give up their afterlife and join you in oblivion just to make the pain stop.”
I saw her move her free hand to her chest, but she didn’t respond. Without a word, she continued walking.
“Do they truly matter so little to you?” I asked. “I thought you loved them. Did the Norns make a mistake after all? Or is it that you truly see them as nothing more than a means to an end? Casualties in your arrogant belief that you can stop what has been foretold for eons?”
She whipped around so fast I thought she might fall, but she managed to keep her balance this time. “Don’t you dare question my love for my mates, nor my devotion! You, of all people! Do you love your brothers? You say if I die, they will too—yet the one thing you can do to prevent this, you won’t?
“You claim this is all some grand, sacrificial gesture to make sure your brothers survive Ragnarök, yet you refuse to bond with me so you can experience exactly what your plan will do to them. You’re a coward, Grim—a pathetic coward, hiding behind martyrdom. You want your powers back? Then you will learn what true pain is. What it means to sacrifice.”
Her words hung in the air between us, violent and raw. I stared at her, fury pounding in my temples, and took in her flared nostrils and the hate in her eyes, the way her fingertips dug into Mimir’s cheeks, making the prophet wince though he—for once—stayed silent.
“You know nothing of sacrifice,” I hissed. “You spoiled, impudent little girl.”
I would have continued. Would have unleashed all my hatred and bile on the woman whose mere existence had brought about my destruction. But before I could let the words spill out of my burning throat, movement behind Annabel caught my attention—and my heart stilled.
What had looked like just another rock formation half-hidden behind trees and undergrowth rolled to one side and then rose, taking the shape of a great, lumbering mountain troll brandishing the snapped-off bottom half of a young fir tree as a club.
His beady eyes zeroed in on Annabel’s small figure and a cruel grin spread on his ugly face.
Then he came for her.
Eleven
Annabel
“Annabel! Run!”
The change in Grim’s demeanor was so sudden and complete, it took me a second to process his command. One moment he’d looked like he wanted nothing more than to tear my head from my shoulders. The next, pure terror washed over his features—a look so alien on his pale face it made my heart skip a beat.
On instinct, I looked over my shoulder just as a thud rung through air and made the hillside shake.
A great, gray monster rose behind me, similar in appearance to the troll that’d nearly killed Grim in the creek: a huge, gray body, thickly muscled limbs, and a round face with small, black eyes and protruding fangs. Though where the other troll had been furry, this one’s skin was bare and roughly textured, giving the impression it was made from rock.
It was also much, much bigger. And it was lumbering down the hill.
Toward me.
My stomach dropped, terror kicking through my veins. Clutching Mimir to my chest, I leapt forward, forcing my exhausted muscles to sprint. The second I passed him, Grim turned around and followed me.
“Faster, Annabel,” he snarled behind me. “Faster!”
But I couldn’t run any faster. Maybe if I hadn’t been so drained, I would have been able to outrun it, but ten steps in and my muscles were already screaming, my vision blurring.
I didn’t see the root in my path. One minute I was forcing myself forward, teeth gritted against the fatigue. The next, my face smacked against soil, and I slid a few feet on my stomach before coming to a halt. Mimir went flying out of my grasp, bumping a few times as he rolled down the path.
“Shit!” Grim skidded to a stop by my side, cool hands grabbing hold under my armpits—but before he could haul me to my feet, a great shadow fell over my prone body.
“Stars be damned!” Grim snarled, releasing me. For a dazed moment, I thought he was going to leave me behind, but then the metallic slide of his daggers being yanked out of their sheaths sang through the air.
I managed to roll around just in time to see the dark-haired alpha take up stance between me and the troll, weapons at the ready.
He was strong; powerful beyond any mortal, even without his