Page 137 of Fallen Gods

They both start yelling at once.

But I hear nothing.

I toss the costume into her room, then turn and leave the hall, the dorm, the campus. As storm clouds gather, darkening the sky with the fury of a hurricane, my vision blurs. My chest aches.

I’ve always walked the line between being the man I hoped to be and the monster I knew lived inside. But with Rey, I started to believe things could be different. Now a cold emptiness unfurls in my heart…

And I welcome it.

I guess I have my answer, then. I’ll turn into the monster.

Because nobody wanted the man anyway.

Chapter Seventy

Rey

“Aric!” I’m still yelling his name. Reeve shoves me back into the room, his hand clapping over my mouth.

“Stop,” he hisses. “He’s pissed, so let him be pissed. You have bigger problems right now. Like how the fuck you’re going to unlock Thurisaz without his blood.”

My entire body freezes.

He knows.

Reeve knows how to unlock the runes.

His grin is cruel, spiteful. Then in a blink, he’s gone.

“I am never going to get used to that,” I mutter, then pace the room for a while. Reeve was right about the rune issue, but I barely care about that right now. What I care about is the devastated look on Aric’s face. It was like he didn’t recognize me, like the woman he knew—maybe even was falling for—no longer existed.

It broke my heart.

Maybe a few hours go by, maybe a few minutes, but when I next look up, it’s to see the wall between my and Aric’s rooms completely frozen solid. Like he’s purposefully, literally freezing me out.

My stomach hurts, but at least it means he’s there.

I suddenly see my own breath in front of my face. If he doesn’t watch it, he’s going to freeze the entire floor.

A crack flashes outside. A rumble follows.

The world will hear it as thunder.

But I know the truth—it’s the sound of a giant’s heart breaking.

And I’m the one who did it.

I stare down at my costume lying haphazardly on my bed andtry calling Aric again. First on his phone. Then leaning against the wall that divides us. He doesn’t answer.

So I go to his room and knock three times on his door. No answer. Four more times, a bit more aggressively, pushing my Aethercall even though I know it’s pointless.

“Leave!”

“I’m not leaving until you open up and talk to me.”

“I mean it, Rey!” he yells. “I don’t want to see you right now.”

I hesitate. We don’t have time, and he needs to know where I stand—where we stand. “Aric, I’m going to keep knocking, so you may as well open up now.” I knock for the next two minutes, until my knuckles are sore. “I’m not leaving.” I knock again, then jerk my hand back. “Ouch.”