“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.”
I approached her the way I might approach a skittish dog. She stood in place and let me wrap my arms around her. For several heartbeats, she didn’t respond, but then she sighed and hugged me back. “I’m here, Mom. I’m alive, and this is very real. And I want to take you where you’ll be safe for a little while. I can’t apologize for misleading you or for staying away so long. The things I did were necessary and important. But I do apologize for causing you hurt. I would have prevented it if I could have, but I couldn’t think of any other way.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll get through this, Solina. We’re just so glad—” He paused and cleared his throat. “We’re just so glad to have you back.”
The three of us embraced, and Mom tried her best to swallow her sobs. My parents smelled like cake batter, spices, and comfort. After weeks of hardening myself against homesickness and longing, the relief of standing in my parents’ presence again thawed my heart into a warm, gooey puddle.
“Y’all go get packed up.” I cleared my throat and swabbed the damp streaks on my face. I broke from the hug and motioned to the stairs leading up to their room. “None of us should rest easy until we get to New Breidablick.”
My mom’s brow wrinkled, and she glanced over at Baldur. “And exactly how are we going to get there? You said it’s near Lake Tahoe?”
I grinned like a used car salesman trying to sell a lemon car, not that I was trying to mislead my parents. Well, not completely, but I needed them to trust me. “There’s a jet on its way to get us right now.”
My mom didn’t buy it. She scowled. “I don’t like it, Solina.”
“You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it.”
“C’mon, Rachel.” Dad tugged her elbow. “Let’s not argue with the girl. Something strange is going on, and I’d like to get to the bottom of it.”
Mom let Dad lead her away. They trudged up the stairs, and Baldur and I stood in uncomfortable silence until my parents returned, toting their luggage.
