Eye of the Beholder Read Online Free PDF Page B

god of vengeance and known to humans as Victor Kippe was also still employed at Grimm, but that was no surprise. Even without the apples he’d always been loyal to the point of idiocy. Kate Berger, the goddess Skadi who’d tied Loki to the rocks and placed the snake over his head was still loyal as well. Fred Grimm, aka Thor, was still his as well. The god of the sea, Njord, had never been a part of the company, but Grimm wasn’t too worried about him. Njord, or Kye as he was now known, rarely left his seaside home. He’d have no reason to bother with Grimm’s problems unless they encroached on his domain. If they did, all hell would break loose, as Kye acknowledged neither Grimm nor Tyr as his master. As far as Grimm could tell he was still maintaining his neutrality.
    Grimm’s brows shot up in shock as one name he’d been certain to see was conspicuous in its absence. Niklas DeWitt, the god Heimdall and Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, was no longer listed on the payroll. Grimm sat back, curious what could have made the Guardian quit. It was entirely possible Frigg had done something to piss the other god off, but what she could have done to anger him to that extent Grimm had no idea. It wasn’t like Nik hung around at the office Christmas parties, but up until now he’d been completely loyal.
    Perhaps that was it. With Grimm himself no longer at the helm, perhaps Nik had taken himself off the payroll? He filed it mentally away as something to look into, and dismissed the man from his thoughts.
    Next up, he needed to find out what had happened to his stash of elixir. Grimm keyed up the distribution list. When he saw the numbers he nearly howled in rage.
    She’d cut them off. Aesir, Vanir and Jotun, gods and giants both, she’d cut them all off. She’d turned around and started serving the elixir, his elixir, to humans . She was controlling the fucking humans with his secret weapon.
    Stupid, stupid, stupid bitch. The walls frosted over as he stared in furious disbelief at the screen. Giving the elixir to the janitor who’d cleaned up the massive amounts of Grimm’s blood had been one thing; the man wouldn’t question what had appeared to be a murder in Grimm’s very private basement. He also wouldn’t question the devices he’d had stored in the side room where he’d had his fun with Jamie. But to give it to the stockholders? What had she hoped to gain there? The elixir wouldn’t be nearly as potent in her hands as it was in his. She didn’t have the ability to manipulate others that made the apples so effective in his hands. He’d waged war to get his hands on the apples once he’d found out about their unique properties. Ingested, the subject—god, Jotun or human—became highly suggestible. Combined with Odin’s own talents as a god of lies, he’d had complete control over anyone who drank anything made of the apples of Idun. They were almost impossible to resist. Indeed, he’d thought them completely impossible to resist until Tyr managed to break free, denying him the sale of his company, Guardian Investigations, and control over Fred Grimm’s children.
    He leaned back in his chair to make room for the ravens that swooped into the room, landing exactly where they’d started from. Their feathers settled down, turning back into stone.
    “ Rapport .” He rested his hand on their heads, stroking them as the information he sought played out inside his mind. Startlingly enough, they’d been unable to find Tyr.
    Grimm smiled. He had an idea of what could have happened to Tyr to take him off the ravens’ radar. He wove a complicated design over the raven statue, shrinking it down in size until it fit into his breast pocket. Later he’d break out the chain he used to wear them on and place them around his neck.
    “Are you done?” He looked up to find Rina Southerland standing in the doorway, her pale blue eyes filled with amusement. He immediately logged out of the computer and shut it down,