Page 48

Despite the burn in my legs and my painful pulse, I ran back around the abyss, marching right up to Soren. Tears pricked my eyes, and his suave face turned watery in my sight. “Did you lie?” I asked stupidly. I licked my lips as if to wash the question away, aware of how ridiculous that sounded. Why would Soren climb this entire mountain for a lie? Besides obeying his father, who was absent and unaware that his son was with me, what would he benefit from a lie?

Between tears, I made out the angle of his brow; concern. “What?”

I shook my head and blew out a breath. “Nothing.” Palming my forehead, I ignored the throbbing in my palm against my face. “I don’t understand. Where is Drak’s body?”

Soren gave me a grim smile. “Lux, how close was he to Yggdrasil when he died?”

Ice filled my veins. We were right beneath the branches with ash raining down on us. I let my head fall back, and the tears spilled down my face as I slammed my eyes shut. “Don’t tell me he’s down there.” Soren said nothing. I opened my eyes, staring at the now-black clouds. They hung heavy and dark, as if they reflected the underworld, and a fresh, earthy scent filled the still air. “Soren, tell me I’ve gone mad.” I dropped my chin and looked at him, but his eyes remained transfixed. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is⁠—”

He cut me off. “Do you think this is my fault?”

“What?” I straightened, startled as I blinked at him. “No, no!”

His mouth tilted into a nervous smile. “I just thought you might blame the shadows on me somehow. Ignore me. I’m too used to taking the blame⁠—”

“The underworld, Soren,” I said. “This is a gateway to Hel, isn’t it?”

He looked at me, eyes clear and round and without the mischief they often carried. “Maybe you are mad. What makes you say this?”

Because I killed the god who gave Hel this role, and now I have the knowledge of her that Odin did. I simply knew this was an entrance to Hel’s domain. No particular feeling or sudden insight accompanied it. This knowledge came to me quietly as I slowly absorbed more of Odin’s power. I hadn’t thought about it beyond his foresight. What else could I do with the role I’d stepped into? My throat tightened, but I refused to think of my prolonged mortality because I didn’t want to outlive Drak for centuries. I wanted to go with him when he passed away from natural causes.

“Lux?” Soren prodded me.

“This is an entrance to the underworld,” I said in a flat voice. The truth wasn’t always a wonderful revelation, but it needed to be heard. “And his body must be down there.”

Axel’s words came back to me. I could call upon Hel, and with Odin’s power, I could assign her a new task.

Bring Drak to me.

I peeled my dry lips apart. “Hear me, Hel. I command you to bring Drak to the surface of Midgard.” Only silence responded. “Hel, I have become Odin, I speak with his power and command, listen to me.”

The ground beneath our feet shifted. I toppled against Soren, who caught me. Straightening, I sucked in a breath and tried again. The shadows shuddered, but fell still again quickly. A third time only left me hopeless. I did not possess the strength to reach her. Like Axel said, I had not been king of the gods long enough to have the experience and superiority to command anyone else yet, especially not another god.

“I can’t reach her,” I whispered.

Soren’s eyes narrowed for a second before his mouth curved into that familiar cocky smile. “Then it’s a good thing I’m a shadow.”

I searched his face, soaking in that confidence and feeling the hope rise within me again. “You’ll find him? Down there?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but I can’t promise anything. If you let me take his soul, I can listen to its calls and let it guide me to him.”

Instinctively, my hand shoved into my pocket and gripped the crystal. “Give it to you?” I whispered.

“Unless you want to go down there. Be my guest.”

“What makes you willing…” I paused and glanced at the black. The shadows obscured any view, yet the abyss appeared to be the vast, gaping maw of terror. Nothing but darkness and death lay beyond. “Why aren’t you afraid?”

His grin flipped into a thoughtful frown and he shoved his fingers through his hair, pushing the overgrowth back with the locks trapped in his fist as he looked down at me. “Fuuuuck.” Breath blew out of him in a white puff. The temperature had tanked, and the mountain’s peak grew darker under cloud and night. “I hate to admit this, but, like you said, Drak kept my secret. So I guess I owe him or some shit like that.” He faced me and offered a grim smile with his arms folded. “You have Odin’s powers. You can command me—partially!” His finger shot up. “Only partially. When it comes to souls and death and all that shit, I can’t exactly say no to you.”

“And that makes you…less afraid?” I asked, attempting to wrap my head around what he wasn’t saying.

“Exactly. Because you can command me to come back here if I’m down there too long, and Hel can’t go against you. Odin’s the one who appointed her the goddess of the underworld, so if you don’t want her to drag me down to the depths, I’m pretty confident I’ll be fine. And seeing as you don’t hate me as much as your sunshine-and-sweetbread friend does here, your will isn’t to have me pulled under.” He tilted his head side-to-side. “And it helps that you also need me, and that I’m handsome as Hel—well, not Hel Hel⁠—”

“Okay,” I said as I raised my hand. “I get it.” I pulled Drak’s soul from my pocket and stretched it out to him. “Bring Drak back to me.” He stared at it with hungry eyes and one hand twitching. He could be lying about it all and playing me for a fool, but I doubted it. I’d read the sagas too, and what he said matched up with everything I’d learned and believed about the gods and the underworld. Soren was drawn to souls, but he didn’t have to descend into the hallway of Hel. “Please.”

He smirked and snatched the crystal from me. With one last look, he gave me a nod and disappeared. The shadows swayed and moved with the soul caressed among them as they shifted over the abyss and descended downward.

I glanced at Stasia, who watched everything in an unusual silence. Her mouth hung open, and when she drew a breath, I realized I hadn’t breathed since Soren took Drak’s soul from my sight. I didn’t know how Soren would find him, but I had to trust him. Lies weren’t the center of my life anymore. I trusted Axel, and Axel trusted Soren.