Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
“Cute.” Reeve folds his arms, looking at me with a serious expression. “Hunt’s in a few hours,” he adds.
“Yeah. So?” I ask. “Not exactly a reason to kidnap me in an elevator. What’s going on, Reeve?”
“I know what you did,” he growls in a low voice. “And now you’ll know what I can do.”
Something’s not right, not with the way his voice suddenly sounds gravelly, not with the gleam in his eyes. I lunge for the button to open the doors, but at the same moment, Reeve is shoving me up against the side wall. Heart pounding, I heave forward to get him off me, then kick him backward. He stumbles and then faces me.
“Is that all?” He laughs. “I expected more from the daughter of Odin.”
I throw my right fist. He spins out of the way, dodging me completely, and grabs me by the throat. His fingers tighten.
I knee him in the groin, and he immediately goes down, releasing my neck. There’s no time to regain my breath. I shove my palm against his chest and use my other arm to cut off his air.
“Don’t pick fights with someone stronger than you,” I say. “It’s embarrassing.”
“Stronger than me?” He laughs again. In the next breath, he vanishes.
What the fuck?
He reappears, standing on the other side of the elevator, arms crossed, leaning back arrogantly.
I blink and blink. Did I really just see that?
“Let’s try this again, shall we, Rey?” The air cracks and hums around us, and then his eyes flash a bright white as he whispers with a grin, “I’m Loki. Nice to meet you.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Rey
Loki? Giant of Jötunheim Loki? I thought Loki died in the wars, too. This is bad, so very bad.
And yet, it also makes so much sense. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. Reeve has always been the jokester. Leading all the fun and games on campus. Never taking anything too seriously.
Of course he’d be the God of Mischief.
By the time the elevator hits the second floor, he’s dropped two more bombs. One: No, Aric doesn’t know, and two: If I breathe a word to anyone, he’ll kill me.
Then he’s gone.
I clench my fists in the middle of the hallway. I’m too in shock to even open the door and enter my room. Not about the him threatening my life part—my life has been on the line here from day one. But not telling his brother… Aric would be gutted.
Did Reeve—Loki—always know? Or is he just remembering now?
My father said “they” were asleep, that the ones stuck here didn’t have memories of the war, that he used the last of his power to wipe them all—a kindness, he said, to keep them from remembering the suffering. Since his power is waning, could that mean their memories are coming back? And that their powers are returning, too?
Reeve vanished in that elevator like it was nothing.
And that’s when realization dawns. That’s the urgency. The war between the Gods and Giants has been on pause on our end—but only until Odin finds Mjölnir…or Sigurd hits play.
Reality comes crashing down. Are some of the students around us awake to who they are? Are the Gods and Giants just biding their time, waiting to start another war, while it feels like the old one hasn’t even ended?
This is bigger than my brain can handle right now.
Suddenly, it feels like someone’s behind me. Reeve? I turn around and land a punch before I realize who’s standing there. My hand aches like I just hit steel, but Aric doesn’t even take a step back.
It’s really not a good sign that the man didn’t even flinch.
I make a face. “I panicked.”
He towers over me, pieces of his hair falling across his face, but his eyes aren’t as cold. They have life, and they’re so solely focused on me, my heart skips a few beats. “You look pissed.”
“I’m usually pissed.” I grit my teeth. “Listen, I think we need a better plan. What if everyone around us—” I pause. “Can I come in really quick?”
His eyes search mine. “Sure.”
I want to blurt out everything I just learned about Reeve—or better yet, demand that Aric come with me to unlock Thurisaz right away, innocent bystanders be damned—but as soon as he closes his door behind us, Aric drops a single question that steals the breath right out of me.
“Will I forget you?” he asks.
I stop in my tracks. He means with the last rune unlocking.
“It feels like with the visions, they’re going to take over. That I’ll become someone else—something else.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, force my lungs to work, my lips to move. “I—I don’t think that will happen.”
“But you don’t know for sure,” he says, more to himself than to me. “No one knows. My parents didn’t. My grandfather doesn’t—or if he does, he won’t tell.”