Chapter 4 #2
“I agree with Lou on this one,” Abigail said, shutting her textbook and sliding it into her backpack. She pushed herself up onto her feet, crossing her arms over her chest. “Dr. Matsson never gives that kind of praise to anyone. Not even his top students. What did you do to him?”
“It was all a big misunderstanding,” Elias said, smiling smoothly. “Mason and I had a nice chat with the principal—explained that the fight was an accident, et cetera, et cetera—and he saw fit to let us go without incident.”
“You mean,” Abigail said, narrowing her eyes, “you used mind control to make him do what you wanted him to do.”
Elias shrugged. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”
“Excuse you?” Abigail started to advance, but Lou grabbed her elbow before she could get too close to Elias.
“Don’t,” said Lou. “It’s not worth it.”
“Listen to your friend,” Elias said, smirking. “Besides. You’re just jealous that you can’t use possession to get into whatever college you want.”
White-hot fury swelled in Charlie’s chest. There he was. The real Elias, the one who had revealed himself on homecoming night. The beast who cared nothing about right and wrong, who cared only for getting what he wanted—no matter who got hurt in the process.
It was then that the thought came crashing down on her.
Bjorn and Vidar. Her Viking teachers. They’d taken up residence in the old house after Elias left town. But if he was back now … if he’d visited his old living quarters before coming to the high school …
Images came to her, bloody and brutal. Bjorn and Vidar lying on the living room floor, knives of shadow jutting from their backs. Bjorn and Vidar lying in the grass, draugar teeth marks on their necks. Bjorn and Vidar face down in Lake Michigan, drowned and bloated with saltless water.
Suddenly she was finding it very hard to breathe.
Should she confront him? Ask if they were still alive? No, that would be foolish; on the off chance he hadn’t gone to the house right away, asking him would only alert him to their presence.
She would have to slip away to the old house at the first chance she got.
“Please,” Abigail spat at Elias. “I’d sooner die than fake my way into college.”
“Why’d you cover for Mason?” Lou asked. “Last time you were here, you tried to have us all killed. Why not just let him get suspended?”
“Times change,” Elias said dismissively, brushing out the nonexistent wrinkles in his shirt. “People change. Priorities change.”
“Bullshit,” Charlie said. Her anger had become a living thing, a beast roaring within her chest, rattling her rib cage, begging to be released. Kill him, it screamed. Kill him, like you promised you would. “People don’t change. Especially not you.”
Elias still didn’t look at her, but she saw a strange emotion flicker across his face. Anger, or pain. He buried it almost immediately. Covered it in the heavy, impenetrable soil of arrogance, just like he always did.
“You don’t have to believe me.” Elias clasped his hands behind his back. “But I’m here on strict orders from my boss. He said, and I quote, Keep Charlotte and Mason safe until further notice.” He paused for dramatic effect. “I’m your protector now, kids. Not your enemy.”
The floor moved beneath Charlie’s feet. It tilted sideways, tilted the whole hallway sideways, tilted the whole world sideways, and she was falling, she was falling, she was falling …
Strict orders from my boss.
My boss.
Loki.
Loki had sent Elias back to Silver Shores. Loki had sent him for the express purpose of protecting Charlie and Mason.
My children, he had whispered.
No. She couldn’t let herself go down that road right now. There was too much happening at once. Too many surprises, too many heavy punches to the gut.
Darkness flickered at the edges of her vision. Down at her sides, her hands started to tremble.
Focus, she reminded herself. Focus.
You will make yourself strong.
You will kill Elias.
And yet, what did “killing” Elias even mean?
As far as she knew, mares were nearly invincible; only Valkyrie steel could penetrate their shadows, and even then, the effects didn’t appear to be permanent.
Back in that cave, she’d sliced off both of Elias’s legs.
Now, he stood before her, whole and intact, as if nothing had ever happened.
And even if she did know how to kill a mare, did she really have the stomach for it?
For the aftermath? The guilt? The unwashable blood that would weigh down her hands forever?
He might have been a monster, but he was still partly human.
There was a soul somewhere within him, even if it was so misshapen as to be almost unidentifiable.
No, she told herself. You’re just chickening out because he’s here. He’s here, he’s present, he’s real. Of course you’re going to try to talk yourself out of this.
You have to stay strong.
“—fall for that crap,” Mason was saying when Charlie swung back into reality. “How stupid do you think we are?”
“Like I said—” Elias studied his fingernails. “You don’t have to believe me. But orders are orders, and I’m not leaving this town until Loki says I can.”
“Let me guess.” Mason smiled without humor. “He didn’t bother to tell you why you’re protecting us, either.”
“Of course, he did,” Elias said, feigning offense. “The god of mischief and I tell each other everything. I’m his most trusted confidant.”
“I highly doubt that,” Mason said.
“I am. It’s the reason he gave this mission to me.” Elias’s eyes sparkled with joy, and Charlie knew—she just knew—that he was about to say something that would ruin them all. “There’s no one else in Helheim that Loki would trust to keep his own children safe.”