Page 76 of Fallen Gods

I stare him down while another voice whispers behind me. “You know exactly who you are.”

I let out a roar and jolt awake.

I’m alive. I’m in the cave.

And my entire back burns as if the fires of hell are licking at it. My skin has a pulse, my blood rushes, and even though I see Rey next to me, all I hear in my head for a few brief seconds is…

“Frost.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Rey

I’m covered in ice and snow. The only warmth I feel is coming from Aric’s chest and the blood that’s actively running down my temple. Is it mine? But oddly, I feel no pain. Could it be his?

I lift my hand and wipe it away.

“Aric?” I scramble off him and look up. He’s in a weird daze. The collapse of the melted ice didn’t just take us out—it took out part of the floor of the cave. Thankfully, it looks like we only fell a few feet, so we should be able to get out.

Aric sits up and touches his right shoulder blade. When he brings his hand back around to look at it, I can see it’s covered with specks of red blood and spots of silver.

Does he see it? The silvery blood of a Giant? I’m Odin’s child, and I’ve bled many times before, but I don’t have that in my veins.

He quickly shoves his hand into the muddy ice water next to us and stands. Ah, so he’s seen the silver before, has probably learned to hide it before people ask questions. If he’s ever asked those same questions, I wonder what sort of answers Sigurd’s had for him.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and I’m surprised by how steady his voice sounds, like we didn’t almost just plummet to our deaths.

I nod and slowly get to my feet. “I’ve survived worse. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“I’m not your father, Rey. I don’t just stand by and watch people die—even if they deserve it.” He shoves past me and heaves himself up like it’s nothing, then offers me his hand.

I see something shining out of the corner of my eye.

“Wait.” I kneel down on top of the pile of ice that fell throughwith us. “I see something.”

Aric lets out a groan. “Another rune?” It’s a simple rock slab with Dalgaz carved into it.

“A rune. Here?”

Aric shrugs. “This region is littered with old runes. Every time someone discovers one, they’ll bring it to the campus for identification. The Anthropology Department has a whole collection.”

“And what about the runes sprinkled all over campus?”

He smirks. “You noticed those, huh.”

“Kind of hard to miss.”

“Sigurd warded the whole university. He’s superstitious. Says they’re for protection.”

“Funny, who would he need protection from whenhe’sthe villain?” I do laugh then. “Life is weird.”

He sets the runestone down by his feet, then heaves me up. I fall against his massive chest, but he shoves me away, then grabs for me as if remembering I just almost died. “Sorry, instinct.”

Yeah, I bet it is.

“No worries. I know you don’t like people touching you.”

“I’m only allergic to you. Everyone and everything else are fair game.” He starts walking. The gash on the back of his shoulder already looks better.