Page 178 of Veil of Blood and Bone

Not now.

Nighty night, little raven. Now the locks will never break. No sacrifice, no reward.

What. Locks?

Spinning, falling fast. Losing altitude and consciousness and the song on the wind is different now. The aching, haunting notes of the women in torment are punctuated by another sinister sound. Odin’s laughter.

Chapter 36

Wren

Midgard fights my magic every damn step, this world dragging at my power like wet cement.

Faster my ass.

Shadows skew sideways, torn from me, someone on the other end tearing them away. Devouring my power like sipping a fine wine through a straw.

They pull and tug on their own. But shit, they’ve got her scent.

She didn’t make it far.

A long stretch of road spans deeper into the hungry woods where the reek of Jötunheim blankets this land. Midgard rips free of its anchor the longer the two intertwine.

Whatever god or creature opened the door, they’ll have serious fucking hell to pay. Idiot. There are worse things than dying, much worse, a fact I’ll happily remind them of.

And honestly, if Helene survives this, I might let her kill them first. It feels like a fair trade. Maybe even cathartic.

Then I’ll resurrect them and do it myself all over again. Just for fun.

Nicholas growls, sprinting through the snow, a bullet of black against a monotone backdrop. He’s losing the plot. My shadows aren’t the only hounds out here hungry for a taste of her. Hungrier still to find out where that drop of blood came from, and how fresh it is.

Shadows tear loose on their own and scatter.

Bird brain is out there flapping heroically through the ice apocalypse, thinking he’s got the rest of us beat. He’s about to save the day. If he rescues her first, we’ll never hear the end of it. He’ll add this to his vault of memories, of the two of them together, and if we win⁠—

What’s worse? Him forgetting everything again? Or him remembering?

Forest collects victories and hoards them like shiny objects, tiny little treasures to keep close to his chest.

Helene smiled at me first.

Helene kissed me longer.

Helene chose to fight at my side.

And now it will be, I saved Helene from certain death while you hundrs were still playing catch up.

Gods, he’d be unbearable. Assuming I don’t choke him out myself before sunset.

“Hurry the hell up, Wren!” Nicholas shouts.

The elements are not our allies today.

But she ran. Smart girl. Wrong fucking direction.

Vicious cold tears under my shirt as I sprint through drifts. This storm, the finality of it, isn’t natural. Something is out there watching.

Our breath cuts sharp, flaying my lungs raw. Snow lashes and leaves welts across exposed skin. Beneath the whiteout, the road groans, buried by ice.