Page 163 of Fallen Gods
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 Ragnarök? 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.”
Epilogue
Rey
Two days later
The lake looks like glass. Silver frost stretches across its surface in a perfect sheet. I grin as the moonlight seems to scatter diamonds over the frozen water. Some girls get dinner and a movie. I get an ice-covered lake under the blanket of the stars.
We slip our way across, my boots skidding until Aric’s hand clamps down on my elbow. His laugh is low, rough from exhaustion, as he pulls me flush with his chest. “Keeping your enemies close?”
“Something like that.” My breath plumes white in the air. “Though if you wanted me dead, you’d have killed me last night after I snuck into your room again. Sorry not sorry.”
“I should watch my back,” he murmurs with a sexy grin. “I hear you’re a hair puller.” His grip tightens on my elbow as he leads me across the lake toward the dark shape of the tree line.
A cabin pokes out from the trees ahead. Old, weather-worn, and small, with antlers nailed above the door like some ancient ward. Once we get to the water’s icy edge, we take the trail up to the door. He pushes it open, and warmth greets me in a rush—firelight, cedar smoke, and…
My breath catches.
Flowers.
Everywhere.
The table, the floor, even the rough shelves are crowded with blooms—wildflowers in jars, roses clumsily jammed into mugs, daisies spilling from a chipped vase by the window. A hunter’s cabin turned into something soft, something beautiful. Something just for me.
I turn in the doorway, blinking hard against the tears burning in my eyes. “What is this?”
He shrugs, jaw flexing like he’s embarrassed. “Because every girl should be asked out on a date and given a flower. Even the blood of Odin.”
The words break something in me. He remembered. My eyes sting, and a tear slides free before I can stop it.
Aric catches it with one finger, lifts it to his lips, and blows. Frost sparks from his breath, the tear freezing midair into a tiny crystal that floats before us. He sighs. “Also, I was just trying to get laid.”
I choke out a laugh. It’s ridiculous and so perfect.
I launch myself at him. He catches me easily and spins me around. It’s freeing, being in my enemy’s arms.
We stop spinning, my body slowly sliding down his. My feet almost touch the ground before he lifts me back up and crushes his mouth against mine.
It’s different now, his kiss. Fiercer. Hungrier. His hands trace my back, and when my palms slide down the runes etched into his skin, they spark under my touch—tiny bolts of lightning dancing between us.
When we finally break apart, we’re both out of breath. I rest my forehead against his chest. “Any word from Sigurd?”
Aric exhales slowly, his eyes going from silver back to brown. “I did exactly as planned. Told himwecontrol Mjölnir.”
My chest tightens. “We.”
“Yeah.” His thumb brushes my jaw. “We. And that it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”
I swallow hard and tilt my head into his palm. “We open the Bifrost, and they get their power back. All of them, including the ones who’re already regaining their memories on campus. Each of them deserves it.”
“They do.” Aric’s sigh is heavier than the storm outside. “Butthat means Odin also gets his power back. And you know he’ll keep trying to use Laufey against you. Rowen, too.”
It’s a risk I’m going to have to take. One way or another, this war has to end.
