Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Suddenly, my vision clears. I know where we’re going next.
The mirror hitting Rey in the head was no accident. My blood sings the location like an ancient hymn on repeat. The Hall of Omrir—the water.
The lake.
Down.
Down.
Where the souls rest.
“Rey.” My voice echoes through the forest. “The Hall of Omrir, the water. It’s at the bottom.”
My eyes burn as my body remembers them. My parents’ last goodbye, their tears of sorrow and rage. It’s all Odin’s fault.
My mind screams for revenge.
I drop to my knees as anger starts to wrap itself around me, the power all-consuming. How easy it would be to kill Odin. Right now, right here.
The runes are disabled. He’s vulnerable.
I need to kill him.
Strength howls alive beneath my skin, demanding to be seen—to be used.
No. I press my hands to my temples, gritting my teeth as a roar escapes my mouth. The air around us shakes while the ground itself moans, and my body shudders under the weight of it all.
“Aric.” Rey’s voice is barely above a whisper. “I have to swim?”
Her fear nearly fills the area surrounding us; it’s thick with it. I can sense it, taste it. She doesn’t want to go into the water.
She’s never been more scared than this moment.
I reach for her, then snap my hand back. I can barely control my power, and the last thing I want to do is hurt her when I’m trying to comfort her. “You can do this.”
My body burns with awareness of the power surging inside it. I’m running out of time.
“Rey,” I warn. “You have to hurry.” I start to get up, but my legs suddenly give out underneath me. My head spins. “It’s too much all at once. I’ll be behind you—just run. You need to get it or we can’t save everyone. It’s up to you now.”
Her eyes widen as she takes me in. I have no idea how I look, but I do know that every muscle feels taut, my heart beating a scattered rhythm behind my eyes.
“Rey,” I warn again. “Go. Now.”
“I can wait with you—”
“RUN!” My entire body shakes with tethered power as I hold out my hand, and ice immediately builds across the lake. I’m stunned for a moment. I barely thought it and there it is, sturdy, beautiful.
Rey starts making her way around me while I attempt to stand. I still smell her fear. But she can do this. I know she can. I stumble after her, trying to get my power under control. She’s already on the bridge. Good.
Sweat pours down my temples.
Something feels wrong.
My heart’s beating too fast.
My eyes burn.
I hear her short breaths as she runs across the ice. I need her. I miss her, feel weaker without her. What’s going on?
With a roar, I lunge after her, only to have someone block my way. Dizziness washes over me as chains come flying at me from all directions. They burn when they collapse onto my skin like they weigh a thousand pounds each.
I try to lift them, but it’s nearly impossible.
“A runed trap,” a familiar voice says. “Asgardian chains etched with the very runes meant to cripple a Giant. Sigurd does know his stuff.”
I blink through the haze and look up.
My heart sinks like a stone.
I barely feel the rueful smile on my own lips as I nod and say, “I should have known.”
We’ve already lost before we even really began.
“Yes,” he hisses. “You should have.”
“The seventh circle of hell is reserved for people like you.”
Suddenly, pain radiates out in unbelievable waves from my stomach. Looking down, I see a spear has been shoved through my back. Someone else is behind me?
Blood pours out in thick rivulets from where the spear pierced straight through my abdomen. My vision wavers.
He leans down. “Be sure to say hi, then, when I send you there.”
And then he winks.
It’s the last thing I see before everything goes dark.
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Rey
I wake up to the heady smell of water and incense, my eyes blurring as I glance around me. I’m in the Hall of Omrir. What the hell happened? I was running across the ice bridge Aric made, and something grabbed me. Or someone?
Ice covers the floor, shard-like daggers impaling the walls, like a glacier detonated. Torches glow from stone corbels, casting shadows among the high wooden arches of the temple.
My head aches and my stomach hurts, but I fight to stay conscious.
I realize I’m lying on my side on the icy ground. My shoulder armor, cape, and knives have been removed, and my legs and arms are bound with some kind of iron. The drip, drip, drip of ice melting is interspersed with a groaning sound. Wait, is that me?
“Ah, she awakens!” My father’s voice echoes against the rafters. “Bring her,” he orders.
Two suited guards in black uniforms with silver-threaded ravens embroidered at the collars—the mark of Odin—grab my arms. Their faces are hidden behind half-carrion masks of bone, hollow-eyed and emotionless, terrifying. They lift me up and spin me around, dragging me toward my father. When they release my arms, I lock my legs to stand. But they kick the backs of my legs, forcing me to kneel.