Page 81 of Fallen Gods

I leave wondering two things.

Can he read minds?

And why is he encouraging me to spend time with the one girl who has the power to destroy everything?

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Rey

“Hold the elevator!” Reeve calls the second I step inside.

No. I don’t think I will.

But Reeve slips through the doors before they close and gives me a once-over that has me crossing my arms. “Judging by that resting bitch face, and the mud stains and wet clothes, I’m guessing the Ice Caves weren’t all laughter and doodling Aric’s name on your report?”

I try not to think of all the ways I can impale him with my pen. “I mean, we almost died in the name of ancient history, but we did just fine.” I leave out the questionable rune we discovered and the rest of the strange things that have happened because, first off, it’s none of his business and I’d rather drown than ask for his opinion. But more than that, because he’s an Erikson. He’d be the last to throw me a life raft.

Reeve slams the emergency stop button on the elevator, making it jolt. It doesn’t trigger my fear of heights, but plunging to my death is still not how I want to go out. I brace myself against the wall.

“I’m going to level with you,” he says, and for once, he sounds serious.

“Could you not have leveled with me anywhere else?” I ask.

Literally anywhere else. Okay, so maybe I am afraid. I hate heights. Even small ones.

“If we plummet, the worst that would happen would be falling on your ass. Gravity might just make some of the mud and dirt fall out of your hair.” He grins. So much for serious.

I flip him off. “Okay, do your leveling so I can get out of this death trap.”

“You have no idea how desperately I want to jump in the air right now.” He shoots me an evil smile.

“It’d be the last thing you do.”

He chooses to lean against the wall instead and suddenly sobers. “You can’t push Aric. He’s seen multiple therapists, but he can’t get past—” He sighs and leans in. “Shit, you take this to your grave, all right?”

“We’re still dangling in the air here. Talk faster, Reeve.”

“You remember after our parents died and after he rejected you and all that shit.” Good reminder. Fantastic. “He was in his room sulking like Aric does, and it exploded. I’m not talking like,oh look, a small gas leak, that’s unfortunate. He blew out the windows, the doors, melted his chair. The firefighters said it was a freak lightning strike.”

I know he was struck by lightning. Everyone in the area does. It was a huge story when it happened. Not Aric’s involvement, but about Sigurd’s mansion catching fire.

Reeve shakes his head, and his light brown hair falls across his sculpted face and high cheekbones. “I ran in expecting flames, but everything was just ash. Everything but him. He was completely fine. Sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“He was angry, confused, and one thing I’ll never forget.”

“What?”

“His eyes,” Reeve rasps. “They fucking glowed white.”

I step closer to Reeve, feign a worried tone. “That sounds horrific. He must have been so scared.”Tell me more.

Reeve pauses. “Actually, I think he thought it was pretty fucking cool, not that he ever used those words.” Reeve hits the button, giving the elevator a jolt. My stomach jolts with it. “He said the lightning went straight through him.”

“Do you believe him?”

He smirks over at me. “Don’t forget, I, too, am in therapy.”