Page 102 of Rune

Odin held a glass in his hand, and he held it to me. “Drink.”

I didn’t need to look to know what it was. He held jravn. One drop would kill a mortal.

I’d survived it before, for a reason I still didn’t know. Some god playing games with me. Whatever the reason, I knew deep in my bones that if I drank now, I would have no such protection.

My teeth clenched and my mouth tightened. I shook my head.

“No?” he pressed, shoving the drink closer. “If you were my granddaughter, you’d have no problem drinking. Drink, and prove who you are.”

I wouldn’t.

“She drank before!” Ve’s brother, Leif, shouted over the railing. “I gave her some from my own cup.”

I wasn’t such a fool that I’d allow any hope to curl within. Odin wasn’t relenting.

“Ahh, but she won’t drink now.” He withdrew his cup. “A final test remains. Aegir? Take the blood.”

Take the blooddidn’t sound pleasant. I might rather drink from the cup than let someonetake the blood.I backed away, my eyes wide in terror.

“It is a drop.” Odin’s words were sharp as knives, as if speaking to me was beneath him. It was, but only an hour ago he had a hand around my shoulders. Now I suspected he was minutes away from using the sword he’d given me, still strapped to my back, to run me through. He glared at Tova as she tried to step in front of me again. She stilled.

Aegir stalked toward us with a teapot in hand. A hint of victory danced in his eyes, and it made my skin crawl. He stopped before me and held up his hand. “Your arm, please.”

With no other choice, I offered it.

He put a hand over my wrist, and with some god power I didn’t care to try to understand right now, he pulled a small amount of blood from the veins and spilled it into his teapot. Then he poured a single drop onto Odin’s finger.

The gods all leaned close, crowding each other against the railing, none seeming confused as Odin lifted the finger to his lips. He paused at the confused look on the three of our faces.

“Blood of a god runs sweet. Mortal blood is bitter with the taste of mortality. You can cheat many things, but your blood will not lie.”

He pressed his finger to his tongue, then retracted.

“It is bitter!” He announced, and the words sealed my fate.

Quicker than wolves, he and Aegir were back up beyond the safety of the railing, and sitting down with a fire in their eyes. Beside them, Frigg let another tear fall. It hit me like a slap. When she caught my eye, she tore her face away.

I dropped my gaze.

I’d been prepared to leave Asgard. But now it was being torn away from me, and it felt like a family was abandoning me. The searing pain it left behind stung of loneliness.

My attention found Balder next. He was plowing through the crowd to speak to Odin, who held up a hand.

“I will speak to you later.”

The sharp edge couldn’t be lost. Balder was the one who’d brought me here, and who told them all who I was. That wasn’t someone Odin could easily forgive.

“She has the marks,” Balder shouted, throwing a hand my way. “She ate the sacred grapes!”

Odin’s tone was deadly. “I will listen to none of it. The blood is bitter.”

I snapped my gaze to the left, and found Ve there, amidst his friends, looking as lost as I felt. My feet instinctively moved his way. He shook his head once. I froze. His expression was more than just blank—it was placid. Uncaring. Deceived.

“I didn’t know,” I shouted to him, hoping my words reached his ears. “I never wanted to lie to you.”

Tova grabbed my arm. Her fingers dug into my skin. “We need to go.”

I swung my eyes around. “Where?” I asked desperately. “There is nowhere to run.”

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