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“Yeah.” I pull my hand away and run my fingers through my hair.
Veer might be looking at this situation from the lens of his resentment, but I can’t believe Professor Segul would do any of the things they’re saying.
My throat tightens, and I place a hand at the base of my neck. Why didn’t he deny it when Odin accused him of being the son of Crius Vanir? He just said something about the man in prison not being his brother.
I bite down on my bottom lip. Professor Segul couldn’t be related to that monster?
Memories trickle through my awareness. Memories of the tense words he had shared about his parents. His father was the worst kind of evil bastard, and his mother was his victim? That sounds like someone downplaying the malevolence of Crius Vanir.
The door opens, and my heart jumps to the back of my throat. Odin steps in and sits in the seat opposite.
I don’t know what to call this presence—strangulating, overwhelming or magnetic, but it sucks in all the air in the car, leaving me struggling to breathe.
He stares into my eyes with an intensity that makes me wonder if I’m on the list of suspects for arranging Veer’s abduction.
“What did you do to Professor Segul?” I blurt.
His gaze hardens, and my insides turn to stone.
Odin has the most unpleasant face. It’s handsome enough for a really old guy but he looks like there’s a permanent bad smell. Deep-set eyes, a long, thin nose that wrinkles, cruel, downtrend lips, and sharp cheekbones.
If this was a video game, he would be the final boss.
Which pretty much sums up his position in the British underworld.
“Hedwig Gofannon,” he says with a slight accent. “You and my nephew had premarital sex.”
I turn to Veer, my mouth dropping open, but he gives his head a vigorous shake.
“So, the rumors are true,” he says.
“They’re not,” I blurt. “Who’s been telling you—”
“Silence.”
My jaw clicks shut.
“Veer, you will marry Miss Gofannon after graduation.”
“What?” I snap.
This time, when Odin looks at me, my stomach roils.
No criminal is more powerful than the man sitting here with us, but I’ve had a lifetime of being pushed around by Dad. I’ve had a bellyful of his misogynistic rants and I’m not about to saddle myself with an even worse tyrant.
“If you have any objections to the marriage, you should have thought about them before seducing my nephew. We’ll make the appropriate arrangements with Declan Dagda and Gordon Gofannon.”
As the car drives down the road, I shake my head from side to side. My concern over Professor Segul’s fate mingles with the impending doom about my own. I don’t want Odin as my uncle-in-law and more importantly, I don’t want Veer as my husband.
I turn to Veer, who stares out of the window as though he can’t withstand his uncle’s presence.
“Say something,” I hiss.
He dips his head. “It’s best not to argue.”
“Correct,” says Odin.
“Well, I decline.” I turn to the older man and scowl.
