“It’s not good.”

Skyla rushed to the bathroom and returned, launching from the floor to the bed in a single leap. She landed, feet tucked underneath, with a plop. “What’s up?”

I told Skyla what had happened in the night, my dream and my conversation with Tori. As she listened, Skyla’s expression hardened. Her brow furrowed. “Those bastards. Never a moment’s peace with them, is there? What’s the plan? Where are we going? How soon do we leave?”

“We?” I said, trying to keep any hint of hope out of my voice.

“Yeah, we—me and you, you and me. You weren’t thinking of ditching me, were you?”

I lunged across the bed and flung my arms around her, hugging her with the strength of all my fear and worry.

“What’s this for?” Skyla asked, patting my back.

“I couldn’t ask you to go with me. It’s so dangerous.”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course I’m going with you. I’m in this to the end.”

“I’m so glad. Having you around gives me a lot more confidence.”

“We need to talk about this crush you have on me, girlfriend. It’s getting embarrassing for you.”

I released her from the hug and fell against the pillows. “Where do you think we should go? Tori said she would lend us Inyoni and Kalani, her two best fighters, but the rest would stay here to defend home turf.”

“If there’s a mole in the Valkyries like you think there is, then isn’t there a chance they’ll tell Helen we’ve left and set her on our trail?”

“It’s a possibility. That’s why we can’t tell anyone where we’re going. Whatever plan we think of, we have to keep it between the two of us. Once Val and Thorin hit the road, then we’ve got to get out of here, too, as soon as possible. We have to go where no one will think to look for us.”

“And where is that?”

“I have no idea. Until I came to Alaska, I’d never been anywhere outside of North Carolina.”

Skyla’s face lit. “I know just the place.”

“Already? Where?”

“My dad had a fishing cabin on Oneida Lake in New York. It’s really rural, nobody around for miles. We can hide out. There are no ties to us to lead them there. My dad gave the cabin to my brother, but he never uses it. He hates fishing.”

“You have a brother?” I said, surprised she had never mentioned him before.

Skyla grimaced as if she had swallowed something cold and slimy. “We aren’t close. He’s a lot older than me.”

“It sounds like the plot in a bad horror movie,” I said. “Go out to some rural spot where no one can hear you scream when the monsters come to get you. Maybe if we go into a well-populated area, Helen will avoid making a scene. We can hide in plain sight, so to speak.”

Skyla tapped a finger on her bottom lip as she thought my comments over. “You have a point, but I’ll tell you the reason I don’t like it. I don’t know how many eyes Helen has, but I’m sure she has an APB out on you. You go to a place with more people, then there’s a greater chance of you being seen.”

“I’ll stay to the shadows.”

“I’ll give you another reason I don’t like it,” she said. “Helen wants to tear down the world and start again. Why does she care if she makes a scene in the middle of a crowded city? As soon as you’re dead, the war against mankind begins. She might even see your publicized death as a sort of coming-out party. Do you think mortal authorities pose a risk for her?”

“No, I guess not.”

“But listen. Only you and I need to know our final destination. The fewer people who know our plans, the better. Then Helen can’t use them to get to us.”

“Inyoni and Kalani will want to know where we’re going,” I said.

“They’ll have to figure it out when we get there.”

“So. A lake in the middle of nowhere. You’re sure about this?”

“I’m sure,” Skyla said, and then she shuddered. “Anything but a city. I feel the layers of grime and gunk building up on my skin. Why do you think I moved to Siqiniq?”

“Because you like snow, and darkness, and cold, and—”

Skyla punched my shoulder and hopped to the floor. “Get dressed. We have to go put on our game faces for Thorin. He’s a pretty cool Boss Man. I’d hate to see him dead.”

Chapter Thirty-four

Skyla and I met Inyoni, Kalani, Tori, Thorin, and Val in the dining room over bowls of oatmeal and hardboiled eggs. They sat at the rustic wooden table but left seats open for the late arrivals. Val swirled his spoon around his bowl, not eating and refusing to look at me. My heart cramped. I never wanted this strangeness between us, but I did want him to ease his bullheaded attempt to claim me. But considering the dangers facing us all, that once he left there was a good chance I might never see him again, I would try once more to make peace with Val, if it was at all possible.

“Tori tells me you’ve agreed to stay,” Thorin said.

Val’s head jerked up, but he kept his gaze focused on his breakfast. Thorin had a bowl as well, but it rested at his elbow, and the spoon lying next to it was clean. Did he never eat?

“We talked about it last night,” I said. “The arguments for it outweigh the arguments against.”

Thorin’s attention shifted to Skyla. “What about you, Ramirez?”

Skyla scraped her bowl and fished out a few stray walnuts. “I’m staying with Solina.”

Thorin tilted his head, and his brows drew together. “What about your job?”

Skyla didn’t hesitate. “My job is protecting her.”

The conviction in her words startled me. I started to say something in her defense, but Thorin beat me to it. “Good,” he said. “You’ll stay on my payroll. I can’t afford for you to quit on Solina because of financial constraints.” His gaze turned to me. “I’m leaving money with you as well.”

I studied Thorin’s face. He kept his emotions guarded, revealing nothing. “You keep acting like this, doing all these generous things, and I’m not going to believe you anymore when you tell me it’s for your own gain.”

“Keep yourself alive. It’s all I ask in return. An investment in you is an investment in my future.”

I grunted at that, but otherwise left his comment alone. I shifted my gaze between Thorin and Val, who kept his attention pinned to his placemat. “You two better get on the road soon,” I said. “You might make it to Vegas by tonight.”

“We’ll be there sooner than that,” Thorin said.

“Oh? Are you going to fly?” They had arrived in a huge, black, king-cab Tacoma, so I assumed they would drive the truck back.

Thorin raised one shoulder then dropped it. “Something like that.” And as if reading my mind, he said, “I’m leaving the truck for you, but I don’t expect you to use it unless utterly necessary.”

“‘Something like that’?” I asked. “What does that mean? Do you wiggle your nose like Samantha on Bewitched and just”—I snapped my fingers—“disappear?” There was more to the gods’ supernatural abilities than they let us see, and curiosity prickled under my skin like an itch that was hard to scratch.