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church was even darker. There were only a few slits for windows and it reeked of smoke.
    Arne lit a lantern and handed it to her, then lit one himself. She hadn’t seen an old-fashioned, oil-burning lantern like that before. It looked like an antique.
    “The ten thousand?” Arne asked.
    Katie pulled her remaining lump of gold from her pocket and handed it over.
    With a smile, he put it away in his robes. “Good. Then let’s get started. Don’t worry. We’re going to get you the greatest god who’s ever existed.”
    She opened her mouth to ask, but remembered Charlie’s words again. She couldn’t get the greatest god, not for ten thousand. Arne was just giving her his sales patter. It didn’t matter. She hadn’t any other options. If she didn’t get a god now, she… well, she didn’t even want to think about it.
    With the lantern lit, she could see around the church. Instead of pews, there were a few rough-hewn benches. And in the centre, a fire in a stone pit was smoking. Arne moved to the fire and threw something onto it, making the flames leap up and burn in blues and greens.
    She moved closer and sat on a bench, putting her lantern beside her.
    “Father of Fenrir,” Arne said. “Father of Jormungandr. Husband of Sigyn, and rider of Svaoilfari, I have a new host for you.”
    The air in the church grew heavy. She felt her ears block and had to swallow to clear them.
    “Son of Farbauti and Laufrey,” Arne intoned. “I summon you by name. Loki, come and find your new subject.”
    Katie stared at Arne. She’d heard of Loki. He was the trickster, the liar who played pranks on the other gods. He’d even made it into some human films, he was so famous. “Loki?”
    “Yes?” a demonic face appeared in front of her, hovering in the air. “Hello, Katie Spears.”
    She jumped to her feet and ran from the church, fleeing across the square. She didn’t stop until she got to the metal exit from Church Street, where she had to pause, out of breath.
    Charlie gave her an inquisitive look.
    “Let me out,” she said. “I need to go home, right now.”
    He shrugged, getting to his feet and opening the door for her. He moved to the outer door and threw all the bolts back. She barely waited for the door to open before she slipped out and dashed up the alley. The need to get far away from that priest and his demon god pushed her on. She didn’t know what she could tell her father, but whatever it was had to be better than having Loki as her god.
    By the time she reached the train station, her legs ached. She’d fallen to a quick walk, her gaze flicking around her. A few people gave her odd looks, but she ignored them. They couldn’t know what she was running from. If she told them, they wouldn’t know how to help anyway.
    Once inside the station, she let herself take a breath and relax. The priest hadn’t completed the ritual, so Loki wouldn’t be bound to her. He could keep her gold, she wasn’t going back for it. She wondered if there were Godchosen police she could report him to.
    On the main information board, she saw her train was due in only ten minutes. She could get back to her father and explain it all. He’d know what to do. She should have gone back to him at once. Maybe they could sell their car, their meagre possessions, and scrape together enough to buy a weak god. Aidan would be better at negotiating than her, too. He could get a good deal.
    She walked to her platform and stood waiting. There weren’t any people, everyone choosing to stay inside until the train arrived. It was cold, but Katie didn’t feel it after her race to get away from Church Street.
    “Boo!” the demonic face appeared out of thin air in front of her.
    She stumbled back, falling onto the platform, then scrambled up, shaking her head. “I got away before the priest finished the ritual. You’re not my god. Go away.”
    “He has your gold,” Loki said. “He’s sacrificing it to me as we speak. I am your god, Katie,