Chapter Nineteen
Aric
Sometimes I hate Sigurd. He knows I don’t do crowds, don’t do people, and yet he’s insisted that his grandsons—both of them—will be the draw that gets students to sign up for the sunset campus tour. So here we are.
I’ll admit, Reeve can pitch Endir like nobody else, making it out to be some Ivy League utopia. It’s almost impressive—if you ignore the fact that he’s never once attended class on time.
Besides, pleasing our grandfather by agreeing to these tours comes easy to him. Everything comes easy to Reeve. He’s the golden child. Always sunny, always popular.
Yet despite his many admirers, the one who loves Reeve best has always been Reeve. I swear, the sound of his own voice could probably give him an orgasm at this point. He’s a great brother, loyal, trusting, but the narcissism is strong in that one, and he isn’t even apologetic about it.
I’m waiting outside our dorm for him to grab the rest of his school spirit rah-rah tour shit when he rolls out the front doors with a giant green flag in his hands.
“No.” I point at it. “You are not holding a flag like we’re in some parade. Put it back.”
He grins and flips it over. “It has my face on it.”
“For fuck’s sake, can you give it a rest? Just once?”
He tilts his head. “No, I don’t think I can.
Plus, it’s comic relief for what’s going to be the most boring two hours of these new students’ lives.
I was seriously tempted to make brownies laced with weed just to help them through it, then realized that, even though it’s legal in Washington, I’d still be drugging people without their knowledge. ” He seems genuinely sad about it.
“Wow, how astute of you.”
“I do have boundaries,” he says, but even he can’t keep a straight face while saying it.
“No you don’t.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, already feeling a headache coming on.
He shoots me a sloppy grin, then puts his stupid Gucci hat on his head and starts walking away.
I follow him to the tour meeting location, and when I get there, I choose a spot next to the Endir University welcome sign, conveniently placed a few feet away from where about forty students have already begun to gather.
Everyone’s chatting and laughing like it’s going to be the best tour of their lives. I know they’re just running off the whole freshman first-week-of-school thing, but I wonder what it would really be like to look forward to something like that, with pure, unadulterated joy.
I know part of what keeps me from feeling that way is the medicine I’m on. It makes me feel numb. It used to work better before Rey showed up at Endir. No question, I prefer numbness to the out-of-control feelings I have around her, the constant threat that at any moment, I’m going to snap.
And just like conjuring up Beelzebub, she joins the crowd, moving through it until she’s right in front of me with a big, knowing grin. She’s in baggy jeans and tennis shoes, a crop top black sweatshirt, and has her hair pulled back into a high ponytail.
She’s effortlessly pretty.
Annoyingly so.
I don’t trust pretty things. There’s always something lurking beneath the surface, or, in Rey’s case, a hell of a lot of somethings, just waiting to pop out and slit your throat.
She smiles at me.
I ignore her and join Reeve.
“Welcome.” Reeve holds his flag high. “Make sure to follow the green flag, aka me, at all times.” A few girls around us giggle.
Of course they do. “And know that my brother and I are so honored to be giving you a tour of the university. Most of you have seen the dorms and dining hall already, so we’ll be taking you through the science building, business building, arts, and music.
” He pauses, and I know it’s for dramatic effect.
“Then, to end the tour, we’ll make a stop at the Hall of Ormir! ”
Everyone starts talking at once. The Hall of Ormir is legendary.
Theories abound about the temple. It’s been called the product of an eccentric billionaire.
A meeting house for a pagan cult. Others believe it really is of Norse origin.
Ghost-hunting shows consider it one of the most haunted places in the Northwest.
It’s not. Haunted, that is, though some scary shit has been rumored to go down there.
The whispers people hear in that hall are nothing more than the wind moving between the ancient building and the water that surrounds it, but people still believe.
Because people are stupid.
Reeve holds his flag high and waves it. “Shhh. We’ll go over the rules once we’re there. Let’s start with the boring stuff first.” He turns and starts walking. I follow and suddenly feel Rey at my side.
I smell her, too.
“What?” I don’t turn. “What do you want?”
“Nothing,” she says quickly. “I’m just walking. Is that okay?”
I grunt.
She keeps pace with me—which I have to admit is impressive, since my legs are at least six inches longer—but at least she’s not talking to me or touching me.
After we visit the science building and move on to arts, I’m a bit perplexed about why she hasn’t tried to charm me at all.
An hour later, we’re at the last building—business. Reeve is spouting off about Sigurd and other donors whose contributions landed their names on each wing. I turn to finally say something to Rey, only to realize she’s wandered off. I scan the crowds and finally spot her next to Reeve. Figures.
I feel my frown deepen. Why the hell do I even care?
Reeve starts laughing at something Rey says, and irritation burns through my veins. He knows she’s the enemy. He shouldn’t be laughing with her even if she were the funniest person on the planet.
I cough into my hand to get his attention.
Reeve doesn’t look up.
“Reeve,” I finally snap.
His eyes lock on mine. He knows exactly what he’s doing. “Yeah?”
“We should go to the Hall of Ormir before it gets too late.”
It’s a valid excuse. People aren’t allowed to pass through the gates after dark; too many students have either drowned or gone missing over the years.
Some think the drowning has to do with the way the current runs in the spring-fed pool that the hall was built over, while others say people drown because they stay too long in the water, thinking it’s going to give them special powers.
Nobody really knows anything except it’s not smart to be here at night. And it’s never safe to swim.
“The university is liable for everyone we take past those gates,” I remind Reeve.
He nods. “True. True.” To the freshmen, he says, “All right, Endir fam, let’s get moving!”
Rey leaves his side and returns to the group. She doesn’t bother to find her spot next to me again as Reeve holds up his flag and starts walking us toward the Hall of Ormir in all its daunting glory.
A chill runs down my spine, growing stronger the closer we get.
As we pass through the gates, a cool breeze suddenly picks up, swirling around the group before everything goes quiet and still. I can’t explain it, but my heart is suddenly racing.
A kid shouts, “It’s the ghost!”
Rey’s suddenly next to me, whispering under her breath. “Or some angry Gods.”
I roll my eyes and feign ignorance. “Don’t tell me you believe any of that shit.”
She hugs herself against the chill coming off the forest and keeps walking. The closer we get to the ancient temple, the colder the air becomes until I can see my breath in front of my face. I need to calm the hell down, but I can’t.
My fingertips tingle. Chills move through my veins. Frost covers my hands.
Again.
In a blink, I’m back on a windswept beach, waves crashing against the shore, salty spray on my face and the daughter of my enemy sitting close enough to kiss.
Something changed in me that day.
A dam breaking, a door unlocking. I don’t have the words to describe the way a part of me chipped away.
All I know is that Rey is the common thread. Her presence is a flame to the cold I can’t escape. Every contact widens the rift, making more and more of the monster inside me want to break free.
I shove my hands in my pockets. My heart starts to race, a clammy sweat breaking out along my forehead. Damn it, it’s happening.
When I sneak a glance at Rey to see if she’s noticed, I realize her breath is doing the same thing, so it must actually be cold outside. I hate the sigh of relief it brings—knowing her air also carries frost but from the actual temperature, not me.
A small voice in my head whispers…for now.
I shove it from my consciousness.
It’s getting harder and harder to hide, to explain away—and one day, I know, it will be impossible.
“We should stay with the other students.” She nods jerkily, and we catch up to the rest of the group.
“All right.” Reeve stops at the massive stone entrance.
The iron door itself is at least twelve feet tall.
The rest of the building is constructed like an ancient temple with icons and runes etched into the stone.
“You’ll have around thirty minutes inside.
Please don’t go into the pool at the bottom of the stairs.
Trust me when I say you won’t come back.
It’s roped off for a reason, so don’t be a dick, all right? ”
Everyone mumbles their agreement and starts to go into the building. Phones out, cameras clicking or live streaming.
“That’s a massive beast if I’ve ever seen one,” Rey whispers next to me.
“Well you do live with Odin, so.” I glance up, following her gaze to the massive structure.
Built from ancient black stone, it rises at least three stories high, the forest seeming to fold around it—trees growing against its sides like it belongs to them.
At its peak, nine twisted iron spires form a serpentlike deity reaching skyward, mouth open in a silent scream, eyes hollow.
The steep roof is shingled in black slate. Another serpent coils over the oak door, iron-banded and scarred with faded runes etched deep into the stone.
The whole place feels alive. And ready to eat someone.