Page 107 of Fallen Gods

I hate this. All of it.

The only way out is to go through the storm. I just wish I knew that we’d survive whatever was on the other side.

I close my eyes and finally fall asleep.

Images of bloodshed fill my vision. I see the archway again, the sparkling pathway, and bodies littered over it.

I hear a voice yell. “It’s the only way! You must destroy it!”

“We’ll be trapped!” another voice calls.

“So be it!” A roar sounds, and then nothingness.

I jolt awake and look around my room.

It’s snowing.Inside.

Of course it is.

I slowly get out of bed and stand in the middle of my room as flakes spin around me. I hold out my hand, letting them twirl around my fingertips, and when I glance over my shoulder to look in the mirror, the person staring back at me isn’t me.

He looks like me.

But his eyes are a silvery white.

Frost covers his long, braided hair.

I can’t breathe.

On his head sits a crown of branches twisted into the shape of an elk’s horns.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Rey

“Hey!” Ziva knocks on my door. “Open up. Heard you nearly died, need to talk about it. I want details. Leave nothing out. I’m bored.”

I jerk open my door. “Good news travels fast, huh? When did I nearly die? I’ve just been with Aric.”

“Yeah. Which means your life is constantly in danger, by my calculations, because unless you’ve released all that sexual tension, one of you is going to explode.” She winks and then points at my door.

The white board hanging there is littered with a few phone numbers, and then scribbled in cursive,Die, Odin. With a heart around it.

“Forget Eira—you’re the one who needs a bodyguard. No offense. She’s the type who’d probably question the kidnapper so much that they’d either give her back or apologize and turn themselves in anyway.”

I cover my mouth and laugh. “She’s not that bad.”

“I have bio with her. Trust me when I say, she’s bad. Plus, it’s not even like Rowen’s really watching her. He’s always on his phone or with her at the gym drinking gross-looking green protein shakes. I think she does it to torture him.”

My eyes narrow. What? “Gym? Protein shakes?”

“Yeah, word on the street is that Rowen’s at the gym a ton, like he’s prepping for the Olympics or something. And Eira’s always there hovering over him with protein shakes in hand like the world will end if he’s not getting his pump on. The weird thing is, though, he doesn’t seem annoyed. Maybe she’s growing on him.”

I chew my lower lip. I thought she annoyed him. Is he justbored? Maybe that’s how he’s getting rid of all his stress—it would make sense.

“Yeah, I never really pay attention to gossip when it comes to Rowen. People always make up stuff on account of him being alarmingly gorgeous.” I shake off the uneasy feeling in my stomach and keep talking. “Anyway, Rowen’s probably bored, plus his job as a security guard is to fight off people, so it’s not super surprising he’d want to bulk up.”

Not completely, but I make a mental note to ask him later. It’s tiny details like this that I’m missing out on. He wasn’t drinking protein shakes back at home. Is he really trying to put on more muscle? Just how deep has he gotten into Father’s business dealings? And why haven’t I seen it before?