Page 99 of Fallen Gods

My phone suddenly goes off. I look down at the screen.

Reeve:watch ur back

Reeve:dont think with ur dick

Reeve:sigurds always watching

My phone pings again.

Seriously?

Reeve:dont underestimate him, thats a mistake neither of us can afford to make

Reeve:but seriously dont think with ur dick

I curse under my breath. I know he’s not wrong, but I don’t want to believe she’s capable of fully betraying me in the end. Or that if she is, at least then so am I. Right now, the focus needs to be on unlocking the last two runes. Everything else can wait.

Because I’m tired of feeling numb, I’m tired of feeling like I don’t know my true self, and I’m tired of feeling weak against an untouchable enemy. It’s time to rise from the ashes of my parents. The reign of the Gods—the reign of Odin—must end. Rey has to know that, even if she won’t admit it.

“Something wrong?” Rey asks.

“All good,” I lie and shove my phone back in my pocket as we make our way toward the student parking lot.

I click the locks on my SUV and, without speaking, Rey climbs into the passenger seat.

She waits until I pull out of the Endir gates to ask, “Where are we going?”

“Someplace where we can plan our next steps.”

“Oh. Right.”

Where did she think we were going? On a date?

I glance at her sharply. Is she blushing? Shit, did I say that out loud?

“It would be my first.” She blushes harder. “No, I mean, not like my first, notthatsort of first.”

My smile is practically frozen to my face. “A date virgin or a virgin virgin, Rey?”

“Shut up, I’m not that sheltered. I’ve had my share of hookups despite my dad locking me away. But the only people I ran around with were kids whose parents worked for my father, meaning most either wanted to kidnap me for ransom and force me into marriage”—she stares me down, ouch—“or see what it would feel like to be with the great Odin’s daughter. It’s not like anybody ever gave me flowers. Ugh, can we not talk about this? I think I’m rambling now.”

I refuse to tell her it’s cute. “You are, but I kind of like seeing all the little chinks in your armor. I have a mental checklist of all your weaknesses just in case. I’ll be sure to add ‘dates where all the guy has to do is bring a flower.’”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, I’m easily impressed.”

I finally pull onto the road leading up to the back side of the lake. The forest gets nice and thick as we near an abandoned piece of land.

When I pull off the county road to the wrought iron gates, Rey whistles. “Well, that looks daunting.”

“It’s supposed to.”

Sigurd owns all this land. He doesn’t tolerate trespassers.

I park the Defender. Rey gets out of the car, tossing her computer bag into the back seat. As she approaches the tallgates, she glances sharply at me, then leans in and examines the carvings on the decorative finials. Her eyes widen as she takes in the length of balusters, each metal bar bearing a protective rune. “The whole fence is warded?”

“When Sigurd wants something sealed off, he doesn’t fuck around. If anyone from the university wandered this way, they’d get a strong urge to turn the hell around and not come back.” Feels weirdly nice to talk about this openly with someone. When I touch the gate, the wrought iron shudders and groans, but it opens for me. “This way.”

She hesitates for a second, then follows.