Page 67 of Veil of Blood and Bone

I stare Nicholas down with fists clenched and my arms vibrating. “Whoever you are, whoever all of you are, no more nicknames. No more talking in circles.”

Wren lifts his hands in a long fingered shield in front of his face.

“No more playing games. No more making out with me against the bookshelves.”

That one is for Forest. The others swivel to glare at him in a slow unified motion, and although he gives nothing away, something in his demeanor hardens. Not his eyes, though. Those are liquid.

“I want answers. I want them now.”

“Or else? Helene.” Wren is the master of the velvet talk.

It’s immediately clear. Fire is a turn on. The madder I get at him, well, the harder he’ll hit back with subtlety until I’m tangled.

I snort, staring at the ground. Whatever had happened in life to bring me here, there’s no way to sidestep it now. I’m here. This is happening.

You make the best of the bad things, dove. Mom’s voice is silken and soft in my head the way only a memory can accomplish. The only thing you can do to make it better is to keep your joy.

Where was hers in the end?

When I lift my gaze from the floor, all three men crowd closer. “Gentlemen, stop wasting my time. Talk.

Whatever else is going on, whatever else I know, I understand one simple fact—we’re running out of the stuff.

Every second counts.

Chapter 14

Forest

Iknow these men.

Their faces swim through the past, there and gone, a blink. Recognition clicks into place like well-oiled cogs in a machine that’s run for ages. Our trio has worked together before. Yes.

Odin’s balls. The exact details are out of reach, not even close to being within my grasp, and it doesn’t matter.

With the reek of history between us, in a room full of antiques and trinkets and dust, a Bloodletter and a Dökkálfar look at me with camaraderie, and battle sings in my blood.

Wren. Nicholas.

Why do they speak like they know Helene? The innermost parts of her she hasn’t shown even to herself?

I’ve only met her, watched her. When did they have a chance to make their introductions?

Confusion spikes like iron through my skull.

“Giving you information is straightforward,” Wren begins. “Having you accept them might prove more difficult.”

Helene scowls. “Typical. Man. Behavior.” She points to each of us in turn. “I’m demanding answers, and you’re looking at me like I’m aggressive.”

“You’re being aggressive.” Nicholas shrugs.

“Aw, we all know her aggression is the glue keeping us together.” Wren smirks, and my gaze narrows on him.

My thoughts and questions, grow wild and tangled and spread beneath my skin. I’m full of them.

I’d love some solutions as well.

Helene takes the term, the insult, to heart. “You’re out of your fucking mind! You show up here in my life, and now it’s in shambles. I know it has something to do with the three of you, and that troll outside is only a symptom of a much greater problem. I’m right, aren’t I?”