‘He wants ye to know it’s not too late. We can still avert the prophecy.’

‘Avert it? Why would I want to?’ I said.

‘Because ye want tae survive,’ he said, ‘and the only way tae do that is tae go against the Oracle.’

I had to laugh. ‘So basically, what you’re telling me is that Odin wants me back?’

‘Aye. On certain terms.’

‘What?’ My laughter redoubled. ‘Terms? Has that eye of his gone blind? Those are rivers of steel, ice and flame, not three strings of tinsel. And if he thinks he can just say the word and I’ll come crawling back to his side . . .’

‘He thinks the Oracle planned all this. That Gullveig made a deal with him while he was in the Vanir camp. A deal in which she promised him revenge against the Aesir.’

‘How very creative of Odin,’ I said. ‘But how could Gullveig have possibly known that Mimir would one day need revenge? When he arrived in the Vanir camp, everything was peachy. There was no cause for him to believe that his loving nephew was planning to sacrifice him to his ambition.’

‘She’s a Seeress,’ Hugin said. ‘She too may have made a prophecy.’

Ouch. That was too close to what Angie had already hinted at.

I shrugged. ‘Never trust an Oracle. Doesn’t prove a thing, I’m afraid.’

‘The Auld Man says to tell ye that she’s using you to get to him. And that when Surt crosses over, she’s planning to use you to buy herself a place on the side of Chaos.’

I grinned. ‘Is that the best he can do? The Old Man must be desperate. If I were him, I’d concentrate on choosing the outfit he wants to be buried in. That is, if there’s anything left to bury when we’ve finished with him.’

Hugin shook his dark head. ‘You’re making a mistake,’ he said. ‘Surt will never take ye back. But Odin will, if ye help him now. It’s not too late.’

I grinned again. ‘I get it. This is a ploy to make me laugh myself into a fatal seizure. Nice try, Odin. But in this case, you’re not paranoid. Everyone is out to get you. And when you fall from that parapet, the sound you’ll be hearing as you go down will be me, laughing my head off.’

Crawk, said Munin morosely, helping herself to a pineapple.

‘Does she not talk at all?’ I said.