Fall (The Ragnarok Prophesies) (11 page)

I rolled my eyes and went back to ignoring him.

“I’d hate to cancel our plans because you’re angry with me.”

His words might as well have been a carrot dangling before my face.

I sat up in my chair.

“Sitting around watching television doesn’t constitute plans,” I pointed out, praying the little thread in his mind meant he had something else in store. If I had to spend another day sitting right beside him without touching him… well, there would be hell to pay.

“That’s not what I was referring to.”

I perked up further.

His smile broadened. He reached for my hand again before pressing another kiss to my palm. “I planned to take you out today to celebrate your return to freedom,” he said, arching a brow at me over my hand, “unless you’d rather be angry with me instead.”

“Really?” I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. He was really going to take me somewhere without me begging? I’d have to see it to believe it.

“Give me a little credit, please.”

“You don’t even like it when I get out of bed,” I pointed out.

He ignored that fact. “I told you I would try to relax, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Okay, then. Where are we going?”

“To the school.” He leaned back in his chair, my hand still wrapped in his. “It’s a surprise, so no questions.”

I started to ask anyway.

Please? I’ve already promised to take you out.

A whisper of panic flowed through our bond. He still didn’t want to let me out of the house. The thought alone had him on the verge of a panic attack, but he was going to take me out anyway. Because he promised to try.

My heart melted all over again.

“No questions,” I agreed.

He sighed, his tone colored with relief.

I slid my hand from his to drink my cocoa.

hen we arrived on campus, trucks, cars, and SUVs were crammed into the parking lot from one end to the other. Dace navigated the chaotic slush in search of a parking spot while groups of people shouted back and forth. Everyone was dressed as warmly as I was.

“What are we doing here?” I asked. I hadn’t even made it through my first week of school at ASU-Beebe before being forced to withdraw for the semester because of Hati, but the campus definitely hadn’t been so busy then. Even though classes were canceled, it appeared as if every student enrolled decided to make the trek here today.

“We,” Dace said, pulling into one of the few remaining spaces and turning the Jeep off, “are here for the Snowlympics.”

“The Snowlympics?” I turned in my seat to look at him.

“The Snowlympics,” he repeated, grinning.

“What the heck are the Snowlympics?” I didn’t know much about sports, but I’d never heard of such an event.

Dace hopped out and came around to open my door before answering. “Every year we get snow, the college hosts its own version of the Olympics. Snow-vaulting, sled races, competitive snow sculpting, dodge ball, distance snowball throws… freeze tag.”

“Freeze tag?” I laughed aloud. How the heck did freeze tag become an official Snowlympic sport?

Dace chuckled as he lifted me from the Jeep, then set me on my feet. He twined his arms around my waist. “Don’t knock freeze tag. I’m good at it.”

“
You
participate in the Snowlympics?”

“Is it that hard to imagine?”

I steadied myself against him with a palm on his chest. The last thing I wanted to do was fall on my face with half the student body watching. Especially with everyone already on edge over my attack. Knowing my luck, if I fell, they’d load up and head toward the woods with hunting rifles, torches, and pitchforks.

“Well, yeah,” I said, forcing my mind away from my fears. “You don’t look like the Snowlympics type.” Not that Dace was out of shape or anything. Far from it, actually. The boy was made of smooth, contoured muscle designed to drive me crazy. But I couldn’t picture him playing something as juvenile as freeze tag. He was too much of a control freak for such games.

He threw his head back and laughed again. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said.

Several students turned in our direction. Their eyes widened when they caught sight of me standing carefully beside Dace’s Jeep.

Crap.

I hated when people stared at me. In my limited experience, being the topic of hushed conversation was never a good thing. Between fainting at my first public outing, screaming at a professor, and being attacked by Hati, they probably thought I was a total freak of nature.

Dace sobered, pulling me into a tight hug when my nervousness trickled through to him.
They’re curious. Most of them haven’t seen you since….

Not even in his thoughts could he finish that sentence.

I sighed, my breath steaming before me, and shifted my gaze away from the students gawking openly in our direction.

Dace looked down at me, his attempt at a smile twisting into a sad caricature. Guilt flickered in his eyes again, muting the emerald color to a soft green.

“Let’s go watch some Snowlympics,” I said with false cheer, reaching up to touch the scar above his eyebrow. That scar fascinated me, though I wasn’t sure why. In all of the hazy memories of our past lives Geri and Freki unlocked inside of me, the scar was present. I still didn’t remember how he got it though.

“I don’t remember either,” Dace murmured, letting me go long enough to reach into the back of the Jeep and grab the blankets. He wrapped one around me before pulling me into his side and locking his arm tightly around my waist.

“Does it bother you?” I asked him.

We started off in the direction everyone else headed. We walked slowly while I prayed my legs wouldn’t decide to collapse beneath me. I couldn’t freaking wait until the muscles decided to work all the time again, instead of most of the time. Having my legs weaken with no warning mid-step was not pleasant.

“The scar?” Dace asked, guiding me around a patch of solid ice and onto the sidewalk. Like most of the parking lot, the snow atop the sidewalk had turned to slush.

How many people were here for this tradition?

Dace nudged me.

“Oh. Not remembering everything about who we are, or who we were,” I said.

“Sometimes.” He lowered his voice, speaking so only I heard him. “And sometimes I think not remembering everything is a blessing. Watching them attack you―” He broke off with an abrupt shake of his head. “I don’t want to remember lifetimes of that.”

Geri gave a low whine of agreement. He remembered those lifetimes more vividly than Dace and I did, but even Geri had lost so many of the little details along the way. It made me wonder why Odin sent us back like this. Why create us to do this monumental thing, then not let us remember that we were even supposed to do it?

“Ancient gods work in mysterious ways, I guess,” I said to Dace, knowing I wouldn’t get any closer to an answer than I had in the last few weeks. I doubted I would ever know the answer to that question.

We were fading, Ronan said, and he was right. So much of our lives were lost in the deepest recesses of our minds, places not even his animal’s talent pierced. And so much else disappeared along the way, eroded by millennia of life, death, and fading magic. Key pieces―answers we needed and questions we didn’t even know we should ask―lay out of our reach, locked in vaults we no longer knew how to open.

The world marched on, but Dace, Ronan, and I were stuck in that uncomfortable place between past and present. The one where destiny dangled over our heads for reasons we didn’t understand. For reasons we might not
ever
understand.

If not remembering was kindness, I failed to see how.

“Yeah, they do,” Dace agreed as we started around the side of the administration building.

I came to a complete stop, looking around in wide-eyed amazement. The quad looked like a sports stadium. A makeshift field ran down the middle, with pole vault standards at one end. Lines were painted into the snow in school colors all around the field, and the snow on the far side of the vaults was pushed together in a giant pit. Students and others from town crowded onto metal bleachers on each side in a sea of multicolored coats and blankets. Big tins sat all along the edges of the field, with fires burning hot in each one, and huge bonfires roared behind the bleachers.

“Holy crap.”

Dace grinned at me like a little boy.

“I thought you hated snow?” I said, surprised by the excitement etched on his face.

“If we’re going to be stuck with it, we might as well have a little fun.” He nudged my side to get me walking forward once more. “Besides, I have you to keep me warm.”

I shook my head in silent amazement, and we started picking our way around the edge of the quad. People glanced in our direction, stopped, and then stared openly. I wanted to bury my head in the snow as student after student poked their friends, then jerked their heads in our direction.

I feel like I have a giant sign painted on my forehead,
I complained to Dace.

He bent his head toward mine. “They’re happy to see you.”

“They’re happy to see you too, man,” Gage said, appearing beside Dace from amongst the milling crowd. He wore a beanie cap with an emblem of the school mascot, the red wolf, pulled low over his forehead. His jacket matched. The familiar crimson hunter was emblazoned across the front. Like Dace, he wore jeans and boots, though he’d opted for gloves like the rest of us.

Chelle stepped up beside him, smiling at me. She looked so tiny next to Gage. Her cheeks were flushed, and wisps of her long, dark hair poked out from beneath her hood. Her brown eyes were a little puffy, and her face was still too thin, but she looked better than she had when she visited me last. Her expression was bright, and the spots of color in her cheeks made her appear less pale. She was bundled up as thoroughly as I was.

“It’s so good to see you out and about,” she said, leaning forward to give me a quick hug.

“You too,” I said, trying to ignore the conversation slowing all around us as everyone tried to listen in to what we said.

Chelle let me go and moved back to Gage’s side.

“How are you feeling today, Arionna?” he asked. Even in full winter gear, he seemed as bright as the sun and as gentle as a soft wind. Being the descendant of an angel had that effect, I guess.

I liked him immensely. He was good for Chelle―and for Dace.

I think he felt the same way about me.

“Nervous,” I answered honestly. “Everyone’s staring.”

“Tell me about it,” Chelle said, glancing around.

“You, too?”

She nodded, hunching her shoulders a little. “If Dace hadn’t asked us to come, I’d have fled by now.”

“You asked them to come?” I turned to Dace, surprised.

“I figured you’d appreciate the company.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, especially since none of us had much freedom anymore. With Dace in charge of our safety, we were all on constant lockdown.

“I’m trying,” he murmured to me.

“I know.” I snuggled into his chest. “I appreciate it.”

“Me too,” Chelle said, smiling her usual shy smile. “Even if everyone is talking, it’s nice to get out.” She rolled her eyes toward the students still shooting furtive glances in our direction. “And they’ll settle down once the games begin.”