Page 51 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
“Was she killed because of how she looked?” I held back the fact that Hel made her look that way. She had caused her death.
“It was unfortunate, yes. I rather did like her, but I suppose she’s here now, isn’t she?” Hel gave me a proud smile. “I quite enjoy having your line here with me.”
“Why did you bestow this…gift upon her?”
“She made an offering for it, of course. I believed it could be quite useful to have a witness to the dead on Midgard. Their eyes are my eyes.” Hel’s singular white eye flickered, and for a moment, it looked just like mine. I stumbled back, and a strangled scream left my lips against my will. “Don’t fret, child. It is not just your eyes I see from, but all eyes of the gifted ones.”
“Fuck that!” I yelled, spit flying from my mouth as I did. Hel’s eye returned to its white, blank slate. Rune grabbed my arm, muttering something, but I couldn’t hear her over the pounding in my head. All this time? I’d thought the worst thing about my curse was the superficial look of it, but that was nothing compared to the privacy stolen from me. Sure, she was a goddess. She had more important things to do than watch my boring life every day, but what had she seen? What moments had she sat in on without my knowledge or consent?
“Watch yourself, mortal. It’s best you don’t forget where you are. You don’t plan on staying in my realm, do you?”
My jaw ticked as I held it shut. The being I just yelled profanities at was the only one in all of existence who could permanently destroy my soul, and I didn’t know where she drew the line. Maybe all it took was a displaced mortal screaming in her face.
“No, I think I’ve made that pretty clear,” I grunted.
Rune groaned beside me, but she didn’t try to correct me or do damage control.
“So you have,” Hel sneered. “Despite your lack of gratitude for the power I have given you, I will not take back what has been given. My power lives within you now. Separating you fromit would surely destroy your soul, and, well, that would be quite the waste.”
“It’s a good thing my line will die out then. You’ll hold nothing over my family anymore,” I said, the bitter, petty words dripping off my tongue like poison. If more cursed spies was what she wanted, I’d be the last person to give them to her.
“It will die out, yes,” Hel said before turning her attention to Rune. “You haven’t told her yet, have you?”
Rune’s mouth parted, and then she looked at me with regret on her face I’d never forget.
“No, I suppose you haven’t.” Hel emitted a smooth laugh that chilled my flesh. “You may not return to Midgard. That is, unless you’d like your life to end. If that’s the case, I will happily host you here.”
I didn’t look at Hel as I asked, “What do you mean?” My eyes were locked solely on the valkyrie who’d been keeping this from me. If I couldn't return to Midgard, I was as good as dead. I’d never see Hilda again, never see my longhouse, never lay in my horribly uncomfortable bed, prepare a spell for another client, or open the box of wildflower bracelets given to me by Haddy.
“Kari…” Rune said before squeezing her lips together.
“You gave me the illusion of choice. I was never returning to Midgard, was I?” I asked, my hands trembling with the untapped energy within me.
Rune flinched, her hand tightening on the hilt of her sword. When she opened her mouth, her words pierced my very soul. “No, seeress. You weren’t.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
TO SHED YOUR ARMOR
Rune
Kari stared at me as if she would’ve loved to do nothing more than crush me under her wool-lined boots. I deserved any punishment she yearned to give; not just for the truth she’d heard, but for everything she had yet to uncover. There we stood, in front of Hel herself, and I could do nothing but stare back at her, my mouth parted with nothing to say.
Kari shook her head furiously, and I chanced one glance at Hel, long enough to know she was growing bored by our silent display. While amused at first, the only expression she wore on her half-flesh face now was annoyance. It was evident Kari and I needed to have this conversation later. Alone. I only hoped I could get the seeress to move past this for now, for all our sakes.
I cleared my throat and tried to ignore the shaking in Kari’s hands when I said, “Kari?—”
The woman next to me spun to show me her back, leaving my drying tongue frozen in its place, cutting off any words I would have spoken. “Hel, what do you want from me? What can I give you other than my eyes? I know that’s the deal you bartered withmy ancestor, but I agreed to no such terms. I accepted no such gift.”
I bit my bottom lip, not wanting to show fear in front of a goddess, but did Kari really just ask Hel what she wanted from her? Would she really give Hel other pieces of herself in replacement of her eyes? I suppose this was about so much more than what she saw in the mirror; this was about the blatant breach of privacy. Hel had been spying on her and her family for decades, for fuck’s sake, and even in death, she would hold control of Kari’s own vision. When would she know peace away from this fate?
Hel hummed as she assessed Kari and leaned back in her throne. Her black hair hung over her partial skull face, and she brushed it back to show the runes carved into it once more. “You cannot give me anything more than what you already have, but someone else can. I just so happen to know they’re in need of a seeress. Though, nothing comes free, you know. Or you should by now,” Hel laughed despite herself.
“Who?” I jutted in. I wouldn’t let Kari agree to being some low tiered god’s seeress under false pretenses just because she wanted to get out of this position with Hel. Hel wanted something Kari couldn’t give her, but the goddess of Helheim could still barter Kari like a stack of golden coins.
Desperation never led to anything good, though, and things could always get worse. I would help navigate Kari out of this mess, even if she hated me with everything she had. I wasn’t expecting her forgiveness for what I did, but I would only accept the very best terms for my mortal.
Kari shot me a horrible glance that screamed to stay out of it, but her eyes were never scary to me, so I didn’t flinch. Her brow softened for half a second before it hardened once more and refocused on Hel, awaiting her answer.
