I was ready to strangle my brother.

If Manannan and I hadn't dragged him off to our nearest outpost while Shannon, Mist, and Scota sparred, I swear he would have gotten us kicked off her island. He simply could not resist pissing off the fierce goddess. At every opportunity, he'd made comments to her that had steam coming out of her ears. I was shocked she'd restrained herself from attacking him.

Fortunately, Taleisin didn't question our absence during the day and was content to explore the island on his own. To bolster our claim of gathering food, we returned with local fish and seafood that I forced Elada to help make for the evening meal. When Shannon told me she knew the prophecy and we were leaving, I was relieved to no longer have to run interference between my idiotic older brother and our hostess.

Yet Elada continued to be an ass after we'd returned to the Summer Realm and the rooms assigned by the court. He'd stopped leering at Shannon, but his frequent lewd comments about Scota made me uncomfortable.

"Why do you think Scota doesn't like cock?"

If I punch him in the face, will Mother be angry or celebrate me stopping the stupidity falling from his mouth?

"Did you swap brains with a sea sponge?" I asked.

Elada scowled at me. "Sea sponges don't have brains."

"Exactly," I retorted, pulse pounding in my temple and starting to spike into my left eye.

He rolled his eyes and flicked a rude hand gesture at me. "I'm just saying... she is one finely formed female. It seems like such a waste of pussy."

Like an underwater sea vent, my patience blew. "By the shell! Stop! Just fucking stop, all right? I don't want to hear any more of your barnacle-brained, sea-lion shit! I'm tired of your inability to filter your thoughts, spewing every sort of filth out of your blow hole!"

Elada's silver eyes widened, and he held both hands up to ward me off. "Don't go squirting your ink, brother."

Fists clenched, it was everything I could do to not punch him. "Then stop, Elada! You know your attitude is completely jellyfish backwards. Pull your head out of your ass before you cause a diplomatic incident. If you keep talking like that, Mother is going to chop off your cock and feed it to you," I growled.

"Huh. I came in at the wrong moment. Do you want me to leave you two alone?" Shannon asked from the doorway, looking between Elada and I.

"No!" I said, seeing Maeve standing behind Shannon. Blowing out a breath and taking the time to inhale and exhale again more slowly, I calmed my voice. "Did you figure out what the prophecy means?"

Shannon still looked back and forth between my idiotic brother and me, frowning slightly, but nodded.

"Yeah, we think we've got it worked out. Did Mist leave to update Loki?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied, breath calming further as I continued to take deliberate inhales and slow exhales.

She winced. "Damn. I should have asked her to wait until we knew what the prophecy meant. Loki needs to come with us," she said.

"Where are we going?" I asked, crossing the room towards her.

"I'll tell you about it on the way to get some supplies. Maeve is taking us there now," she said, opening the door behind her.

Elada offered to come, and I waved him back. I needed some space from my damn brother.

"We'll be back well before the evening meal," Shannon told him with a smile.

Following her out, I closed the door with relief. I was already in better spirits being around her, and she seemed to have an aura of hope surrounding her. My hand in hers, we trailed behind Maeve along walkways, weaving in and amongst the trees.

"So, what did you learn?" I asked, squeezing her hand to catch her attention from the sights as we walked.

"We've got to travel to Helheim to retrieve Baldur. He's the God of Light, and Odin's oldest son, his son with Freya, so she'll force Badb to accept his life as payment for the curse," Shannon told me, explaining several lines of the prophecy. "We're headed to meet Airmid, Keeper of the Regenerative Springs. She's a goddess of medicine and has a potion that can bring the dead back to life."

"And to get seeds, don't forget," Maeve reminded her.

"Right. We also need seeds," Shannon agreed, a little smile on her lips.

"What are the seeds for?" I asked.

"We can't eat anything from the realm of the dead. But I should be able to use my elemental abilities to grow seeds from here to have plants we can eat if we run out of travel rations," Shannon said, then looked away before adding, "It's an emergency measure to make sure we have a source of nutrients to provide energy to you and Loki."

I blinked. "Umm... why just Loki and I? Won't you need to eat as well?"

A light flush coloured Shannon's cheeks and Maeve chuckled as she walked in front of us.

"Shannon?" I asked.

She cleared her throat, continuing to not make eye contact. "Because both of you will be recharging my energy."

Amusement filled me, and I couldn't hold back my smile. For a fertility goddess, Shannon could be endearingly shy in talking about sex when she wasn't aroused. Get her hot and bothered though, and her real thoughts came tumbling out.

"So that favourite fantasy of yours—"

Her hand slapped over my mouth, and I couldn't stop the laughter that burst out of me. It made me wonder if Loki knew how intensely Shannon craved the two of us taking her at the same time. I pulled her hand away to plant a kiss on her sensitive palm. Her eyes met mine even as she shivered.

"Does Loki know how much you want—"

Her hand covered my mouth again.

"Do stop talking, Elatha," she said, face flaming.

I licked her palm, and she jerked her hand away.

"You are so adorable, Shannon." I grinned at her. There was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity to get Loki to help give her what she craved, even if she couldn't bring herself to ask for it until we got her panting.

Maeve was still chuckling, a wide smile on her face when she paused to face us at a doorway. "You really do share my traits, dear daughter. Don't be embarrassed that you want to enjoy both your consorts at once."

Shannon huffed, clearly still embarrassed at us discussing it. She wouldn't meet either of our eyes.

"I notice you haven't yet told Elatha the most interesting conclusion regarding your triquetra," Maeve teased.

"I'm waiting until I can tell both of them at the same time," Shannon said, shifting her feet.

Was she nervous about telling us something? Surely she wasn't still worried that I'd have a problem sharing with Loki? Whatever it was, we'd deal with it, and if I had to knock some sense into Loki, I would.

Maeve nodded, looking at me. "Yeah, it'll be... interesting."

It made me even more curious.

Maeve beckoned for us to follow her through the doorway. Letting Shannon go in front of me, I entered last.

The space was brightly lit, but I wasn't sure whether to think of it as a shop or a place of healing. The walls were covered with shelves and bottles of every size, sort, and description. Plants hung from the ceiling like chandeliers. Several nooks held cots that I assumed were for those seeking healing.

An elven female with bright red curls and a gentle smile welcomed us. "Come in, Maeve. Is this your daughter, Shannon?"

"Indeed it is," Maeve answered before introducing us.

"So what is it I can help you with?" asked Airmid

"We'll be travelling to Annwn to bring back Baldur, God of Light, to save my son from the curse Badb has placed on him," Shannon explained.

Airmid scowled. "Yes, I'd heard of that disgusting curse. I'm so sorry. You'll need a restorative potion if you're going to get Baldur back across the bridge from the land of the dead." She walked to one of the shelves and took down a small blue bottle, handing it to Shannon. "Be sure to wait until you are on the bridge or at the door out to give it to him."

"Thank you," Shannon said. "Would you also have seeds that would produce edible high energy plants? Perhaps tubers? In case we run out of travel rations, I'm hoping to use my elemental abilities to grow something we can still eat while in Annwn."

Airmid nodded. "Hmm... Interesting. That's a smart idea. I think I have just the thing." She moved to another set of shelves and pulled out a little wooden box. "You can eat both the greens and tubers of this plant, raw or cooked. Raphanus grows fast, so shouldn't use too much of your energy to accelerate it." She handed the box to Shannon.

Opening it, it was full of tiny black seeds.

"This is perfect. Thank you so much, Airmid," Shannon said.

"We really appreciate your help," I added.

"Of course, of course. I'm happy to help and look forward to you sticking it in Badb's eye when she has to lift the curse," Airmid said with a grin, eyes twinkling.