Chapter 24
Freya walks beside Luna on our way to the library, leaving me trailing after them. Mina sidles up beside me, and a somber expression smoothes the lines on her face.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“About what?”
She eyes me curiously. “Your Gran?”
I shake my head. No. That’s the last thing I want to talk about right now. I need it to stay buttoned up a little while longer. I glance sidelong at her and there’s a quizzical sparkle in her eye.
“We can totally talk about how you just threw Harald into a wall though,” I whisper to her. She bounces lightly on her toes.
“And did you see how he looked at me afterward?” She whispers, a smile tugging at her lips as she works to stifle it.
I roll my eyes heavenward, slowing my steps so she can easily keep pace with me. “Yeah. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to eat you or…”
“Eat me,” she grins fiendishly, wiggling her brows.
“Oh my gods, Mina!”
Her cheeks redden before she shrugs, throwing a glance behind us. “Could be fun, though.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“Why not?” She pouts. And the look on her face has me choking on a laugh.
“Uh, maybe because of what he said about Tane?”
She rolls her eyes and huffs a breath. “Yeah, I’ll make him apologize for that first.”
“First? He doesn’t seem like the apology type. Or the mating type. Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?”
My warning falls on deaf ears and she grins with devilish delight. “Yes—he’s just the fucking type.”
I try to hide the snort behind my hands, but the sound escapes anyway. Freya and Luna stop, turning towards us.
“Excuse me,” I purse my lips, clearing my throat. Leave it to Mina to have me laughing on a day like this.
Luna raises a brow before shaking her head and continuing on, returning to their conversation.
Our footsteps echo through the quiet hall as we walk into the empty library. Shelves and shelves laid bare. The sight still boils my blood as I think of all that knowledge, all that history—gone.
Freya’s shoulders creep up to her ears as she looks around the empty room. “This is an atrocity.”
I stop at her side, looking at the empty shelves. “The more you read, the more you know. And they did not want us to know anything at all.” My eyes burn with rage.
“I’ll send for some books from our libraries to restock your shelves,” she utters behind her hand, her eyes still roaming over the emptiness.
“I can’t even tell you how much I would appreciate that. Thank you.”
Luna walks ahead, coming to a stop in front of the table, and points to the items we recovered from the cave. The venom, crystals, and a few dozen books. “This is all we found.”
Freya approaches the table, her attention narrowing on the stacks of books littering the entire tabletop. “These are the only books?”
An hour later, we’ve walked Freya through everything they’ve left behind and started on the books. I unstrap my axe from my back and place it beside me as my wings vanish away and I roll onto my back, taking the book I’m reading with me.
The colorful rug beneath me isn’t just ornate, but soft and plush as I sink into it.
I chose this spot specifically to be close to the fireplace.
And I don’t give a fuck how un-queenly it appears.
I have suffered enough and I need to feel the warmth seep into my bones, chasing away the chill that lingers.
“Are you any good with that?” Freya asks. Her words cut through the silence and the flipping of pages. I peek over the book in my hand to see who she’s talking to and find her staring at me.
“Me?” I ask, pointing at myself as I sit up.
She snickers and pushes away from the table to face me. The book she was reading left open. “That axe, it’s Odin’s, isn’t it?”
A blush crawls its way up my neck and reddens my cheeks. “Yes, it is.”
She stares patiently at me, waiting for more. The intensity of her gaze has me looking away, to the ravens carved into the axe’s hilt. “It was lodged in the trunk of a tree. No other warrior or Valkyrie had pulled it out.”
“One who is worthy will pull it,” she murmurs. “I’m well aware of its legend. Even tried to pull it myself once.”
“That’s what they say. I pulled it in a moment of need,” I murmur. “Odessa and Julius were trying to murder me. My powers had manifested, and I had become a threat to their plans.”
Her face twists in shock as her mouth pops open. “Your aunt would never.”
Chuckling, I toy with the laces on my boots. “I would hope not, but I’ve never even met her.”
She leans back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Odessa and Bryn were some of the fiercest Valkyries I have ever known. Their bond was as strong as mine with my twin.” Her words are heavy, emotion settling in her gaze. “And I’m sure they both loved you more than life itself.”
The space between my ribs burns with her words. “Odessa knows about me?”
Freya scoffs, her head tilting back. “It wouldn’t matter if she didn’t. You’re the last remaining piece of her sister. She would have waged wars across the realms for her and, by extension, you.”
Her words settle around me, like a comforting embrace. Freya goes back to her book, letting me have a moment, and I ease back down, pulling my book to me.
I may not have Gran or my mom, but I have an aunt. An aunt who remains kidnapped by our enemies. And I need to get her back.
The words blur together on the page and I squint to see them clearly.
My Gran is gone. My parents are gone. Elowen is gone. I bite the inside of my cheek to feel physical pain rather than the crippling emotional turmoil that rages through me. I need to hold it together just a while longer.
Breathing through my nose, I focus on my surroundings. Luna sits rigidly at the carved table we brought in opposite Freya. She absentmindedly skims her fingertips across the words carved onto the table as she studies the book in front of her.
Mina is sprawled across the couch next to me. Her foot dangling over the arm. She sighs deeply and flips a page. Freya continues to study the book of prophecies on the table before her. But every so often, I feel her eyes on me.
“It’s not much to go on,” she says to herself, shutting the book and sliding it away from her.
“Did you expect there to be?” Luna asks, resting her chin on her palm. “It’s obvious they mean to lead the realms into war. What information should we be looking for?”
Freya shrugs, flipping her long white braid behind her. “Anything about where they’re keeping them or where they mean to start the first battle…”
Luna shifts forward, her fingertip still tracing the words on the table. Freya’s attention slides down to the table, and she moves books out of the way.
“What is it?” I ask, sitting up. Mina peeks up from the book in her hands, her brow furrowing.
“This table,”—Freya points at it—“was this in the cave too?”
Luna’s attention shifts from Freya to me, before she answers. “Yes, they had it in the cave.”
“Do you know what it says?” Freya asks, looking at all of us.
“A ruler of two worlds shall rise up and lead.” Luna rattles off the prophecy.
Freya shakes her head. Her white blonde hair shimmers in the candlelight. “Not ruler. Queen.”
Luna stares down at the table once more, her mouth dropping open, as the realization dawns on her. She translated it wrong.
“It says a queen of two worlds shall rise up and lead?” I ask.
Freya shares a look with Luna. “Yes. But this isn’t all of it.”
“I told you they were never this short.” Luna shoots a pointed look at me.
“Where’s the rest of it, then?” Mina asks, shutting her book.
Luna worries at her bottom lip and taps a single finger on the table. “I haven’t been able to find it.”
“And you won’t.” Freya crosses her arms over her chest. “The sorceress who prophesied it died before finishing.”
Luna blanches, her gaze swinging to me. “I still think this is about you.”
I shrug, not having the capacity to worry about it right now. It’s very vague. I am a queen and I am leading. What’s the big deal?
Freya looks from me to Luna and then back again.
The door to the library creaks open and I crane my neck around the couch to see who’s entered. Torin’s golden brown eyes meet mine, his face lined with worry.
“Dinna mean to bother ye.”
I’m surprised to see him no longer in human clothes. But in training leathers, he looks no different from any of the other warriors here. Then again, he belongs here and not in the human realm. The thought is startling. My two worlds once again collide.
“It’s no bother Torin, we’re doing some research,” I reply, sitting up.
He scans the room looking for something—someone. His eyes widen a fraction when they land on Freya.
“Did you need something?” I ask, looking between him and her.
Torin squares his shoulders. His lips settle into a grim line.
“A moment Freya?”
Her face pales and she stands.
Confusion twists my face, and I look at Mina. Her mouth pops open and she sits up. What is happening? Oh…were they lovers?
Freya walks silently across the library and follows Torin out the door, pulling it closed behind them. Luna grabs the book Freya left on the table and sinks back into her chair.
“What just happened?”
Luna chuckles, but doesn’t look up as she flips through the book quickly.
Mina and I share a look. The wood in the fireplace pops and cracks as the flames consume it.
“You don’t see it?” Luna asks, turning another page and resuming tracing the words.
“See what?” Mina asks, peering at Luna.
“Lachlan is Freya’s grandson.”
The words drop like a bomb.
“WHAT?” Mina and I shriek at the same. My mind empties and my jaw almost unhinges as it drops wide open.
Luna shifts in her seat, peeling her eyes from the page to look at us. She waves her hand in front of her face.
“It’s so obvious. You didn’t see the ethereal green eyes? Lachlan’s unnatural strength for a guard? He’s a Demigod. Gersemi, one of her twin daughters, had a child before she died.”
“Lachlan…is Freya’s grandson?” Mina squeaks out.