Page 92 of The Midnight Death Match

“Gunnar wasn’t—” I start, then stop. They couldn’t understand. Not yet.

But Brynja meets my gaze, and I see the calculating intelligence there. She’s always been good at reading between the lines. “What happens if we stay?”

I glance at the windows, where beyond the farm, townsfolk are learning the news. Fear has a way of spreading like wildfire in small communities.

“Then they’ll turn on you,” I say. “Maybe not today or tomorrow, but they will. It’s only a matter of time. Once they start looking for someone to blame, once the fear takes hold?—”

“You mean they’ll come for us?” Helga’s voice is barely a whisper.

“They’ll come for anyone connected to me. Anyone they think might be fae.”

Everyone speaks at once then. Voices overlap in a cacophony of fear and confusion and anger.

“This is insane…”

“We can’t just leave everything!”

“What about the farm?”

“I don’t want to be a monster…”

Runa’s voice cuts through the chaos. “I’m scared!”

I whistle sharply to get everyone’s attention, the sound cutting through their panic like a blade. The room falls silent again. “You don’t need to be afraid. I can help you. I’ve learned a lot, and we have protection in a fae city. The fae themselves will guard us. You’ll be safe, and you’ll be free to be who you really are.”

“A fae city?” Torvi’s voice carries wonder despite her fear. “You mean like in the old stories?”

“Better than the stories,” I say. “Mirendel is beautiful, and the fae there have accepted me. They’ll accept you too.”

Bjorn steps forward, his face dark with anger. “You expect us to trustyou? After what you did?”

I force myself to remain steady. “He left me with no other choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Orin spits. “You could have run. You could have surrendered.”

“I could have died. And then who would have warned you? Who would have come to offer you protection? Has Leif told you about being halflings since triggering his curse?”

He doesn’t answer. None of them does for a long moment.

Finally, I look each of them in the eye, one after the other. “Are you with me? I promise your protection. You’ll never have to hide what you are again.”

The silence stretches like a bowstring. Then, slowly, Brynja nods. “I’ll come with you.”

“Brynja—” Bjorn starts.

“No.” She stands, squaring her shoulders. “I’ve seen what fear does to people. I’ve seen how they looked at Eira when shecame back. If she’s right about what we are, then staying here means living a lie until the day we can’t anymore.”

Torvi nods next, her dreamer’s eyes bright with possibility. “I want to see the fae city. I want to see what’s beyond Skoro’s walls.”

Runa jumps to her feet. “I’m with Eira, too. She’s always protected us.”

Finally, Helga speaks up, her voice quiet but determined. “If there are books in this fae city, real books about magic and other worlds, then yes. I’ll come.”

But not all. Not one of my brothers agrees. Even the younger ones glare at me with a mixture of fear and accusation.

Bjorn stands rooted. “You brought fire to this family.”

The others move to his side, nodding in agreement. Erik crosses his arms, trying to look older than his fourteen years. Ketil won’t even look at me. Orin stands protectively between them and me.