Page 56 of The Fanged One

Skuld smiled and drew back into her nest of light, and the threads folded around her, and the audience was over. Verðandi's spindle turned. Urd waved them at the staircase with her staff, shooing them like geese.

Linnea stared up at the roots a moment longer, her jaw locked. Fenris laced his fingers through hers again, warming her cold skin until it stopped shaking. She turned her eyes back to him, and he touched her cheek lightly.

"It's not worth it," Fenris whispered.

Linnea let out a long breath and nodded. Whatever was burning on her tongue to ask Skuld, she held onto it.

They followed Arne with his light, the others following one by one into the stairwell, footsteps swallowed flat by the dead air. The doorway sealed itself above them, taking the last of the chamber's warmth.

Down they went, and the cold dark of Niflheim rose to meet them.

27

Wind whipped through the dead pines around them, yet the mist at Linnea's knees clung there, unnervingly still and keeping the path obscured.

That's not creepy at all. To keep her mind off it, she focused on the back of Fenris's coat in front of her and stayed within arm's reach of him. As long as she kept him in sight, she would be okay.

Linnea didn't look at the shapes moving through the trees for a moment.

Nope. Nothing to see there. Definitely not pale, person shapes standing in the corners of her eyes.

They never came closer but kept them surrounded at all times. The base of Linnea's skull crawled every time she caught a flicker of movement, and there was more dead magic in the fog than she had ever stood among in Midgard.

Don't like it, her wolf muttered, hackles bristling.

Me neither. Fenris is Hel's brother. She will make sure he and his friends are okay.

You hope.

Fenris led them through the weird forest, never slowing or looking to the side. Tor, Arne, and Von held the rear, quiet and alert. Von wasn't talking, which was the biggest red flag of them all. He only ever did that when he was really concerned or hyper-focused on something.

Ciara kept one hand loose near a blade. Layla had her bow off her shoulder. Linnea walked among the women, a defensive galdr half-formed behind her teeth.

Time didn't seem to exist, and it was only the slow thinning of the trees and growing of a milky light that told Linnea they were reaching the end of the forest.

"Now this looks like my kind of vacation spot," Von declared moments later, and Linnea saw a long Viking hall built into the side of the hill. She could have sworn it hadn’t been there a second ago.

The whole front face of the black and silver hall was carved end to end with knotwork, serpents, and running wolves. Smoke curled from a hole in the roof, and it was the only normal-looking thing in the whole frozen country. Linnea was torn between wanting to sprint toward it and back away.

Fenris smiled at their solemn faces. "It's intimidating on purpose, but my sister will be happy to see us."

"If she's not, I'll kick your ass," Linnea replied, and his grin only widened like he would enjoy watching her try.

The great doors swung open before they reached the steps. Linnea's heart climbed into her throat, and Ciara's blade came an inch out of its sheath.

A woman walked out of the gloom of the hall. She was tall and wore a black dress with deep red accents at its collar, cuffs, and underskirt. Her dark hair was braided in a crown around her head, and she had patterns of strange runes tattooed on her hands. Her face was as beautiful as carved stone with patient, unyielding gray eyes that weighed your soul in a single glance.

Fenris had always seemed powerful but approachable to Linnea. It was easy for her to forget he was a god. Hel had an aura that made sure you never forgot who or what she was.

"You took your fucking time, big brother," Hel said, and her cool face cracked into a massive smile. She crossed the distance in four strides, planted both hands flat on Fenris's chest, and shoved him hard enough to rock him back a step before she threw her arms around his neck. "You ass. I thought you were never going to wake up."

"Me too," Fenris said, laughing as he caught his sister around the waist and lifted her clean off her feet. The goddess of the underworld let him spin her about in a circle, boots swinging, and giggling like a mad thing.

Her eyes found Linnea over the top of Fenris's shoulder, and the grin got wider.

"Oh, brother," Hel said, slow and delighted. "I see you have developed an excellent taste in women."

Heat shot up Linnea's neck. She opened her mouth to deflect, and nothing came out. She didn't know how the goddess knew that she was fooling around with her brother, but Hel was grinning like a damn fiend.