if to turn and bid farewell, but he did not. Instead he bit his lip and cast himself into the void. The black fury billowed once more from the hole, as if consuming the dark god of mischief only increased its power.

Freya was thrown to the ground as the earth heaved. The heavens went dark and the blackness spread all around her. "Loki!" she called. There was no answer. She closed her eyes and rode out the storm as the fury enveloped her like a tornado, swirling in all directions. Finally the hurricane stopped, and when she opened her eyes the tree was whole once more.

She picked herself up and dusted off her knees. "Ingrid! Are you and Tyler okay?"

"We're here!"

Freya ran toward the sound of their voices.

Ingrid was out of breath. "I found him on the path. But he hadn't gone beyond the first gate yet. Hurry, it's almost daylight. The Covenant!"

"What about Lionel?" Freya asked.

"I couldn't find him. But if Loki is gone from here then Lionel should be on his way to Helda as he used to be. And without the corruption in his soul."

"Are we going home now?" Tyler asked.

"Yes. Hold my hand and don't let go."

The little boy looked frightened, and Freya remembered that he did not like to be touched; but after an internal struggle he took Freya's hand and, in the other, held Ingrid's.

They walked like that, with the child between them, until they were back in the house.
Chapter forty-six
The Judgment of
the Council

Joanna saw them emerge from the front door of Fair Haven. She ran to Tyler, enveloping him in a bear hug. "You did it," she said to her girls in awe. She had forgotten how strong they were, had forgotten in the years of living quietly that her children were formidable and ferocious. "You did it."

"Yes," Freya said, walking over to Killian and taking his hand. His leg was still wrapped in the tourniquet she had made. "But who knows where Loki will end up next."

"It's all right, he won't be free for very long," a new voice said.

Ingrid looked up. "Dad?"

A man stood quietly in the shadows. He was tall, gray-haired, and handsome, but his face was weary and his beard a tad unkempt. He was wearing a worn cardigan and gray slacks, the academic's uniform. Freya hugged herself tightly but in the end she ran to him as Ingrid had done.

"My girls." It was all Norman Beauchamp could say at the moment as he embraced them and even Joanna had to blink back tears.

"Skadi, you're crying," Norman teased.

"Oh, Nordj, stop." She sighed.

The god of the seas released his daughters and looked at them seriously. "Your mother told me you had gone after Loki on your own. I was worried, but you