Tricked

but I have also looked much worse. And I am still healing, thanks to you. « I wasn’t sure he should be thanking me. Though I’d done my best to bind his head back together after Thor pulverized it into chunks of bone and brain, one could not look at him now without feeling seriously disturbed. The symmetry was gone. The shadows were wrong. One eye sat higher than the other—though it was a miracle he had eyes at all.
    Taking his hand, I could not help but notice that his skin there was tight and smooth, in sharp contrast to his face.
    » Leif, this is my apprentice, Granuaile. «
    He turned his unsettling gaze to her and nodded once. » It is my pleasure. «
    Granuaile bobbed her head in return, lips tightly pressed together. Perhaps she did not trust herself not to vomit; Leif’s head was more disturbing than anything we’d eaten at the Double Dog Dare Café.
    » Please, sit, « I said. He took a seat opposite me, and the waitress appeared to drop off our drinks and take his order. She flinched when she saw his face, glanced guiltily down at her order pad, and flinched again when he ordered only water.
    » So you will continue to improve? « I asked.
    » Yes. The hair is coming in. The bones are still shifting around a bit. «
    » How’s your memory? «
    » There are gaps, « he admitted. » Hal told me we were successful but that Gunnar did not make it. «
    My jaw dropped. » You don’t remember killing Thor? «
    He shook his head sadly. » I wish I did. But it gives me great pleasure to know that he is dead and that I was the instrument of his doom. «
    » What’s the last thing you recall? «
    » The frost giants stomping on Heimdall. Did they make it out? «
    I shrugged. » They might have. Last I saw, they were chasing Freyja. So you’re missing most of the battle. «
    » Yes. Can you fill me in? «
    » Certainly. « I spent some time rehashing our trip to Asgard—who died, who survived, and what happened afterward. Leif smiled when I recounted his face-off with Thor. His teeth weren’t straight.
    » So what now, Atticus? «
    » What do you mean, what now? We move on. That’s what I’m doing. «
    » It is not that easy. My situation is a bit dangerous. «
    » You mean the other vampires? I’m sure you’ll take care of it soon enough. Give yourself a bit of time. You’re not a hundred percent yet. «
    Leif sighed, intensely dissatisfied—whatever he wanted me to understand, I wasn’t getting it. He cocked his head suddenly to the right, as if startled by a thought. » Did I tell you once that I was the shit? Or am I imagining that? «
    » You said that once, yes, « I said, smiling.
    » Well, I am no longer the shit, Atticus. « He twirled a finger at his face to emphasize the point. » I am excessively weakened, and I do not know when or even if I will regain my former strength. «
    » So these other vampires are out to destroy you? «
    » Some are. Others are working for Zdenik. «
    » Zdenik? Your creator? «
    Leif nodded.
    I picked up my pint for a contemplative sip. » He’s in Prague, right? «
    » No. He’s in Phoenix. «
    That almost caused me to inhale some Smithwick’s into my lungs. I coughed a bit and put down the pint. » Um … why? «
    » On our journey to Asgard, you’ll recall, I went to visit him in Prague while you and Gunnar remained in the forest near Osinalice? «
    » Yes. You said you were paying your respects. «
    » I also arranged for him to take over my territory in the event of my death or severe injury. «
    » Leif, that sounds like an extraordinarily bad idea. «
    » It seemed like a good one at the time. But now he’s bought Copenhaver Castle on Camelback Mountain. You know it? «
    » Hard to live in the valley without hearing about it. I heard it has a hot tub with room for twenty people. Bow chicka big orgy, eh? «
    » Yes, but it also has a dungeon, which I believe was more attractive to him. He is renovating and fortifying the place. It is not the behavior of a vampire who is planning to return to his territory. «
    He said this in a way that implied I should be concerned. I was anxious to demonstrate that I wasn’t, so I shrugged. » Well, you have only yourself to blame. You arranged for the takeover. «
    » The terms of the arrangement stated that he would return to Prague once I was fully recovered. Right now he is making the very credible claim that I am not and it would be irresponsible for him to abandon this territory to an all-out war. He