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)
Could it be my blood responding to being here?
Despite the weirdness of it all, I actually feel good about it. Good that something’s happening at being this close to Mjölnir.
Rowen groans. “Fuck, are you trying to kill me?”
“You had me in a chokehold, you asshat!” Heart racing, I offer him a hand and pull him to his feet.
His eyes narrow before he takes it. “What are you talking about? You just said you had a question about lightning and were droning on about Odin.” He gets up and dusts off his clothes. “By the way, it can be up to a billion volts.”
A billion.
Volts.
Would Aric survive that?
Unscathed? I mean, I can testify to that after our time in the hot spring. There wasn’t a mark on him. Just dense muscle and bronzed skin.
But more importantly…
“What’s going on with you?” I eye him warily. “You just lost your shit, and you’ve never so much as yelled at me. Did something happen?”
“Oh God.” His face softens. “I am so sorry. I just— Maybe it’s affecting me, too. Being here so long, being away from our homeland, surrounded by God knows who.”
My ears perk up. This is the most he’s ever told me. “So you weren’t born in Washington, then?”
He bites down on his lower lip. A knock loud enough to take down the freaking door interrupts us.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang. “What the hell are you doing in there? Remodeling?”
It’s Aric.
He bangs on the door again.
“Don’t make me break down this fucking door!”
Is everyone taking rage vitamins today?
I quickly glance at Rowen. “Sorry.” I kick him toward the bed so Aric doesn’t see him and suspect me of anything. “Yes?” I ask as I open the door a sliver.
Aric’s dark eyes are wide, and I could swear he looks panicked as he glances over my head, then around to the destruction behind me. The broken bed.
“I fell.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “From crawling across the ceiling? You do know it’s illegal to damage school property.”
“Yeah.” I cross my arms. “Don’t really see a little badge on you that says campus security. And it was an accident, all right? I really did fall.”
“The spare bed in your room is literally split in half.”
“I weigh more than I look.”
“It looks like you kicked it.” He starts to walk in.
“Nope.” I shove the door against him. “I’ll pay for the damages. Worry about yourself.” Damn it all, I need to get close to him, and this would be the perfect opportunity if Rowen wasn’t hiding behind the door by my bed. Can’t have my lie exposed now.
“I heard talking,” Aric adds.
“I was on the phone,” I hiss. “Can you go now?”
His eyes narrow. And then with one big shove, the door flies back and nearly off its hinges, and Rowen is fully in view, looking a bit worse for wear, hair tousled from being kicked into the bed, shirt torn. Great. Perfect.
Aric swears, and whatever it is I thought I saw in his eyes moments ago is gone. Now they are pure ice.
“Wow, wondered why you sprinted back to your room, and it suddenly all makes sense. You’re the black widow that kills after mating.” He’s talking about me, but his eyes are pinned on Rowen. “Not worth it, person I just met. There are better ways to go than in Rey Stjerne’s bed.”
Rowen smirks, playing his part perfectly. He saunters over to stand beside me. Oh no, what’s he doing? This man is like a brother to me. “I highly doubt it.”
I’m killing him.
Aric glances at the broken bed and points. “I’m assuming that’s where you ended?”
“Or started,” Rowan says in a cocky voice. “Some of us last longer than others.”
“Some of us could have lived a lifetime without knowing any of those details.” Aric shakes his head and leaves my doorway.
I watch him walk back to his room, and once he’s inside, I shut my own door and shake my head at Rowen. “Could you have thought of anything less weird, Rowen? Seriously.”
He rolls his eyes. “You told him you fell from the ceiling like you were Spider-Man.”
“I panicked, all right? Also, fix your clothes. You may be adopted into our psychotic family, but we both know Odin would behead you with more precision than a guillotine if he saw you in my bed.”
Rowen fixes his hair and tucks in his shirt. “Don’t worry. You’re not worth the risk, even if you are pretty.”
What’s with him? He isn’t acting normal. Even his eyes have taken on a darker hue. Is it me? Or the weird heaviness of this campus? Maybe the overflow of runes causes people to lose their shit. Would it surprise me if Sigurd did something like that in order to somehow control his students? Not at all.
“Stop messing around. Seriously.” He would never hurt me—at least I thought not, but now I’m wondering how fast I can reach my knife.