Hela kicked off her shoes and fell onto her couch. She'd spent the whole day interviewing applicants for a cyber security specialist, and if one more man tried to explain basic anti-virus, she was going to smash a laptop over someone's head. At least her roommate was out for the night, so Hela could veg out in peace. Her cell buzzed in her back pocket, and she slapped at her thigh before finding it and holding the too-bright screen to her face.

Frigga.

"Yeah, no." She tossed her phone onto the ottoman and dropped her face back into the couch. It was two in the morning in Minnesota. Why the hell was her stepmom calling her at this time of night? Whatever the reason, she'd had a hell of a day, and she was not interested in bandying pleasantries with Frigga.

More buzzing.

She growled, grabbed the phone off the ottoman, and hit the answer button. "What?"

"Helen? It's Frigga." She sounded agitated, more than she usually did whenever she called her stepdaughter, which was almost never.

"Yeah, I have caller ID."

"Thor and Loki got off a plane in Phoenix a few hours ago, but your father isn't there to pick them up."

Hela rolled onto her back and rubbed her face. "It's almost eleven, can't he have a housekeeper or a nanny or something pick them up?"

"He's in Beijing."

She dropped her hand from her face and scowled at the ceiling. "Why the hell is he in Beijing?

"I don't know." It sounded like heels clicking on tile. Frigga was pacing again. "It's for work or something, and he's not answering the phone."

"So he just didn't think to mention this before you shipped the kids off or—"

"The lawyers insisted. He won the last round of custody hearings, so they judge sent them to Phoenix without even checking if he was there. Hela, I know we haven't always been on the best terms, but your brothers are in that airport all alone, and it's getting so late."

Hela sighed. "It's a six-hour drive."

"I know. I would just put them on a plane back in the morning, but it's storming so badly here that they aren't going to be landing any planes in Minneapolis tomorrow. I'll pay for your gas, for dinner, a hotel…"

"Fine." Hela rubbed her face and sat up. "Tell them I'm on my way."

She hung up, tossed her phone onto the coffee table, and sighed. Across the room, Fenris, her German Shepherd-husky mutt lounged on his dog bed and pricked his ears at her sigh.

"Hello, darling. Can you be good for a few hours while I go pick up a couple of complete strangers?"

He yipped, and she smiled. "Good boy."

She stood and walked to the kitchen to make herself some coffee because she was going to need the caffeine. Once the pot was brewing, she stuffed a pair of pajamas and a change of clothes into a bag, downed a mug of coffee, black, then poured the rest of the pot into a thermos, patted Fenris goodbye, and marched out of her apartment to her car. She had a full tank of gas, but it wouldn't take her the whole way.

She wound out of the parking garage and in a few minutes was on the freeway. At least this late at night, most of the traffic was in bed or parked outside a club. The interstate was bright as ever, but she could actually see the asphalt for once, so that was a welcome change. Hela put her phone on speaker and called up her roommate Amanda.

The phone range once, twice. Then, "What's up?"

"You busy?"

Amanda laughed. "If you call me, Netflix, and a bottle of Prosecco busy, then I'm absolutely swamped. Katie got a creeper, so we came home, and she passed out half an hour ago."

"And you're just chilling at her house…"

"Just until her roomie gets home."

Hela grinned. "Well, if I'm interrupting something important…"

"Please, you've already interrupted, so you might as well tell me why."

"I'm driving to Phoenix to—"

Something clattered on Amanda's end of the line. "You're what?"

Hela rolled her eyes. "Driving to Phoenix."

"That's six hours from here. Why? Why on earth are you doing that at this time of night?"

"Apparently, my stepbrothers are stranded in the airport, and my good-for-nothing father isn't there to pick them up." She glanced down at the speedometer then edged it closer to eighty-five. This road trip was already going to take forever without going forty miles an hour.

Amanda snorted, and glass clinked as she poured herself more wine. "Why are they even there?"

"Wish I knew. Apparently, my stepmom is finally leaving him, and he has the kids for now."

"What kind of crap judge decided that?"

"I don't know, but hopefully Frigga gives them hell for it." Hela speed up to a minivan chugging along at maybe sixty, so she swerved around it and sped on.

"I hope so. What a bunch of morons. Are you just taxing them to your dad's house or what?"

"I better not be. I would have paid for the taxi from the airport if that's what they needed. No, I'm going to pick them up and hang out with them until the planes start landing in Minnesota again."

Amanda took a long sip and sighed. "Sucks for you I guess. Are they decent kids?"

Hela scoffed. "How should I know? I haven't seen them in five years. Frigga is okay, I guess, so they might be. On the other hand, they could little monsters, so who's to say."

"Enough about my family soap opera. Tell me about Ben from legal."

Amanda's giggles rose to a sharp cackle. "Oh, sweetheart, do I have a story for you."

Adjusting her grip on the wheel, Hela settled back in her seat and in for the long drive.