Page 171 of Veil of Blood and Bone

I know why.

Because for once, it feels like someone might actually stay. Audra is with me because she has to be. Because she loves me and needs me.

Even my own mother took her life. She left. No one stays.

But those three immortals? I think they might…would…stay.

Audra’s ragged breathing fills the carcass of the car, and suddenly my pulse is galloping.

“Hey, calm down. Breathe. We’ll make a plan. Whatever it is, we’ll fight it,” I say.

A different sort of chill tiptoes up my spine and between my shoulder blades. Even though it’s almost impossible to see anything among the thick flakes of snow, the eerie and familiar sense of foreboding penetrates the inside of the car. The hair on my arm and the back of my neck lift.

“A plan to do what, Helene? We’re trapped in the Toyota. There’s no room for a plan. There's hardly any room for us with all the stuff you have packed.”

I stomp my foot like a child to get the blood flowing again. “I’m the queen of plans, remember, kid? If A and B don’t pan out, then we’ve got C and D. Although you know how I hate to resort to anything beyond D,” I reply, trying my best to calm Audra.

I take her arm to draw her close to me and she shakes her head, lifting her hand away. “Plan D isn’t going to get us out of here when there is nothing there, and—” she breaks off in a scream.

The creature outside is near enough to make out the initial stretches of fingers, all six on each hand. It lifts an arm and the pines drop snow from their boughs like tiny projectiles.

What’s worse? Freezing to death, or being eaten by whatever the hell it is stalking us?

I scramble for the bag, my gut summoning me to crystal and bone. Blood surges through my veins. There’s no plan. We both know it’s true.

“You can’t seriously be pulling a rune now. This thing isn’t going to stop if you throw a shard of bone at it.” Her voice ratchets up a notch.

No, but it might get me thinking. It might give me a respite to see the situation with fresh eyes.

My fingers close around the glyph that’s warmer than the rest. It pulses against my palm. Despite the terror, the feeling of urgency, I draw it out and open my hand.

“It’s Hagalaz,” Audra breathes. “Again. A strike without warning. Talk about having a message shoved down our throats.”

Literally, it means hail. But it's impossible to ignore Audra's earlier comment about this being her rune. The one Mom always drew for her.

And now it’s shown itself to us twice.

“Ah...” she shakes her hands, fingertips already turning blue. “It can also represent a sudden disaster. Uh, forces of nature. A sudden disruption. Events outside of our control.”

She's scrambling for answers in an empty basin where they might have been, once, but have long since dried up.

“Destruction you can’t control,” I add. “Because why would the universe not have a sense of humor?” I pinch the crystal. “This is classic shit hits the fan, in this case, kid. It’s chaos and inevitability. Not agency.”

Will the creature outside even blink if I toss the rune at it? Probably not. It will likely roar like the troll and unhinge its jaw to swallow the entire car in one gulp.

It’s not the rune’s fault we’re screwed.

Can I tear the tailpipe free and use it like a bat? Another eruption of thunder shakes more snow loose.

Where is the air? Where is the heat and life?

I’m freezing in place. And I’m not done pulling.

The runes still have something to say. I dive my hand into the pouch again, brushing over bone. And this time the carved piece practically leaps out of my hand. It clatters against the cup holder and bounces toward Audra.

It’s Isa (ᛁ). Ice.

“Stasis.” I’m so cold it’s hard to articulate the word. “Being frozen, no movement possible.”