“Wow.” Trinity grinned at Tor and Cian. “Seems you two have been in a pissing contest for some time.” She arched a brow at Cian. “And you’re not just an arch-wizard but a king?Nice.” She narrowed an eye. Her tone turned teasing. “Shouldn’t you have been above acting like a lovesick fool and going against a dragon you knew was already fated for the girl you wanted?”
“Some things can’t be controlled,” Raven murmured, grinding on Tor’s nerves even though he knew she was his. Even so.
At one point, it had clearly been questionable.
“Only in your mind,” Raven said softly. Her sad gaze turned to Cian. “Again, I’m so sorry that it ever got this far and that you had to come here. That I...”
She trailed off, obviously unsure how to say she was sorry for the times she might have given the wizard hope.
“You never did anything that didn't come naturally to your dragon.” The way Cian looked at her nowalmostseemed platonic. Nothing like how he’d looked at her a day ago. “I understood what I was getting into.”
Tor had to wonder how Cian had gotten here in the first place. Why he would dare step foot in this mountain. Had it all been his love for Raven? Or something more? And what was this Keeper of Memories thing? More specifically, when had he first started doing such for Raven and Tor? Because he was more than certain the wizard’s pompous threat had come to pass.
Hedidhold memories for them.
Although Raven offered no answer to Cian about his obvious servitude of the heart when it came to her, Tor felt her sadness. Her regret over something still beyond their reach. Something Cian would not share until the time was right or they figured it out on their own.
“This cave isamazing,” Trinity said when the uncomfortable moment stretched. “You guys seem to be all about waterfalls on your adventure.”
“Because moving water is an excellent conduit for the supernatural,” Raven said absently. “For magic.” She was as drawn to the enormous waterfall every bit as much as Tor. Moreover, the razor-thin bridge of rock that stemmed downward beside it. “This waterfall in particular, overly so.”
She was right. There was incredible power here. Great secrets. Answers they had been waiting for. Sensing the same thing, he followed Raven when she headed for the treacherous trail. There were more answers for them behind that water.
Truths they had been waiting for.
“Damn,” Trinity said as the others followed Tor and Cian along the single-file path. Her sister peered down at the roaring water. A drop that went much further than the first cliff they had nearly fallen off. “If I wasn’t a dragon, I might be more worried. I might be—”
That’s all she managed to say before she stopped short. “What thehell?” She looked up and down, touching an unseen wall. “I can’t go any further!”
“No.” Raven realized what Tor just had when she looked back at her sister. “Sorry, sis, it’s time for me to go it alone with Cian and Tor.” He knew she had no idea why she said it but said it regardless. “You and your mate have taken us as far as you can. Any further, and you might get hurt. That’s why your personalities are beginning to struggle. Where we’re heading next is skewing it. Not just that, but if you go any further, you could affect how things should go at this point.”
“Say what?” Trinity’s Múspellsheimr side faded only for her sweeter, more worried half to surface. “But I thought we were supposed to stay with you because our Alfheim magic was kindred to yours? Sure we battled a few possessed warriors, but what have we really done so far to help? We haven’t even been able to use our magic.” She frowned and shook her head. “Seriously. We haven’t done much of anything.”
“Yes, you have,” Raven assured. “Believe it or not, you’ve helped where we needed you to.” She gestured back the way they had come. “Now, I need you to head back to your former enemy, Violence, and be ready for what comes next.” She gave her sister a stronger look than Tor knew she felt. “I’ll be okay from here on out. We all will because the final battle is right around the corner, and we’re just about ready for it.”
Rather than linger and give Trinity more time to argue, she nodded at Vicar with thanks that he would keep her sister safe and kept moving. Tor sensed her conflicted emotions. How remorseful turning her back on Trinity had made her feel. Leaving behind the last sister she had kept by her side. It felt like she severed a tie she could never get back.
“Why is that?”she asked Tor and Cian telepathically because the looming waterfall had grown too loud.“Why does it feel like I’ve been down this road before? Like I’ve had to let them go?”
“I don’t know,”Tor replied.
Cian undoubtedly did, but the wizard offered no response.
“There it is,”she murmured a few minutes later when they sidled past the waterfall’s roaring water and icy wind to an otherworldly oasis behind it.“Yet again, there’s our grove, Tor.”
This time their Vanaheim grove seemed carved into a cave formed by water pressure.
“Where the other one was close to a waterfall,”he said when it occurred to him.“This one shares its energy. Unique power. It’s very....”
That’s all he got out before everything went unnaturally quiet.
The thunder of water became the sound of crickets on a silent, peaceful evening.
“It’s beautiful,” Raven whispered, as though unwilling to disrupt the peaceful scene. “More beautiful than it was before, if that’s possible.” While rimmed with black mist, its colors were more vibrant, the grass greener. The woodland, more alive. “Is it Helheim?” She looked at Tor. “Because Helheim’s like this, right?”
“Not Helheim,” Cian answered, his voice reverent. “But Ireland.”
Where Tor should be surprised, he wasn’t. Any more than Raven by the softening of her features. By how she walked into the grove like she understood it better now. She looked left, right, up, then off in the distance. “The sun just set, yes?”
