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)
I have high hopes.
He slides his body back up mine and stares me down, mouth swollen, eyes turning white.
“What happened to no man left behind?” I whisper.
He grins.
Then I push him on his back and sink on top of him.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Aric
The next morning, after a night of rumpled sheets and very little sleep—in a good way, for once—I ask the question that’s been burning through me.
“I know it wasn’t me,” I whisper. “So who moved the statue?”
She looks deep in thought. “Rowen? One of my father’s goons? Could be whoever saw us at the oak tree, unlocking rune number three.”
“That would make sense. Since they knew specifically which rune to plant in my game room.” She nods, silently acknowledging that we’re both in the dark.
“We just need to be more careful.” I look down at her, hair rumpled, lips swollen from my kisses, and my heart clenches. “You need to be careful, to stay safe.”
“Teamwork.”
I can’t help but smirk. “That’s all it took for you to be Team Giant?”
“Are we back to that team stuff again?” She rests her head on my chest. “Maybe.”
“Speaking of teamwork…” I feel her shift against me. “I bet you already know where the last rune is. Want to share?”
She sighs. “I do know. But it’s so public. Right out in the open. I’m… Well, I’m—”
“Scared,” I finish for her. “You’re afraid that when I’m fully awakened, I’ll go berserk and tear down Endir and Everett and everyone in it.”
“Or maybe just a building or two,” she admits, and I can hear that she’s smiling. “We’ll need to find a time there aren’t people around. Not too easy during orientation.”
My heart sinks as I think. “Actually, orientation is the perfect time. Everyone is going to be in one place tonight. It’s the Hunt. The perfect time to do something without people around, because they’ll all be getting drunk in the stadium or running through the forest, away from campus. It’s just…” Shit. Sigurd is going to hate this. “The runes will be down,” I admit.
“Oh,” she whispers. She’s silent. “So campus will be unprotected. From everyone. If we awaken you tonight during the Hunt and find Mjölnir, there’s nothing stopping my father from taking it.”
“Right,” I say.
“We can’t do it tonight,” she declares at the same time I say, “Let’s do it tonight.”
She pushes herself up on my chest. “What?”
“It’s sort of fitting, isn’t it?” I ask. “Me and you. Sigurd and Odin. Giants, Gods, all equal players. Everything in balance.”
“You’re sure?” she asks.
No. I pull her down against me, breathe in the smell of her, the clean air and crushed wildflowers. “I’m sure,” I whisper.
I tighten my arms around her, brushing my lips against her forehead before pulling her fully into my arms again.
Her breath hitches. “Will you be angry if you wake up and I’m in your bed again?”
“No.” I press my mouth against her neck. “I’ll be angry if I wake up and you aren’t.”
We have one more day of reprieve before we’re back in class together, and I wonder how I’ll be near her, acting normal, when there’s now this massive thing between us. And a road ahead we can’t avoid even if we try.
We’re still in opposing camps, something we can’t ignore. And the fact that someone brought in the fourth rune means our every move up to now has been followed.
If it was Odin, then one would think he’d just call her and say get it done.
I groan and get out of bed, then walk over to my game room. The cow’s still there. It’s ugly, a relic of a past that was best left forgotten.
I feel Rey before I see her. “The last rune,” I start. “Which one is it?”
She presses her lips together like she doesn’t want to say it, then finally whispers, “Thor’s rune.” She sighs. “Thurisaz.”
The word falls like a stone the instant it’s out, sinks into my stomach and just stays there like a curse.
“Thor’s rune,” I repeat. “The rune of protection and destruction. A weapon and a shield all at once. The thorn that wounds, the hammer that crushes, the force that defends. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be, what it was created to do.”
My chest feels too tight, like I’m bracing for an impact I can’t stop. But she doesn’t say anything. She looks at me, like she’s studying me and my reaction. I don’t know how to feel. Is “disappointed” even the right word?
I want to unlock who I am, but I’m starting to wonder if it will be at the cost of losing the one thing I care about in this world. Will she hate me for what I become?
Rey reaches for my hand and squeezes it. Her eyes are filled with so much emotion, she doesn’t have to say the words. I sense them.