Page 18 of Reaper's Reward

Which made me groan. “Hel thinks that Maddox is going to end the world. Why are we fending off Ragnarök now?”

“Because fate doesn’t know how to leave us alone,” Cerri grumbled.

Fate. The magic that bound the world together like a single weave of fabric. Once the threads started to come undone, then the world slid apart. I’d watched it happen. A shifter with holes in his broken soul had severed so many threads that he’d cut the mortal plane off from the afterlife.

But, in dealing with him, I’d learned that the threads of fate were nothing more than that. They were threads. Anyone could tug on them. If I was careful, I might even be able to reweave them to my liking.

It was a ballsy idea, and I could feel Cerri’s probing glare reading me. I waited for her to tell me that it was a bad idea, but she didn’t.

“I can’t stay for long. My shift at Bad Moon starts soon.” Cerri paused, the empty tote bag now slung over her shoulder.

I pouted because the company had been nice. I didn’t want her to leave yet. Maybe I could make her explain every potion to me in great detail…but I knew we all needed our paychecks. I couldn’t steal her away from work.

Cerri met my gaze. “Learn everything you can before actually messing with fate. When I say everything, I mean as much as you possibly can. I don’t want to wake up with a purple tongue because you caused a butterfly effect.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “That’s saying a lot from the woman who woke up with a blue tongue recently. If you can handle blue, then purple isn’t that bad.”

Her brows flattened in an unimpressed glare. “I don’t know what happened that day. And that’snotwhat we’re talking about. I’m telling you to do it. Mess with fate. Rewrite it to tie your stars to Maddox’s. Just…be careful. We love you, and we want to spend our lives with you. We can’t do that if the sky is raining poisonous frogs.”

I really loved my friends. I jumped up off the floor—from where I’d dropped while trying to catch the falling potion bottle—and threw my arms around Cerri. She hugged me tight in return.

Once she was gone, the house became silent once again. I reached for my phone and looked for any messages from Maddox. His responses had been short. He was working, that was all I knew. He needed his job, but I couldn’t help but feel like he was avoiding something.

Mostly,me.

I groaned and threw myself onto the couch. It was old, and I could feel a spring stabbing me in the side. I would have much rather the pain come from climbing steep hills or from the burn of the sun over my skin. Inside, I was trapped with my thoughts.

Restless, I crept to the door and peered outside like Hel would be waiting. There was no way of knowing how long it would take a goddess to find me, and I didn’t want to have to repeat the search and rescue mission that’d taken place a few days ago.

“Ugh!” I spun away from the door and ping-ponged across the living room in search of something to do.

That’s when my eyes fell on something else in the pile of supplies that Cerri had brought. Not only were there potions, a potion cheat sheet, and a wrapped sandwich from my favorite place, but I saw a thick tome among it all.

It wasn’t what I’d wanted it to be. I’d expected a book on Norse gods or even something on tampering with fate. Instead, the book explained how to summon gods in a simple how-to manner. My lips twisted to the side. I braided my hair as my mind tumbled.

What good was this when I was hiding from the gods to begin with? It wasn’t like I could use this to summon Maddox. He wasn’t a god. At least…I didn’t think he was. I sure wasn’t, even if I did have a little bit of divine blood. Though, I could maybe summon Vi with this…

The thought of Vi reminded me that there were plenty of gods all across the pantheons. All existed, though they weren’t worshipped the way they’d once been. I figured, in the age of the internet and global information, they all had small but dedicated followings that kept them satisfied.

If I could contact gods that dealt with the weave of fate, then maybe I could ask them a few questions. There were a few things that I would need first, though. From the conversation we’d had, Cerri knew exactly what I would do with this book. Why hadn’t she brought—

I snatched the bag with the sandwich shop logo and yanked it open. Sure, there was a carefully wrapped sandwich in the bottom, but there were other things in there, too. I pulled out the sandwich before overturning the bag. Several neatly packaged bags tumbled out.

Each one was perfectly labelled. Cerri had even thought to pack a lighter for the incense, too. I clapped my hands together and thanked my friends for being clutch.

An hour later, I had a summoning circle set up in the middle of my kitchen. It was the only place with a floor that I could draw on. I stepped back and imagined another divine being standing in my kitchen. It was a bit of a mess. I hoped they didn’t judge me for that.

There was no time like the present. I wished that Maddox could be here with me as I sat cross-legged in front of the circle. His soul was here with me, but that wasn’t enough. His soul wasn’t really like a ghost. I couldn’t have him beside me, rolling his eyes at me while I stumbled over the summoning words.

Where was he? Was he struggling with his hunger still? What would happen if I didn’t go find him? Would he become like the world-devouring Fenrir? Images of the horrible wolf from Hel’s vision filled my mind. I could almost hear his laugh as I touched the edge of the summoning circle.

I realized what I’d done a heartbeat too late. This magic worked on intention, not arcana. With my thoughts a mess, I’d contacted the very being that I wanted nothing to do with. Fenrir’s laugh echoed inside my kitchen.

“Nope!” I shouted. “Out!”

Like yelling at a demigod was any use.

I shot to my feet and frantically looked around for something I could do. It was too late, though. Fenrir’s presence slammed into me. His hunger grabbed and pulled at my arcana. Since the sigil was still in place, he couldn’t get ahold of it. His snarl rippled, bodiless through the room.

---