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 have both accomplished more than I hoped. Midgard is whole once again.”
“Where did you go, Dad? Did you really get an audience with the White Council?”
“Yes. I went to the oracle and spoke to Odin himself. Once I deciphered the code on those plans Erda sent me and saw that the roots of the tree were in Fair Haven, and when I saw those reports of oceanic disturbance, I began to think that perhaps the toxin of Ragnarok had been found in our world, which could only mean one thing. Loki had escaped from his chains and had come to unleash his vengeance upon us.”
“Great minds think alike,” Freya said, nudging Ingrid.
Norman sighed. “I bring other news as well. The Council has been aware of your flagrant and repeated violations of the magical restriction that has been in place since the Salem trials.”
“Oh, great.”
“What are they going to do?” Ingrid asked fearfully.
“It’s very simple, really,” Norman said. “To live in this world, you must continue to abide by its rules and the laws of its citizens, just as we have always done. If no charges are brought against you, the restriction will be lifted and you may continue to practice magic as long as you do not draw any more attention to your supernatural abilities. This will apply to all of our kind who are still on this side of the Bofrir bridge.”
Freya exchanged a smile with Ingrid and Joanna. They could practice magic again! Before they could celebrate, Norman raised a hand. “But if you are arrested, tried, and proven guilty in a court of law, you will be found in breach of the restriction and you will both be sent to the Kingdom of the Dead for ten thousand years in service to Helda.”
“So if nothing happens, we’re free. We can be witches again, all of us.” Freya smiled, thinking of everything that had been denied them for hundreds of years. She would have to get her broom out of storage and find a decent cauldron that could stand up to the potions she was eager to create.
Her father nodded. “Yes.”
Ingrid shook her head. “But if they bring charges against us and we’re convicted, we go to Helda as slaves.”
“Correct.”
“But what about Loki? He’s still out there.”
“The Valkyrie will find him.”
Freya thought of the woman who had visited the bar looking for Killian right after the holiday, and realized she was from the same tribe as the woman whom she had seen in New York talking to Bran. She remembered how nervous Bran had been that evening, how eager to get away from the Valkyrie. She did not feel as bad now that she knew Loki had been able to fool the fierce warrior maidens as well.
Killian squeezed her hand, but she wasn’t thinking of him or their love right then. Nothing was decided yet. Their fate, once again, was in the hands of the human realm.