Page 161 of Veil of Blood and Bone

Worry flares across Nicholas’s expression before he smothers it with a dark smirk. “It’s no contest.”

He heads to the door.

Wren scoffs, a lazy sound. “Literally the only thing we’re attempting, Niketas, is to help us formulate a plan. We won’t be any match if the AllFather himself decides to descend from his fucking throne. What if he’s out there in the ice? What if Thor’s hammer is a diversion?”

The kitchen shrinks around me, walls closing in. No air. No room to breathe.

Even Nicholas pauses at the door.

Action without organization hurts everyone. We know it too well.

“If that’s the case then we’re already screwed, and you know it,” he grinds out.

“Which is why we need a plan in the first place instead of jumping off the diving board into the deep end not knowing how to swim.” Wren crosses his arms over his chest and the pair ignore me.

“While you’re both trying to take charge, I’ll do something.” I shove Wren aside and throw open the windows, squinting against a battering of cold. The chill freezes my eyelashes and my cock. “Stay here and wait. I’ll find her and bring them back.”

The shieldmaidens have vanished, the voice reminds me with a hiss. And you intend to brave the storm, raven? How droll.

Magic spreads outward, rooted in my core. Spreading through my limbs and twisting them, shrinking, bones going lightweight. Night black feathers push through my skin.

Their protests go soundless behind me.

The massive raven pushes off the ledge and into the world beyond.

Everything else fades.

The memory of the bed and the four of us together fades.

Helene. I’m coming.

There is only the whiteout blanketing the earth, the blizzard sudden and violent. Ice pricks through my plumes. Screeching, I head high into the clouds until the roads of Nightshade Hollow form a labyrinth beneath me.

They spread, knots of asphalt and cement, the land rolling toward the river. Today it’s nothing more than a churning, furious push of gray.

She wouldn’t have wasted time going through the town.

No, if she were frantic, she’d leave. She’d want to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible, an animal hell bent on escape from this trap.

I scan for blood in the snow. Her scent.

Everything will be over if she dies early. Done.

She’ll expend herself to protect Audra, and if she fails while we’re not there to help her, we’ll all lose.

Something close to despair clogs my throat.

I course correct, allowing the tailwind to push me away from the lights and houses. Another unnatural storm has the land in its strangling grip. I’m willing to bet if I uncover the heart of it, I’ll find the source, and Helene. She doesn’t have to worry about us keeping her trapped.

We’re not the ones who will keep her here.

There’s no way to sidestep destiny.

Wind propels me in the opposite direction, coming from the left and battering me in reverse.

The veil is too thin for this to be a coincidence If Odin gets his hands on her this early...

If the Norns weave a new tapestry of fate that doesn’t involve the four of us together.