Page 133 of Fallen Gods

Reeve vanished in that elevator like it was nothing.

And that’s when realization dawns.That’sthe 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 bidingtheir 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—somethingelse.”

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.”

“You know who you are, Aric.”

“But what if I forget who I am? Forget about us.”

That cracks something open inside me. He isn’t afraid of thepower burning through him. He isn’t afraid of losing himself to it. He’s afraid of losingus.

I take his hand. “You’ll remember. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Then it’ll be okay.” He wraps his arms around me. It takes a minute, but his humor returns. “You know, if I was a romantic, I’d say this is some realRomeo and Julietkind of shit, warring families, bloodshed, revenge.”

I laugh against his chest, the sound muffled by the steady beat of his heart. “Let’s not comp to Shakespeare. Most of his stories didn’t end so well.”

His lips brush my forehead, the featherlight kiss so soft it feels like a promise, when days ago I would have seen it as a threat.

I tilt my head up, nerves tangling with want, with a need to explore this further before everything goes to hell.

Aric’s arms wind tighter around me until our breaths are mingling, until the space between us disappears into nothing. His mouth descends slowly, like he’s giving me a chance to run. He presses the faintest kiss to my lips. It’s nothing but a tease of everything I want and more.

He exhales a cool breath across my lower lip. I feel the frost first, the chill seeping into me—then the heat of his tongue follows, melting me all over again. Making me want to lose control.

I should step away and tell him about his brother. He deserves to know.

But he’s clearly in a vulnerable place already, and I think he needs me right now. To feel safe and loved and not like everything he thought he knew has been pulled out from under him. Again.

A tremor rolls through me. I know he can probably see it, feel it. The talking can wait. Everything else can wait. Right now, I need to show him just how loved he is.

Before our time together runs out.