Page 27 of Heart of Mischief

Charlie’s jaw dropped open. “Are you joking? What on Asgard do you want now? Another piece of gossip?”

“Oh, nothing so big as that,” said Mysa. She and Fjólu had both become suddenly, suspiciously interested in their fingernails. “We accept other forms of payment, too. A treasured memory, perhaps. Or a few months off your life.”

“A few months?” Charlie sputtered. “What the Hel does that even mean?”

“It’s nowhere near as scary as it sounds,” Mysa said, laying a hand on her heart. “You can trust us on that.”

“You most certainly cannot,” said a low voice over Charlie’s shoulder.

Dread seeped into her stomach.

He was here.Him. He was standing right behind her.

Mysa and Fjólu hissed. Their purple lights popped back on, and they took off from the stump, darting toward the throng of älvor, where Charlie quickly lost them in a sea of identical purple.

Damn it, she thought, letting out a sigh.There go my answers.

Only then did she finally turn.

9

At first, all she sawwere the bushyneedles of the white pine she was sitting in front of. Then, like a bunny emerging from a magician’s hat, a shadow slunk out from the branches.

Charlie hadn’t seen Elias in mare form since homecoming, when she’d sliced his legs off with Sophie’s Valkyrie knife. Now, he looked just as she remembered from before: a human, whole, but made entirely of shadow, the edges of his body flickering like black candles. Instinctively, she reached for the seam of her secret pocket, making sure the knife was still in place. Her eyes stayed on the lower half of his body, not wanting to meet the pools of brilliant green that she knew waited for her.

“Hello, Charlotte.”

Time to go. She pushed herself off the stump. Henry yelped, scrambling to grab hold of her shirtsleeve before she stomped past Elias and into the trees.

“Leaving so soon?” he asked. Though she couldn’t hear his footsteps, she knew he was right behind her.

“Yes.”

“But I only just got here.”

“Exactly.”

“Sorude, Charlotte.” Elias sighed. “You always did love to break my heart.”

She snorted. “What heart?”

“Exactly. Hearts are for the weak, am I right?”

“Elias,” she said without glancing back. If she didn’t meet his gaze, she couldn’t be ensnared by it. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to speak to you in private, and I had a feeling you’d run straight to my old hideout. Make sure I didn’t murder the two idiots who moved in.”

Charlie grunted, not trusting herself to speak. Not when he’d guessed her plans with such eerie accuracy. She felt completely off-balance.

“What do you even see in them?” he went on. “They spend all day watchingreality TV, for the gods’ sake.”

“They know how to fight. And now I do, too.”

“Do youreally?” Elias sounded far too thrilled by this news. “Well, isn’tthisan interesting development? I’d love to go toe-to-toe with you, Charlotte. See what you’re really made of.”

“Hard pass,” she said. “Now, if you have nothing useful to say, feel free to get lost.”

He tsked. “You wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss me if you knew what I had.”