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."Are there any poodles on the island?" I asked Imogen under my breath."Not that I've seen.No one lives here but the archeologypeople, and they only have goldenretrievers.""Knockyourself out," I said to Isleif.He stared in surprise."Um.I mean, go right ahead.Havefun.Happy… er… poodling.""Very well," Imogen said as he walked away."I concede that the Vikings are an issue, althoughI'd like to point out that Finnvid has not been any trouble, and has a most delicious way with…but that's beside the point.""Not to mention way too much information." I smiled."Next on your list is Tesla, and I believe you and Benedikt have done all you can there.I wishthere was something I know of to help, but short of hiring a detective to investigate—somethingthat would be bound to cost a great deal of money—I'm at a loss."I rubbed my forehead again.The headache I thought I'd gotten rid of this morning wasback."Yeah, me too.""And as for Benedikt keeping secrets—you must realize, Fran, that he has commitments topeople other than yourself.""I know that.He told me about his blood brother.Or rather, he told me that he couldn't tell meabout him.Something about an oath.Which I understand, I really do.But it's still kind ofannoying to have him disappear for a month and pop back up and not say where he's been.Or gooff for the night and come back almost dead!""I admit that last annoyed me, as well," she agreed."But you must learn to trust Benedikt.Hewould never do anything that would harm you.""I know that.I just hate that he's off doing probably really neat things without me."She smiled."I sense that your feelings for him are becoming deeper than perhaps you realize.""Not going there," I said, sighing again.Sometimes life seemed so overwhelming."All right, we won't.Out of your four issues, I believe only one is a legitimate concern, and Ican help you with that.""With the Vikings?"I stopped rubbing my forehead to squint into the morning sun that shownover her shoulders."Yes.You wish to send them toValhalla , correct?""Yeah."I told her what had happened the night before."I was going to summon this Loki godguy, but Mikaela went off to get a chainsaw fixed, so I'm stuck waiting until they get back.""Nonsense," Imogen said, drinking the last of her latte and throwing the paper cup into the trash.She stood, dusting herself off."You have me.""I do?" I got up slowly, not sure what she was getting at."Yes, you do.I shall summon the god Loki, and you will lay your case before him.""But… you're not a witch.Or a priestess, for that matter.""No, I'm Moravian.That is infinitely better," she said without the slightest trace of arrogance.Ifollowed her to her trailer, and waited while she dug out a book of invocations and grabbed a fewodd items from one of the drawers under her couch.I glanced a couple of times at the door to herbedroom, knowing Ben must be in there since he usually slept through the early part of the day,when the sun was at its strongest."Shall we?"I nodded and trotted obediently at her heels as we made our way through the just-waking-up fairto a small sandy area that jutted out of a rocky stretch of beach."This is a nice quiet place where we shouldn't be disturbed," she said, nodding at me to set myarmload down.I helped her spread out a blanket, pour a little water into a metal chalice, and layout some flowers, a big black feather, and a large curved animal claw."Have you done this much?" I asked, chewing my lip a little as she consulted her book."Not with Norse gods, no.But it can't be that hard if Mikaela did it.Now, let's see… for the earthwe have purified water and—just grab a handful of dirt would you? Set it in that little cup.Perfect.Nature is represented by theflowers, and the animal kingdom by the feather and bearclaw.Hmm." She looked up, her lips pursed."It says to summon a god we must first be in areligion that honors the god, orpossess a personal talisman of the god himself.Did Freya say thatamulet belonged to Loki?"I shook my head."She just said it had his power in it."She looked thoughtful for a second or two before closing the book."That sounds good enoughto me.You'll have to do the invocation since the amulet is yours.""Um… I don't know what invocation to use for him."She flipped through the book for a few minutes before closing it again."I believe we just makesomething up.So long as it's about Loki, asking for his help, and using the amulet to reach him,it should be all right.""OK.I'm not very good at this, but anything is worth a shot to get the Vikings on their way.""I'll help [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]