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I step into the hallway and follow him back to the main room. True to his word, there is no one in the apartment but the two of us. The table is set for two.
“Alex insisted on cooking enough food for ten people.” He slides a chair out, motioning for me to sit. I deliberately sit on the opposite side, leaving him standing next to the chair he moved. He smiles before sitting.
Despite the company, the food looks delicious, and I scoop a little of each onto my plate. I’m halfway through my meal when Ty sets his fork down. “Piper, no matter how unbelievable this whole thing sounds, it’s true.”
“I thought we were done with this conversation.”
He sighs, clearly exasperated with my stubbornness. “I am a jotunn, as was your father, as are you.”
I set my fork carefully on the plate. “What?”
“You’re a jotunn,” he repeats.
“Don’t you think I would know by now if I were some ancient giant?”
“No, because you’re not ancient.”
“Ty, this is falling off the rails again.”
“Gods, I’m horrible at this.”
“By all means, explain to me how I’m an ancient ice giant. Oh, wait. Maybe I can be the mother of Odin. She was a jotunn, wasn’t she?” I sit back in my chair, crossing my arms and legs, and glare at the man in front of me. I’m being a brat, and I don’t care.
“She’s dead,” he answers simply.
“Okay.” I stand, covering my nearly empty plate with my napkin. “We’re done.”
“You’re not ancient. You’re a hybrid. Any child born with jotunn blood retains the power of their parent. The reason you wouldn’t have discovered your ability until now is that it’s been lying dormant in your blood this entire time. Your aversion to germs. Your compulsive desire to control everything around you. It stems from the blood of your father.”
“That’s not true.”
“Why? Because your therapist said so?”
“No, because I would know.”
“How would you know, Piper?” He stands, moving toward me. “The moment we met, you nearly stopped the phobia. You haven’t wiped any surfaces since being here. Why’s that?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
“It’s because the blood that’s been dormant senses me and Norway. You’re home. If you get on a plane, the obsession will return with a vengeance.”
I stand, matching his energy and moving inches in front of him. “Prove it to me, Ty. Prove to me that you’re some ancient Ice Giant.” He looks down. “You can’t, can you?”
I turn to leave when the entrance to the hallway freezes with ice so thick, I can’t see through it. Turning back toward my captor, I stare at the man, who moments earlier I was convinced was insane. He stalks closer, coming dangerously close.
“Now, do you believe me?” He takes a flower from the vase in the middle of the table and holds it toward me. “Watch the flower, Piper.”
I do as I’m told, only to see the flower transform into ice in front of my eyes.
“How’d you do that?”
“I’m Farbauti, the only surviving ice giant…until you.”
CHAPTER 4
Training…in More Ways Than One
“What does this mean for me? Can I do that?”
