I growled, and a pang of disappointment clenched my chest. No matter. I’d seduce her later.
“After the nokk released you, I had to drag you back into the current. You’ve been unconscious for hours.”
She reached for me, then pulled my shirt open to reveal the rows of red welts that crisscrossed my chest. The marks of the nokk’s suckers.
Ali crossed her arms. “You had a vision of me without clothes?”
I gave her a sly smile, then shrugged. What illusion did you see? I wrote.
Her expression went cold as ice. “It was the strangest thing. At first, I thought it was you, but then I saw Galin. Did you know him, Marroc? Before Ragnarok?” She looked fierce, sparks flashing in her steel-gray eyes. “The nokk tried to lure me onto the island to kill him.”
Somehow, I managed to keep my face neutral, but I could feel the dark, heated magic pulsing off me.
“Did you know him?” A barely controlled fury laced her voice.
This time, I lied. I shook my head slowly. It felt wrong lying to her. Immoral, even. How long had it been since I’d cared about that?
Her eyes were still narrowed as she looked at me. “But you were a High Elf. You were alive before Ragnarok. Did you know who he was?”
This time, the truth. I nodded.
“And he didn’t die in the chaos after Ragnarok, right? No one has seen him for a thousand years, but the Lords said he still breathed.”
I went still as a marble statue, and she leaned closer. Her eyes blazed with ferocity.
“He’s still alive, right?” she said. “Because if he isn’t, then you dragged me here on a wild goose chase after a ring that serves no purpose.”
I shrugged. I had, after all, been in prison a thousand years. There was no reason for her to think I’d know what happened to Galin during that time.
She pulled out the golden ring to show it to me. “When we get out of here, I might need your help. I want to find him among the High Elves. You know more about them than I do, of course. Will you help me do that?”
I nodded again, wishing the nokk would attack us again and end this conversation.
“It didn’t make sense that he’d be living on an island in the dark for the last thousand years.” Her fingers curled as though she was thinking of calling her blade to her. “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Something seems off about this place.”
With a dawning horror, it occurred to me that my mate had saved my unconscious body from a monster, and she’d been waiting over me as I slept. I felt I needed to reassert some sense of strength and masculinity.
Slowly, I stood and dusted off my clothes. My body was tired, low on energy. I needed to devour a soul if I wanted to replenish myself. That always made me feel better.
I’m going to investigate. Wait here.
Then, before Ali could protest or ask to come along, I brushed off the last of the dirt and climbed up the side of the riverbank. At the top, the ground was broken up by small tufts of gray grass. A thick fog had descended, and with it, the heavy stench of death.
In the misty distance, I saw a shadow move. I stiffened, motioning for Ali to stay before I began creeping forward. More shapes moved in front of me—the silhouettes of people. A smile crept over my lips. What I needed was a bit of feasting. To rip someone’s neck out, to regain some energy.
I growled softly, a sound that usually lured a person to me.
I crept closer. The silhouettes of men and women moved along a raised platform, maybe two feet above the muddy plain. An ancient road. I sucked in a short breath as I realized why they hadn’t noticed my growl.
Their skin was pale, eyes glazed. They trudged forward in a silent march, their gazes locked on the stones at their feet. Their bodies glimmered faintly with light.
I couldn’t eat a single one of them.
They were dead, and I knew then exactly where we were. My disappointment at not getting to feed was soon replaced by joy.
I turned back to Ali, then crossed down to write in the dirt. It’s the road to Helheim.
“You’re certain?”
I nodded.
Ali’s lip curled. “So that smell is… corpses?”
I nodded again. This road—Helvegen—would lead us straight to the Shore of the Dead. Leaning over,