Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rey
I go from stunned to helpless to really fucking angry in a snap. I’m basically his family. He’s never lost his temper with me, not once. I know, deep in my soul, Rowen would never harm me.
I don’t want to hurt him, either, but I have no choice. I shove a hand right into his chest, sending him sailing backward against the empty second bed. It splits in half on impact.
And sure, I’m strong, but I’m not that strong. I stare down at my shaking hand.
I only used one hand. And sent a six-foot bodyguard slamming into a bed? That’s not normal.
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 Mjolnir.
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.
Note to self, beneath the bed is too far away.
“I’m doing my job just fine.” He says this like nothing happened, like he didn’t just lose it a bit ago. “You’re the one who’s disappointing Odin.” Story of my life. “Maybe try a different tactic?” I want to smack the raised eyebrows right off his face.
“I’m not seducing Aric with my body, you ass.”
“You don’t seduce men like Aric with your body—you seduce them with your bad attitude and make them curious why you aren’t falling all over yourself for them like everyone else is.” He shrugs and walks toward the door. “Plus, who’s got more of a shit attitude than you?”
He leaves me alone with all my confusion, which is the last place I want to be. Being alone means spiraling, remembering Aric’s expression when he opened the door. When he saw Rowen and the bed and me.
I know what Aric assumed. Not that I care what he thinks of me. I inwardly cringe. Yeah, that’s a total lie.
I hate that I care, just a tiny bit, and that an even darker side of me was happy at first. Because when Aric first beat down my door, I think it was because he was worried.
About me.
We didn’t always hate each other.
I touch the handle to my door and stumble forward a bit.
I imagine his lips trailing down to my jaw, his mouth brushing the edge of my throat.
Each featherlight kiss would feel like a wave of frost blowing across my skin.
Goose bumps rising. I would suck in a breath when his lips linger at the hollow of my neck.
He would hesitate, then blow cool air right across my pulse.
It would pick up immediately.
I’d dig my fingers into his shoulders in an attempt to anchor myself. Needing more. Needing everything.
My senses would blur around me as thunder pounded in the distance, in perfect cadence with my erratic heartbeat.
A storm might brew outside, but with each kiss he’d start another one between us.
I want to surrender, to give in to the ice.
To let go. So I’d wrap my arms around his neck, our eyes locking.
He would smile against my lips. “I like your warmth.”
I would shiver as I sank down on him—
Whoa there. Nope.
I smack myself in the head and realize that my door’s still partially open.
Ziva’s standing there, cup of coffee halfway to her mouth. “You good?”
“Yup!” I say too quickly. “Just…forgot what I was doing and, uh, catch you after class.” I shove the door closed and lean against it.
I really wish someone was on my team—anyone—and now even Rowen’s snapping, forgetting himself, getting violent, speaking for my father, watching me. Can’t they see I’m trying? Plus, it’s been two days! I can’t create a miracle in two days.
I collapse onto the bed and reach beneath it to pull out the note from Laufey.
? ? ? ? ?
Raido, Dagaz, Hagalaz, Othala, and Thurisaz.
I read the runes over and over again, then pause.
Raido. The rune from the Hall of Ormir.
Frowning, I dig through the black orientation packet Reeve gave me, pull out the brochure of the campus, then circle the rune at Raido.
Does Endir have a map of the runes? A guide?
Google has a guide for everything—there’s probably a Reddit thread, too.
Maybe even a useful one, if I’m being optimistic.
Did Laufey mean for me to be hunting something, or did she just give me some sort of ancient blessing because she’s a Giant and they know their runes? At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a freaking warning about which to stay away from.
Laufey wouldn’t risk her life to hand me runes for nothing; they’re too powerful for that, the meaning too important. Everything she does has purpose. I can’t forget this. She’s patient. Brilliant. I have to figure it out.
I’ll need to pay more attention to them when I walk around campus. Maybe in trying to understand what she was hoping to communicate, I’ll find Mjolnir faster.
I glance out the window and see Aric. He’s walking toward the forest and seems angry. Because he walked in on Rowen and me?
He kicks at the ground and suddenly stops as ice builds beneath his feet. He stares down, seemingly confused, then keeps walking. Interesting. He’s unknowingly creating ice when his emotions are high.
More interesting—he may not be awake, but something inside is.
Maybe it’s time I help him let it out.