Page 31 of Veil of Blood and Bone

The sister’s question catches me off guard and I choke on my next bite. Beating the obstruction clear leaves my eyes blurred. “What?”

“Who are you,” Audra repeats.

“Forest. Ulfson.”

“Professor of history and part time cosplayer?”

There is nowhere to run in this rickety trap of a kitchen or in this conversation.

“I’m simply a man on the hunt for knowledge.” Yes, that seems appropriate.

“A man who knows where the troll came from?” Helene narrows her eyes at me.

I spear these tiny tines into the mound of pasta and twist, dragging half of it off the plate with the motion. “If you know, access across the nine realms can be accomplished along branches and roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil,” I say through a mouth of food. “Specific travel methods vary, and if a thin spot on the trunk grows large enough, beasts can utilize those to break through.”

The sisters share a long look, their silent message painfully clear. I’ve lost the thread.

“Um, sure. Of course. So what do you think is going to happen now?” Audra nudges me with her elbow. “If this is a thin spot?”

I turn to her slowly, assessing. “Now? We wait.”

She chuckles. “Wait for what?”

“For the next one to strike,” I clarify.

Helene shivers. “Do you think there’s going to be another one? I’m trying not to panic but a literal troll destroyed the Longship Festival. If you weren’t there, I’m not sure what I would have done.”

If the veil is thin here...

The energetic conduit of the world tree is growing unstable. There’s no telling what might happen.

I offer an indulgent grin the girls see right through. “It’s up to fate. And if I hadn’t there, you’d have killed the thing yourself.”

“You have a lot of faith in me.”

More than she knows.

We finish dinner with enough silence to give me time to collect my thoughts despite the headache. Things are strange. Matters are heavy and changing in a way I should recognize, so why do I not?

Why is it always out of reach? And how do I know it’s always just out of reach?

“Are you sure you don’t want more, Forest?” Helen hangs back in the doorway, her arms over her chest.

I shake my head and swear the landing shakes beneath me. This place is nothing but woodchips held together by nostalgia and dirt. She doesn’t belong in a setting like this. So what brought her here?

Why do I care?

“I’m fine, my thanks.”

Her lips open before she snaps them shut, nodding. “Then I’ll walk you out.”

I tower over her. “You don’t have to.”

“I don’t have to do anything, but I want to.” She gestures me down the stairs and the wood creaks out a melody under foot.

The wind carries the brisk richness of an autumn night and immediately claws beneath the neck of my cloak. It ruffles the feathers, and the raven inside of me sits up and pays attention.

The stars overhead mean nothing in terms of safety, although the sky is clear otherwise. Squalls brings change. The others are out there, watching.