She doesn’t wait for me to turn and acknowledge her. There’s no time for that. When I see motion and realize she’s thrown something my way, I spin and manage to catch the heart stone before it nails the side of my head. Then I pivot toward Odin, brandishing the stone like it’s some kind of shield. To my absolute shock, a pulse of magic shoots out of it and strikes Odin in the center of his face, right between his two largest horns.
And then the light spreads, like a drop of water sending ripples through a serene lake, until Odin’s lit up in the early morning light like a bonfire. Just when I think I can’t possibly process a single bit more light, there’s an explosion. It sounds like the felling of a great tree, like the scream of an ice vanir in flight, like the roar of Odin himself, like the crash of the ocean, all rolled into one.
And then the world disappears for a brief moment and reappears with a clap of thunder. Only, the world no longer makes sense. Where there was a massive flame-æsir, there’s now a rather large, rather regal man with clenching fists and an intense frown. “What have you done to me?”
“I’m not sure I can take credit.” I point at Freya. “When I asked Jörð to give Freja understanding, she turned her into Freya. The earth child you saw.”
Odin reaches for me, like he’d like to wring my neck.
“Not so fast.” Fagen steps out in front of me. “Touching her is a bad idea. I’ve been an earth child far longer, and in this form, I think I could defeat you easily.”
“Who are you?” Odin asks.
“A friend,” Fagen says. “And another vanir-bonded who’s here to try and help you end this war.”
For the first time since he showed up here, bent on shoving my mother into divulging information, Odin doesn’t look ready to kill anyone. It might be delusion, but I have hopes that thanks to Jörð’s new trick, we might actually get through to him.
Or, you know, he’ll turn back into a flame æsir any moment and barbecue us. It could really go either way.
Chapter 7
Liz
At first, it irritated me when I woke up and Axel was there. I was always complaining—telling him I needed to sleep alone. But after we entwined, I slept better with him close. And eventually, I wanted to wake up beside him. After Azar died from that ice-spear attack, I spent every single day wishing he was close.
When I wake up, and he’s still beside me in human form, even with Thunar around, it feels. . .nice. He must trust that at least, for now, we’re okay. It also makes me hope that he wants to be near me, even without being entwined, even without his memories of our past.
I have no evidence of this, but I feel like if we can get close enough to entwine again. . .maybe he’ll recover his memories. Last time, kissing entwined us. We’ve done plenty of that, and nothing has happened. I’ve wondered whether to entwine this time, we need to do more. . .
But that would be a really big deal.
I’m not sure I’m ready for that, so I’ve put it off.
There’s one thing I just can’t delay, however. The second I open my eyes, I blurt out, “My mom was bonded to Euphrasia!”
Axel blinks. “Your—what?”
I shake my head and shove upward until I’m sitting, the blankets bunched around my waist. “I had another dream where I was Gullveig. I had just gotten the heart and my wings, and Freya and I escaped the vanir and joined the æsir.” I pause, and I stare right at him. “I took Freya to ask my family for help, and Odin was there. He was a huge flame blessed with two massive, curved horns that shot back from his head like enormous curved swords. They were black.”
Axel’s eyes widen. “That sounds like my father.”
“But my mother—Gullveig’s mother—was a bright, and she was bonded to Euphrasia.”
“My nanny, Euphrasia? Are you sure?”
I nod slowly. “It was her—she looked identical to how she looks now. I think, I think she knew me, Axel. I think she’s known I was Gullveig all along, and she never said a thing about it, even when I got wings. Even if she hadn’t recognized me in this time, the wings would be a dead giveaway. Gullveig’s the only one with wings back then, too. I need to talk to her.”
“The Prime Minister has sent you some messages.” He holds out my phone. “There’s a holiday celebration in Germany and a similar celebration in Finland, and we’ve been invited to visit. They’re gathering together any brights who want to be bonded in each place.”
“Okay,” I say. “Do we have to leave right now?”
He shrugs. “We have a little time. I thought you’d want time to. . .” He frowns. “I’m not sure the proper word. Prepare?”
I do. He’s not wrong. Thankfully I now have several different outfits that I can wear over my wings, but I should really try to do something with my hair and look nice, as the representative for the bonded humans. Even so. . . “Sometimes we have to skip things we want for things we need. Can you call Euphrasia? Or take me to her?”
He frowns. “Our interaction will be monitored, but I guess it can’t be helped.”
How bad can it be for Thunar to know Azar wants to see his old nanny? “It’s important.”
