VERY MUCH ALIVE by Dana Marie Bell

Her destiny rests in their hands…

True Destiny, Book 1

Kiran Tate and Logan Saeter have been on the run from Oliver Grimm for so long they’ve forgotten what it’s like to be free. Ending Grimm’s power games won’t be easy, but this time they have an ace in the hole. PI Jordan Grey, Guardian Investigation’s resident hot shot—and Grimm’s step-granddaughter.

Jordan Grey has her doubts when Logan and Kir show up in her office with a tall tale of how her step-grandfather has framed them for murder. And to top it all off, they’re claiming that they’re really the ancient Norse gods Loki and Baldur, and that Grimm is Odin!

When the two lovers see the sexy detective for the first time, stopping Grimm suddenly takes a back seat to seducing her into their arms. But Grimm never rests, and when his anger spills over onto Jordan, it sets them all on a collision course with a destiny that will rock their world…

Doing Impossible Things And Getting Blamed For It, or How Loki and Baldur Wound Up In My Head

Once upon a time, Loki heard a story about the one weakness Baldur had. Being a Bad Dude, he decided it would be good fun to take that weakness and exploit it, along with Baldur’s blind brother Hodr. So he fashioned an arrow head (or dart, depending on who you ask) and handed it to Hodr.

Now, the Norse Gods happened to be getting their jollies that day by throwing things at the invincible (dare I say, at the time, impenetrable) Baldur and watching them just bounce off while Baldur stood and let them, a silly smirk on his face.

Let’s face it. They were bored titless. This was their version of Legend of Zelda or something.

Loki, seeing that Hodr wasn’t partaking of the *cough* fun, offered to help. He handed Hodr the one thing capable of hurting Baldur, helped the blind god aim, and fired…

Have you ever read through the Norse myths? There’s a few logic holes there (as there are in any mythology), but one in particular always stood out to me.

Loki.

Yup, that bad dude. He is such a naughty guy. (Have I mentioned I love naughty alpha males?) He stole Sif’s hair (but got her twenty-four carat golden hair after Thor threatened to smash his man-bits with Mjolnir. Talk about motivation.) In fact, when you think about it Loki was directly or indirectly responsible for most of the gifts the gods had. He offered up a goddess to a giant to save his own hide, then got her back after another man-bit threat from Thor. He pulled pranks on everyone, got drunk at a party and accused them all of infidelity, slept with anything that had a convenient orifice, heck, I’m pretty sure he called Odin a poo-poo head at one point or another.

So how did he wind up strapped to a rock and tortured until Ragnarrok? He sounds like a lecherous petty thief, not a psycho killer, right?

It’s simple. Someone perpetrated a scam so huge, got away with something so evil, that the ultimate emo teenager wound up taking the fall for it because it was so easy to believe he’d pull something that monumentally stupid.

Think about it. Loki never killed anyone who didn’t really deserve it, not until Baldur. He pulled stupid stunts and got into trouble for it. He was, literally, the red-headed step-child no one really wanted at the family dinner table. And like all rebellious, unwanted children he acted like a schmuck. But until Baldur he never actually killed in cold blood.

So why did he kill Baldur? Jealousy, right? And when Hel, his daughter, demanded that the only way to return Baldur was if everyone in the world wept Loki shape-shifted into a giantess and refused to weep for the fallen god. He then turned into a raven and flew away. He was captured swimming as a salmon and strapped to a rock, there to suffer eternal torment for his evil deeds.

There’s only one itsy bitsy teeny weeny problem with this scenario.

Loki can’t fly. Not at all. He has to borrow Freyja’s cloak in order to do it. So. How did he turn into a bird and fly away?

That’s bothered me for years. How could no one see that? Not one of the gods? They all knew it, right? But how do you account for the fact that Loki was seen handing Hodr the mistletoe and helping him aim? Why would Loki, who had never murdered anyone, suddenly kill and in such a way that not one person questioned who had done it?

Seriously. It’s a thing that makes you go hmmm…

And that’s where my story starts, the day Loki supposedly killed Baldur. Fast forward to present day, where Logan and Kir are desperate to reclaim their lives after centuries on the run. Two lovers bonded together to fight for something that should never have been taken in the first place. And when they meet Jordan, the sparks fly in a way neither can deny. Of course seducing the step-granddaughter of the very man they’re on the run from is a picnic in the park, right?

Yup, I see you’re familiar with mythology from that amused snort I just heard.

So who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in this, this Ragnarok I’m creating?

You’ll just have to read and see.

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