Page 40 of Rune

“No one,” I replied.

Odin checked over my shoulder to search through the dark, but Erik must have gone a different way because he frowned. “Tell me,” Odin pressed. “Tell me who dared to lay a hand on you.”

“I said no one.”

“Ruin.” His voice was a rumble. “I protect my family.”

I jerked away from his touch. Erik’s words had put me in a foul mood, and the last thing I wanted was for others to see me as he did—insufficient, a weak child who needed Odin’s protection to survive.

“I can take care of myself.” I pushed past him. “If you see Ve, let him know I had a lovely time tonight. I’ll be at home.” I escaped through the back gate, climbed aboard Ve’s chariot, and left.

FourtEEn

I SLEPT ARMED to the teeth, with visions of Erik’s wrath keeping me restless. I went through countless sparring runs in my head to figure out how to defeat him when his strength so greatly outmatched my own, but every scenario ended in my death. When the first light of the day broke through the sheer curtains in my room, I rolled to my feet.

The tension in my shoulders didn’t release, even as I pushed the axe off my bed. It beat against the marble ground with a hollow sound that echoed to every corner of my vast bedroom. I dropped my dagger next. I couldn’t live in fear.

I undid the confining straps of my sandals, stretched my toes, and walked onto the balcony overlooking the dawn. A cold sting bit in the air, awakening me as my mind raced through details of last night.

“This is ridiculous,” I muttered. “I don’t want to deal with dramatic gods for two months.” One of them could kill me in an outburst before I figured out where I belonged.

Below, Ve’s horses that I’d stolen neighed, almost like agreement. I stretched over the balustrades. “You can go back to Ve,” I told them. “You aren’t tied down.”

They stayed put.

“I’d like it better here too,” I said. Hitta Haven was tiny in comparison to the other god’s homes, but it was my favorite. “Best of all, there are no gods here to deal with.” I leaned against the wall and shut my eyes.

It wasn’t long before a voice called out. “Ruin? Are you there?”

“Spoke too soon,” I grumbled. I stepped forward so he’d see me. He stood by his horses, petting them with one hand as his gaze scoured the house. I lifted a hand, and his eyes rose to find me.

“May I come up?” he asked.

“As long as you leave all weapons behind,” I said back. “I’m implementing a danger-free zone.”

He chuckled. “Does Delight honor that zone?”

I patted my empty belt. “Delight has retired for the day.”

He gave his horses one last stroke and dropped some green apples for them to munch on. “In that case, I’m coming up.”

I stayed on the balcony where the air was crisp and the morning skies were coming to life with streaks of pink. The clouds that hung on the ground were thinner today, letting me see much of the endless mountains and temples along Asgard. Frigg would be coming soon with a basket of breads and vegetables and likely a string of questions from Odin about this cut along my cheek, but she’d get no more answers than he had.

From behind me, Ve strode up the stairwell and into my room. He eyed my weapons on the floor. “You know, I always pictured what you would be like. I thought you’d be peaceful and serene, like yourmóðir.” A hint of mockery lined his tone as he stepped over the axe.

His eye went to my cheek, and his body froze. “He cut you.” He breathed the words, almost in disbelief, but darkness coated them like he’d known this would happen. Like I wasn’t the only one Erik had cut.

“I’m fine.”

In a heartbeat, Ve was at my side and lifting a hand to hover it next to my skin. “What did he do to you?”

“It was provoked,” I admitted, withdrawing from his touch.

Ve tightened his jaw. “That doesn’t give him the right to touch you.” His hand lifted again. “Can I heal it?”

The sting wasn’t noticeable anymore, and I doubted it was deep. It must have been a ring or the bracer on his wrist that had nicked me. “I’ll survive the injury. How was the rest of the party?”

“Insufferable,” he replied, still staring at the cut. “Please, I’m the god of healing. It’d be insulting if you didn’t let me heal this.”

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