“He’s dying, an ice-spear in his belly, and I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s not precisely ice as you understand it.It’s liquid hydrogen.One of your soldiers is doing their homework, because it’s absolutely cold, and also highly combustible.Thrusting it into napalm, basically, was ingenious.”
“Can you save him?”I ask.
“You’ve heard my prophecy, I assume?”
“It was yours?”I shake my head.“Your stupid prophecy wrecked both your sons, you know.They had to drag that weight around, and that’s why Hyperion’s here.He was willing to die—because he didn’t want to cause his people’s doom.”
“And ironically, he’s here, doing just that.”
“What does that mean?”
“You already know.”Freya begins to circle me slowly.“It’s why you brought that with you.”She eyes my sword, still clasped tightly in my hand.“I had no idea when I commissioned those, that you’d use them to...”
“To what?”
“Liz.”Freya smiles.“Do me the credit of admitting what you already know.”
“You have the heartstone,” I say.“And I need it, to save Hyperion.”I shake my head.“But why can’t you use it to save him?You have it, I know you do.”
“I don’thavethe heartstone.You can do better than that.”She lifts her chin, her eyes on me.
“Youarethe heartstone?”
She smiles.“You’re closer.”
“You can’t use it—because it’s already being used.”
Now she’s nodding.“The heartstone fused with me when—you’ll have to remember that for yourself.I could never explain it properly, not here, not like this.Suffice it to say that I can’tuseit in the way you would like.I’m stuck here as surely as the cursed are stuck.They all should have died as part of my spell, but Odin didn’t do his part.”She fumes.“So here we all are, alive and miserable, forever.”
I ponder that for a moment before remembering that Coral’s life and Hyperion’s life, they’re both hanging in the balance now too.“I don’t have time to reminisce,” I say.“No matter how much I might want to.What do I have to do to save them?”
“Looking for a baby to skin?”Freya sighs.“Sorry, warrior Liz.No babies here, only me.”
“Where’s Azar?He followed me through.”
“Azar, Axel, why the two names?”She lifts her eyebrows.“When you sacrificed for me, a sky child, you were reborn as Gullveig.I don’t hear you switching back to Gyda.”
“I’m Elizabeth Chadwick,” I say.“But you people persist in calling me Gullveig.It’s not that hard to explain, honestly.Apparently I’m not the only one with dumb questions.”
“But my son’s not two people—he hasn’t lived two lives.He’s one person with two masks.”
“Two masks?”That’s a strange way to put it.“What do you mean?—”
“No time for stupid questions,” Freya says.“Remember?”
“They aren’t stupid.”I swing my sword at her.“I can’t remember anything important,remember?”
She dodges and smiles.“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“What does that mean?”
“You have a big choice to make today, Liz.You can let Hyperion, and by extension, your sister, die.Or you can take the heartstone for yourself and heal him.”
“By killing you.”
She lifts one hand, turns it over, palm up, with a flourish, and inclines her head.“Even so.”
