Page 108 of Rune

She obeyed, throwing herself on her knees beside him to shuffle through his jacket. He studied her face paint. “Back to the Viking girl already?” he asked, glancing to me.

“It seems that’s who I was the whole time.”

His face turned thoughtful. “We shall see.”

Tova came up with a golden key in hand, fitted with a long stem and three notches at the top, and a filigree design wrapping around it. “This it?”

There hadn’t been time for a good look before, but he likely didn’t walk around with a large array of keys. I nodded.

As I withdrew, Balder barked, “You better kill me now, child. Once you leave, I will chase after you.”

Tova’s eye met mine. The words inside were obvious. Kill him, and be done with it.

Instead, I tucked my blade away. “Enough blood has been shed this week. I’ve no desire for more.” I offered a hand to him. “If you chase us, we will only defeat you once more.”

He took the hand and stood to tower over me. The expression on his face had changed—his eyes widening and lips softening until it was almost one of wonder. After a moment, he reached further into his jacket to reveal a second golden key.

“This is the one you will need. And I will take you to Earth.”

I focused on that key. Even without knowing what it looked like, I knew this was the right one. There was something about the elegance of it that screamed importance, and how he held it close to his body. Tova tossed the other one away and reached for this one. He kept it back. “You may or may not be the goddess I thought you were,” he said to me. “But your character is of fine quality. I would not have you die here on my account.”

Understanding settled over me. He could have killed me if he wanted to. He wanted to see if I would do the same to him. If I had tried, he would have killed me in an instant. Because he was a god, and I was nothing compared to that.

Balder’s gaze snapped up to the hill, and he spoke more urgently. I felt it too, a tingling, as if other gods were approaching. Then a presence I knew well. Ve was close. “Come,” Balder insisted, flicking out his hand for us to take. “We must leave.”

I hardly had a chance for a last look, but I soaked it in anyway. The vibrance of the sky, the warmth of the air. The way the clouds had hung low on the ground and how the sea sparkled as if made of diamonds. I risked a look—even though it made my heart ache—in the direction ofHitta Haven, where the spindles of the roof poked above the greens, and where I was leaving a part of my broken heart. Something deep inside me burned, and it drove me toward the cave to grab one memento. The laurel Ve had given me. I clutched it close. Then I reached a hand for Balder, as the others did, and let a bright light overtake us.

With the next breath, I was back on the cold mountainside of Danmark with snow seeping against our bare ankles and harsh wind biting our arms, and the fading image of Balder as he let us go and disappeared back to Asgard.

The fjord rested below. I stared at it, feeling numb.

I was home.

ThirtY-siX

TRIG BROKE FROM us as soon as we stepped foot onto the beaten down paths of the town. “I should letFaðirknow we live,” he said. He was Jarl Hakan’s only son, and the clan would mourn the loss of him as much as they mourned Tova. “Then perhaps we can plan the wedding?”

Tova had so far been calculated as she walked, hesitant in her movements as if being home made her as uncertain as it made me. But at this, she finally smiled, and it almost looked like everything was normal. “It’d be good to have something to celebrate.”

The clan had many things to celebrate. She’d be showered with feasts and gifts to thank her for the decade of blessings we’d receive from the gods for her winning the Champion Games. I doubted Odin would grant blessings this time, but the clan would see blessings in anything. None need to know wemade enemies of the gods.

Then it would be their wedding, and Trig would take over as the new chieftain.

As soon as Trig walked away, Tova ducked from the main path to veer behind the town. I followed. My toes were ice and my cheeks frozen, but we would both rather take the longer path to get home than speak to anyone right now.

“How are you doing?” she asked after a while.

It took me longer to answer. “I don’t know. Happy to be back in Danmark. Still not certain if I’m safe from Odin’s wrath. Still mourning what I left behind.”

Tova studied the frosty ground as she walked. “He didn’t wish to come?” Her question was slow, almost like she didn’t want to pry.

I didn’t know the right answer to the question. “He wanted to come to Earth,” I said. “But not with a fraud.”

Her hand clasped mine once. “Ve is missing out.”

A small smile was all I could give her.

“How are you doing?” I asked back.

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