Page 75 of Rune

“Imagine my surprise,” he said, coming down the stairs to meet me, “when I heard my favorite mortal was in Asgard.” The deep rumble ofhis voice was like the sea, and the steadiness in his movements like a calm storm. When he was close enough for me to see the curl at the end of his short hairs, he stopped and took me in. His next words were a whisper. “And not a mortal at all, it appears.”

My throat was tight. “It seems not.”

His lips peeled back into a grin. “I always knew you were special. Had I let you settle for the chieftain’s boy, you never would have ended up here.”

Something clenched inside. The idea that he willingly let my heart break was not easy to swallow, when he was the one god I had still cared for in Danmark, and the last one I prayed to when my faith in all others had fallen. Somewhere along the way, I’d hoped he valued me too.

But his energy shifted. His shoulders dropped, and he swept himself into a bow. When he lifted himself, his eyes were twinkling.

“I was under the impression you didn’t visit Asgard much,” I told him. “How did you hear about me?”

“The news is all over the world by now. The missing goddess has returned. People must be very excited to have you back.”

It was difficult to not appear nervous. Since arriving, he was the one god I hadn’t wished to see. I’d rather face the illusive Loki. I’d rather fight Thor. Anyone else would be fooled, but Aegir had been my confidant over the years, and he would know me better than anyone else would.

It was such an odd feeling, to have the one god I had loved be the one I feared the most. But I couldn’t shake the mistrust from my gut, and the intense way he was looking at me didn’t help.

“You know,” he said, “I never got to thank you. You believed in me when no one else would, and you gave me the strength to carry on.” He looked down on me with something quite like Odin’s expression—fond and soft—but with a bit more hunger. He picked up my hands, and something sharp pierced my skin.

I yanked my hand back. Blood dotted the crease below my fingers.

Aegir dropped to his knees. “I am so sorry. It’s this blasted ring on my fingers. Loki tricked me so I can never take it off, and I’m afraid it pricks people often.”

Then perhaps he should not go about picking up hands. But he was cleaning it so nicely, dabbing the blood with his own fingers, I didn’t say that. Instead, I placed my other hand over his. “It’s a small cut. Nothing to worry about.”

He withdrew his hand. “Good thing you are engaged to the god of healing, yes? Quite the upgrade there.”

That seemed harsh, considering how not long ago, I’d begged him for another. But in his words, I found my escape. “It is. In fact, I’m late for a dinner with him now.” I stepped away.

He let me go easily, rising back to his feet. “You’ve no idea how much you’ve helped me,” he called out. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.”

I froze, then turned slowly. “Tell what?”

Aegir folded his hands before him, the pale skin contrasting his dark suit. His tone came condescendingly. “I’ve known you since you were a child, Rune. You and I have always shared a friendship.” The jolt at him saying my real name came swiftly like one of his waves, designed to pull Vikings to their deaths at sea. His next words nearly drowned me. “I won’t tell anyone you aren’t Astrid.”

There it was. What I was afraid of.

With his words, all secret hope I’d had that I was the missing goddess came crashing down. The truth was there, and he knew it. I was no one special. I was not the girl Ve was meant to be engaged to, the oneOdin and Frigg had been waiting for, or the child fierce enough to wrestle a wolf as a toddler. None of that was me. I was an imposter in a land where I didn’t belong, and Aegir knew.

I hoped Trig had gotten my message by now. I might need that escape route more than I thought.

My face must have been a flurry of emotion, but I tried to still it. I could lie, try to convince him I was Astrid, but it be futile. “I appreciate it,” I told him instead. “I mean no one any harm.”

“I know. You have honor.”

I’d never considered myself entirely honorable, especially when it came to the gods. But I took the compliment with a smile as I pulled away, feeling odd about leaving him at my home alone. But I dreaded another moment with him, wondering what other secrets might he know.

“The thing is,” he said before I had gone too far. “Honor is a beastly thing.” I paused, searching for the hidden meaning. I glanced to Aegir just as he said, “I suspect your sister is about to find out.”

The words were chilling, and it propelled me to move faster. He watched me go.

When I was far enough into the coverage of the evergreens, I ran.

TwEnty-FivE

I WAS LOST. Stumbling through the forest as branches ripped at my face and my mind fled quicker than my feet, too fast for me to keep up with. I clutched a hand to my chest, feeling my lungs roaring for the first time in ages. Gulping as my throat swelled tight.

The disappointment was two-fold, both in that Aegir knew I was mortal and my secret was no longer safely confined in my own mind, and second that there was a secret at all. Because I’d foolishly hoped I was, in fact, somehow the missing goddess. I’d allowed hope to fester beyond control, and now felt like I’d been thrown from a cliff and was struggling to recoup as the sting of reality crashed upon my head, and my shoulders were not strong enough to bear the weight of it.

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