Chapter Fifty-Four
Rey
“Hey!” Ziva knocks on my door. “Open up. Heard you nearly died, need to talk about it. I want details. Leave nothing out. I’m bored.”
I jerk open my door. “Good news travels fast, huh? When did I nearly die? I’ve just been with Aric.”
“Yeah. Which means your life is constantly in danger, by my calculations, because unless you’ve released all that sexual tension, one of you is going to explode.” She winks and then points at my door.
The white board hanging there is littered with a few phone numbers, and then scribbled in cursive, Die, Odin. With a heart around it.
“Forget Eira—you’re the one who needs a bodyguard. No offense. She’s the type who’d probably question the kidnapper so much that they’d either give her back or apologize and turn themselves in anyway.”
I cover my mouth and laugh. “She’s not that bad.”
“I have bio with her. Trust me when I say, she’s bad. Plus, it’s not even like Rowen’s really watching her. He’s always on his phone or with her at the gym drinking gross-looking green protein shakes. I think she does it to torture him.”
My eyes narrow. What? “Gym? Protein shakes?”
“Yeah, word on the street is that Rowen’s at the gym a ton, like he’s prepping for the Olympics or something.
And Eira’s always there hovering over him with protein shakes in hand like the world will end if he’s not getting his pump on.
The weird thing is, though, he doesn’t seem annoyed. Maybe she’s growing on him.”
I chew my lower lip. I thought she annoyed him. Is he just bored? Maybe that’s how he’s getting rid of all his stress—it would make sense.
“Yeah, I never really pay attention to gossip when it comes to Rowen. People always make up stuff on account of him being alarmingly gorgeous.” I shake off the uneasy feeling in my stomach and keep talking.
“Anyway, Rowen’s probably bored, plus his job as a security guard is to fight off people, so it’s not super surprising he’d want to bulk up. ”
Not completely, but I make a mental note to ask him later. It’s tiny details like this that I’m missing out on. He wasn’t drinking protein shakes back at home. Is he really trying to put on more muscle? Just how deep has he gotten into Father’s business dealings? And why haven’t I seen it before?
I hate the feeling that I may not know him as well as I think I do.
We all have our secrets, and I can’t sit on my high horse and say I don’t have mine. I’ve left out a lot of details when giving Rowen intel.
We’re all just trying to survive, right?
I eye Reeve making his way back down the hall toward Aric’s room. Didn’t he just leave?
“I don’t suppose you feel like being my bodyguard tonight, in case that one flies off the rails?” I ask her.
“No can do.” Ziva does a little dance in front of me.
“I have a date tonight. He’s a freshman, a Virgo, likes board games, and plays a mean game of frisbee golf.
We might go to a poetry slam, or I might stick my tongue down his throat to forget about all the losers I’ve already kissed in my life. Oh, hey, Reeve.”
He stops in front of my door. “I’ve been standing here at least five seconds and heard every word, you know.”
She shrugs. “Whoops?”
He mimics her innocent stance, then stares me down. “Sorry about the door. Too bad the whole ‘die bitch die’ thing didn’t work out.”
Wow, someone’s in a mood. What did Aric tell him?
“I bet you are.”
“There’s always next time, eh?” His eyes flash like he wants to fight me.
I flinch. “That’s low, even for an Erikson.”
We’re chest to chest when Ziva moves between us. “Guys, stop, you’re ruining my pre-date buzz.”
“Right, sorry.” Reeve runs his hands through his hair. “I’m tired. Sorry, Rey.” He turns on his heel and starts walking away, lights flickering overhead. “I’ll call maintenance again.”
Ziva stares after him. “He’s acting weirder than usual.”
He and Aric fought. I know it.
Guilt assaults me.
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.
Aric was supposed to be so hateful I’d smile while drawing blood—but he’s not. The game’s changed, and I barely recognize my place in it.
Ziva’s checking the time on her phone. “Gotta run. Stay safe, maybe indoors for the rest of the night?”
Message received. “Yeah, I’m tired anyway.” I groan, unlock my door, and stumble in.
“You’ve been busy today.” Rowen’s voice comes from a corner of the room, causing me to jump about a mile.
“What the hell, Rowen! Did you sneak in here through my window?”
“You know, you really should be more careful with how blatant you are when you leave campus with Aric,” he continues, ignoring my question. “That is, unless your plan was for the entire school to think you’re dating and have the information reach Odin. Risky, even for you.”
I flop onto my bed. “Are you here to remind me that my father’s going to kill both me and Laufey if I don’t wake up Aric and find the damn hammer, or was there something else? Because I’m not being careless. I’m getting close to the enemy based on his instructions.”
“Right.” Rowen lets out a sigh. “But it’s my job to tell him when I think you’re in too deep, and I think screwing him for sport probably wasn’t on your dad’s list of bright ideas.”
I jolt up. “Are you kidding me right now? First of all, what right do you have to even assume that? And second of all, even if I was, who cares? It’s just a job.”
Even I don’t believe my own lies anymore.
He sighs. I know he doesn’t want to argue any more than I do. “I see the way Aric looks at you, and I can tell he’s already partially awake. The guy’s terrible at hiding the frost. Plus, I know you well—you know exactly how to finish the job, don’t you?”
Two more runes.
I nod my head slowly. “It might kill him. You don’t see what happens when I start waking him. It looks like it’s painful. Every single time, his eyes turn white, like he can barely control the power bursting from inside of him.”
I notice Rowen moving from one foot to the other. He’s restless. He wants to fight but can’t. Why? A chill runs down my spine.
His cruelty was trained into him. Same as mine.
Rowen prefers to watch his enemies die slowly as the life leaves their bodies—Odin has always said that to watch a life leave for Valhalla is a God’s greatest honor. A reminder that true life only comes from one’s very breath.
But this is my closest friend in the world. I have no reason not to trust him.
“Look…” Rowen starts, then heaves a sigh. “Aric seems like a nice enough guy right now. I’m sorry he’s suffering, but you’ve got to understand: he’s not the only one. Your father…”
Rowen stops himself, looks unsure whether he should continue. But then the words just seem to flow out of him.
“He’s losing not just his power, Rey, but his grip on reality.
He’s your father—and whether you believe he’s a monster or not, he’s dying here in this realm.
He can’t afford to wait another year. He needs Mjolnir to go back, to restore his power.
Period. The only way for this continuous war between Gods and Giants to end is to get the hammer.
The Giants hid it because it’s the only thing powerful enough to destroy Odin and they can’t figure out how to use it.
They broke the Bifrost—trapping who knows how many of us here—and for what?
Power? Position? They say it was to protect the worlds, but at what cost when Odinfather, despite all his faults, the creator of worlds, is here? ”
I open my mouth, but it’s near impossible to know what to say.
“I wish Thor was alive,” I try. “He’d know what to do.
Because do you really think Odin’s only plan is to go back to Asgard and pretend like none of this happened?
Do you really think he won’t destroy the last Giants, then go after whoever defies him next? ”
“So what…if they deserve it,” Rowen whispers.
“Gods will always reign, and it’s your time to decide whose side you’re really on.
” A smile flashes across his face. “I hate Odin as much as you do. I know it’s choosing the lesser of two evils, but don’t let yourself be distracted.
” He glances at the wall separating Aric and me.
“You know what you need to do. Awaken the Giant. He’ll guide you to Mjolnir.
The minute he’s fully awake, not only will it call to him, but he’ll feel compelled to give it to you no matter what. ”
Could it really be that easy? My heart races. “Why’s that?”
“Your blood sings to it. Mjolnir was always meant to be with Thor, with you. It would even respond to Hela if she were in this realm.”
I frown. I haven’t heard my sister’s name in years. I’ve never met her, nor the birth mother I can’t even picture. Sometimes it feels like a distant dream.
“I miss home,” Rowen says.
My mouth opens to ask him more about that, but he’s already walking toward the door.
“Rowen, wait.”
He pauses, and I grab his hand. His scars light up again, burning my fingers. “Have you decided where you stand at the end of this?”
He smiles and grips my hand tighter. “I’m always on your side.”
“Even if Odin forces you to choose?”
“Even if I lose the very life he breathed into me.” He winks.
I tilt my head. “Oh. So he created you and your family?”
“Bye, Rey.” He salutes me and walks off. “Try not to sleep with the Giant tonight.”
“It was an accident!” I call after him and lie back down on my bed.
Family. Sacrifice. Betrayal. Love. Impossible choices.
It all swirls around in my brain until I’m tired, suddenly too tired. I need to get ready for bed before I crash on top of it.
But instead, I eye my phone. It’s Wednesday, which means Laufey’s probably out grabbing more flowers for the greenhouse—the one hobby she’s allowed.
I don’t think. I just dial. I need her.
She picks up on the second ring. “Rey?”
“Hi!” I say it too quickly. “I mean, I’m glad to hear your voice.” My own cracks. “Are you doing well?”
“Odin is, of course, treating me as he always does, but he’s at the office and I’m in the mansion.”
So she’s safe for now, albeit under lock and key.
“But…you’re okay?” I can’t help but ask again.
She’s quiet for a moment. “I’m…tired, daughter.”
My stomach drops painfully. My grip on the phone is so tight, I have to purposely unclench each finger so I don’t shatter the screen.
Daughter. I love it when she says it, but she never calls me that in front of Odin for fear of retribution. It makes my heart ache.
“Now, why are you calling so late?” she asks gently.
It isn’t that late. Which can only mean one thing.
They’re listening in.
“Just to say I miss you.” I love you. I’m sorry.
“Oh, sweetie, it’s better this way.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Tell me a story,” I blurt, tears in my eyes. “I can’t sleep. Silly, right?”
I swipe the tears from my cheeks and suck in a breath to keep from hyperventilating. I didn’t realize how much hearing her voice would affect me. I’ve been so strong for so long.
“A bedtime story? Well, how could I refuse?” She sighs. “Lie down, and when your eyes are heavy, I want you to nod.”
I get comfortable, lying on my back, then slowly, I nod, smiling because of course I know she can’t see it.
When I was little, my father used to tell me that my voice could conjure monsters.
I had no clue he’d made it up to get me to stop talking so much.
Back then, he was the center of my universe and I orbited around him, basking in his glow.
So of course I believed the story, and it terrified me.
So during Laufey’s bedtime stories, nodding it was.
The absence of words was my safe space.
“All right, I felt it.” She laughs low in her throat. “Good strong nod tonight, Rey.”
My throat aches as more tears slip down my cheeks.
“Do you remember the story of the wolf pup?” she asks, her voice steady, melodic. She always has a calming presence, even when the world spins into chaos. It’s like she’s tucking me in, like I’m seven years old again.
“The pup was small, scraggly,” she continues. “He followed the hunters from the village, hungry and limping, hoping for scraps. They laughed at him. Said he was weak. Said he’d never survive the bitter cold of the mountains. But still, he followed. Night after night, step after step.
“And one night, when the fire burned low, the hunters betrayed one another over the last piece of bread. They fought until none was left standing.
“But that little pup? He knew he didn’t need to fight.
He didn’t need to be the strongest or the fastest. He just needed to survive while they fought one another.
He was patient and persistent and eventually, they destroyed themselves.
And then he licked the crumbs from the snow.
He was the last one left to howl while their corpses bled into the ground. ”
Her breath hitches, just barely, like she’s holding back her own tears.
“Courage, Rey, isn’t always winning the fight,” she whispers. “Sometimes it’s staying out of the fight altogether. It’s howling.”
I cover my mouth with my hand to hold in the sob, but it still breaks free, shaking my whole body. Because even if she never said the words outright, I know. This—her stories, her voice—is her way of loving me.
And it’s the one thing my father could never stop.
We hang up in the comfortable silence of family. I turn on my side and stare at the wall I share with Aric.
Blood of Odin. I may be his blood, but I won’t let it define me.
I’ll be the one who howls.