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)
“Hey, Rowen, can I ask you something?” I reach for his arm, forgetting it’s his injured one. My fingers come into contact with torn skin, deep scars, pain, but what I feel more than anything is immense heat followed by so much hatred, it takes my breath away.
My Aethercall has never done that before, reversed itself on me and shown me someone else’s direct emotions.
I drop my hand. “Sorry.”
He flexes his arm and shrugs. “It’s fine. You had a question?”
“Yeah, um, I wonder where Thor stored it, you know? I guess I never asked my dad, but do you know, when Mjölnir wasn’t being used, where it would chill?”
I smile.
Rowen doesn’t.
“It’s sentient. It chills wherever it feels most at home, I guess.” He shrugs. “I’m sure at one point…before the war, that would have been next to Thor’s heart.”
Next to Thor’s heart. The thought of it sends warmth through me, but the feeling is fleeting. Thor is gone. Mjölnir is in mourning, hidden by the Giants that stole it, until the right person can find it. I hope with everything in me that that person is me. So many lives depend on it.
“Rowen!” Eira calls out.
“It seems I’m being summoned. Keep me updated, though.” He stops and puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. “If anyone can do it, Rey, it’s you.”
If only I believed that.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Aric
Rey’s quiet as we leave the arts building together. We talked in class about finishing up our Ice Caves paper, but both of us knew it was really about making a real plan to find Mjölnir. Neither of us brings up the sleepwalking. I’m pretty sure if we did, I would explode on the spot, and it wouldn’t be because of any runes.
My phone suddenly goes off. I look down at the screen.
Reeve: watch ur back
Reeve: dont think with ur dick
Reeve: sigurds always watching
My phone pings again.
Seriously?
Reeve: dont underestimate him, thats a mistake neither of us can afford to make
Reeve: but seriously dont think with ur dick
I curse under my breath. I know he’s not wrong, but I don’t want to believe she’s capable of fully betraying me in the end. Or that if she is, at least then so am I. Right now, the focus needs to be on unlocking the last two runes. Everything else can wait.
Because I’m tired of feeling numb, I’m tired of feeling like I don’t know my true self, and I’m tired of feeling weak against an untouchable enemy. It’s time to rise from the ashes of my parents. The reign of the Gods—the reign of Odin—must end. Rey has to know that, even if she won’t admit it.
“Something wrong?” Rey asks.
“All good,” I lie and shove my phone back in my pocket as we make our way toward the student parking lot.
I click the locks on my SUV and, without speaking, Rey climbs into the passenger seat.
She waits until I pull out of the Endir gates to ask, “Where are we going?”
“Someplace where we can plan our next steps.”
“Oh. Right.”
Where did she think we were going? On a date?
I glance at her sharply. Is she blushing? Shit, did I say that out loud?
“It would be my first.” She blushes harder. “No, I mean, not like my first, not that sort of first.”
My smile is practically frozen to my face. “A date virgin or a virgin virgin, Rey?”
“Shut up, I’m not that sheltered. I’ve had my share of hookups despite my dad locking me away. But the only people I ran around with were kids whose parents worked for my father, meaning most either wanted to kidnap me for ransom and force me into marriage”—she stares me down, ouch—“or see what it would feel like to be with the great Odin’s daughter. It’s not like anybody ever gave me flowers. Ugh, can we not talk about this? I think I’m rambling now.”
I refuse to tell her it’s cute. “You are, but I kind of like seeing all the little chinks in your armor. I have a mental checklist of all your weaknesses just in case. I’ll be sure to add ‘dates where all the guy has to do is bring a flower.’”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, I’m easily impressed.”
I finally pull onto the road leading up to the back side of the lake. The forest gets nice and thick as we near an abandoned piece of land.
When I pull off the county road to the wrought iron gates, Rey whistles. “Well, that looks daunting.”
“It’s supposed to.”
Sigurd owns all this land. He doesn’t tolerate trespassers.
I park the Defender. Rey gets out of the car, tossing her computer bag into the back seat. As she approaches the tall gates, she glances sharply at me, then leans in and examines the carvings on the decorative finials. Her eyes widen as she takes in the length of balusters, each metal bar bearing a protective rune. “The whole fence is warded?”