Page 85 of Fallen Gods

We lost Eira, but I see some of our yellow team trickling out of the trail to run in the direction of the fountain. As they go left, I take a right.

I cut around the admin building toward the service door. Sure enough, it’s open. There’s an ashtray next to the garbage can and the lingering smell of something stronger than cigarettes.

I glance around quickly, then slip inside.

The directory on the wall spells out the rooms. President’s office. Third floor.

I dip into the stairwell and take them as quietly as I can. When I get to the door leading to the third floor, I look behind me to make sure nobody’s following me, then quietly set my Nerf gun down on the ground by the door to hold it ajar. Sigurd’s office is just up ahead.

I pass all the creepy antlers and lean down to examine the lock I’m about to pick. I grab the doorknob, and suddenly, the door shoves open. That was unexpected.

Everything’s blanketed in darkness except for the sliver of moonlight peeking out from the dark curtains lighting up Sigurd’s massive mahogany desk. I take a step back. Are those nail marks on the top? Why the hell would he be clawing at his desk?

I peer closer. Six rune paperweights are lined in a perfect circle around his computer. I raise my hand toward the circle, and the shock is enough to have me jerking my hand back.

Damn.

Okay. Well, it’s not like I had time to hack into the system anyway. I wonder how he’d explain that to any humans or custodians who came in here. Or maybe there are other wards that would keep people away entirely. I peer at the line of stones.

Raido. Dagaz.

The very runes that appeared with Aric. Both times I was with him.

Coincidence? Not a chance. And yet…the rest of the runes next to them don’t match the ones in Laufey’s note.

I start opening drawers, quick but careful. If Sigurd’s anything like my father, he keeps his sins tucked away in plain sight. And I need leverage. All of it.

Top drawer—pens, ledgers, receipts. The second drawer holds a small black notebook, completely blank. Suspiciously blank, like it’s waiting for ink only he can see. My pulse picks up.

I sift deeper. Stacks of student files—color-coded tabs with names I half recognize from orientation. Attendance, grades…and strange annotations in the margins. “Potential?”

Potential for what?

One file is flagged twice. Aric’s.

At the very back, shoved under a pile of old syllabi, there’s something heavier. A small iron key. I lift it, cold biting into my palm. What does it unlock?

I scan the office again, seeing books, artifacts, and ancient pottery.

But there must be something special here—

“Have you found anything interesting yet?”

Chapter Forty-One

Rey

I instantly relax at the sound of Aric’s voice, which is absurd. My plan hinges on making him relax around me. Not the other way around.

I don’t pull out the knife strapped beneath my shorts, reaching instead for a book. “Yes, well, just catching up on my reading,” I lie. Not one of my best, but…I’m committed to it now. I tuck the book under my arm. “If that’s all?” I purposefully brush against him as I pass to see if frost appears, if he reacts.

“The book. Now,” he grounds out. “Hand it over.”

When I turn, the moonlight’s sliced across half of his face, bathing it in silver. His brown eyes almost glow. Somewhere in the distance, I hear a clap of thunder.

“Why aren’t you outside playing with your brother? Kinda hard to win from in here—”

“Hand over the book, Rey!” His voice thunders in the room, making the chandelier shake above us. Shit. He’s terrifying when he’s angry. It’s almost like he grows a few inches right before my very eyes.