“Secret?”
“Aye.” Logan had given him permission to tell her. “Logan is actually the god Loki.”
“Are you serious? He’s been missing for centuries!”
“Not missing, just hiding. He can shapeshift, which helps.”
“And he took your place?” Disbelief tinged her voice.
“Logan does no’ care for many, but when he does, it’s true. It was his turn, he said.”
“Wow. Just, wow. I never would have expected that. He’s so damn ruthless and self-interested, at least according to the myths.”
“It’s who the mortals created him to be. They believed him to be that, so he was. But ideas have a life of their own. Loki’s his own man. Though they’ve been created by belief, all the gods are. They’re no’ always what we think they are.”
“Nay, I suppose no’. But how’d he get you out?”
“He figured out a way to get on campus and took my place in the cell.” Guilt ate at him, a gnawing sensation that chewed at his insides. But he’d get Logan out.
“How is that even possible?”
“He got onto the campus using whatever Carthe gave him in exchange for the Book of Worlds.” Though from what Loki had said in the cell, he hadn’t been intending to use it to free Ian. He wanted to be on campus for another reason, though Ian didn’t know what it was. “He used his shapeshifting ability to sneak in under the guise of one of the guards.”
“And you used your invisibility to get out?”
“Aye. I walked out of the prison behind another when he opened the main door.”
“Oh my gods. So you’re on the run from the university”
Dread sent a spike through Ian’s gut. “Aye. Logan is in my prison cell, shapeshifted into my form. I canna go back to Scotland or they’ll know something is amiss.” And he couldn’t go back until he had a way to free Loki.
“Oh, shite.”
The distress in her tone twisted his heart. This was what he’d been afraid of. She wanted to work for the university. He couldn’t go anywhere near the place.
“I know it’s been such a short period of time,” he said. “And I’m no’ expecting you to profess love or want to marry me right out of the gate, but I want to keep seeing you. I care for you, Fiona. More than I’ve ever cared for anyone.”
She kissed him. “I wanted to visit you, but could no’. I dinna have clearance for some reason. I came to Spain to try to get over some of the pain of losing you, but it’s no’ working. I doona even enjoy working for the university anymore.”
“I’m sorry. You wanted it so badly.”
“I thought I did. But I want to be with you. I’ll go with you. We’ll hunt for artifacts on our own.”
He grinned, joy singing through him.
“But no’ for money. We canna sell them. We have to turn them over to a museum for conservation and display. I doona know how we’ll fund it, but we’ll find a way. Could you be happy like that?”
“As long as you and I are creeping around old tombs and archaeological sites finding treasure, I’ll be just fine. And I can fund the expeditions. The money I put in the bank before I was imprisoned has done quite well. Interest is an amazing thing.”
Her jaw slackened. “Interest? Over a hundred years? That’s enormous.”
“Aye. And I know just what we’ll go hunting for first.”
“What?”
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Logan gave me this when he got me out. Whatever is at the end of this map will get Loki out of prison. After that, it’s just you, me, and adventure.”
“And Fluffy Black.”