Page 78 of The Viking in the Vault
Ragnar grunts under his breath, annoyed. He’s unbothered by the cold, but my supervisor seems to piss him off to no end.
I stifle a sigh, casting a glance at Ragnar, who is very deliberatelynotlooking at Kallisto. His jaw is tight, his brow furrowed, his body language coiled and restrained like he’s resisting the urge to say something cutting. He’s been good about holding his tongue—at least when it comes to my professional life—but I can tell Kallisto’s dismissal of Fenrik is testing his patience.
Fenrik, for his part, is completely oblivious. He trots ahead, tail wagging, sniffing at the ground with the kind of single-minded focus only a skarnhound can manage.
“I assure you,” Ragnar says, his voice cool and clipped, “Fenrik is in check.”
Kallisto doesn’t bother responding, just makes an unimpressed sound in the back of her throat and moves ahead.
I glance up at Ragnar, nudging his elbow with mine. “Play nice.”
His eyes flick to me, the frustration easing just a little. “Iamplaying nice.”
I arch a brow.
Ragnar exhales sharply, shifting his weight as we move deeper. “She dislikes me.”
“She dislikes most people,” I point out. “She barely tolerates me, and I’ve worked under her foryears.”
Ragnar hums, but I can tell he’s not convinced. He probably thinks it has more to do with him being a Skoll, or the fact that I keepnot-so-subtlybreaking professional conduct to be tangled up in his bed. He wouldn’t be wrong. But Kallisto’s generaldisapproval extends beyond Ragnar. She’s been waiting for me to slip up since I first joined her research team.
And now, I’ve given her every reason to doubt me.
Up ahead, Fenrik barks softly. Ragnar sighs and strides ahead before Kallisto can say anything…and then she’s slowing her pace to fall into step beside me.
Oof.
I’m not ready for this.
“Dr. Kallisto,” I say, nodding respectfully. “Do you need something?”
She grimaces. “You’re a talented scientist, Elena.”
My heart sinks. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.”
“You have the kind of mind that could change our understanding of the galactic climate system. You’ve fought for your place here. And yet—” her gaze sharpens, slicing into me “—you’ve been distracted.”
I force myself to hold her gaze. “This is temporary?—”
“I’m not just talking about the Skoll, though that is of course…concerning,” she says. “Even before that, you were having a difficult time meeting deadlines. Seemed more interested in catching up with your family back on Earth than in completing your research here in the Eiskammer.”
I grit my teeth.Oh, so we’re goingthere.
“I wasn’t just catching up with my family,” I say tightly. “My hometown has had a string of storms that kept forcing them to evacuate. They needed me.”
Kallisto inclines her head, not unkindly, but still entirely unimpressed. “I understand that, and I sympathize, truly. But you still have responsibilities here. You fought for this position, Draycott. You proved yourself when many thought you weren’t ready for field research at this level. I fought for you.” Her gaze hardens. “But you need to fight for yourself too.”
I swallow against the lump forming in my throat, irritation curling hot in my stomach. “Iamfighting for myself.”
Kallisto gives me a look. “Are you?”
I stiffen.
She sighs, rubbing her temple. “You’ve let your research fall by the wayside for aman—an ancient Skoll who, by all accounts, should not be alive. That’s a distraction, Elena. A massive one…and if you were in history, perhaps I would accept that. But you’renot.”
I open my mouth, but she raises a hand before I can respond.
“I am not saying what you’ve discovered isn’t incredible. I am not even saying that your pursuit of this particular research is invalid,” she says carefully. “But Iamsaying that you have a pattern. You chase mysteries, you lose yourself in them, and then you have nothing left for the work you originally came here to do.”
