Chapter Eighty-Four
Rey
With a battle cry, Aric surges to his feet.
His clothes burn under the heat of the lightning, and suddenly he transforms right in front of me.
His body stretches to his full height, muscles surging beneath silver armor.
His skin is pale as frost, hair jet-black, with pieces of ice clinging to the ends like adornments.
Odin stumbles back, true fear flashing in his eyes. “Impossible… You’re a Giant without any birthright—and Mjolnir is mine!”
Aric snarls, voice no longer just human but layered with undercurrents of thunder, the soft thrum I always felt but could never quite place.
“Did you forget? I was only sleeping. And now—” He hefts the hammer, lightning spiraling around it like a never-ending charge. “You’re fucked for waking me up.”
He hurls Mjolnir. Odin barely raises a hand before Rowen leaps in front, deflecting the blow as the Nightfrost ring spirals out into a blue shield. The clash detonates in an explosion of light and frost.
I’m thrown backward, my ears ringing, the taste of blood sharp on my tongue.
Aric’s completely healed now—and the man is pissed as hell.
Mjolnir returns to his hand, and he holds it high over his head, then bellows as he throws it down to the ground.
Crackling fire erupts from where it hits, then snakes out directly to the men near my father, narrowly avoiding the unconscious Reeve but searing the guards alive.
Then, just as quickly, a wall of ice appears, so frigid it freezes their skeletons in place before they can even fall to the ground.
“Thor!” Father yells, slamming his hands together, creating a loud screech that has me covering my ears. Ravens pour into the hall, surrounding all of us while he pulls Laufey to his side.
Rowen staggers, but Odin shoves him forward, fury carving his features. “Take Rey!”
“No!” I scream. I’m done being used.
I am the blood of Odin, daughter of Asgard.
I woke a fucking Giant.
And I’m worthy.
My gaze flickers to Aric as he smashes Mjolnir onto the icy ground again, causing a spiderweb of lightning to crack toward Odin and Rowen. Without hesitation, I hold out my hand.
Aric has only a second to smile at me before the hammer slams into my palm. “Awaken,” I whisper, then hold it high toward the ceiling. The sound of ice splitting fills the room.
Odin staggers back, eyes wide, and for the first time, I don’t just see fear on his face. I taste it.
And it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever savored.
I keep my hand raised, ready to throw Mjolnir and end this once and for all. But first: “Release Laufey.”
She’s still behind Odin, still chained, still looking terrified. I’m not leaving without her.
At the mention of my stepmother, Odin’s gaze turns assessing, shrewd. Like he knows he still has one card left to play. But in my world, it’s already game over.
“Thor. Now—” he starts in a low voice, but I heave Mjolnir above my head, putting every ounce of anger, fear, and retribution I have into the throw. Odin’s eyes widen in horror as the strongest weapon of the Gods hits him square in the chest.
“Father!” Rowen screams, pulling him to his side as blood spews from Odin’s mouth. He holds Odin tight, and then, just like Reeve did in the elevator, they both disappear into thin air.
He’s gone.
But he left someone behind.
Rowen has Nightfrost and a very wounded Odin, but we have Mjolnir. And we have Laufey.
I rush over to her. Her blue eyes lock onto mine as she slowly raises her shaking, bandaged hands and cups my face. “You did good, daughter.”
Tears well in my eyes. “Daughter?”
The fact that she can say it freely now makes me want to burst into tears. I throw my arms around her and hold her tight.
“Everything is going to be okay.” Laufey pats my face. “For now, rest. Tomorrow, you can decide what to do with that weapon with your…new friend.” She smiles up at Aric. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Odin positively hates you.”
Aric bursts out laughing.
“And your parents,” she says, sobering, “were some of the best friends I had in my entire miserable life here in Midgard—Earth.”
Aric reaches for her hand. “That means a lot.”
“What now?” I ask, looking around at the damage.
“We wait,” Sigurd’s voice says from the door.
How long has he been standing there? “I’ll take Laufey and get her checked out.
” He shares a look with us, then notices Reeve still unconscious on the floor and all the dead bodies frozen around the chamber.
“The wound to Odin is likely fatal. Thor will stop at nothing to try to heal him, though.” He presses his wrists together, then twists his hands in a counterclockwise motion.
I hear an audible click. “The runes are back on.” He walks over to Laufey and gently grabs her hand, addressing me one last time. “I hope you know what you just did.”
“What?” I ask.
“They’re waking up.” He shakes his head. “All over campus.”
The other fallen Gods and sleeping Giants.
Good, I think. They deserve to know. To have all their memories, the good and the bad.
“And the Bifrost?” Aric asks.
“I’ll send for cleanup. Join the bonfire. If anyone asks, the storm caught a few things on fire. Don’t call on the hammer. For now.”
He leaves like we didn’t just take out Odin, probably for good.
I rush to Aric’s side. He pulls me in for a hug before I can make it. Then he kisses down my neck. “Are you hurt?”
The hammer’s back in my hand. I press it against him, and it sinks underneath his skin like a lock clicking into place, the runes doing their jobs. “It was you the whole time.”
“More like us.”
Reeve starts coughing. “Hi, still here, conscious again. Please don’t have sex next to the dead people, it’s weird. And good job on surviving, sorry for what I did.”
“Why shouldn’t we kill you right now?” Aric growls, thunder still in his voice, the hammer sparking down his back.
Reeve arches a brow. “Because I gave Rey that rune. Helped you out, didn’t I? And if you kill me, who would explain what happens next? I’m known to be a very good storyteller, you know.”
Before Aric can retort, Mjolnir groans. The sound is alive—hungry. Sparks shoot from it, not toward Aric, but toward me.
I freeze and then hold out my hand. The hammer wrenches itself from Aric and floats to me, then sends a series of fiery sparks down my legs and arms. My wounds quickly heal, the warm feeling putting me at peace.
Mjolnir drifts into my hand, and the shaft lights up with runes beneath my palm.
Mine, I think.
Aric stares. I stare back, the weight of it settling between us. The hammer belongs to both of us.
The realization is sharp.
By birth, it’s mine.
By worthiness, it’s his.
The weapon shimmers once more.
Aric holds up his hand. It leaves me just like that. He doesn’t use it, though, merely lifts it into the air. It presses against his back and locks into place again. His body jolts with the impact, breath ripping free from his mouth like the hammer is truly a part of him.
He’s not using it; he’s protecting it.
For now.
For one breathless moment, the cavern is silent. Balanced.
Then Reeve grins, whistling low. “See? You’re going to need me. Who else can teach you how to survive Ragnarok? Gods have fallen. Giants have risen. Did you really think this was the end?” He spreads his arms wide, mocking and theatrical. “Guys, the party’s just getting started.”