Page 209 of Challenge Me

I reached for the necklace, and she tried to hide it in her palm, but when I didn’t pull back, she opened it. I crouched, thinking about what I wanted to do here. Instead of taking it like I’d intended, I curled my fingers over hers to seal the token inside her hand.

“I’ll tell you what I wish someone would have told me when I was your age.” I looked out at the field so neither of us would feel overwhelmed. “This life is your own. Nobody gets to decide what you do with it or how you react to the world around you. Not me, not your mom, not your dad. You can wear this or you can hold onto it. Your power lies in the choices you make, Mal. Never let anyone take it away from you.”

“Did someone take it from you?”

Her question surprised me, and when I looked at her, she was staring back. It was a brief moment that our eyes met, but it felt like more.

“Yeah, they did. More than one, and for a long time.”

She opened her fist and stared at the rune. “Why didn’t they protect you?”

“Well . . . Do you remember what I said about Odin?” When she nodded, I glanced up at the sky. “For all their might, even the gods are often powerless to the will of the Norns. I think Freyja and Freyr did protect me by staying at my side when it was hard. They sent me on a path with a god who was by no means soft, but everything that I needed, because otherwise I wouldn’t have survived. I found people at the exact moment I was ready for them, like Oli and your dad. Like you. I guess they were teaching me that we should surround ourselves with people who love us.”

“Trav says we have to love ourselves most.”

A smile curled my lips. “That’s why he’s untouchable. Darkness hates the ones who keep choosing light. It can’t emulate it, only make a mockery of it, so the bravest thing you can do is continue to love, even when it feels impossible.”

“Where’d it come from?” she whispered.

Looking down at the pendant, I drew in a breath. “It was my mom’s. A long time ago.”

She touched the tear that had escaped my eye. “You’re sad.”

“Yeah, but that’s okay.”

“I don’t want you to be sad.”

I hovered my hand above the necklace, waiting. When she nodded, I picked it up and put it over her head. It hung lower on her like it had the first time I’d put it on.

I brushed my fingers over the metal at the same moment that it reflected the light. For the first time in ages, I could see my mom’s eyes staring at me from the backyard of our old house. She wore a dress that swayed in the breeze, and her feet were bare in the grass, just as I remembered. Her smile shone like the sun, and a shimmer caught on the rune resting against her collarbone. The light flared brighter and I blinked, only to find myself staring my own fingers on the necklace.

“See, Little Valkyrie?” I said softly. “I feel less sad already. She wants you to have it.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

Without a word, she nodded. I was surprised when she let me take her hand, and it was hard not to feel giddy from her quiet acceptance.

The war to win her trust back might have been ongoing, but I’d won this battle. With only three months left in the season, I knew we’d have a lot more time together as a family soon. I wondered how much we’d all grow by the end of it.

The thought of the future didn’t strangle me this time, even as I considered how many ways it could go wrong. As long as I continued to choose love and light, I believed that everything would work out the way that it was meant to.

Chapter 59

Amir

“No World Series?” Remi confirmed. He had frown on his face, which was cuter than it should have been.

“Not this time, no.”

“Damn. I was hoping you’d at least get that as some sort of dope send-off.”

“It was always a slim chance, especially two years in a row.”

“Still. The gods have failed me this time.”

“What would Odin do to get me to the World Series, huh?”