Page 45 of Fallen Gods

Rey leaves his side and returns to the group. She doesn’t bother to find her spot next to me again as Reeve holds up his flag and starts walking us toward the Hall of Ormir in all its daunting glory.

A chill runs down my spine, growing stronger the closer we get.

As we pass through the gates, a cool breeze suddenly picks up,swirling around the group before everything goes quiet and still. I can’t explain it, but my heart is suddenly racing.

A kid shouts, “It’s the ghost!”

Rey’s suddenly next to me, whispering under her breath. “Or some angry Gods.”

I roll my eyes and feign ignorance. “Don’t tell me you believe any of that shit.”

She hugs herself against the chill coming off the forest and keeps walking. The closer we get to the ancient temple, the colder the air becomes until I can see my breath in front of my face. I need to calm the hell down, but I can’t.

My fingertips tingle. Chills move through my veins. Frost covers my hands.

Again.

In a blink, I’m back on a windswept beach, waves crashing against the shore, salty spray on my face and the daughter of my enemy sitting close enough to kiss.

Something changed in me that day.

A dam breaking, a door unlocking. I don’t have the words to describe the way a part of me chipped away.

All I know is that Rey is the common thread. Her presence is a flame to the cold I can’t escape. Every contact widens the rift, making more and more of the monster inside me want to break free.

I shove my hands in my pockets. My heart starts to race, a clammy sweat breaking out along my forehead. Damn it, it’s happening.

When I sneak a glance at Rey to see if she’s noticed, I realize her breath is doing the same thing, so it must actually be cold outside. I hate the sigh of relief it brings—knowing her air also carries frost but from the actual temperature, not me.

A small voice in my head whispers…for now.

I shove it from my consciousness.

It’s getting harder and harder to hide, to explain away—and one day, I know, it will be impossible.

“We should stay with the other students.” She nods jerkily, and we catch up to the rest of the group.

“All right.” Reeve stops at the massive stone entrance.

The iron door itself is at least twelve feet tall. The rest of the building is constructed like an ancient temple with icons and runes etched into the stone. “You’ll have around thirty minutes inside. Please don’t go into the pool at the bottom of the stairs. Trust me when I say you won’t come back. It’s roped off for a reason, so don’t be a dick, all right?”

Everyone mumbles their agreement and starts to go into the building. Phones out, cameras clicking or live streaming.

“That’s a massive beast if I’ve ever seen one,” Rey whispers next to me.

“Well you do live with Odin, so.” I glance up, following her gaze to the massive structure. Built from ancient black stone, it rises at least three stories high, the forest seeming to fold around it—trees growing against its sides like it belongs to them. At its peak, nine twisted iron spires form a serpentlike deity reaching skyward, mouth open in a silent scream, eyes hollow.

The steep roof is shingled in black slate. Another serpent coils over the oak door, iron-banded and scarred with faded runes etched deep into the stone.

The whole place feels alive. And ready to eat someone.

My father used to bring me here when I was a kid. I’d cry until he gave up trying to explain the carvings, the runes, the stories in the stone. Funny—I haven’t thought about that in years, probably because I usually avoid the area like the plague.

Rey studies the front of the building, her gaze tracing the runes as if she’s trying to memorize every detail.

“After you?” she asks.

I realize I’ve been staring. Not at the temple. At her.