Chapter Fifteen
Rey
“Most of the Giants are sleeping, along with the Gods.”
“But why?” I ask.
My father’s grin is menacing.
“Because they have no choice.”
My alarm jolts me awake from my dream, and not for the first time, the familiar tune makes me want to hurl my phone across the room. Why I thought it would be a good idea to use Simon and Garfunkel as my wakeup call is beyond me. I mean, “The Sound of Silence”?
I want silence. I groan. I need more sleep. But by now, I’m committed to the irony, so changing it just feels wrong and messes with my entire headspace.
I was up late tossing and turning after that weird experience walking through the archway. My flame went completely out. The only good news is that everyone will just say it’s a trick of the wind, while I know the truth.
That damn archway does actually have some sort of ancient power.
I felt it. A subtle shimmer of energy, similar to what I feel when I’m around my dad.
And yet my father never mentioned it. Maybe it’s just another relic the Giants are trying to protect that’s as dormant as they are.
That would make the most sense. In theory.
None of the runes on the arch matched the ones Laufey wrote out for me.
I should have searched the area for more runes last night, and I make a mental note to do that every time I’m out and about on campus.
I’d been desperate to see what Aric’s candle had done, but he’d already grumpily thrown it and ground it into the grass like some petulant child before I was able to see the effect of the arch.
Should I be surprised? No.
But the entire experience shook me a bit, making it impossible to sleep. It didn’t help that the wall between our rooms seems to be made out of actual paper. I could hear every single sound coming through from the other side.
I shake my head, then pull a pillow over it. After tossing for what felt like forever, I heard his door open and close around midnight. Minutes later, when he returned, I could hear him pacing his room. Apparently, he wasn’t kidding about the insomnia.
When I heard his footsteps heading toward his door a second time, I chose that moment to go out in the hall. Grabbing my toiletry bag as cover, I managed to run into him as he passed by my door. He smelled like water and moonlight.
“Midnight swim?” I asked, cursing myself for the crack in my voice.
“Please stop talking to me. It’s late and I’ve had enough of you for the day.” He sounded tired, irritated. He took in a deep breath like he was gasping for air. What was he up to now?
“Just curious.” I sidestepped him, determined not to fall for…whatever this was he was playing.
But when he reached for the wall and then grabbed my arm, holding on in a death grip, even I couldn’t pretend not to be concerned. “Are you okay?” I asked.
He opened his mouth like he wanted to confess something, then clenched his fists. “Dreams are nightmares. Nightmares are dreams. I just need it to stop, to finally stop…”
And then, like we hadn’t just been in the middle of a conversation, he stalked away from me, slamming the bathroom door behind him.
Expected.
After all, he’s a jackass. A jackass who is sleeping. Sleeping.
A sleeping Giant.
A sleeping deity.
Most are sleeping.
I’ve heard that phrase for my entire life. Most. But not all. Who, then, isn’t sleeping? Another question I repeatedly asked my father, always getting the same answer.
“Humanity is awake,” he’d say, as if that answered my question, as if this was the end of the discussion.
But of course it wasn’t. I wanted to understand. “The Gods and Giants? Are any of them awake?” I’d ask, never sure if I wanted the answer to be yes or no.
His answer was always the same. “I am all you have in this Godsforsaken world.”
I asked him this yesterday morning. And got the same answer. I am all you have.
He got me my first actual birthday cake yesterday.
I’d been so excited that we were celebrating, that he and Laufey were finally acknowledging my birthday, that he allowed Laufey to publicly give me a cake rather than in secret, as she did throughout my childhood.
I felt almost loved. We sang “Happy Birthday,” I blew out the candles, and then he gave me a present.
I was so eager to unwrap it, hoping for something special. Maybe a necklace? Earrings? The bloodthirsty half of me would have even been happy with a throwing knife.
My smile was so big, it hurt my face. And then my father told me to close my eyes. I complied, of course, and heard the sound of wrapping paper being ruthlessly torn away.
“Hold out your hands,” he whispered.
I did. The object was somewhat heavy. I opened my eyes, and the present slowly came into focus.
It was a chess piece.
The queen, to be exact.
The most important chess piece on the board. It can move horizontally, vertically, and it’s often either given a pawn or the pawns on the board have the opportunity to rise up as a queen.
His message was clear. I had been a pawn, and now he was making me the queen. I was supposed to be thankful.
He grinned at me, whispering under his breath, “You’ll do beautifully serving the family. Remember, only the Gods can be trusted.” I saw Laufey flinch. How could she not, being a Giant herself? “It’s time.”
We left soon after that. I shake the memory loose and drag myself out of bed.
Orientation’s at eleven, which is why I set my alarm for seven last night—like an idiot. Four more hours of sleep would’ve been the smart move, but if my father drilled anything into me, it’s this: once you commit to a plan, you bleed for it.
So I don’t second-guess. I just grab my bag.
Inside: snacks, water, journal, phone. The usual essentials, minus my knife, which I leave beneath my mattress.
If anyone stops me, I’m just a college girl exploring campus and stalking a very dangerous Giant in possession of a very dangerous hidden memory.
Totally. Normal.
I leave my room and hit the down button for the elevator.
The scent of the outdoors fills the air, and I can feel someone approaching from down the hall, but it’s not Aric.
I don’t have to look to know Reeve is wearing that same easy grin that never seems to leave his face. “Going hiking? Meditating?”
“Reeve,” I say through clenched teeth. “You’re up early and on the wrong floor.”
“I like to bird-watch on the roof,” he says dryly.
The elevator doors open. We both get in.
The silence is uncomfortable. “Why are you here, Rey? Really?”
“Education,” I say smoothly. “Why else would I be here?”
“You’re not welcome, and you know it. Aric believes your father had our parents killed, and I can’t say I disagree.”
Well, at least he came out and acknowledged the giant-ass elephant in the room. I’m surprised it took this long.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I say, and I mean it. “But from what I saw in the news, it was a tragic accident, your parents.” I want to believe this is the truth, but part of me has always wondered if my father—and by relation, me—had any hand in their deaths.
“Bullshit,” he snaps, and I flinch as his voice echoes off the walls of the elevator.
I probably deserved that. “I’ve just apologized even though it’s not my fault.
Maybe you’re just prejudiced against me because of my name.
If so, work on that. Your family isn’t innocent, either.
” I barely tamp down the rage. He might not remember what the Giants did in destroying the Bifrost. But I’ve been told—and I’ve spent a lifetime suffering under Odin for it.
Thankfully, the elevator doors open, and I’m through them before he can even gather a breath.
I walk across the campus, headed toward the dining hall for breakfast, but at the last second, I veer left toward the forest path. I need to calm down. I don’t resent Reeve for rehashing the past, but it doesn’t accomplish anything, certainly not peace or healing.
Not to mention, no matter what, I’ll still be found guilty because of who my father is, because of what he’s capable of doing. What he’s done.
I shake it off.
I know from the intel in the notebook that Aric normally does some meditation in the woods around this time. Fantastic. I walk farther past the tree line, carefully avoiding the arch, and down the trail.
The only time I’ve ever seen something unusual happen around Aric was that day at the beach with the sheen of frost. He’d walked away, his back to the ocean, so it’s possible he didn’t even notice. But what set it off?
One minute we’d been sharing a moment—and the next he’d been cruel and stormed away. Well, if showing your cruel side is what powered a god, no wonder my father was the most powerful of them all. He’d mastered that before I was out of diapers.
As I round a curve in the path, I see Aric stopped in a clearing. A few feet beyond him, the still water of a spring reflects the eerie gray light of the sky.
I dodge behind a tree and peer out around it just in time to see him shrug off his jacket, followed by his shirt. He tosses them onto an old wooden bench, and my breath catches.
He’s facing me like he’s putting on a show. Um, not what I expected.
He’s not making eye contact, but his stare is so direct, I think he must have seen me duck behind this tree. Mouth dry, I keep watching. I can’t tear my eyes away.
Maybe he didn’t spot me and he’s just an exhibitionist? I still can’t see all of him because of the typical Washington early-morning mist, but when it finally clears, it’s to see him slowly starting to unbutton his jeans. What the hell?
“Is this your first time?” he calls. Shit. He did freaking see me. But maybe he doesn’t know it’s me?
Wait, what did he just ask me? Embarrassment burns my cheeks.
“Reyyyy?” He says my name like a taunt, stretching it out way longer than necessary. “I mean, if you want to join me in skinny-dipping, I won’t complain. But I can’t promise I won’t drown you.”
Caught.