“It was easier that way.” I released my flames, and they withdrew. “I don’t blame you. I dismissed it all, too, at first. But then Mani died, and I refused to ignore it anymore. I refused to explain it all away as coincidence.”

“What are you saying?” my father asked. His short hair, more gray than blond these days, stood on end as he dragged his fingers across his scalp. “There’s such a thing as... magic?”

“Call it what you will. There’s more to this world than we’ve been led to believe. It’s a long and complicated story, and I’ll tell you everything, but this is not a safe place or a safe time for storytelling. I need you to come with Baldur and me now. I’m going to take you somewhere safe, and then you can ask all the questions you want.”

My parents’ attention turned behind me, settling, presumably, on the giant man standing still and silent, waiting for me to make my move. “Baldur?” my father asked.

I shrugged. “Or you can call him Allfather, if you like.”

My mother wobbled again, but Dad tightened his arm around her and held her up. Perhaps they held each other up. They both looked more than a little peaked and unsteady.

“How much do you know about Norse mythology?” I asked. My father’s gaze slid to me, and his eyes narrowed. “It’s not a joke, Dad. We are standing in the presence of Baldur Odinson, Allfather of the Aesir and heir of Odin’s throne. He is here to take you to his home in the Sierra Nevadas. He calls it New Breidablick, but really, it’s just a super-nice house near Lake Tahoe. You’ll like it. The best part is the bad guys can’t get you there. And I have to tell you, there are a lot of bad guys.”

“Solina.” My mom crammed so much into that single word: disbelief, outrage, fear, worry. “How can we believe you?”

“What, the fire wasn’t enough? Do you want me to show you again?” I raised my hand, but my father waved me off.

“No. Just... just give us a minute to catch our breath.”

“We don’t have a minute, Dad.”

“She’s right,” Baldur said. He stepped forward, and my parents flinched. He cranked up his godly mojo until an ethereal aura glowed from him, and they stared at him, wide eyed. “There are other things, other… considerations that must be dealt with. Solina has many responsibilities and liabilities to contemplate beyond the two of you. My home is the safest place for you, and I must insist you pack your things and come with me now.”

Neither of my parents blinked, but my dad slowly bobbed his head.

“Baldur,” I hissed. “What are you doing?”

“Being influential.”

“Well, stop it. It’s freaking them out.”

Baldur’s glow faded, and the awe on my mom and dad’s faces diminished. Mom recovered first. “We can’t just shut the bakery down in the middle of the holiday rush. We have outstanding orders.”

“Are you for real?” I shoved a hand on my hip and gaped at her. “I just showed you I can light myself on fire. You just got a good taste of the authority and power of one of the oldest beings in existence, and you’re still protesting?” I stepped closer and leaned in until she could see the veins in my eyes and feel the heat in my breath. “A mythological wolf devoured your son.” My mom’s face tightened, and she grimaced, but I kept going, jabbing words at her like a weapon. “And another wolf is coming after me. A horrible, powerful being controls those monsters, and it’s very likely she’ll hurt you to get to me. She wants to kill me, Mother.

“So if Mary Beth Nesslestoff has to go to Wal-Mart for her wedding cake, it won’t be the end of the world, but if Helen Locke’s wolf kills me, it most certainly will be the end of the world. And I’m not being hyperbolic.”

“Well,” she said, breathless and blinking. “Well...”

“Rachel.” My dad leaned in until his shoulder pressed into hers. “I think we’d better listen to the girl and her, ah, friend.”

She twisted to face him. “But it’s so ridiculous.”

He nodded. “It is. If they’re lying to us for some reason, we’ll work it out, but if they’re telling the truth, I don’t want to find out the hard way.”

I glanced back and forth between my parents, waiting for someone to make a definitive decision. Come on, come on, quit being so stubborn, Mother. Listen to me this once.

My mother’s head bobbed in the subtlest of nods, but she had given her assent, and I wouldn’t let her take it back. I stepped to Baldur’s side. “Get the van, Dad. We’ll meet you at the house.”

Baldur and I blipped away, and I hoped the dramatic nature of our departure left an impression on my parents—the kind that got them motivated to shut down the bakery and drive home as soon as possible. Baldur transported us to my front yard. I led him to the side entrance, located the hide-away key, and let us in.

We stood in awkward silence in the middle of the living room, listening to the mantel clock tick. “So...” I broke the tension. “How’s Nina?”

Baldur blinked as if my question had surprised him. “Better, I think.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded. “She’s more relaxed. A little less twitchy.” He smiled. “She teased me this morning.”

“She did?”

“Called me by an old nickname. She probably thought she’d just come up with it, but it’s something she’s called me for centuries.”

“What nickname?”

A blush rose in his fair cheeks. “Not going to tell you.”

I could have poked him, teased him, but their relationship was so tenuous, it deserved my deference. “She talk about Helen much?”

“Never.”

“Are you worried about their connection?”

He stiffened. “I’m not.”

“How can you be so trusting?”

“Throughout the eras and epochs, Nina and I have always found each other. Helen’s not going to undo that by manipulating Nina for a few dozen years. Every time, Solina... Every single time we’ve been apart, Nina has always come back to me. I’ve never lost her before, and I’m not going to lose her now.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “You always find Nina, but what about your children? What about Embla and Skyla?” His love for Nina consumed him, and it was like some kind of biblical blood curse—wreaking havoc on his descendants. Generations of daughters and sons never knowing the truth and suffering the fallout of parents doomed to an endless destiny of reincarnation. “You could have had them with you all along. They could have helped you find her again.”

A flush rose in his cheeks again—not embarrassment this time, but anger, pain, and maybe a little frustration, judging by the way he ground his teeth together. “I told you before that I realized the mistakes I’ve made.”

“Then stop making them. Tell Skyla the truth. Reach out to Embla before it’s too late.”

“Who are you to advise me on such things? A little girl who’s afraid of her own feelings and who’s never had a child of her own.”

“You’re right. It’s not my place to judge. But I love Skyla, and I don’t want to see her hurt. And I’m afraid of Embla and the damage that’s been done to her. It’s going to bite you in the ass, Baldur. Sooner or later, it’s going to bite us all in the ass.”

He said nothing but instead folded his arms over his chest and gazed, unfocused, into the shadows across the room. Silence fell between us again. We stood, listening to the clock’s annoying tick-tock until I couldn’t stand it any longer. “I’m going to run upstairs and grab a few things. Make yourself at home.” I pointed over his shoulder. “Kitchen’s that way if you need something to drink or whatever.”

My nomadic lifestyle meant I shed necessities—clothes, toiletries, personal items—faster than birds shed feathers. Baldur would let me have anything I wanted shipped to New Breidablick, but sometimes, a girl craved her old favorites, and I still had a couple of pairs of worn jeans squirreled away in my room upstairs. By the time I finished packing my few provisions, Mom and Dad had returned home. I clamored down the stairs and greeted them as they came through the door.

Mom stopped short and squeaked.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m just not used to seeing you here. And after the way you disappeared...” Mom waggled her fingers in the air like a magician showing she had nothing hidden in her hands. Her shoulders slumped, and her gaze fell to the floor. “Maybe I thought I had hallucinated the whole thing.”