Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Rey gasps. “Your part in it?”
“Who else do you think killed him, the Easter Bunny? It was war, Rey. All’s fair.”
“You’re a fucking monster, Loki!”
I freeze.
My entire body goes cold.
Loki?
As in…the Loki. Adopted by Odin and raised as a brother to Thor.
I stumble back, completely numb. Then I jerk the door open so hard the electronic lock breaks.
Reeve throws up his hands and curses.
Rey freezes on the spot.
Betrayal washes through me so hard and fast, I can’t catch my breath. My brother. My brother who was supposed to be protecting me, warning me away from her, the whole time was lying to me about who he is and what he really wants.
And she knew?
Rey knew.
Was it all bullshit? Needing me? Protecting me? Was it all for show?
Of course it was. It always was.
Both of them.
Fuck.
What else hasn’t she told me?
And him…his betrayal churns from the depths of my heart, shredding what little bit of home I had left. My hands ball into fists, ice rising and crackling off my skin. Thunder rumbles so hard overhead, the room rattles with it.
The monster within me roars for release, icy claws tearing beneath my skin so viciously, it’s a wonder I don’t rip apart. I force it down. Swallow hard.
“Loki,” I whisper. “Right.”
Reeve shakes his head. “Aric, no, it’s not what you think. I have no skin in the game. She’s the one—”
“Are you kidding me right now!” Rey shouts.
But she’s not innocent, either. That much is obvious. “You knew. And you didn’t tell me.”
“I was going to, Aric! You have to believe me.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know what to believe right now other than you’re both fucking liars willing to gamble with my life. And for what? For a weapon. Nobody cares if I burn the world, turn into a monster, lose my fucking soul—you all just want power.”
I level Rey with a glare. “I think it’s safe to say that this little ceasefire is over. And we”—I shake my head at Reeve—“aren’t brothers.”
They both start yelling at once.
But I hear nothing.
I toss the costume into her room, then turn and leave the hall, the dorm, the campus. As storm clouds gather, darkening the sky with the fury of a hurricane, my vision blurs. My chest aches.
I’ve always walked the line between being the man I hoped to be and the monster I knew lived inside. But with Rey, I started to believe things could be different. Now a cold emptiness unfurls in my heart…
And I welcome it.
I guess I have my answer, then. I’ll turn into the monster.
Because nobody wanted the man anyway.
Chapter Seventy
Rey
“Aric!” I’m still yelling his name. Reeve shoves me back into the room, his hand clapping over my mouth.
“Stop,” he hisses. “He’s pissed, so let him be pissed. You have bigger problems right now. Like how the fuck you’re going to unlock Thurisaz without his blood.”
My entire body freezes.
He knows.
Reeve knows how to unlock the runes.
His grin is cruel, spiteful. Then in a blink, he’s gone.
“I am never going to get used to that,” I mutter, then pace the room for a while. Reeve was right about the rune issue, but I barely care about that right now. What I care about is the devastated look on Aric’s face. It was like he didn’t recognize me, like the woman he knew—maybe even was falling for—no longer existed.
It broke my heart.
Maybe a few hours go by, maybe a few minutes, but when I next look up, it’s to see the wall between my and Aric’s rooms completely frozen solid. Like he’s purposefully, literally freezing me out.
My stomach hurts, but at least it means he’s there.
I suddenly see my own breath in front of my face. If he doesn’t watch it, he’s going to freeze the entire floor.
A crack flashes outside. A rumble follows.
The world will hear it as thunder.
But I know the truth—it’s the sound of a giant’s heart breaking.
And I’m the one who did it.
I stare down at my costume lying haphazardly on my bed and try calling Aric again. First on his phone. Then leaning against the wall that divides us. He doesn’t answer.
So I go to his room and knock three times on his door. No answer. Four more times, a bit more aggressively, pushing my Aethercall even though I know it’s pointless.
“Leave!”
“I’m not leaving until you open up and talk to me.”
“I mean it, Rey!” he yells. “I don’t want to see you right now.”
I hesitate. We don’t have time, and he needs to know where I stand—where we stand. “Aric, I’m going to keep knocking, so you may as well open up now.” I knock for the next two minutes, until my knuckles are sore. “I’m not leaving.” I knock again, then jerk my hand back. “Ouch.”
Suddenly, he’s there, dragging me in by the shirt and slamming the door behind me. At first he looks like he’s going to yell, but when he speaks, it’s in a low growl.