Page 53 of Soul of Shadow
Frowning, she typed a response.I wasn’t aware that there was a god of sex in Norse mythology.
Elias replied almost immediately.There is now.
You’re ridiculous. What do we need to talk about?
There’s been another disappearance. A girl, this time. And another carved-up ash tree. It hasn’t hit the news yet, but the woods are swarming with police.
Who?
Someone named Maisie.
Maisie. There was only one Maisie at Silver Shores High, a girl in the grade below Charlie’s. She’d met her at one of the fundraisers Abigail had dragged her to over the last year and a half.
Her phone pinged with another text.
There’s something else.
What?she asked.
There were some symbols on the trees that have been carvedup this week that I thought I recognized. I’ve been killing myself trying to remember where I saw them, and this afternoon I finally figured it out. It was in—a book I read a while back about Helheim, the underworld.
You think the disappearances are connected to the underworld?
That’s the thing: I did at first, but the closer I looked, the more I realized the symbols weren’t a perfect match. Similar—very similar, actually—but slightly different. Enough to make them unrecognizable.
Charlie shook her head in frustration.So, they’re NOT connected to the underworld?
I think they might be related to another realm. One even deeper than Helheim.
How can something be deeper than the underworld?
I don’t know. That’s what we need to find out.
Charlie stared at the message for several seconds. She looked up through the car’s windshield and spotted the shadow of her mother moving about the kitchen. Probably rearranging flowers or sneaking a piece of chocolate from the trick drawer she thought her kids didn’t know about.
Such normal activities. So totally disconnected to the danger swirling around her.
Tomorrow, Charlie texted back.During the homecoming game, when everyone is distracted. Show me what you found.
Half a second later, her phone dinged. She looked at the screen.
Tomorrow.
25
The homecoming game descended upon Silver Shores High with all of its usual fanfare. When they arrived at school, various clubs had gathered out front, handing out flyers or advertising performances happening later that fall. The cheerleading squad turned cartwheels and back handsprings on the lawn. Much to Charlie’s surprise, a group of creatures that appeared to be made of sticks were running along beside the cheerleaders, mimicking their tricks; no one appeared to see them. Above the school’s front entrance was a huge banner that read,GO SNOW FOXES!
“What a ridiculous mascot,” said Abigail as they headed for the front doors. “Back in New York—”
“Yes, yes,” said Lou. “Back in New York, your school was the panthers or the eagles or something equally superior.”
Abigail scowled.
After lunch, there was a pep rally in the gymnasium and the dance team and marching band performed. Charlie tried to pay attention, but the vätte kept slipping out of her backpack and teetering down the bleachers, wanting to join the merriment. Several times, Charlie had to pretend to drop her phone on the ground so she could grab him.
“Christ,” said Lou after her fourth drop. “Don’t let this girl onto the baseball team.”
After school, they drove to Charlie’s house and got ready for the game together, wrapping themselves in various outfits featuring their school’s colors. Once they were changed, a knock sounded on the door. Mason didn’t wait for an answer before barging inside.
