Goated by the Gods Read Online Free Page B

with a charming smile and a devilish gleam in his eyes. “In more ways than one, if you want.”
    Quentin rolled his eyes, “The trickster god, that so makes me want to trust you now. Why did he send you and what does he want after all these years? He cursed us and then left us to fend for ourselves.”
    Loki chewed on his bottom lip and contemplated the two brothers standing before him. He needed Thor to get his hairy ass down here and explain this shit. “I promise Thor will explain shortly, or I will kick his eternal ass. For now, just sit and wait. Things will make sense shortly.”
    The brothers still didn’t trust Loki and he didn’t blame them. For once, though, he wasn’t screwing around. “Tell me something, if you don’t mind.”
    Quentin settled down against the wall and turned to face him. “What?”
    “Why were you sitting out there staring in here? What made you hesitant to come in?”
    “I could sense something was off in here, I assume it was your powers I felt. It wasn’t just that though. There is a smell in here that made me wary. I don’t know why, but I felt it in my bones.” Quentin shrugged as if that would explain it all.
    “You might have felt my powers, but it’s more than that. It’s a troll,” Loki said with a shake of his head in acknowledgment.
    The two brothers shared a look of confusion before turning back to Loki and waiting for an explanation.
    “Troll, that’s what you smelled, or in this case a half-troll. Don’t worry, he means you no harm either. He has been nothing but hospitable since I…um, never mind about that. Trust me,” Loki said with a wink. “You are perfectly safe here.”
    Quentin groaned, “I bet he was hospitable.” He growled out in anger, he wasn’t quite sure why that thought pissed him off so much but it did. Then another thought came to him. “Wait, you bastard! You are the missing hiker, aren’t you?”
    Jared cocked his head in puzzlement and frowned at his brother, “Why do you think that?”
    “We can get back to that in a minute. Your brother and the troll are approaching. Fireworks are about to explode.” Loki grinned and almost vibrated with excitement.

Ten
     
    Gareth slowed as he neared the cave, something was off. He moved closer to the entrance and peered in to see three men leaning against the wall. “Luke, everything okay?” he called out as he approached the wall where they sat watching him.
    “No worries, Gareth. All is well…finally,” he muttered the last word under his breath, almost too quietly for him to hear.
    “Who are you two and what is that amazing smell?” Gareth asked in puzzlement as he looked at the two brothers.
    “These are the Maddux brothers,” Loki said with a purr as he glanced at Quentin again. “They are part of search and rescue and my guess is they are here on the mountain looking for me, the missing hiker.”
    Gareth frowned and tried to figure out what he was missing, he couldn’t concentrate though. That smell was driving him crazy. He had never felt like this in his life. His blood was raging, and his stomach was doing somersaults. He felt like something he had been unconsciously missing was finally within his grasp.
     
    ***
    Zach was getting worried again. It had taken far longer than he expected to make it to the cave and his brothers weren’t answering his calls. He stopped and shifted into his human form and quickly dressed. Zach hesitated as he neared the entrance where he could sense his brothers were waiting.
    He stopped suddenly in his steps, almost like he hit a wall. He closed his eyes and waited for the jittery feeling going down his spine to settle so he could walk again.
    The cave was calling him in. No, not the cave, something or someone inside was. It was a pull in the center of his chest. With slow, cautious steps he entered the cave and froze as he met the eyes of the man standing a few feet away. His jaw dropped and he struggled to take a deep breath in. Zach licked