“No, she didn’t.” Tore pushed himself to his feet. He walked toward me, but stopped when I brandished the poker at him. “Allie.” He held up his palms, his face softening the slightest bit. For the first time since I’d met him, compassion crossed his normally impassive features. Understanding danced in his eyes—a flicker of been there, felt that, and I get that it sucks. He looked genuinely remorseful when he spoke. “Your mother is in the Night Sleep. She is Eir, the Goddess of Healing. And we need you to help wake her.”
My mouth dropped open at the same time my knees gave out. Tore dove to catch me, so I plopped, rather than fell, onto the carpet. The poker clanked as it dropped beside me. What the hell did he just say? Goddess of Healing? Asgard? My mother? A hand at my back reminded me that I was positioned awkwardly close to Tore. And the concern in his eyes showed me that Tore seemed to believe his words, and was, in fact, a stage ten nut job. He reached up to brush a lock of hair from my face, and the gentleness in his touch took me by surprise. Was this the same jerk who’d energy-shamed me in front of my entire class? Did he think a little missing mom compassion was seriously going to make me believe his wacked-out story? I was about to tell him to screw off when the lumberjack spoke up.
“You’re untrained, but you’re incredibly powerful, Allie,” Mack jumped in. “The gods sent you to Midgard to protect it in your mother’s place. Just your presence here has been enough to keep Nott from completely taking over. And that necklace you wear around your neck—it was your mother’s. It was sent by our prophets to awaken the powers you’ll need to defeat Nott.”
“Excuse me?” My mouth finally started working. “Powers?”
Tore shifted so he sat in front of me. “We know you can see and manipulate subtle energies, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With the necklace, some training, and your weapon, you’ll be Midgard’s mightiest protector.”
Suddenly, it was stifling in here.
“My weapon?” I pulled my hoodie over my head and tossed it on the ground next to me. How did these strangers know about what I could do to energy? I hadn’t told a soul since I moved here, and Gran was the only one who’d known back home.
Mack leaned forward in his seat. “Your weapon is called Gud Morder. The gods gave it to you at birth, but Nott stole it, destroyed it, and scattered its pieces across the realms. It’s the only thing that can defeat Nott, and break the curse of the Night Sleep—the only thing that can bring your mother back. We’re here to help you find the pieces and heal the weapon. We’re going to prepare you to kill Nott, wake your mother . . . and save Midgard.”
And here I’d thought my biggest freshman year concern would be not flunking a midterm.
“I have a weapon.” Somehow, I found the ability to speak through this nonsense. “And it’s named Gud Morder?”
“God Killer,” Tore translated.
All four guys sat forward, as if they were waiting for me to pick up the poker, declare war on Nott, and assume my place as a . . . a demigod? But instead, laughter bubbled up inside of me. They were insane. This was insane. Yes, I could see energy. I could give them that. And yes, I’d had some weird stuff happen since I got this necklace. But all the rest of their mumbo jumbo was straight up crazy.
I jumped to my feet. “I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, but I’m out. I’m going home. Don’t try to follow me, or I’ll call the cops.”
Tore stood as well. He stepped closer, eating up the distance between us so his wintry scent pushed against me. “Sorry, Allie. We’re your protectors. We can’t let you leave.”
What an arrogant jerk. Without bothering to address his stupidity, I started for the door.
“Bodie,” Tore commanded. Bodie quickly crossed the room, blocking my path.
“I understand this is overwhelming and really tough to believe. Let me just show you what we’re talking about. It’s my gift.” He held his hands up near my face, and I could see the energy vortices spinning and . . . glowing. Whoa. I want to learn how to do that. Since there was no getting past the six feet of muscle standing in front of me, I decided there was no harm in entertaining some more crazy. I nodded, and Bodie cupped my face in his hands. The moment his skin touched mine, I shot into a vision like the one I’d had when I touched the textbook. I was still in the guys’ cabin—I could feel my body grounded to the earth—but my mind was somewhere totally different as a movie played out inside my head.
I was in a beautiful room. The all-glass walls overlooked a lake. A woman with long, blonde hair, fair skin, and rosy cheeks lay motionless on a bed made entirely of crystal. Two young women in white silk robes raced between the bed and a table covered with small vials.
“It’s not working!” one of the women cried out. “She’s not waking!”
The door opened, and a regal man entered. He was unnaturally tall, and wore a silver eye patch over one eye. The women bowed, but the man ignored them. He strode across the room in clipped strides, until he reached the woman on the bed. He rested his fingertips against her cheek and closed his eyes. Sorrow lined his aging features.
“She is in the Night Sleep,” he said. The women began to sob.
The scene dissolved into fizzy grey static and refocused on the woman in a different bed, one inside a much smaller room—was it a house? A small child pulled lightly at the woman’s hair, crying, “Mama! Mama!” She pulled incessantly, as if she might be able to wake her mother if she tried hard enough. When the child looked up, I was shocked to see her resemblance to baby pictures Gran had kept around our house. Oh my God. A knowing ripped through me. The child was me. This was my childhood, which meant the sleeping woman was . . . was my mother!
A silver-haired woman came into view, pulling the child back. The woman was Gran—she had raised me after my mom ‘died.’ Tears streamed down my face, both in the vision and in my physical body—I could feel the wet heat prickle my cheeks.
“Come, sweet child. We’ll fix this,” Gran whispered. She touched my nose like she had a thousand times.
The scene dissolved, and when it came back into focus, Tore, Mack, Bodie, Johann, and the man with the eye patch stood around my mom’s bed. The man now held a big staff with a large crystal at the end.
“Eir’s daughter’s weapon has been taken and destroyed, scattered in eight pieces throughout the realms.” He pointed the staff at Tore. “You must right the wrong, or all of Midgard will be lost.”
Tore bowed his head, “Alf?dr, I’m sorry, I—”
“It is done,” the man declared. “You must find Eir’s daughter when the relic calls you, and train her. Guide her through the realms to find the weapon and fix it. She is destined to be the end of Nott, and only she can awaken Eir. Without our healing goddess, Midgard will fall, and the rest of the light realms will follow. Do you understand?”
Tore took to one knee. “I give my oath to protect and guide the daughter of Eir.”
The Alf?dr placed the tip of his staff on Tore’s shoulder. Mack, Bodie, and Johann all took to one knee, lining up beside Tore. As they swore to protect the daughter of Eir, the Alf?dr touched his staff to their shoulders in turn.