Page 37 of Heart of Mischief

“You heard me,” he said, turning to face her at last. “I have no interest in hearing whatever nonsense you came here to tell me.”

Charlie’s temper flared. Why couldn’t Mason justlisten? She’d come here to ask how he was after today’s encounter with Sophie. To apologize for not telling him about her right away. To listen to whatever he needed to say. But now…

“Fine,” she said, her voice trembling. “If you hate me so much, then fine. Wallow in your own anger. Freeze me out. Leave me to fulfill Sophie’s mission alone. See if I care.”

With that, she turned and left, Henry waddling close behind. Tears stung her eyes the whole way back to her room.

Part

II TUESDAY

12

Charlie slept fitfully that night.Several times, she awoke from the same dream: a pack of adorable squirrels surrounded her where the forest met the beach. When she bent down to scatter breadcrumbs for them, they transformed into an army of enormous Fenrir, bodies growing so quickly they flattened the seagrass and toppled trees, destroying everything around them. She turned and sprinted down the beach, but the Fenrir followed, snarling and slobbering as they came closer, closer, closer…

Each time she awoke, she was in a cold sweat, the taste of sheer terror on her tongue. Her limbs tangled in her sheets, darkness pressing down from all sides. She reached out until her fingertips brushed the soft felt of Henry’s hat, until she heard the whistle of his breath. Only then could she steady her breathing and drift back to sleep.

When she finally woke to light streaming in through the curtains, she was exhausted, as if the fits of sleep had been worse than no rest at all.

It was Tuesday, their day off from training with Bjorn and Vidar, which meant she’d gotten to sleep in. Thank the gods for that.

She rolled out of bed and shuffled over to the dresser, Henry hopping down after her, running circles around her feet. He always had the zoomies first thing in the morning. His tiny footsteps flew across the carpet as she dug through her clothing, looking for aclean pair of dark jeans. It was early October, the weather still nice but getting cooler with every day. Her uniform lately had been jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, and she didn’t see any reason to change that now. After getting dressed and brushing her teeth, she and Henry headed downstairs.

She jogged down the stairs, Henry bouncing ahead of her as always. She heard her mom laughing down in the kitchen—probably on the phone with one of her many friends, even this early in the morning. There was no one whom Trish Hudson couldn’t charm.

Those same friends used to joke that Charlie was a carbon copy of her mother. That she had inherited every bit of her mom’s personality, from her love of adventure down to the strange, upside-down way that she laced her shoes.

Then Sophie died, and Charlie had learned to tie her laces right side up.

I am not her anymore, she reminded herself as she reached the bottom of the stairs, following Henry’s path toward the kitchen.I am not the sad, grieving mess who could do nothing but shuffle cards and rewind YouTube videos. I am a woman with purpose. I will find out who is controlling Rattatosk. I will turn Elias back into a human. I will—

Charlie froze.

Elias.

He was right there. In the kitchen. Sitting in the breakfast nook across from her mom.

“Charlie!” her mom exclaimed when she spotted her daughter in the doorway. She beamed over her coffee cup, gesturing to Elias. “You didn’t tell me your boyfriend came back from music school!”

Panic rocketed through Charlie’s stomach. “He’s not my—”

“Yeah, Charlotte,” Elias said, cutting her off. He laid a hand on his heart in a gesture that, to her mom, might actually look sincere. “I can’tbelieveyou forgot to tell your mom thatmusic schoolwas only temporary.”

Crap.

Crap, crap, crap.

Elias and her mother. Sitting at a table together, discussing Odin only knew what. It was, if possible, the very worst thing that could be happening at that moment.

What was Charlie supposed to do? Yell? Tell her mom to get away, that Elias was a liar, that he was dangerous and they never even dated in the first place? If she ever began to explain why any of those things were true, it would only put her mother inmoredanger.

This morning coffee was a strategic move on Elias’s part. He was demonstrating the ease with which he could slide back into her life. How he could hover threateningly around the people she loved, and she was powerless to stop him.

It was a perfect example of why Charlie needed to turn him back into a human. If Elias wasn’t a mare anymore, he wouldn’t be able to walk through walls or create weapons from nothing or fight with the strength of ten men. He would only be as dangerous as any other teenage boy.

I will make Elias human again.

Yesterday, thinking those words had felt like seeing the sun for the first time. It was such an obvious path forward; how had she not considered it sooner? However, as she watched him exchange fond words with her mother, she was forced to face the biggest problem with her plan: Charlie had no idea how to turn a mare back into a human. She didn’t even know if it waspossible.