Chapter Forty
Rey
“Wow.” Ziva eyes her rapid-strike Nerf gun appreciatively, then holds it up and attaches more ammo to her body.
Aric and Reeve are the team captains for the Berserkers.
Shocker. Ziva and I volunteered for team Viking, while Eira’s over collecting butterflies.
Okay, not really, but I’ve seen her skip at least twice with her Nerf gun in the air, and she keeps aiming at Reeve.
I can’t tell if he thinks it’s a threat or that she’s suddenly set her sights on him.
Rowen’s off on the side of the field monitoring, probably taking pictures to show my father I am in fact yet again “playing” when I should be hunting.
But I am—hunting, that is.
With all the chaos going on around us, it’s not going to be hard to slip away during the game and do some investigating. First stop, Sigurd’s office.
Why there? Because Mr. Collector of Creepy Rune Gardens may just have more of the ones I’m looking for.
If Sigurd is anything like my father, then he’d want to keep his treasures close.
Aric and Reeve walk over to position themselves across the line in the middle of the field. I point my gun at Aric’s stomach and fire two shots. Gods, that felt good. “Sorry, I was just making sure it worked.”
He narrows his eyes. Reeve steps in front of him. “Save the rage for the field, man, save it for the field.”
Apparently, they run this tournament-style, with teams assigned to battle it out before progressing to the next tier.
I can see a scoreboard and an array of sweaty students lingering along the sidelines.
I wasn’t expecting to go head-to-head with Aric’s team in the first round, but win or lose, he’ll be distracted.
Sigurd walks down the line between the two teams wearing a black track suit, paired once again with his Endir hat. “All right, the whole point is to capture the other team’s flag in their territory. The Viking flag is in the dining hall, and the Berserker flag will be at the fountain.”
That’s on the same side of campus as the admin building. Not too close, but nearby.
“Safety first!” Sigurd warns. “And good sportsmanship. If you’re hit with a Nerf dart, remove yourself from the game.”
“An honor system among college students during a Nerf war,” Ziva muses.
Yeah, it’s gonna be a freaking free-for-all.
“You have ten minutes to come up with a plan of action,” Sigurd tells us. “And yet again, welcome to—”
“Endir University,” we all say in an array of bored tones.
He’s already got us trained. Maybe that’s his plan? Get the hammer, control the world, and fill it full of mindless drones.
“Lovely, lovely.” Sigurd claps along as more cheers erupt around us.
I tilt my head and stare at the oblivious look on his face. “Can we shoot him?” I whisper.
Ziva lets out a long exhale. “Yeah, methinks he’s perpetually high and completely oblivious of the world. I’ve heard you need to block shit out when you’re a genius, evil or otherwise.” She cocks her Nerf gun.
I try not to fixate on what Ziva said. I don’t claim to be a genius, but I know what it’s like to need the silence.
I sniff and ready my gun, taking a look around and grimacing. Most of the people on my team look like they’ve never participated in organized sports a day in their life, let alone shot a Nerf gun. I’m betting they’re gamers, though, and that’s enough to work with.
I clear my throat. “All right, troops, gather round!”
I see some familiar faces from the welcome ceremony, and I smile encouragingly at Hector and Jillian the psych major as we collect our armbands. Yellow for us. Blue for the Berserkers.
“Raise your hand,” I shout, “if you’ve ever played Call of Duty!”
Almost every hand pops up.
“Perfect. Just make sure you have good aim, enough ammo, and help each other if you run out.”
I spin toward the right half of our group. “There’s a nicely lit trail that most of you use as a shortcut from the dorms. They’ll expect us to take it to get to the fountain faster. You have to be like the wind, offensive line. You hear me, Vikings? Run like Hel’s hounds are coming for your souls!”
I turn to the middle of our group. “They’re going to be hiding in the trees and bushes beyond the trail, using darkness as cover, so our best bet is to draw them into the open field and use the chaos to our advantage.
That’s where you’ll come in, sacrificial distraction people.
You, my brave and noble friends, will be our diversion.
Some of you might get hit protecting others so they can push through, but just go with it. ”
I expect enthusiasm, but all I get are blank stares.
I clear my throat, then turn to my left.
“You four, you’re going to the dining hall.
Guard our flag with your lives. Protect it at all costs.
” I snap my fingers. “Porn star guy, Jameson.” He stands a bit straighter.
“I’m not saying flash them if they get too close, but you were named that way for a reason. We all have a destiny!”
“Oh my word,” Ziva mutters.
I spin to Gaby. “They’re coming into your kitchen! You gonna let them take your cupcakes?”
She shakes her head.
“Homestead that shit, Gaby. I want you to go straight-up Amish on their asses.”
Eira raises her hand, and I stare her down. “They killed your succulents.”
She growls. “Blue Team is going down!”
“That’s right. That’s right! Okay, team, let’s do this! There’s no crying in baseball—or capture the flag. You hear me, people? Second place is still losing.”
My team cheers.
And then a few seconds later, they’re back to milling around.
I eye the scoreboard. Two minutes before we start.
I could’ve timed that better.
Ziva slow claps next to me. “Good speech. Amish are nonviolent, so, um, you kind of lost me there. I mean, I was totally with you for a little bit, then I got distracted by the idea that actual Vikings like our mascot would show up and lead us into battle in full uniform, but, like, old-school uniforms. Did they wear armor or were they shirtless? Whatever. It’s my daydream. Shirtless it is.”
All of us are in our respective corners when the timer goes off.
I run toward the trees, Eira and Ziva beside me. We cut past the fitness center and toward the dining hall, where Ziva pulls me behind the big oak tree for cover.
I lean against the bark and duck down—then everything seems to stop around me. I don’t see Nerf guns anymore. I don’t hear students laughing and cheering.
I see icy spears, red with blood, sticking out of the ground.
Blades covered in ice.
People with runes on their cheeks and blue lines dividing their mouths screaming in horror while the world burns around them—while the forests light up with orange flames.
The cries of sorrow, the stench of death, the destruction of a people.
Find me.
I close my eyes and put my hands over my ears, panicking when the vision suddenly stops. It’s like what happened in Aric’s room. Is it because I’m close to Mjolnir? It has to be nearby. Only Mjolnir remembers the battles and the bloodshed.
I snap my eyes open again when Eira starts pulling me up.
“Come on, Rey! Ziva is distracting them. Hurry!”
But I can’t.
My gaze is glued to the oak tree. Amid initials and heart carvings in the dark bark is a single rune.
Hagalaz.
My lungs seize.
I don’t know if it’s from the rune or the harrowing vision that consumed me.
What the hell is going on? I can’t catch my breath.
“Get your head in the game, soldier!” Ziva whispers, running toward us. She grabs my arm, tugging me behind her. “Let’s go.”
We join our small shield wall and run across the field, then disperse just like I’d planned. The Berserker team runs into the forest trails as predicted, and I hear laughter as people start getting caught.
“This way,” Ziva calls, and Eira follows. A few of our enemies are hiding behind the bushes. I fire off a volley of shots and get two of them, but we’re outnumbered. “Go! I’ll cover you.”
I lay down a peppering spray, mentally counting each dart so I’ll know when to reload.
I watch as Aric leads his team toward the dining hall.
Of course he’s on the offense. I can’t imagine him doing anything else.
Reeve is right next to him, laughing and hollering like a banshee.
I spot Ziva and run ahead to the tree she’s standing behind. “I’m going to see if there’s anyone over by the building,” I say. “It’s pretty dark, and the other team could be hiding.” It’s a lie, but I need to break away from the crowd.
Thunder claps overhead. That can’t be good.
“You’ve got this, Z. Get that flag!”
She salutes me and runs off.
We lost Eira, but I see some of our yellow team trickling out of the trail to run in the direction of the fountain. As they go left, I take a right.
I cut around the admin building toward the service door. Sure enough, it’s open. There’s an ashtray next to the garbage can and the lingering smell of something stronger than cigarettes.
I glance around quickly, then slip inside.
The directory on the wall spells out the rooms. President’s office. Third floor.
I dip into the stairwell and take them as quietly as I can. When I get to the door leading to the third floor, I look behind me to make sure nobody’s following me, then quietly set my Nerf gun down on the ground by the door to hold it ajar. Sigurd’s office is just up ahead.
I pass all the creepy antlers and lean down to examine the lock I’m about to pick. I grab the doorknob, and suddenly, the door shoves open. That was unexpected.
Everything’s blanketed in darkness except for the sliver of moonlight peeking out from the dark curtains lighting up Sigurd’s massive mahogany desk. I take a step back. Are those nail marks on the top? Why the hell would he be clawing at his desk?
I peer closer. Six rune paperweights are lined in a perfect circle around his computer. I raise my hand toward the circle, and the shock is enough to have me jerking my hand back.
Damn.
Okay. Well, it’s not like I had time to hack into the system anyway. I wonder how he’d explain that to any humans or custodians who came in here. Or maybe there are other wards that would keep people away entirely. I peer at the line of stones.
Raido. Dagaz.
The very runes that appeared with Aric. Both times I was with him.
Coincidence? Not a chance. And yet…the rest of the runes next to them don’t match the ones in Laufey’s note.
I start opening drawers, quick but careful. If Sigurd’s anything like my father, he keeps his sins tucked away in plain sight. And I need leverage. All of it.
Top drawer—pens, ledgers, receipts. The second drawer holds a small black notebook, completely blank. Suspiciously blank, like it’s waiting for ink only he can see. My pulse picks up.
I sift deeper. Stacks of student files—color-coded tabs with names I half recognize from orientation. Attendance, grades…and strange annotations in the margins. “Potential?”
Potential for what?
One file is flagged twice. Aric’s.
At the very back, shoved under a pile of old syllabi, there’s something heavier. A small iron key. I lift it, cold biting into my palm. What does it unlock?
I scan the office again, seeing books, artifacts, and ancient pottery.
But there must be something special here—
“Have you found anything interesting yet?”