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MM:ToDylanand

AsiaAlsgaard,sinceIlearned

Norsemythtobebetter

atbeingyourmother,theseriesisobviouslyforyou.

KA:Formysons,AlexandMarcus,thistrilogy

wasforyou.Andformynephew,Marshall,Ipromisetheydon’talldieintheend.

ONE

MATT

“WOLVESATTHE

DOOR”

It was hard for Matt topretend he didn’t know twowolves had followed themfrom the campsite. Reynaseemed to have no suchproblem. Maybe she thoughthe was imagining the RaiderScouts. More likely she justwasn’tabouttoletsomething

as inconsequential asimminent death distract herfrom detailing every mistakehe’dmadeyesterday,fightingthe Viking zombie warriorsknownasthedraugr.

“And then, when youmadeittotheking’sthrone,Inotedafewtacticalerrors.”

“I’msureyoudid.”“I’m just trying to help

youimprove.Youdowanttoimprove, don’t you?” She

smiled when she said it, notbothering to pretend shedidn’tenjoyneedlinghim.

“I have a suggestion forthenextbattle,”hesaid.“Youcould join me on the frontlines.”

“I’m the descendant ofFreya. Unlike Thor’schampion, I’m not supposedto be on the front line.” Shemoved aside a branch.“However, I could be

persuadedtojoinyou,ifIhada proper weapon. I’d like asword. The draugr king’slookedgood.”

He shook his head andcastasidelongglanceintothesurrounding forest, trying tocatch a glimpse of thewolves. After the draugrfight, where Matt hadrecovered Mjölnir—Thor’slegendary hammer—he’dretreatedtotheforestwiththe

other descendants of theNorth: Reyna and her twinbrother, Ray, along withLaurie, Fen, Baldwin, andOwen.There,theyplannedtoregroup before their nextmission, but after theadrenaline-pumping fight, noonereallywantedtorest.Fenhad wandered off first. Matthad gone next, with Reynafollowinghim.

Matt hadn’t planned to

walk far, but after abouttwenty paces, he’d realizedtwo of the Raider Scouts—wulfenkind—werefollowing them, so he wasleading them away from theothers.

“We could take themhostage,” Reyna said.“Questionthem.”

He mouthed, They’rewolves, and she shrugged, asif to say So? While he’d

agree it would be great toquestion Raiders, he wasn’tsure he should risk it whenthey had fangs and claws.Also…

“Questioning meansgettingthemtalking,”hesaid.“That could be tough ifthey’reinwolfform.”

“Oh, I could make themtalk.”

He shook his head. Hewas getting used to Reyna.

She wasn’t what he’dexpected—in a lot of ways.He’d figured the descendantof Freya would be, well,more… blond. Reyna’s hairwas blond, but she’d justdyeditblack.Whenhe’dfirstmet her, she had her nailscolored black, too, and hadworn makeup in the sameharsh shade. By now themakeup was gone, the nailpolish was chipping off, and

she’d traded in her blackclothes for faded jeans and aT-shirtadvertisingsomebandhe’dneverheardof.

The wolves seemedcontent to follow, but Mattknewbetter.Hemightnotbemuch of a football player—boxing and wrestling weremore his thing—but a guycouldn’t grow up inBlackwellwithoutplayingthegame. These two were

flankinghim.Waitingforhimto fumble the ball, so theycouldswoopin.

The question was: whatwas the ball? He had hisshield,whichhe’dtakenbackfrom theRaiders.Hehadhisamulet, too,but its“Hammerpower” only worked for adescendant of Thor. Theycould take the amulet, but itwasn’t unique and he couldeasilygetanother.Thebigger

prize,ofcourse,wasMjölnir,but even thedraugrkinghadbarelybeenabletoliftthat.

The wulfenkind mightwant Reyna. If that was thecase,though,he’dbetemptedto hand her over becausethey’d discover theirmistakesoonenough—she’dprobablydrag them back, slung overher shoulder like a brace ofwildturkeys.

Taking Matt out of the

game would be more useful,since Freya didn’t play amajor role at Ragnarök, theNorse apocalypse. But whilethe Raiders might have theadvantage of wolf forms,ReynahadmagicandhehadbothMjölnirandhisamulet’spower. So how did theyexpecttocapture—?

Mattstoppedshort.Reynakeptgoing,still talking,forafew feet before she realized

he wasn’t beside her. Shestoppedandmouthed,What’swrong?

“Ijustrememberedthere’sa stream with a waterfall. Iwantedtotakeacloserlook.Ithinkit’soverhere.…”

He began walking left.Reyna apparently trusted hedidn’t really want to checkoutawaterfallandfellinstepbeside him. Ahead, he couldmake out the wolves’ brown

fur through the bushes. Theyregrouped, ready toblockhispath.

“They were herding us,”Reynawhispered.

He nodded. The Raidersmust be camped along thepaththey’dbeenwalking.Aslong as he and Reyna hadkept going that way, thewolves had been happy tofollow in the shadows. NowthatMattveeredofftheroute,

they’d strike and drive themtotheircamp.

“Showtime?” Reynaasked.Whenhehesitated,shewhispered, “Don’tworry. I’llhelpyou.”

“That’s not—”He caughtherteasinggrinandshookhishead.“I’mnotsureit’ssafe.”

“Itneveris.So…?”AsThor’schampion,Matt

was the group leader, whichwas way more responsibility

thanheliked.Italsomeanthecouldn’t afford unnecessaryrisks.Buthisonlyalternativewas to lead themback to theothers,whichhe’dneverdo.

Theycoulduseahostage.…

“Okay,” he said. “Followmylead.”

“Yes,sir.”Onward itwas, then.Play

dumbandwaitfortheattack.“If you want a logistical

problem to solve,”he said toReyna, “figure out how I’msupposed to carry thishammeraround.”

“That’s boring. I likebattlestrategybetter.”

“All the strategy in theworld won’t help if I strainmywristcarryingthisthing.”

“Whine, whine. You’vegot a magical hammer, amagical necklace, a magicalshield,magicalbattle-goats…

andnowyouwant amagicalhammer holder, too? You’reso spoiled. You know what—”

She swung aroundmidsentence,herhandsgoingout,lipsmovinginaspell.

Matt lunged at thecharging wolf. Reyna hit itwith a jet of fog, whichstartled the first wolf, and itfell back, leaving Matt withthe second, still barreling

towardhim.MattswungMjölnir.Then

he realized he was aiming asolidmetalhammeratakid’shead. Yes, it was a Raider,butthatdidn’tchangethefactthis“wolf”wasn’tadraugrora troll or any other kind ofNorse monster. One blow tothe skull with Mjölnir, andthis kid-in-wolf’s-clothingwouldbedead.

Matt couldn’t stop the

swing. The momentum wastoo much. All he could dowas divert the strike. It stillhit the wolf in the front leg,and there was a sickeningcrackasthebonebroke.

Thewolfyowledinagonyand collapsed onto its side.Matt wheeled on the otherone, now recovered from thesurprise of the fog blast andracing toward him. Hequickly switched Mjölnir to

his left hand, but that threwhisbalanceofftoomuchforagoodpunch.He launchedhisother Hammer instead—theinvisible blow from hisamulet.

Therewasa flashof lightand a boom, announcing theinvisible punch, but it cametoo late for the wolf to veeroffcourse.TheHammerblowknocked the beast backwardintoatree.Mattrantotackle

it, but Reynawas closer andleaped in first. She knockedthe wolf down and thenpinneditinachokehold.

“Umm…”Mattbegan.

“Did I mention I knowself-defense? Aikido andkarate.When your dad ownsa casino, you need to knowhow to take care of yourself.Youaren’ttheonlyfighterinthislittlegod-gang,Matt.”

“Okay, but what I wasgoing to say is that you’reusing a hold meant for aperson.That’snota—”

The wolf bucked andslippedrightoutofhergrasp.The beast twisted around,snapping. Matt managed toyankher away in time.Thenhe jumped the wolf… as theone behind them beganyowlinginfreshpain.

No, not yowling. It was

howling.Wolf. Howl. That was

howtheycommunicatedwithpackmembers.…

Matt leaped up, cursing.Reyna looked as shocked atthe oath as if he’d changedinto a wolf himself. He torepasther,saying“Usethefog.Confuse theotherone”ashelungedforthewoundedwolf.Hegrabbed itby themuzzle,managing to avoid inch-long

fangs.Hesnappedthebeast’sjawsshutandcutoffitshowlmidnote.

“It’s calling the others,”Reynasaid.“I’msorry.”

Reyna cast her fog spell.Whenthewolfranthroughit,she landed a surprisinglyaccuratekicktotheundersideof its jaw. It fellbackwithayelp.Then,lostinthefog,thebeast started tohowl.And inthe distance, other wolves

replied, their howls growingcloser until Matt could hearthepoundingofpaws.

“We need to go,” he saidquickly.“Wecan’tfightthemall—”

ReynadeliveredonemorekicktothesecondwolfwhileMattreleasedtheinjuredone.They started to run. Behindthem,hecaught the soundofvoices. Human voices. Thatwasn’t unusual—not all

Raiders changed to wolvesfor a fight. But what slowedMatt was one of the voices.The loudest of them.Shouting. He couldn’t makeout the words, but theysoundedangry.

Heknewthatvoice.Knewitinaheartbeat.

He’s been captured. He’sintrouble.Ineedtohelphim.

Mattturnedback.Thefoghadcleared,andhecouldsee

a fewwolves in thedistance.Behind them were twofigures. Hattie, one of theleaders of this pack ofRaiders.And standingbesideher, shouting orders at thewolves?

Fen.

TWO

FEN

“LEADINGTHE

ENEMY”

Fen lost his footing as hesaw Thorsen stare at him inshock.Fen couldn’t tellMattthat he’d fought Skull andwoncontrolof theverypackof Raiders that he and thedescendantsof theNorthhadbeen fighting only yesterday.Fenwanted to tellMattwhat

hadhappened,toexplainthathe was trapped, that hewanted to walk away fromtheRaidersandrejoinLaurieand Matt. Unfortunately,whathewanteddidn’tmatteranymore. Fen was bound bymagic far older than any ofthem.Hehadtostaywithhispack; they were as much apartofhimashislungsnow.

Even more powerful thanthe need to stay with them

was the absolute compulsiontodorightbythem.Ifhehadthe ability to make the packofwulfenkindjointhesidehewanted to be on, his newpositionwouldn’t be all bad,buthehadtodowhatwasinthe pack’s “best interest.”Helping Matt stop Ragnarökand save the world wouldendanger all of thewulfenkind because Matt’sside—which included Fen’s

cousin and friends—wasn’tlikely to win. Ragnarök wasfated. Even the death of thegods hadn’t stopped theprophesized battle fromcoming.TheRaidersbelievedthattheendoftheworldwasbetter for them, and that thenew world order would givethem freedom and security.Since Fen was bound bymagictodowhatwasbestforhis pack, Fen was stuck on

thewrongsideofthecomingfight. He was Matt’s enemynow.

Worse yet, he was hiscousinLaurie’senemy.

Fen muttered a word hewouldn’t have said aroundLaurie. He wasn’t a bigthinker, so figuring out howto fix the mess he was inseemed impossible. Lauriewas the one who thoughtthingsout.Lauriewastheone

with plans. He was the onewho threw himself intodangertokeephersafe.

ButLauriewasimpossiblyoutofreach.

Fen’s only comfort wasthat she wasn’t alongsideMattandReynaas they triedto vanish into the woods.Lauriewasn’ttheretoseethatFen was leading the enemy.Yet.Hesnarledanotherword,and the girlwhowas now at

hissidelaughed.“Feeling guilty?” Hattie

asked. “That will pass, youknow.Wewillwin the greatbattle, and you’ll be gladyou’rewithus.”

“Shutit,Hattie,”Fensaid.He glared at her, and sheducked her head obedientlyinstead of punching him. Itwas an odd feeling. Hattiewas a wolf like him, secondin command of this small

group of Raiders until thismorning. He’d spent morethan a few hours nursingbruises he got when sheenforced the former packalpha’s rules. Hattie wasscarier than most boys heknew,andthatwaswhenshewasbeingnice.

She stepped closer. “Wecan take them. Thorsen andthewitcharealone.”

“No.”

“They’re not your friendsanymore. They’re ourenemies,”shepointedout.

“Isaidno,”herepeated.“It’s a great chance… or

wecanfollowthemtocamp,”she continued. She wassupposed to offer him ideas.OnceSkull,thepack’sformerleader, recovered from thefight, that would be his role,but rightnow,Hattiewashisadvisor, and she was doing

herjob.The small group of

Raiders who had come withhim to collect the scoutingparty were whooping andhollering as if they hadachieved somethingremarkable by findingThorsen. They hadn’t. Allthey’d done was reveal thatFen was with the Raiders—andearnoneoftheRaidersabrokenleg.

“Pullback!”Fenordered.He stopped walking, and

the threeRaiderswithhim—all in human form—stopped,too. The two kids who werewolvescametostandinfrontofhim.

“What are you thinkingyelling like that? Head backtocampbeforeyougetusallcaptured!”

“They’re running away.We could go to their camp

and capture them all,”Hattieargued.

“Really?TherearealotofBerserkers and more gods’representatives in that camp.Therearesixofusandone’sinjuredalready.”Helookedatthem, meeting wolf andhuman eyes, before asking,“Who do you think wouldwinthatfight?”

All the Raiders, bothhumans and wolves, looked

down. For a flicker of amoment,Fenwishedhecouldtell the Raiders to pursueThorsenandReyna;thenFencould let them knowwhy hewasgone,whyhewasontheenemy’s side, and maybethey’dhaveaplantogethimout of this mess.Unfortunately, as much asthatwaswhatFenthepersonwanted, itwouldn’t be in thebest interests of the pack—

and that was what Fen theAlpha had to do. He had toprotect the pack by leadingthemonapaththatwouldbebest for them, not best forhim.

The forest around themwas silent except for thesounds of birds and smallanimals.Therewerenosignsyet that the Berserkers oranyoneelsewascomingaftertheRaiders.Thatdidn’tmake

Fenrelax:he’dbeenwiththeheroes long enough to knowthattheycouldmovesilently.Thorsen could have alreadyretrieved the others. Theycould be ready to attack atanymoment.

“Move it,” Fen snarled atthe Raiders. “And youtwo”—he pointed at two ofthe Raiders whose names hedidn’tknow—“carryhim.Hecan’thopall thewaybackto

camp on a busted leg.” HegesturedatHattie.“Youlead.I’lltaketheback.”

In someways, itwas justlike being with Matt andLaurie: someone had to takefirst and last position, thevulnerable needed help, anddanger was everywhere. Thedifferencewasthatthedangerwas now because of hisfriends instead of to them,and Fen had to protect those

whowere inhispack insteadof protectinghis friends.Fenhuffed in frustration, but hekepthiswordstohimself.

After the other Raidersstartedtowardcamp,Fenshotone last look in the directionthatwouldleadtohiscousin.Ashewalkedaway from theheroes’ camp, he tried not tothink about the look ofbetrayal he saw on Matt’sface. He and Matt hadn’t

always been close, but goingto Hel, escaping a river ofdead people, and fightingmonsters created a sort offriendship. Now they’d allhate Fen. He couldn’texplain, and they’d allremember his earliermistakes: keeping his ties tothe Raiders a secret andstealing the shield and lyingaboutit.

They’llprobablybelieve I

wasatraitorallalong.Fenreallydidn’twant the

world to end, but he wasn’tsure if Matt and the otherswould believe that now.They’d already discoveredthat some of the mythsseemed impossible to avoid.In the myths, Loki led theenemy. Hewas the onewhofreed monsters and broughtthem into battle against thegods. Since this whole crazy

descendants-of-dead-godsbusinesshadstarted,Fenhadfearedturningevilbecausehewas the representative ofLoki.

Whenhe’d foundout thatLaurie was the god’schampioninsteadofhim,Fenhad been relieved anddisappointed. He figured hewould go into the upcomingbattle to help the realLoki’schampion and keep Thor’s

championsafer.He’dthoughthewouldfightatLaurie’sandMatt’s side, but now… nowhewasconfused.

Loki’s champion wasfighting on the side of good,whereFenwanted tobe, andhewastrickedandtrappedontheotherside.Wasitbecausethe myths said Loki led themonsters and Loki’s realrepresentativewasn’tgoingtodo that? Were there two

champions,oneforeachside?Or was Fen just supremelyunlucky?Tryingtofigureoutthe line between what couldandcouldn’tbechangedfromtheoldmythswasthesortofthing that he counted onLaurieandMatttoexplain.

HeledtheRaiderstotheircamp, still thinking abouteverything that had changedliterally overnight and howmuchhe’dlostasaresult.

“Hewas right there,” oneof the Raiders said as hetransformed into humanshape.“Wehadachance,andthebosssaid—”

“Exactly. I’m the bossnow,” Fen growled at the

boy. “And any advantagewehadtomybeingherewaslostwhentheysawme.”

“You’re our alpha, butyou’re not the big boss,” agirl interjected in a strongvoice.

Fentookacalmingbreath.“Right.MayorThorsengivesus orders. A Thorsen istelling Brekkes what to do,andnoonehasan issuewiththat?”

“You didn’t have aproblem with obeying aThorsen until right now.”Hattie folded her arms andglaredathim.

“Yeah,well, thatThorsenwasn’tsuggestingthatweendthe world, so I think mychoicemadeabitmoresense.Matt wants to do the rightthing, to save theworld, andhis grandfather.…” Fen triedto sound calm, but he was

failing. “Look, I don’t seehowendingtheworldissuchagreatidea.”

“And I don’t see whyyou’re even here,” Hattiemuttered.

“I’dbehappy togo,”Fensnapped. “It’s notmy choicetobehere.”

Hattie glared at him, butunlike in the past, today Fenmetherangryeyesandstareduntil she looked down. He

might be new to the alphaposition, but he’d spent hiswholelifearoundwolves.Hewasn’t going to let herchallenge him and get awaywith it. If he did, the restwould follow, and then he’dhaveanevenworsetimeofit.

The other Raiders whohad been out in the forestshuffledtheirfeetandwaited.He could sense their feelingsas deeply as his own—they

felthisanger radiatingoutatthem, and they weren’t surewhat to do about it. It wasconfusing for them—andhim.

He closed his eyes for amomenttotrytoseparatehisfeelings from theirs. Hedidn’t want his pack to beunhappy. That was instinct.He also didn’t want to fighthis friends or lead his packagainsthisfriends.Nomatter

who won in any fightbetween the two sides rightnow,Fenwouldbemiserable.

“Look. You don’t wantme here, and I don’twant tobehere,”he started.Theyalllooked back at him then.Theirexpressionswereamixof confusion, shock, andsadness. It didn’t makeanything easier. “I like theworld.Yeah, itwouldbe funif therewere less rules about

running in wolf form, and itwould be great to not beconstantly worried aboutThorsensgettingusintroubleforthingswedo.”

Theynodded.“I justdon’t thinktheend

of the world, millions ofpeople dying, and monstersroaming free is better thanwhat we have now.” Hedidn’tknowwhatelsetosay,buthewasn’tgoing to failat

protecting them if he couldhelp it. Instincts made thatimpossible. Cautiously, hesaid,“IknowthattheRaidersarebondedtoworkingforoldman Thorsen, so I’m notgoingtotrytoforceeveryonein our pack to break a bondbiggerthanus.”

“Sowhatareyougoingtodowithus?”aRaidernamedPaulasked.

Thatwasagoodquestion,

and if he were someone else—Matt or Laurie—he’dprobably know. Fen wasn’tlike them. He didn’t have acleverideaorastupidlybraveplan.Allhehadwasthehopethat therewas a solution andhe’dmuddle throughuntilhefound it. Maybe it wasn’t agreat idea to admit that, buthedidn’thaveabetteransweryet.

“I don’t know. Keep you

safe?Trytofigureouthowtokeepyoufromgettingbeatupagain by Matt and theothers?” Fen shrugged. “Ithasn’tevenbeenawholedaysince I got here, so I’m stillfiguringthisout.Atleastgivemeadayortwo.”

He had been thinkingabout it, and he wasn’t surewhat he was supposed to dowiththemall.Theonlythinghe was certain of right now

wasthathewasstillgoingtoprotecthiscousin.Fenlookedaround at the assembledwulfenkind and met eachone’s eyes as he said, “TheonethingIdoknowisthatifanyone touches my cousin,I’llbeatthemmyselfandfeedthemtotheMidgardSerpent.LaurieisaBrekkeandnottobetouched.”

Maybe it was theseriousness in his voice or

maybe itwas justbecausehewasdefendinghisfamily,butthey all smiled or nodded athim. Wulfenkind put familyfirst. He hadn’t tried to, buthe’d proved that he was oneofthemafterall.

“Breakdowncamp.We’removing out tonight,” heordered, and then he walkedaway.

Hedidn’tneedtowatchtoknowthatthewulfenkindhad

startedtoteardowntentsandgather their supplies themoment he turned away.Raider packs were welltrained.Everyoneknewhisorher role, and there was noshirking work. Although heknew that thewhole thieverything that packs lived bywasn’t okay, and he didn’tlikecampingenough towantto live the way they did, hecouldstillrespecttheirskills.

While the rest of themwere getting ready to leave,Fen walked into the tentwhere Skull was nowrecovering. The soft whumpof the tent flap falling shutseemed ominous. Beingclosed in with Skull wasn’tsomethingthathadevergonewell for Fen.He ignored thetwinge of fear, remindinghimself that things weredifferentnow.

“You could have takenmore of the pack with you,”Skullsaid.

“Why?”Fenasked, tryingnot to cringe at the sight ofthebruisesalloverSkull.Hedidn’t like the older boy,never had, never would, buthe still felt a flashofguilt atthe ugly red and purplemarks. He’d done that, beatSkull up. It had been in afight that Skull started and

Fen couldn’t escape, but hestill felt bad at seeing theproofofhisanger.

“If the others were withyou, you could all havefollowed Thorsen to camp,”Skullsaid.

“Ialreadyknowwherethecamp is. I was staying thereuntil you forcedme into thismess.” Fen smotheredanother ugly word at therealization that his stuff was

still at the camp with Laurieand the rest of thedescendants of the North. Itwasn’t like he had a lot ofthings, but hisAuntHelen—the god who ruled Hel, theland of the dead—had givenhim a great bag that seemedto offer whatever he needed.Food, clothes, toothbrush:they just magically appearedwhenhe opened the bag.Allofthekidswho’dbeentoHel

gotone,andhiswasincampwith them.He hadn’t carriedit when he’d left them, notexpecting that he’d neverreturn.

He shoved that thoughtaway quickly. He’d lost toomuch. Matt had never beensomeone he’d even tried totolerate, but after fightingmonsters together, they’dbecome friends. Baldwin, onthe other hand, who was the

god Balder’s representative,was someoneFen liked fromthe moment they’d met. Theworst, though, was Laurie.She was his best friend, hispartnerinsomanyridiculousadventures, andnowshewascompletely forbidden to him.Instead,FenwasleftwiththeRaiders, none of whom helikedatall,especiallytheoneglaringathim.

“Well, ifyouknewwhere

their camp was, youshould’ve taken theadvantage!” Skull snapped,and then immediatelyfrowned and added, “That’smy advice. As your second,that’smyadvice.”

Clearly, Skull wasn’tadjusting to being second incommandanybetterthanFenwasadjusting tobeingalpha.Theybothhatedit.Theywerealso both stuck. Fen had to

makethebestofit.“We… the kids in that

camp,Imean,justdefeatedahost of draugrs,” he said. “Asmall group of Raiderswouldn’t be able to takethem, especially since Matthashishammer.Hesmashedsomeone’slegwithitalready.Retreatingwas the right plantoday.” Fen flopped to theground and stared at thebruised boy. “I hate you, by

the way. I was happy there.This alpha business is nogood.”

Skull looked confused.“You’re inchargehere.Howisthatbad?”

“Seriously? I’m in chargeof abunchofkidswhoobeyMayor Thorsen in his crazyquesttoendtheworld.”

“But after the great fight,we’ll be rulers of a newworld.” Skull grinned,which

looked pretty disturbingwithhis swolleneyeandbloodiedlip.

Fen couldn’t understandhow anyone believed themayor would treat themfairly. Aside from thecenturies of bad bloodbetween Brekkes andThorsens, there was the factthat he was okay sentencinghis own grandson to die.Nothingabout themanmade

Fenthinkhecouldbetrusted,but Skull and the othersobviously bought all his liesabouttheirroleinthefuture.

ThatmeantthatFenhadtobecarefulintryingtoexplainthings to Skull. What heneededwasanally, someoneto help him plan. Even ifSkull couldn’t see thatwillingly letting billions ofpeople die was the wrongthing todo,hemightbeable

to grasp that trusting themayorwasabadidea.

“Wewon’truleanything,”Fen said. “We’ll be the oneswhoenforcethelawsthatoldmanThorsenwantsusto.It’slike inchesswhereyouhavea bunch of pieces you throwawaytopositionthekingandqueen.Thosepiecesareus.”

“Thosearecalledpawns.”“Right, pawns,” Fen

agreed.Heknew that, buthe

needed Skull to make theconnection.He didn’t have aproper plan yet, but he wasworking on the start of one.Stepone:gettheRaiderswithinfluence on his side. Hattiedid whatever Skull said, andtherestof thepackwasusedtofollowingSkull,soifSkullsided with Fen, maybe therewasachancetogetoutofthehurtle-toward-doom plan theRaiderswereonrightnow.

“Maybe at the end, we’llbeat Thorsen, too.” Skullfoldedhisarmsoverhischestand promptly grimaced inpain.Hekept them foldedasheadded,“We’renotpawns,man. You just don’tunderstand.”

“Right. It’s me thatdoesn’t understand,” Fenmuttered.Hedecidedtotrytochannel Matt Thorsen for aminute. Maybe Skull would

do better with a differenttactic.WhatwouldMattsay?Fen figured it would besomething about teamwork,so he suggested, “Just thinkaboutit,okay?Ifwe’regoingtowork together,we need totrusteachotherandstuff.”

“I don’t trust you, and Iknow you don’t trust me.”Skull grinned again. “You’llsee, though.It’llbeawesomewhenwewin.Theskywillgo

dark,theserpentwillrise,themonsterswillcomefromHelto fight on our side, and thenew world will begin. We’llbelikekings,protectedbytheMidgardSerpent.”

Fen decided not to pointout that Aunt Helen hadalreadythrownherlotinwithLaurie, so her monstersweren’t going to be fightingonthesideoftheRaiders.Healsodidn’t pointout toSkull

that Matt already had thehammerandshieldhe’dneedto defeat the serpent. Therewas no way he could trustthat Skull wouldn’t find away to let that informationslip to themayor. Fenmightbeboundbymagic todo theright thing for his pack, butthatdidn’tmeanhewasunderanyobligation tohelpMayorThorsen.

“Just think about it,” Fen

repeated. “Working for themayor and trying to end theworld doesn’t seem like it’llgo well for us… and sinceyou trapped me here, I needto think about what thatmeans. Dying isn’t cool.Trustmeonthat.IwasjustinHel. It’s not where we wanttobe.”

Skull didn’t say anything,but there was no disguisingthecuriosityonhisface.

“Giants, river of acid, acave bear…” Fen started,watching Skull’s expressionof interest grow. “And thatwas just part of it. Hel isintense.”

“Sounds like more funthanhere,”Skullsaid.

Fen laughed. “It wasn’tboring.Weird,butnotboring.Oh, and the rooster. Therewas thisgiantchicken that issome sort of omen of the

start.”Skull nodded this time.

“There are two others yet tocrow.”HestaredupatFen.“Ithought you went to schoolstill. Don’t they teach thatstuff?”

Fen shrugged. “I don’tknow. I’mnot alwaysbigonpaying attention to the mythstuff. How was I to knowRagnarök would reallyhappen?”

Theyweresilentforafewmoments,andthenSkullsaid,“MaybetheotherswouldliketohearaboutHel,too.”

There itwas: the openingFen needed. Skull might nottrusthim,buthewascurious.There weren’t a lot oflibraries that were out in themiddleoftheforest,andtherecertainly weren’t anytelevisionsormovie theaters.That meant that Raiders told

storiesaroundthecampfires.“Sounds good,” Fen said.

“I’ll tell youwhat happened,and you can tell me themyths.”

Skull nodded, and Fenhoped that this was the startof enough trust that theycould eventually worktogether to get out ofMayorThorsen’spro-Ragnarökplan.

THREE

LAURIE

“SACRIFICING

FEN”

Lauriewasamess.Theonlythingkeepingherfromfallingapart rightnowwasknowingFen as well as she did. Hercousin was moody, sodisappearing wasn’t entirelyunusual for him. He hadn’tdone it on their trip so far—other than when Baldwin

died. Maybe this was likethat, a grief thing. Maybesomething had happenedduring the battle that upsethim. Maybe he realized thathewasupsetaboutnotbeingthe champion after all. Thatdidn’tmeanthatheshould’vestayed away from camp allnight. She’d be angry withhim when he came back…rightaftershehuggedhim.

“Youbetterbesafe,Fenrir

Brekke!”shemutteredasshestared out into the trees thatsurrounded the campgroundwhere they were staying.“Please,” she added in asmall, whispered prayer toanyone who might be outtherelisteningorwatching.

That was the weird thingabout myths being true-ish.Sometimes therewerepeopleout there paying attention tothem. Okay, not people,

really.TherewereValkyries,warriorwomenstraightoutofthemyths;herAuntHelen,adaughter of a long-dead godand ruler of Hel; andprobably a bunch of otherbeings. There were Norns,who were like some sort ofFate beings, and monsters…far, far too many monsterswereoutthereandreal.

When Laurie heard thewolves’ howls in the forest,

she’d shivered. She wasn’tsure how to tell Fen’s howlfrom others, so she wasn’tsure if he was one of thewolves,butshecouldtellthatthere were multiple wolves.Thatmeantthatevenifoneofthe howls was Fen’s, theotherswereeitherRaiders’ornatural wolves’. SouthDakota didn’t have so manywolves that they were acommonsight,but theywere

wild and free in the state.Somepeoplethoughtofthemas predators that should bekilled, butLaurie didn’t. Shereally didn’t agree with thatnow that she knew that herfather,hercousin,andalotofher family could transforminto wolves. The idea ofanyone hunting her familywashorrible.

“Where are you, Fen?”shemutteredasshehoppedto

herfeetandstartedpacing.She was trying to stay

inside thecampgroundwherethey’d settled temporarily. Itwasn’t a bad spot. Theseemingly desertedcampgroundstillhadrunningwater,buttherewerenoRVsor tents in sight. The onlypeople there were the onesshe’dfoughtalongside.

But right now theyweren’tatherside.BothFen

and Matt had taken off.AccordingtoRay,Reynahadtaken a walk with Matt. Noone knew where Fen was.He’dcomebacktocampwitheveryoneaftertheirfightwiththedraugrs,buthe’dvanishedright after that. Laurie wasalready worried—and thatwas before she’d heard thehowlsthismorning.Nowshewasbeyondworried.

“This is ridiculous. I’m

going after them,” sheannouncedagain.

“I think you should stayhere,” Owen said, just as hehad said severalminutes agowhen she made the samesuggestion.

“Fen’soutthere!MattandReynawere together at least.Fen’s by himself, and nowthere are wolves howling.”Laurie grabbedher bow.Shedidn’t need to grab arrows,

because the weapon, a giftfrom Helen, fired ghostarrows. She never needed tofind more, never needed tonock an arrow. They simplyappearedwhenshefired.

Baldwin walked over tojoinher.“I’mcoming,too.”

Owen pressed his lipstogether and glanced at theforest. “I don’t know thepossibilities. Not seeing thefuture now that I’m involved

in it is… confusing. I’m notsurewhattodo.Idon’tknowif things changed from whatwastohappennextor—”

“What things?” Laurieasked. “Things with Fen?You knew he was in dangeranddidn’ttellme?”

“Some things have tohappen,” Owen said gently.“There are so many possibleways that the future willunravel.Mostofthemleadto

Ragnarök crushing us, sowehave to make sacrifices nowtohaveabetterthen.Fenhasaroletoplay.Wealldo.”

“Fen isn’t the ChampionofLoki.”

“I know. You are, andheroesmustmakesacrifices.”Owentouchedtheedgeoftheeyepatchhenowwore.He’dlost an eye, as the god Odinhadinthemyths.

“I’mnot sacrificingFen.”

SheshookherheadatOwen.Shelikedhim;sometimesshethought she might like likehim,buthisseeing-the-futurething made her as angry asFen’s and Matt’s insistencethatshestayoutofthebattleswhen possible. As calmly asshe could, she said, “Owen,you and the Berserkers canstay here. I’m going to findmy cousin.” She turned toBaldwin and added, “Let’s

go.”Theyhadn’tgonefarfrom

thecamp,justbarelywalkingintotheshadowsofthetrees,when Matt and Reyna camerunning out of the woods.Laurie raised her bow andlookedforthethreat,buttheydidn’tseemtohavepursuers.

“Camp.” Reyna grabbedLaurie’sarm.“Comeon.”

Laurie started to object.“But—”

“We need to get out ofhere,”Mattinterrupted.

Laurie froze. There wassomething in his voice thatscared her. It was the soundthatsherecognizedfromtheirbattles with trolls, mara, andassorted monsters. Shelooked to the woods again.There weren’t any morewolveshowling, and she stillsawnothreats.Still,alookatMatt erased any doubt she’d

had that the earlier howlswere from Raiders. Therewere enemies near camp,enemies who were hiddenamong the trees somewhere,and her cousinwas out therealone.

“Fine, but I need to findFen first,” Laurie objected.“I’m not leaving him to faceRaidersalone.”

“No. We need to go.”Matt motioned Baldwin

towardhim.Baldwin obeyed. His

movement put the two boysbetween the woods and thegirls.

“Fenis innodangerfromtheRaiders,”Mattadded.

“We are, though,” Reynasaid.“Wereallyare.”

“Trust me, Laurie,” Mattsaidsoftly.

She did trust Matt. Shehad to trust him if theywere

goingtostopRagnarök.Rightnow, though, she didn’t likethe results of trusting Matt.Reluctantly, Laurie turnedandwalkedtheshortdistancebacktocamp.

As the four of themreenteredthecampsite,Owenand Ray came toward theminstantly. The Berserkerswere still being their usualselves, flipping and leapingaboutlikehyperacrobats,but

they were all very aware ofOwen,too.Awordfromhimwasalltheyneededtoswitchfrom bored gymnasts to hisattentivesoldiers.

Laurie saw Reyna andRayexchangealookthatwassimilar to ones she and Fenhadsharedforyears;itwasalook that said I’m okay, andI’ll tell you everything soon.It made her miss her cousin

even more than she alreadydid.

“Raiders,” Matt said, buthe looked pained. “We needto move out. They can findourcamp.”

“How would they findus?”Laurie asked. “Did theyfollowyou?”

Matt glanced at her butdidn’t reply. Her twinge ofworry grew into a full-outpanic as she saw a flash of

sympathy on his face. Overthe past week, they’d foughtthe dead, trolls, mara—andthe nightmares the maracaused—aswell as towering,two-headed, flaming Jotunn.They’d faced the police andwere captured by a tracker.They’d escaped stampedingbuffalo,deadVikings,andanactualcavebear.TheRaiderssimply weren’t as scary astheyhadbeenonthefirstday

the kids had left Blackwell.So why did Matt look soupset now? Laurie looked athis hand. Mjölnir was there;hehadn’tlostthehammer.

“Laurie, can I talk to youalone for a minute?” Mattfinallysaid.

Briefly, Reyna metLaurie’s eyes and thenofferedasadsmile.Thatwasworse still. Whatever hadhappened with the Raiders

musthavehadtodowithFen.Matt had said he wasn’t indanger from theRaiders, butwhatever had happened toFenwastheonlyreasonwhyMatt would want to talk toheralonewhileReynalookedsosympathetic.

Laurie nodded. Shecouldn’tspeak.Herthroatfeltlikeitwasclosedoff.Visionsof Fen being killed—asBaldwinhadbeen—madeher

shiver. He’d almost beenchoked by a troll last week.Matt had nearly drowned afew days ago. Saving theworldwasdangerous.

Owen came to standbeside her and whispered,“I’msorry.”

“Is he… dead?” Laurieblurted,hervoicecrackingasshespoke.“DidtheykillFenorgethimarrestedor—”

“He’s fine,” Matt

interrupted.“He’snothere, though. If

he were fine, he’d be here.”SheglancedpastMatttowardthe forest. No wolf or boycame running into camp.“He’s not hurt, and he’s nothere, and you look like it’sbadnews,and—”

“Everyone, give us aminute.”Mattwalked towardLaurie and motioned to oneofthebatteredpicnictablesat

thecampground.Laurie felt like shemight

be sick. He wanted to sitdown to talk. Thatwaswhatgrown-ups did when theywanted to tellyou somethingawful. Every time her fatherwasgoingtoleaveagain,herparents sat her and her littlebrother down to tell them. Itwas stupid. Sitting down totalkdidn’tmakethenewslesshorrible.

Mattsatandstaredather,but he didn’t say anything.Helookedasupsetasshefelt.Itwasn’thelpingheratall.

“Justtellme.”“Fen was with the

Raiders,”hesaid.“Soweneed to figureout

a rescue? Okay. We can dothat.” She laughed. “Youscared me. I thought it wassomethingreallyb—”

“It is bad,” Matt

interrupted. “He isn’t aprisoner.”

Laurieshookherhead,notunderstanding. “So he’shiding from them, and weneedtogettohimbeforetheysee—?”

“No.” Matt rubbed hisface. “Reyna and I werebeing followed by two ofthem, and then Fen showedupwithmore.”

“Thatdoesn’tmakesense.

If they saw him, they’d takehimprisonerorsomething.”

Matt looked sad as hesaid,“Fenwastheonegivingthem orders. They wereobeyingFen,Laurie.”

“No.” She stood andfolded her arms. “Maybe itwas one of our cousins yousaw. A lot of Brekkes lookalike,and—”

“It was Fen.” Matt stoodand stepped closer to her. “I

saw his face, and… it’s Fen,Laurie. Fen is working withtheRaiders.Ican’tbelievehewasaspyallalong,somaybenotbeingtheChamp—”

“No. That doesn’t makeany sense.” She shook herhead. “He’smy cousin.He’sFen. I’m going after him.He’llexplain.”

“You can’t.”Matt movedin front of her, blocking herpath. “Thewoods are full of

Raiders.Fenordered them toretreat to him, and theyobeyed him. Maybe we cantalk to the Valkyries orsomething.Wecan’tgoafterhim,though,and”—hetookadeep breath—“and you can’tgoonyourown.Wehave tofocus on stopping Ragnarök.Fen’s not the Champion ofLoki.You are, and you needtostaywithus.”

After a moment, Laurie

turned her back onMatt andwalked away. There wasnothing else she could thinkof to do. What Matt saiddidn’t make sense, but hewasn’t lying. She knew hewouldn’t lie to her. Shetrusted him as much as shetrustedFen.

Andthatwastheproblem.She trusted Fen. He wasimpulsiveanddid things thatwere bad ideas on a regular

basis, but he was a goodperson. She knew that assurely as she knew thatMattwas determined to stop theworldfromending.

Matt had to be wrongsomehow.Hehadtobe.

She shoved Fen’s packinto her own, and as themagical bags did witheverything—including largeritemslikesleepingbags—herbag sucked his inside as if a

powerful vacuum werehidden in there. Lauriepaused. Fen wouldn’t haveleft this behind if he’d beenplanning on leaving. It wasone more small thing thatmade her sure Matt wassomehowwrong.

She knewFen better thananyone. This whole businessofhimbeingonthedarksidewas a mistake, and she wasgoing to figure out how and

why. The only otherpossibilitywasthathe’dbeenon the enemy’s side thewhole time, been a spy forthem,andshecouldn’tacceptthat. If he had, he would’vetoldher.

“Sorry,” Baldwinmurmured as they left thecamp.

Lauriedidn’treply.Thegroupwalkedthrough

thewoods in a kind of quiet

thatremindedherofwhatit’dfelt like when Baldwin haddied.Everythingfelthopelessright now—at least to her itdid.Maybe that wasn’t whateveryoneelsewasfeeling,butFenwastheonepersoninherlife she’d counted on for aslong as she could remember.He’d never let her down.He’d never broken hispromises to her. It wasn’twhatFendid.

“It has to be a mistake,”she said after several quietminutes.

“I saw him, Laurie. Hewas the one giving themorders,”Mattrepeated.

“It doesn’t make sense,though. He fought againstthemyesterday.He’s been atour side through severalfights. Your grandfatheralmosthadhimarrested.WhywouldhebeorderingRaiders

around? Why would theylisten?”

“Raiders only listen totheir alpha or to someonetheir alpha tells them toobey,”Oweninterjected.

She didn’t want to hearanything Owen said rightnow.He hadn’t evenwantedher togoafterFen.AsfarasLaurie was concerned, hecould keep his mouth closedand stay away from her.

Laurieshothimaquickglareandsaid,“Unlessyouwanttotell me what sacrifice youwere talking about earlier,youcankeepoutofit.”

Silently, Owen walkedbacktokeeppacewithoneofthe Berserkers. His tworavensswoopedinandlandedonhisshoulders.Theycawedin his ears, probably tellinghimmore thingshewouldn’tshare. She glared at him and

hisbirds.“Skull,” Matt said,

interrupting the tensesilence.“I didn’t see him there.He’stheiralpha.”

“Maybe it’s a differentgroup of Raiders,” Baldwinoffered.

Matt was quiet for aminute,andthenheshookhishead. “No. That girl wasthere, and the kid we heldprisoner before was there,

too. They’re usually withSkull.”

Tears blurred Laurie’seyes. This was wrong. Shewasn’t sure how orwhy, butit didn’tmakeany sense thatFen would turn against her.He didn’t want the world toendanymorethantherestofthemdid,andhehatedMayorThorsen.

“Maybehedidn’t likenotbeing the real Champion of

Loki,”Rayoffered.“Or maybe he was their

spyallalong,”Reynasaid.TheglareLaurieturnedon

her had Ray stepping closerto his twin and Baldwinpatting Laurie’s shoulder.“You don’t know him,”Laurie snapped. “He’s notlikethat.”

Reyna tilted her chin upand said, “He was in theforest with the same Raiders

whofoughtus.”“If he was a traitor or a

spy, he would’ve taken mewith him.” Laurie smiled,pleased that she hadirrefutable proof to back upher instincts. Of course shetrusted him, but now sheknewhewasn’ta traitor.Hercousin was foolish, and hehadalousytemper,andyeah,he seemed a bit down aboutnot being Loki’s champion,

butshewashiswholefamily.Ifhe’dmeanttojointheotherside all along, he’d have atleast invited her to go withhim.Shewouldn’thavegone,butFenhadtalkedherintosomany bad ideas throughouttheir lives that she knew hewould’ve tried to persuadeher to join the enemy teamwithhim.Fenwas in troublesomehow.Thiswasproof.

Laurie waved a hand

betweenReynaandRay.“Doyou trust your brother? If hedid something that seemedreally stupid, would youforget everything you knewabouthim?”

“Well, no, but—” Reynastarted.

“That’smeandFen.He’slike my brother. There’s anexplanation. I don’t knowwhat it is, but I know hewasn’t a spy for them or a

traitor.”“He was supposed to

deliver Matt to them,”Baldwin said quietly. AtLaurie’sglare,hehelduphishands and added, “I’m justremindingyou.”

Laurie’s shouldersslumped.“Iknow.”

Owencameuptostandathersideagainandannounced,“We need to go to RapidCity.” His ravens were still

perchedonhisshoulders.Oneof them was watching her,and the other was leaningclose to Owen’s ear, cawingquietly. Owen nodded. “Weareneededthere,andanswerswillbewaiting.”

“Answers?” Laurieprompted.“AboutFen?”

The ravens both tookflightatherwords,andOwenshook his head. “Answers.The battle will come soon,

Laurie.Fen’sdefectionisoneof many steps leading toRagnarök.Hewentwhereheneededtobe.”

“Bull!” She turned herbackonhimandwipedawaytearsofanger.

Theotherssaidnothing.“Let’s move out,” Matt

saidafteramoment.In silence, theywalked in

thegeneraldirectionofRapidCity.Everyoneseemedlostin

their own thoughts.Matt andReyna spoke quietly, andBaldwin made occasionalobservations.

They had reached aclearing in the woods, whenBaldwin’s voice dreweveryone’s attention. “Hey,guys?”

“Whatnow?”Rayasked.“It’sstillthemiddleofthe

day,right?”Baldwinaskedina weird voice. “We weren’t

walking for hours oranything?”

“Right,” Matt said in avoicethatsoundedasstrainedasBaldwin’s.

“So why is the sky likethat?” Baldwin pointed towhere they were all alreadystaring.Itwaslikeaninkspillspreading slowing over theskytowardthem.

Owen announcedsolemnly, “The wolves have

eatenthesunandmoon.”Laurie and Baldwin both

turned to stare atOwen. Thetwins did the same. OnlyMatt looked unsurprised byOwen’swords.

“Wolves can’t eat solarobjects,” Ray said, his gazealready returning to thegrowing darkness. “That’snotphysicallypossible.”

The Berserkers, who hadbeen following the kids and

keeping a perimeter of sorts,moved closer to thedescendants of the North.Most of the Berserkers werestaring at the sky, but somewere scanning the area foranythreats.Owen’stroupeofacrobatic fighters wasn’tspeaking or doing anything.They simply guarded thegroup, followingalong likeatraveling circus in search oftrouble.

Laurieopenedherbagandpulled out flashlights foreveryone. She passed themout, and then she steppedclosertoMattandwhispered,“We’relosing,aren’twe?Nomatterwhatwedo,we’renotstoppingRagnarök.”

“Wrong!” Matt saidfirmly. “We are not losing.We’llfindaway.”

Shenodded.She’dlostherbest friend, and the sky was

turning black. It wasn’tlookingveryhopefulatall.

“Come on,” Matt said.“ToRapidCity.”

And they followed him.No one voiced doubts, butLauriesuspectedthatherownfears were matched by otheruncertaintiesintherestofthedescendantsof theNorth.Nomatter what they did,Ragnarök was coming. Theywere fighting fate, trying to

stop a cataclysmic event thathad been foretold formillennia. It was absurd tothink they could actuallysucceed.

FOUR

MATT

“BLACKOUT”

They’d been walkingthrough the Black Hills forhours, hopefully headingtowardRapidCity.Finally,astheycrestedaridge,Mattsawtheglowofatownbelow.Hesquinted into the darknessand spotted the landmarkhe’dbeensearchingfor.

Hepointed.“There’s—”“Ooh! I see it!” Baldwin

said.“Thefloatingface.”

It was indeed a face,carved in the side of amountain. The Crazy HorseMemorial.Itwassupposedtobe a hugemonument, carvedinto Thunderhead Mountain,showing Crazy Horse on hissteed. Seventy years afterconstruction began, it wasstill just a face in amountainside.Therewas lotsof controversy surroundingthe memorial, but what

matterednowwasthat it toldhimexactlywheretheywere.

“RapidCity,”hesaidwithaflourishatthelightsbelow.

“Wealwaysstoppedthereon the way home fromcamping,” Baldwin said.“There’s this great ice-creamstand just off the highway.But I guess we aren’t goingforicecream,arewe?”

“Probably not,” Ray said.“Unless it’s being served by

monsters.”“That could be cool,”

Baldwin said. “An ice-creamfight. Like a snowball fight,with fifty flavors of snow.Good, safe fun. No one everdiedfromicecream.”

“Unlesstheydrownedyouin a giant vat of it,” Reynasaid.“Or forcedyou toeat ituntilyouchoked.Or—”

“You’renofunatall,youknowthat?”Baldwinsaid.

“Depends on yourdefinition of fun. Besides,unlessthere’smistletoeintheicecream,you’dbeperfectlyfine.” Baldwin was adescendant of Balder, so theonlythingthatcouldkillhimwas mistletoe. And it had,until they rescued him fromHel.

Reyna and Baldwin wentonbantering like thatas theywalked,withRay chiming in

whenhecouldkeepup.Mattstayed quiet and kept themmovingtowardRapidCity.

Even without seeing theCrazyHorseMemorial,Mattwould have known wherethey were as soon as theycrested the next rise. RapidCity had around seventythousand people, making itthesecond-biggestcityinthestate. He looked at thesprawling glow stretching

from—The lights went out. All

thelights.Likesomeonehitaswitch. Matt blinked hard,rubbinghiseyes.

“Did that city just…?”Raybegan.

“Go poof?” Reyna said.“Lookslikeit.Massivepowerfailure. Meaning we’ve lostour compass, so get yourbearingsnow.”

Shesaiditsocalmly.The

lights are off. No big deal.Butshewasright.Theremustbe a logical explanation.Thecity hadn’t been swallowedinto a giant sinkhole as theMidgard Serpent brokethrough the crust. If that hadhappened, they’d hear thecollapsing buildings and thescreamingvictimsand—

Matt swallowed andtightenedhisgriponMjölnir.Itwasjustapowerfailure.As

Reyna had said, they shouldcarryonandnotlosesightoftheirdestination.

Butwhentheydrewcloserto Rapid City, they did hearscreams.

“Something’shappening,”Baldwinsaid.

“Um, yeah,” Reyna said.“The sunand themoonhavebeen devoured by giantwolves.”

True. Still, Matt noticed

that, like him, Reyna keptscouringformonstersastheypassed the edges of the city.He could hear people insidethe homes, shouting andarguingastheytriedtofigureout what to do. Ahead, theroadswerefilledwithcarsofthose who’d tried to escapethe city. Angry people,yelling at one anotherbecause the cars weren’tmoving. They weren’t

jammed too tight or stuckbehind a collision. They’djuststopped.

“Um…” Baldwin said.“Does anyone see a problemhere?” He looked at Reyna.“Anddon’t tellme the lightsareoff.”

“The power’s out,” shesaid.

Baldwin rolled his eyes.“Samedifference.”

“Actually, no,”Matt said.

“She means all the power isout. The cars have stopped.Thebatteriesaredead.Whichisn’t simple electricalfailure.”

Helookedoutattheroad,packed with cars and trucksand people shouting,bickering, crying. It was likesomething out of a movie.Thestartoftheapocalypse.

Because that’s exactlywhatitis.

Hisgutclenched.“What could cause it?”

Baldwinasked.“Maybe an

electromagnetic pulse?” Rayoffered.

“Sounds good to me,”Baldwin said. “Well, itwouldn’tbegood…”

“Does it matter what thetechnical explanation is?” Itwas Laurie. The first wordsshe’d said since they started

theirwalk. “It’sRagnarök. Itdoesn’tneedanexplanation.”

As they continuedforward,afigureranfromthedarkness,andMattswunguphis shield and Mjölnir but itwas just a teenage guy. Heracedpast,wild-eyed,asifhedidn’t even see them. Mattwatched him tear down theempty road, running towardmore empty road, not goinganywhere,justrunning.

“Monsters chasing him?”Baldwinwhispered.

“Panic, I think.” Mattwrapped his hand around hisamuletandclosedhiseyesashe tried to pick up thevibration that suggestedotherwise. The amulet lay inhis hand, cold and still. “Nomonstersdetected.”

Evenashesaidit,hefeltatickleatthebackofhisneck,like a little voice sayingAre

you sure? As they keptwalking into the city, heclutchedhisamuletinhisfreehand, and listened for realscreams or shrieks or anysounds of absolute terror orpain. All he heard were thesame shouts of anger andconfusion. Which meant nomonsters.

Doesit?Herubbedthebackofhis

neck.

Owen fell in step besidehim. “Trust your instincts,Matt.”

Mattlookedover.Owengaveaslightsmile.

“I know you wish I’d domore, but you’re handlingthis just fine. You came toRapidCityforareason.Nowyou need to find that reason.Keepfollowingyourgut.”

Matt nodded. He tried tofocus on whatever he was

feeling,butassoonashedid,that weird tingling vanished.When they reached anintersection, instead ofcontinuingon,hestoppedandlooked at all three options,mentallysearchingforasign.He stepped one way. Thenanother.Theyfeltexactlythesame.

“As soon as you tellsomeonetofollowhisgut,hecan’t,” Reyna said to Owen.

“At least not if he alreadyoverthinks every step andagonizesoverhischoices.”

“Idonot,”Mattsaid.Ray nodded slowly, as if

reluctant to be quite so bluntabout it. Matt looked atBaldwin,whosaid,“Maybealittle,sometimes.Butthat’sagood thing.Otherwise,you’dbe like the myth Thor,thundering into battle andgetting us all killed. Well,

getting everyone other thanmekilled.”

“Matt,” Laurie said,gettinghisattention.

He turned to her and shewalked over, lowering hervoice.

“You were walkingstraight, right? So just keepdoing that until your amuletbuzzesoryoureally feel likeyou’regoingthewrongway.”She turned to Owen with a

mock-sternlook.“Andadviceis good, but it needs to bemore concrete than ‘followyourgut.’”

Owen looked confused,but he murmured somethinglikeagreement.

Mattresumedwalking.Atsome point, he turned—hedidn’t even consider hischoices,justfollowedhisfeetas theywentdownonestreetandthenanother.Noneofthe

locals paid any mind, whichseemed perfectly rational,given the circumstances…until he realized he wasstridingdowntheroadwithawoodenshieldonhisback,ahammer in his hand, and agangofkidsfollowinghim.

He slowed and lookedaround. They were on aquieter street, narrow andlined with homes. He couldheararguinginonehouse.At

another, a couple of youngerkids bickered on their lawn.Matt walked toward them.Behindhim,theothersstayedontheroad,allexceptReyna,who dogged his steps,whispering, “What are youdoing?” He ignored her andwalkeduptothekids.

“—and you read mydiary,”thegirlwassaying.“Iknowyoudid!”

Shewasabouttwelve,the

boy a few years younger.They looked likebrotherandsister.

“Hey, guys,” Matt said.“Canyoutellme—?”

“Why would I read yourstupid diary? It’s all aboutboys and feels and TVshows.”

Matt cleared his throat.“Um,guys?”

“How would you knowwhat’s in it if you haven’t

readit?”“Yo!” Reyna said,

stepping between them.“Time out, kiddies.We needtotalktoyou.”

“Idon’tneed to read it toknow what’s in it,” the boysaid. “All the same stupidstuffyoutalkaboutwithyourfriendswhenyou’resupposedtobebabysittingme.”

The boy didn’t leanaround Reyna to yell at his

sister.Hejustkepttalking,asif there weren’t someonestandingbetweenthem.

“Theydon’tseeus,”Mattsaid.“We’reinvisible.”

Reyna took the girl’shand, lifted it, and thendropped it. The girl keptarguing. Reyna tweaked theboy’snose.Noreaction.

“We aren’t just invisible,Matt. They can’t see or feelus.Andthey’refightingabout

everyday stuff… in themiddle of a freakingapocalypse.”

Matt clutched his amulet.Itstillgavehimnoclues,andheletoutahissoffrustration.

“You were walking,” shesaid. “Did you decide tocometalktothesekidsorfeelcompelledtodoit?”

“Iwaswonderingwhynoonewasreactingtous.”

“Okay, so your gut was

still telling you to keepmoving. Ignore this and dothat.”

He started to turn awaywhen he noticed an old manin the window, watching thekids. Matt thought of hisgrandfather. He didn’t wantto—he’d been trying so hardnot to for the last day—butseeing an oldmanbrought itallback.

Granddad betrayed me.

He betrayed us. Our family.Ourtown.

His grandfather wasleading the monsters. Hisgrandfather expectedRagnarök to happen, exactlyasitdidintheoldstories.HeexpectedMatttodie.

Reyna swirled her hand,fog billowing over thechildren. “Whoops, they’regone.Toobad,sosad.Guessyou’ll have to just keep

walking,Matt.”“I wasn’t thinking about

them.Iwasthinking—”“Don’t.Youneedallyour

energy for fighting or you’lldo something stupid like useanaikidopinonawolf.”

“Um, pretty sure you’retheonewho—”

“Nope, you did.” Shewinked at him. “I’verewritten the scene. Youpinnedthewolf.Isavedyour

butt. It was epic. Now, backto the road, or I’ll call theBerserkerstocarryyou.”

When Matt’s amulet beganvibrating—signaling thepresence of actual monstersin Rapid City—it camealmost as a relief. He feltguilty thinking that, but in aweird way, it settled his

nerves.These days,monstersmade sense, far more thananythingelse.

Thebuzzingamuletlithistrail inneon. It lethimknowwhen he was getting closer.LikealittlevoicesayingHot,hotter,cold,hotagain…

It led him to the JourneyMuseum.He’dbeenhereonafield trip last year. He’dthought it was fascinating.Cody and his other friends

had nearly died of boredom.They’d ended up touringmaybe a quarter of it, atMatt’sinsistence,justenoughtocomplete theirassignment.Thenhe’dledthemonaverydifferent kind of tour, oneexploring the areas clearlymarkedDONOTENTER.

“The monsters areinside?” Reyna said as theystopped outside the frontdoors.

Mattstarted tosay I thinkso, then changed to a simple“Yes.”Hisamuletandhisguttold him they were inside.Qualifying that made himlookindecisive.

“I don’t hear screaming,”Ray said. “If it’s anythinglikethatcreatureat thewaterpark, there should bescreaming.”

“Maybethere’snoonelefttoscream,”Reynasaid.

Mattgaveheralook.“What?” she said. “It’s

true. Although, I suppose, ifthemonsterskilledeveryone,theywouldn’tstillbeinthere.Unlessthey’rebusyeating—”Shestoppedherself then,andher pale face turned evenwhiter. “Sorry. There, uh,aren’t any Norse monstersthat…dothat,right?”

Matt thought of Nidhogg—agiantserpentthatgnawed

attherootsoftheworldtree.When Ragnarök came, itwould finally break throughinto theworldand…Well, itwas called “the corpse eater”forareason.

“Maybe the monsters arelockedinsidealone,”Baldwinsaid. “Without any people toeat.”

“The doors are locked,”Ray said. “But I do hearpeople inside. While they

aren’t screaming, they don’texactlysoundhappy.”

Matt could hear a girlpleading. Like she wasbeggingforherlife.

“Ifyouguysaregoingin,someone should stay outhere,”Raysaid.“I’lldoit.”

“What?” Reyna said.“Absolutelynot.”

Matt heaved on the dooras hard as he could. Itwouldn’tbudge.

“Spreadout,”Lauriesaid.“Findanotherentrance—”

Matt pulled Mjölnir backand swung it at the glassdoor.Itshatteredonimpact.

“Or we could do that,”Lauriesaid.

Ray glanced over at him.“Nexttime,couldyougiveussome warning? So we don’tgetslicedanddiced?”

“Glass shatters in theoppositedirectionoftheforce

applied,” Matt said as hestepped through. “So theshardsalllandinside.”

Reynalookedoverathim.“Have some experience withbreakingwindows?”

“No,Ilearneditinscienceclass.Now,watchyourstep.”

Hejumpedovertheglass,thenracedpasttheabandonedticket booths and into themainhall.Thegirlwasthere.She was about his brother

Josh’s age and wore amuseumemployeeuniform.

“Please,” she said.“Please, please, please. Ididn’t mean it. I was just alittle kid. It was amistake. Inever meant for anything tohappentoyou.”

“Um, where’s themonster?” Baldwinwhispered.

Thegirlwaspleadingwiththinair.Tearsstreameddown

her face and shewobbled, asif her knees were about togiveway. BeforeMatt couldgrab her, she screamed andtumbled onto the floor. Helunged to catch her and toldheritwasokay,butshecrab-scuttled away, her eyeswidewith terror as she stared atsomething—or someone—hecouldn’tsee.

“It was a mistake,” shesobbed.“Pleasebelieveme.I

never meant to hurt you. Inevermeanttohurtanyone.”

“It’s mara,” Matt said totheothers.

Helookedaroundsharply,searching for the ugly oldcrones who were thepersonificationofnightmares.The bringers of nightmares,too.They’dencounteredmarabefore at Baldwin’s house,soon after they’d first methim.

That was why the lightshad gone out. So the maracould come and infecteveryone with nightmares.Some people had fled, whileothers argued with theirfamilies or neighbors. Butthose weren’t reallynightmares, just irrationalfear and anger. Realnightmares were like this—thegirltrappedinthedarkestcorners of her mind,

imagining someone she’dhurthadreturnedforrevenge.

“Themaraarehere in themuseum,” he said. “This isthe epicenter. Their powerbroadcasts, so it’s not as badoutside.”

“I didn’t really like themara,” Reyna said. “I’dprefertrolls.”

Matt agreed. Trolls werereal. Big chunks of rock,nearlyimpossibletofight,but

stillsolid.Nightmareswereawholeotherthing.

“We’ve done it before,”he said. “We can handle it.Owen?”

The older boy lookedover.

“Can you send yourBerserkers out to hunt formaraandpeopleintrouble?”

“Ican.”Once Owen had stepped

out to speak to his troops,

Matt said, “Let’s sticktogether, seewhatwecandoto make sure no one getsaffected.”

As Matt walked through anexhibit hall, he marveled athow much more difficulteverythingwasinanear-totallack of light. For one thing,you couldn’t see the

dinosaurs until you smackedinto their leg bones and theskeletonsnearly toppledontoyourhead.Foranother,plansto “stick together” reallydidn’tworkoutsowell.

They’d lost Laurie,Baldwin, and Owen back inthe lobby.When they startedout, he’d considered askingeveryone to hold the shirt ofthe person in front of them.But they’d feel as if hewere

treating them like little kids.Nowhewishedhe’ddone it,nomatterwhat they thought,becauseat somepointbeforethey left the lobby, half their“train” derailed. Once theyreached the paleontologyarea, he’d called a questionback to Laurie and hadn’tgotten an answer. That waswhen he realized she wasgone. Along with Owen andBaldwin.

He couldn’t blame Reynaand Ray, either. They mighthavebeenwalkinginfrontofLaurie, but they’d beenwrapped up in their magic,trying to weaken the marawhen they took manifestedform, changing from smokeintohideousoldwomenwithblackpitsforeyes.

Now,asMattheadedbacktoward the lobby, hewhisperedLaurie’sname.He

didn’t dare call it, for fear itwould bring the mara. Hecould hear the crones’handiwork deeper in themuseum—people jabberingandbeggingandcrying.

“We need to get to them,Matt,”Raysaid.

“I know.” Matt squintedabout,lookingforanysignofthe others. “You guys keepgoing.I’llcatchupassoonas—”

“Uh-uh,” Reyna said.“We’ve seen how the maraoperate. No one goesanywhere alone. But Ray’sright. I think we’re actuallyweakening them this time,and the longerwe’re huntingfor the others, the longer wearen’t stopping themara andhelping those people. Lauriecan handle it.You know shecan.”

He hesitated and then

whispered,“Okay.Fallinlinebehind me. And hold myshirt. I’m not losing anyoneelse.”

Theyweakened a few of themara and freed the peoplethey’dbeenterrorizing.Well,freedmightnotbeexactlytheright word. They’d had toleave the people where they

were, dazed and bewildered,still shaking from theirnightmaresasMatt,Ray,andReyna raced off to help thenextvictims.

Matt kept hoping they’dbump into the others. Whenhecaughtsightofablondgirlup ahead, he took off so fastReyna and Ray had to shoutat him to slow down. As heneared the girl, he knew itwasn’t Laurie. She was too

short. She looked youngerthanthem,maybeseven,withpalehairandbrightblueeyes.Sheworeabluesundressandno shoes, exactly as she hadin Blackwell, when she ledMatt into the communitycenter to overhear hisgrandfather’strueplans.

“Matthew Thorsen,” shesaid.“Youarehere.”

“Friend of yours?”Reynawhispered.

“This is one of theNorns,” Matt said. “It’sPresent. I don’t know…”Helooked at the little girl. “Doyouhaveaname?”

Shesmiledbeatifically, inthat slightly unfocused,surreal way of hers, likesomeone perfectly happy inthemoment,with noworriesaboutthepastorcaresforthefuture. Which made perfectsense,allthingsconsidered.

“Do I need one?” sheasked.

“I guess not.” He lookedaround. “Are your sistershere?”

“Notnow.”“You mean they’re

coming?” Reyna said. “Ortheywerejusthere?”

“Don’t ask that,” Mattwhispered. “She only knowsthepresent.”

“Seriously?”

“That could makeconversation tough,” Raysaid.

“Tell me about it,” Mattmuttered. He turned to theNorn. “I’m hoping you’reherelookingforme.Thatyouhave something to tell me.MaybeaclueaboutwhatI’mtodonext.”

“That would be Future’sdomain.”

Hewinced. “Right.Okay,

um…”“Let me try,” Ray

whispered. “Are you herelookingforMatt?”

The girl smiled. “For allof you. But especially Matt.Heisconfusedabouthispath.Wehavecometoguidehim.”

“Good,” Matt said,exhaling.

“Can you tell him whathe’s supposed to do?” Rayasked. “I mean be doing.

Now.”“He ought to be speaking

toFuture.”“Okay,”Raysaid.“Where

isshe?”“Behindyou.”He turned to see a girl

who looked around hisbrothers’ age, sixteen orseventeen. Shewore a roughskirt, like a Viking woman,and her blond hair was donein tiny braids, piled on her

head.She turnedaroundand,seeinghim,shesmiled.

“Perfect,” Ray said. Heturned quickly to Present.“Now,don’tgoanywhere.Atthis moment, do not moveand continue not movingwhile we speak to both ofyou.Canyoudothat?”

“Ican,Raymond,”Presentsaid.

Ray turned to Future.“Mattneeds toknowwhat todo next. Obviously, we’reheading toRagnarök, butwedon’t know where that is orwhat we need to find beforewegetthere.”

Present answered with,“Youhaveallthatyouneed.”

“Thenwhatwillweneed?Inthefuture.Forthebattle.”

“Nothing more,” Futuresaid. “Except to knowwheretogo.”

“The battleground,” Mattsaid. “So… it’s that close? Ihaven’t heard Gullinkambicrow.”

“When will the roostercrow?”Rayasked,rephrasing

itasaquestionforFuture.“Soon,” she said. “When

you are ready, you will hearthe cock crow and youmustgettothebattlefield.”

“Perfect,” Matt said.“Now where is thebattlefield?”

The two Norns looked ateach other. “We do notknow,”theysaidinunison.

“Because that’s in thepast?”Mattsaid.“No,itcan’t

be.”HeglancedatRay.“You should know,” Ray

said,turningtotheoldergirl.“The battle comes in thefuture, so you must knowwhereitwillbeheld.”

“Idonot.”Panic nestled in Matt’s

gut.“Doesthatmeanthereisno battle?We don’t make itthatfar?”

“Youwill,”Futuresaid.“Wait, does that mean

there’s no battle because weavertit?”

“It cannot be averted. Tofind thebattlefield, youmustfind the one who knows therulesofengagement.”

“And that’s not you.Okay, so who’s in charge ofthebattle?The,uh,refereeorwhatever.”

“That would be us,” theNornssaidinunison.

Mattgroaned.Heglanced

atReyna.“Don’t look at me,” she

said.“I’mmorelostthanyouare.Ray?”

Her brother shook hishead. “Sorry, I don’t get it,either. Let me try, though.”He turned to Future. “Youandyoursistersareinchargeof the battle to come. Is thatcorrect?”

“Yes and no. The ruleshavebeensetsince thedawn

oftime.Pastknowswhattheyare, but she cannot tell you,because that could give youan advantage, and that is notourplace.Ourplaceissimplyto enforce the rules as theyaresetforbothsides.”

“So who knows theserules?”Mattasked.

RaysaidtoPresent,“Whocurrently knows the rules?”ThentoFuture,“Andwillsheexplainthem?Canyoutellus

that?”Future nodded. “We can

tell you this much—look toyour family for answers,Matthew.”

“And by family…” Mattsaidslowly.“Youdon’tmeanmy grandfather, right?Because he’s not going tohelpme.”

“Hemay,andhemaynot.The future has yet to be set,sowecannottellyouwhatis

tocome.”“But the person who

knows,it’safamilymember,but not my grandfather.Right?”

“Your grandfatherknows,”Presentsaid.“Yethedoes not know. Heunderstands the rules, butdoesnotknowthelocationofthebattle.”

“Anyone got an aspirin?”Reynamuttered.

Matt tried again, aspatiently as he could. “Atpresent, though, a ThorsenfamilymemberotherthanmygrandfatherknowsandImayaskhim—orher.”

“Yes.”“Isitmy—?”“That is allwemay say,”

theNornssaidinunison.Andtheydisappeared.

FIVE

LAURIE

“FACINGFEARS”

Losing track of the rest oftheir group didn’t frightenLauriequitethewayitwouldhave before their trip toHel.Shedidn’tlikebeingsplitup,but this wasn’t the first timeshe’d faced themara, so sheknew that everything shouldbeokay.They’dfought thesemonstersbefore,atBaldwin’shouse the night before he’ddied. Unfortunately, it was

scarier without Fen at herside. Everything was scarierwithoutFen.

She hadn’t realized howmuchshecountedonthewaythat Fen andMatt were boththere forher.They’dbecomea team, and she wasn’t surehow to fight the monstersalone—notthatshewastrulyalone. The Berserkers, Matt,and the twins weresomewhere in the museum,

andOwenandBaldwinwerestill at her side. It was onlyFenwhowastrulygone.

“This way,” Owenmuttered as he grabbed herarm and started pulling herthroughthelobbydeeperintotheJourneyMuseum.“Watchfor wolves. They’reeverywhere.”

“Wolves?” She looked athim and saw that he had theglassyeyesofsomeonetrying

not to be swept up in theunreal things he was seeing.“They’re fake, Owen.Whatever you see is fake.Thesearemara.”

He nodded. “TheBerserkers are protectingpeople. I need to protectyou.”

Hiswordsweren’twrong,but they weren’t exactlyright,either.He’dhelpedherlearnhowtouseherbow,and

he’d rescued the twins. Hewasn’t usually the sort ofperson to hover at her sidelike this. Not seeing thefutureanylongerappearedtohavelefttherepresentativeofOdin a little lost. AroundMatt and the others, Owenstill seemed to be trying tosound likehimself.Withher,hewasmore…vulnerable.

“They’ll take my othereye,” he whispered. “They

mighttakeyoureyes,too.Weneed to hide from thewolves.”

“Focus.” She lightlyslappedhischeek. “Focusonme, Owen. There are nowolves. There are onlymarahere. They’re creatingnightmaresfromyourfears.”

“Shhh!ThetwinsarewithMatt, so it’s just us with nomagic to help.”Baldwinwasbeside her then, standing on

her left, so she was betweenthe two boys. Walking threeacross wasn’t a good plan,though. It made them toomuchofatarget.Italsomadethemmore likely to run intoobstacles and meant that shedidn’thaveafreehand.

Laurie linked hands withBaldwin, and then ordered,“We’ll walk in a row. GrabOwen, and don’t let go ofhim.”

“Got him,” Baldwinwhispered.“Leadon.”

She kept her flashlighttuckedunderhershirt todimthelight.Shewantedtokeepthemfrombeingseen,butshecouldn’t totallygowithoutit.Whenthereisnopoweratall,the world gets very dark—especially when the sun andmoon aren’t anywhere to befoundinthesky.Theskywasblack,andthelightswereout.

There was nothing butdarknessinsideandoutside.

Icandothis.Itmight be a lie, but Fen

wasn’t there. Matt wassomewhere else. She didn’thave a lot of options. Shewouldhavetoleadthem.

As if the dark weren’talready terrifying enough,monsters waited in theblackness all around them.Laurie wasn’t certain of it,

but it seemed pretty likelythat mara could see betterwithoutlightthanthehumanscould.Theywerecreaturesofnightmares, and nightmareshappened at night. It onlymade sense that they werestronger in the dark. SoLaurie would get them to asafer place than out here inthe lobby, and they’d figureout what to do from there.Hopefully they could

reconnect with Matt and thetwins.

Laurie led Baldwin andOwen farther into themuseum,but theydidn’t findany of the others.What theyfound were monsters. Sheheard growling only amoment before Baldwinjerkedhertoastop.

“Fen?”Baldwinasked.“Raiders!” Owen stepped

forward so the three of them

were standing in a smallcluster.

Andthere, infrontofher,wasFen.Hehada lanternofsomesort,andhewasonlyafew steps away. She wasrelieved. He was here!They’d all been wrong. Sheknew it! But even as shesmiled, she noticed thatsomething was wrong. Fenwasn’t coming to help her.He wasn’t explaining what

Matt had seen in the forest.Instead, he stood there withSkull and Hattie at his side.Hattie held his hand in hers,andSkullsmirkedatthem.

“Howdoes it feel?”Skullasked.

“What?”Lauriecroaked.“To know that Fen was

workingforusforalmosttwoyears,” Hattie said. “Weknew that Ragnarök wascoming. He’s been our spy.

Heleftyou.”“I would’ve saved you,

butyouaren’tworthsaving.”Fen flashed his teeth atLaurie. “Youdidn’t think I’dcare aboutyouafteryou liedtome,didyou?”

“Ididn’t lie.”She tried tostep forward, but someoneheld on to her arm. Shedropped her flashlight tryingtopull away from thepersonwhohadherarm.

“Youdidn’t tellmeaboutOwen.Youkeptsecretsfromme.”Fenwatchedher.

“I’msorryIdidn’ttellyoueverything, but that doesn’tmeanyoushouldhelp them.”Laurie tried to reach theflashlight, but it hadvanished. The light was stillshining at Fen, who waswalking toward her now. Ashe got closer, she could seethattherewereteethmarksin

his arm. Someone—probablyone of the wolves—hadattacked him. His armswerebleedingnow.

“You don’t understand.You’re not like me.” Fenshookhishead.“Ihopedyouwould be a wolf, too, butyou’renot.That’s reallywhyI had to leave. You won’tsurvive the fight, so I’m notgoingtobothertryingtohelpyou anymore. If you were a

wolf, you could joinme, butonly the wulfenkind willsurvive Ragnarök. You’lldie.” He inclined his headtoward Baldwin and Owen.“Themtoo. Itwasawaste toworry about trying to rescueeither of them when they’regoing to die soon anyhow.You were weak, and youweretryingtomakemeweak,too.”

“No,” she insisted. “You

listen tome,FenrirBrekke. Ididn’tlie,andtheworldisn’tending.Wecanwin.Youcancomebackwithme,andwe’llwin.”

Hattie and Skull laughed.They were laughing so hardthat they seemed to beshaking like theywere readyto fall over. Laurie realizedthat she was shaking, too. Itwasn’t from laughter, butbecause the floor was

vibrating.“Something’swrong,”she

told them all. “Something isverywrong.”

No one listened, though,and the vibrations from thefloor were making it hard tostand. Earthquakes weren’ttypical in South Dakota.Tornadoes were, but thatwouldn’t explain why thefloor in the museum wasrattling.

“Pay attention!” sheyelled.

Skull and Hattie keptlaughing,andFenwasstaringatherinanger.Laurielookedaroundthesurprisinglybrightroom. It seemed strange thatshe could see wheneverything had been so darkonlyafewmomentsago.

Before she could figureoutwhy,Lauriesawthetrollsrunning toward them. Giant

trolls,awholearmyof them,were running so fast that itwouldonlybeamomentuntiltheytrampledtheRaiders.

“Fen!” she screamed.“Lookout!”

But the troll grabbed himin a hand that was alreadyturning to stone—eventhough it was obviously notdawn—andFenwassweptupinto the air. His legs weredangling, kicking at nothing,

and the two Raiders werelaughing. He was beingchoked by a troll, and theRaiderswerelaughing.

“It’s your fault,” Hattiesaid. “You lied to him, andnowhe’sdying.”

“No!” Laurie startedrunning toward her cousin,but in a moment, she wasjerked back by both arms.Fen, the troll, and the twoRaiders all vanished.

Everything went dark again,as if the light she’d seen allaround themhadbeen turnedoff. Suddenly, she wasstanding outside the Lakotatipi in thecenterof the roomwith Baldwin and Owen athersides.

“How… Where… Whathappened to Fen? And thetroll?”Shelookedaroundtheroom. The light that she hadseen by just a moment agowas gone. “The light wentaway—”

“Mara,” Baldwin saidquietly. “Remember?Whatever you saw wasn’treal. No Fen. No light. Notrolls.”

“It was like you wereasleep but standing.” Owennudged her toward the tipi,and as much as she didn’twant to move away fromwhere she thought she’d justseen Fen, she knew that shehad to. Fen wasn’t really

here.Thosewereherfears.Ithad seemed so real, but hercousin wasn’t here. Thewhole thing was a wakingnightmare caused bymonsters.

“I should’veknown that,”shewhispered.

Baldwin hugged her.“You’re worried about him.The mara took advantage ofthat.”

Owen handed her the

flashlight, and the three kidswent inside the tipi. It wasone of her favorite spots inthe museum. Last year, sheand Fen had been here tolisten to a Lakota storyteller.They’d listened to a storyabout Inktomi, the spider.Hewasatricksterandcouldtaketheshapeofamanorawolf.Laurie didn’t know then thatFen was able to change hisshape—or that her father

could, too. Inktomi seemed alot like Loki, their deadancestor,soitwasnosurprisethat Fen loved that story.After the storyteller wasdone, Fen was happy andlaughing, andhe agreedwithLaurie that the Journey wasanawesomemuseum.

“I hope you’re safewherever you are,” shewhispered, letting her handgrazethetipi.Thenshetooka

deepbreathandlookedatthedescendantsoftheNorthwhowere still with her. “Okay.We can move through thenext rooms. If we see anycrazy nightmares, we shakeeachotherfree.OncewefindMatt,wegetoutofhere.Thethreeofuscan’tvanquishthemara,sowe’rejustheretogetany humans free. If therearen’tany,weportalout.”

Theboysnodded,and the

trio went through themuseum, looking for anypeople who were trappedinside the building with themonsters.Inonecornerofthepioneer exhibit, next to acreepy-looking old doll in acase, they found a family,curled up together andshaking.Lauriedidn’twanttoknowifthatdollwasapartoftheir nightmare, but from theway they were staring at it,

she wouldn’t be surprised.BaldwinandOwenpulledthethree people to their feet,shook them free of theirnightmares, and then thesmallgroupkeptmoving.

After a fewminutes, theyfound a museum employeefighting invisible intrudersand rescued him, too. He’dbroken free several rocksfrom thegeologyexhibit andwas using them to beat

invisible enemies. Once hewasfreeofhisnightmares,helooked around with wideeyes.

“You’re okay,” Lauriepromised. “They’re gonenow.”

The man nodded butdidn’t speak. She suspectedthatwaswhatthedescendantshad all looked like the firsttime they fought creaturesthatshouldn’texist.Sheknew

it waswhat she had felt likethe first time she’d seen atroll.

“We’re here to help,”Owensaidcalmly.

“What he said,” Baldwinadded.

It wasn’t much, savingonly a couple people whenthe world outside was inchaos,but it felt good. It feltlike they were doingsomething right, and that

helped. At least, it madeLauriefeelbetter.

When they came acrossthe Berserkers, they handedthe people over to them toescort them out of thebuilding,andtheykeptgoingin search of their missingfriends or more trappedpeople.

“We’re keeping them allin the lobby,” one of theacrobatic fighters said. “And

we’reguardingthem.”Owen murmured

something approving, andthen he and Baldwincontinued following Laurie.There weren’t any othermuseum visitors in the nextfew rooms, so she supposedthat the Berserkers had donetheirpartinrescuingthemall.That only left Matt and thetwins.

“Maybe they’re in the

lobby, too,” Baldwinsuggested when shecommentedontheirabsence.

“TheBerserkerswould’vetoldus,”Owenpointedout.

The three of them keptmoving until they cameacross a theater. Inside, thetwins were finishing somesort of spell. The two kidshad their hands claspedtogether, and Matt stood attheir side—hammer and

shield at the ready—as if heweretheirbodyguard.

As the mara snapped outof existence, back towherevernightmarecreaturesshouldrightlyexist,thetwinsslumped to the floor, lookinglike they were ready to passoutinexhaustion.

“Are you all okay?”Mattasked.

Laurie nodded. “Wegatheredupafewpeople,and

the Berserkers took them tothelobby.You?”

“Tired,”Reynasaid.Raysmiled.“Butsafe.”They stood silently for a

moment before Matt said,“The building’s clear now.It’ll bea safeplace for thosewhoneedit.”

“But not us,” Baldwinadded quickly. “We’re notstayinghere,right?”

Laurie almost laughed at

thelookonhisface.Baldwinwas all for adventure, andeven the scariest monstersdidn’t seem to make himpause for long. His attitudereminded her of Fen.Quickly, she shoved thatthought away. She wasn’tgiving up on her cousin, butshe had to concentrate onrightnow.

“Matt?” Laurie prompted.“What’stheplan?”

“We need to go back toBlackwell,” Matt said. Hequickly summarized hisconversation with the Norns,and added, “If I’m lookingforfamilytotalkto,Ineedtostartthere.”

“I want to check in withmy family to see if they’veheardfromFen,”Lauriesaid.

“Right,” Matt said.“Laurie and I will go toBlackwell,then.”

“Ray and I should come,too,” Reyna said. “I’ll watchMatt’s back and Ray canwatchLaurie’s.”

The truth was that Raywas the last person Lauriewould’ve picked forreinforcement. It was easierwhen Fen was with them.Then, there was never anydoubtastowhohadherback.Raywasn’tabadguy,buthewasn’t a fighter. He seemed

nicebutcontenttostayinthebackground. In essence,Lauriewouldbeonherown.

“Owen and Baldwin, youcanhandlewhateverchaos islefthere,”Mattsaid.

“Sure thing,” Baldwinsaid.

“Actually, the Berserkerscan handle this,” Owenpointed out diplomatically.“Baldwin and I can go withyou.”

“Sure thing,” Baldwinrepeated.

Laurie flashed a gratefulsmileatOwenandtoldMatt,“That would work. Ray andReynacan stay togetherwithyou,Matt, and Baldwin, andOwencancomewithme.”

“Fine,”Mattsaid.“Laurie,can you get us a portal toBlackwell?”

“On it,” Laurie said. Sheturned to Owen and

whispered,“Thankyou.”He nodded, but said

nothing.Then she took a few

calming breaths, trying tofindthepeacethatsheneededin order to open a portal. Itwas like pulling taffy out ofthemiddleofherbodywhenshe started to open adoorway.Therewasaweird,stretching feeling that startedthe moment she located the

energy inside her that wouldthen become an opening inthe air. She clasped herhands, and then she slowlyand steadily pulled themaway from each other. Thetaffy feeling from inside herbody was between herfingers,too,then.Inthespacebetween her hands, the airshimmered like there wassomething almost liquid andshivering in the air. It

widened as she spread herhands farther apart and thensteppedtotheside.

The feeling of opening adoorway was stilluncomfortableeven though itwas floating there now. Sheknew what to expect, so theweirdfeelingofbeing turnedinside out each time she didthis was easier. She stilldidn’t like it, but it was thequickestway to get from the

middle of the darkenedmuseumtotheirhometown.

“Go on,” she urged thefourboysandReyna.

Baldwin dived throughwithoutpause.Thetwinsheldhandsandsteppedinwiththesort of grace thatmade themseem more supernatural thansheeverfelt—evenwhenshehadjustopenedupamagicaldoorway. Owen followed.Then, as soon as Matt went

through, Laurie stepped intotheportal.

“Meet up back at thelongshipinnomorethantwohours,” Matt said once theywere all together inBlackwell, and then he andthetwinsleft.

Laurie was standing withBaldwin and Owen outsidethe Thorsen Community andRecreation Center. The skywas dark here, too, and all

she could hope was thatRaiders or trollswouldn’t beany better at seeing in thedarkthanshewas.

“Follow me,” she toldBaldwin and Owen, andtogether they set out throughthe pitch-black streets of thetown.

SIX

MATT

“BROTHERLY

LOVE”

Back toBlackwell.The lastplaceonearthMattwantedtobe.Insomeways,fightingthefinal battle of Ragnarökseemedeasierthanfacinghisparents.

“So what’s the deal withyour folks?” Reyna asked asthey skirted the edges of

town, heading toward hisneighborhood.

He shrugged and saidnothing.

“Are they okay with theapocalypsething?”

Anothershrug.“She’s not prying, Matt,”

Ray said. “It’ll help if weknow what we’re up againsthere.”

“We’re not up againstanything,” he said. “It’s my

family. I’ll handle it. Youguys are just standing watchincaseoftrouble.”

“Andif thetroublecomesfromthem?”Reynasaid.

“My family would never—”

He stopped.He’d thoughtthe same thing aboutGranddadonce.

“I’ll handle it,” he said.“Whateverhappens.”

“We’ll be right outside,”

Ray said. “If there’s anytrouble,shout.”

After a few more steps,Reyna came up beside him,hervoiceloweredasshesaid,“You don’t need to handlethisalone,Matt.”

“Yep,”hesaid.“Ido.”

Returning to Blackwell wasmuch easier in the dark.

There was electricity here.Whatever themonsters’plan,they clearlyweren’t going toattack the town run by theguyleadingthem.

Therewerestillonlyafewlights.AlltheThorsensknewwhatwashappening,andtheywouldn’t panic and throw onevery light to fend off thedarkness.Thatwasablessingas they crept through yards,Mattmakinghiswayhome.

Home.Hecouldseeitahead.Just

anordinaryhouseona streetof ordinary houses. Insidewashisroom.Withabedandclean clothing and an iPodand a laptop, and all thethingshe’dtakenforgranted.A week ago, he’d havelonged to sneak in, to sleepon a realmattress and take ahot shower and put on cleanclothes.He’dhavefantasized

about going back to school.Yes, school. Where heunderstood what wasexpected of him. Where heknewhe could succeed,withtherighteffort.Wherehewasnormal, like a million otherkids. Not the smartestthirteen-year-oldboy.Notthemost athletic or the mostpopular. But smart enough,athletic enough, and popularenoughthatnoonepickedon

him and some looked up tohim.Agoodlifeforakid.Areally,reallygoodlife.

Now,lookingathishouse,he couldn’t imagine that life.He couldn’t foresee a timewhen he’d be back in hisbedroom, trying to sleep andworrying about the nextsciencefairproject.

IfhedefeatedtheMidgardSerpent,would things justgobacktonormal?Wouldhego

backtonormal?Couldhe?“Is this it?” Reyna asked,

andherealizedhewas inhisneighbor’s yard, perched onthe top of the fence, andstaringathishouse.

“Yep. Not quite likeyours, huh?” He’d seen Rayand Reyna’s house. Youcouldfitfiveofhisinsideit.

“It’svery…”shebegan.“Small?”hesaid.“I was going to say

normal.”He choked back a laugh,

and she glanced over, notgettingthejoke.Heshookhishead and jumped over thefence. As soon as his feettouched ground, he heardReynashoutandsuddenlyhewasn’t touching groundanymore. He was whippingthroughtheair.

Mjölnirfellfromhishandand struck the groundwith a

thump. Matt hit the groundnext,flatonhisface.Hetriedto scramble up, but a footstomped the small of hisback.

The air whooshed fromhis lungs. Ray shouted.Matttwisted to see the twinsrunning toward him. Thenwhoever had him pinnedcaught Ray by the arm,throwing him aside. Reynahad been running to Matt’s

aid, but when she saw herbrother go flying, she toreafterhiminstead.

“Tell your new friends toback off,Matt,” said a voiceabovehim.“Now.”

Itwas a voiceMatt knewverywell.Jake.Hisbrother.

Before all this started,Matt would have said thepersonhegotalongbestwithin his family was Josh, hisother brother. Matt had a

decent enough relationshipwith his parents. They weredisappointedbyhim—alwayshad been—but they lovedhim. Jake, though? Jakebarelytoleratedhim.Tohim,Matt was a screwup. Anembarrassment.

“It’s okay, guys,” Mattsaid.“It’smybrother.”

“I guessed that,” Reynasaid.“AndIdon’tcare.Eitherheletsyouupbythecountof

fiveor—”Jake grabbedMatt by the

collar and lifted him into theair.“Better?”

“Can I hit him now?”Reynaasked.

“Youreallythinkyoucanhurt me, little girl?” Jakepulled himself up to his fullheight, towering head andshouldersaboveReyna.

“Depends on where I hityou.Nowlethim—”

Jake threw Matt to theground, his chin hitting hardenough for him to nip histongue. He winced, his eyestearingupwithpain.Thenheslowlyrose,keepinghisbacktoeveryonesoJakewouldn’tthinkhewascrying.

“Matt?” Reyna said.“RememberwhatIsaidaboutyou needing to be less nice?If this iswhat you’d be like,forget Imentioned it.Nice is

good.”Shewalkedovertohimas

he brushed himself off, hisback still to Jake. Then hisbrother grabbed the shield,yanking it off so fast Mattnearlyfellagain.

“Hey!” Reyna said,wheeling on Jake. “Can youstop being a jerk for twoseconds? I don’t know whatyour problem is, but Mattcameto—”

“Came to what? Stealsomethingelse?”

Matt turned to see Jakeholdingouttheshield.

“I shouldn’t be surprisedyou stole this,” Jake said,“after everything you’vedone, but I still thought youwerebetterthanthis,Matt.”

“No,”Mattsaid,asevenlyas he could. “Whatever youthink I’ve done, I’m prettysure it’s exactly what youexpect. In fact, I’m sureyou’re kind of happy aboutthe whole thing. Now

everyoneelsecanseewhataloserIam.”

Jake’s face screwed up.“What?”

“Never mind. I don’tknowwhatGranddadhastoldyou—”

“Granddadhasn’t toldmeanything.No,strikethat.He’stold us that this isn’twhat itlooks like. That you haven’tditched your responsibilitiesas Thor’s champion, run

awaytohide,andlefttherestofuswatchingtheendoftheworldcomewithoutanywaytostopit.”

“Is that what you think?”Reynasaid.“Seriously?”

“It’s what they expect,”Mattsaid.

“Then they don’t knowyouatall.”

Jake turned to her, shieldstill in hand. “I don’t knowwho you are, but stay out of

this.” He glanced at Matt.“And Idon’tknowwhatyoumeanaboutwhatIexpect,butIexpectedyoutomanupandfacethis.”

“Man up?” Reyna said.“Did you really just saythat?”

Jake ignored her. “Iexpected better of you,Matt.We all did. You might havebeen scared by whatGranddad said, but it was

your responsibility to fight.I’dtakeyourplaceifIcould,but I can’t, soyouneeded toletushelpyouandtrainyou,notsneakoffinthenightlikea scared little boy, hook upwiththesestreetkids—”

“Streetkids?”Reynasaid.“They’re the descendants

ofFreyandFreya,”Mattsaid.“Ididn’trunaway.Ilefttodowhat Iwassupposed todo—gatherthechampions.”

Jake peered over at RayandReyna. “If someone toldyouthosearethedescendantsof the gods of love andbeauty, then you’ve beentricked.Oryouneedglasses.”

“Excuse me?” the twinssaidinunison.

“TheBrekkesgotyouintothis mess, didn’t they,” Jakecontinued.“Iheardyoumighthave joined up with them.They’re the other side, Matt.

Loki leads the monsters.Maybe you thought youcould… I don’t know, flipthem to our team? AvertRagnarök? You’re just a kid—youdon’tunderstandthesethings. The Brekkes wereplaying you all along. Thenthey dumped you with thesetwofake—”

“Does this look fake?”Reyna cut in, swirling fogfromherfingertips.

“No, and it doesn’t looklike the work of a goddess,either.You’reawitch.”

“I’ve heard that before.”She pulled the featheredcloak out of her bag. “Yourbabybrother—whoyouthinkis toodumb to spot fake-godkids—knew what this is. Doyou?”

It took a moment, andMatt could see Jakestruggling, mentally

thumbing through themyths.Then he said, “It looks likeFreya’scloak,but it’sclearlyafake.”

Reyna put it on anddisappeared. “Does it lookfake?” As Jake stood there,staring,shetookitoff,stuffedthe cloakback intoherpack,and strode over to Mjölnir.“How about you come andpick thisup?See if it’s fake,too.”

Jakestoodthere,staringatthehammer,pastscoffingbutuncertainandconfused.

Matt walked over andcarefully lifted Mjölnir,tryingnottobetooconfidentabout it. He knew why Jakedoubtedhim.Mattwasjustakid, and he always messedup, always got into trouble,always made mistakes. EvenifMatthadcometorealizehedidn’t actuallymessupmore

than the average thirteen-year-old—that’s what Jakethought of him. Of courseJake would believe he’d runofforbeentricked.

So he liftedMjölnir, thenthrew it, and everyonewatched in silence as itreturnedtohishand.

“See?”Reyna said. “Matt—”

Matt quieted her with alook. He appreciated that

she’d defended him, but itwasn’t necessary now as hisbrotherstoodthere,staring.

“I…”Jakesaid.“That’s…Youhave…”

“Mjölnir,” Matt saidquietly. “I tookMjölnir fromthe tomb. I took the shieldbackfromtheRaiders.Ievenhave Tanngrisnir andTanngnjóstr, Thor’s goats.I’ve met the Valkyries. I’vefought trolls and mara and

draugrsandjötnar.IamwithLaurie Brekke. She’s Loki’schampion, and she’s on myside. We’ve found the twinsand Baldwin—Balder’sdescendant. Baldwin died,just like in the myths, but itwasoneof themonsterswhodid it, not the Brekkes. Wegot Baldwin back, though.From Hel. I even fell in theriver of the dead, swallowedsome of it, and survived.

We’vechangedthemyth,butRagnarökisstillcoming.I’veseen the Midgard Serpent.Wecan’tstopit.Wecanonlyprepare.”

Jake stared at him.“You…”

“Yes,” Reyna said. “Hedid all of that. He’s the realChampion of Thor. Yourloserlittlebrother.”

Jake blinked. “I neversaid…” He looked at Matt.

“You said that. I’venever…”He trailed off, studyingMatt’s expression. “Is thatwhat you think? Sure, youmake mistakes. But you’rejust a kid. I expect you tomessup.”

“I’mnot just akid,”Mattsaid. “And I don’t mess upnearlyasoftenasyouthinkIdo.”

Jake’s mouth worked.ThenhesteppedtowardMatt,

his voice lowering. “Sure, Imighthavebeenhardonyousometimes. You’re my littlebrother.But…”He lookedatRay and Reyna, andstraightened. “Anyway,enough of that. You’reobviouslyintrouble,andyouneed our help. You nevershould have left.” He liftedhishands.“Iknow,youdon’twantmegivingyoucrap,butin this case, I think you

deserveit.”“Actually, he doesn’t,”

Reynasaid.“There’smoretothestory.”

Matt asked the twins toscoutforafewminutes.Thenhe told Jake about theirgrandfather, about what he’dheard at the meeting and,later, thatGranddadadmittedtoeverything.

WhenMatt finished, Jakelooked like he was going to

be sick. He kept shaking hishead, saying, “No, that’s notright. You’ve made amistake. There’s no wayGranddadwouldever—”

“It’s true,” Ray said,walking over. “Reyna and Iweren’tthere,butotherswerewithMattwhenyourgrandpaadmitted it. Lots of others.There was no question of amisunderstanding. Whateverhis reasons, your grandpa is

leadingthemonsters’side.”“He expected Matt to

lose,” Reyna said as shejoinedthem.“Hewantedhimto lose.”Hervoice shook, asif with anger. “He says it’sfor the best, a new worldorder,butheexpectedMatttodie. That’s what we’re upagainst.That’swhyMatttookoffandwhyhecouldn’tcomeback. For all he knows, youguys—his family—are on

yourgrandfather’sside.”“What?”Jake’seyeswent

wide. He wheeled on Matt.“You didn’t seriously thinkI’ddothat.”

“Not you or Josh. ButmaybeMomandDad—”

“—would be okay withyoudying?Really?”

“If Granddad’s fine withit…” He shrugged. “Icouldn’t rule out thepossibility, could I? It’s not

like I thoughtMomandDadwantedmedead.Butifithadto happen… well, at least itwasn’tyouorJosh.”

Jake stared at him,mouthopen.“Youactuallydidthinkthey’d be okay with youdying.”

“That came out wrong.I’m not feeling sorry formyself.I’mjustsayingthatitwasapossibility.Ithadtobe.Itstillis.”

“No,itisn’t.”Matt looked up, meeting

his brother’s gaze. “Yes. Itis.”

“Matt’s right,” Reynasaid. “Sure, the chance yourparents are involved seemstiny, but it’s still a chance.Maybetheywouldn’tbeokaywith it, but it’s possible theyknow and they’re trying tofigure a way out of it, likeMatt thought your

grandfatherwasdoing.”“I really, really don’t

think they know,” Jake said.“They’re a mess, Matt, andnot because their championhas disappeared—becausetheirkidisgone.”

“Butwehaveto—”“Okay, I get it. We have

to consider all thepossibilities.” He shook hishead. “I can’t believe mylittlebrotheristheonetelling

me tobecareful.ButIgetit.Still, you need to let MomandDadknow—”

“Areyoueven listening?”Reynasaid.

Jaketurnedonher.“Look,youmaybethedescendantofFreya,but I don’t knowyou,and you don’t know myfamily.”

“I know Matt. Not likeyou do, obviously, thoughI’m not sure how well you

knowhimifyouthought—”Matt cut her short with a

look.ThenheturnedtoJake.“I cameback because I needinformation. Something theNornssaymyfamilyknows.”

“Norns? You’ve met…”Jake trailed off, shaking hishead.“Sorry.Goon.”

“Theysaidsomeoneinmyfamily knows where thebattleground is. ForRagnarök. I would have

guessed Granddad, butobviously I can’t ask himnow, and anyway, the Nornssayhedoesn’t—Nevermind.That’sjustconfusing.TypicalNorns. Anyway, they saysomeoneinmyfamilyknows,other than Granddad. I’mguessingDad, but he’s neverexactly been into that stuff.…”

“It’sUnclePete.”“What?”

“YouneedtotalktoUnclePete.InMitchell.”

Matt went quiet. “UnclePete?Ihaven’tseen—”

“—him since you werepracticallyindiapers.Iknow.He had a huge falling-outwith Granddad. I was oldenough to remember it. Notthatitmademuchsenseatthetime—I was just a kid. Butyou’ve heard Dad say howmuch you remind him of his

brother.”“Um, yeah, the screwup

uncle that Granddad won’ttalk about and who wehaven’tseenintenyears.”

Jakemadeaface.“Okay,Ican see where that probablymade things worse, but Daddidn’tmeanitlikethat.UnclePete didn’t screw up. Hedisagreed with Granddad onsome things and got kickedout of Blackwell. Dad isn’t

supposed to talk to him, butheseeshimwheneverhehasanexcusetogooutthatway.Whenhesaysyou’re likehisbrother, yeah, he meansyou’re different, that youdon’t see things the way theotherThorsensdo,butUnclePete is smart—super-smart.And no one knows the oldstories like him. That’s whatDad means. And that’s whyyou need to go talk to him.

The problem is getting toMitchell.”

“We have portals,” Raysaid.

“Por…? I won’t ask. Butif it means we can get thereeasily, that works.” He tookout his cell phone. “I’ll textMom,sayingI’llbebacklatetonightand—”

“You can’t come withme,”Mattsaid.

“Whynot?”

Because I’d rather youdidn’t. Because I’m finallyfeelinglikeachampion,andIcan’t have my big brothertreatingmelikeakid.It’snotabout making me feel bad—it’s about undermining myconfidence when I need itmost.

“You… you should stayhere. Look after Mom andDad.”

Jakeshookhishead.“Not

today.TodayI’mgoingtobea real big brother. I’m goingtolookafteryou.”

SEVEN

LAURIE

“SPILLINGNOT-

SO-SECRETS”

Lauriewasn’t sure how shefelt about being back inBlackwell.Mostly, it justfeltwrong, or maybe it was justtheideaofbeingherewithoutFen that felt wrong. ShetrustedMatt’sinstincts,andifhe thought he needed to seehisfamily,hedid.Thatdidn’t

meanshereallywantedtoseehers. The side of her familythat knew what was reallygoingonwastheenemy.TheBrekkes knew why the skywas dark now. They knewRagnarök was coming. Hermother… well, she probablyjustthoughtLauriewasbeingstupid, following Fen andgettingintotrouble.

She wasn’t actuallywrong. That was the worst

part.Lauriehad followedhercousin, and they had gottenintoabunchoftrouble,butitwas for a good reason. Sheknewhermothercouldneverunderstandthat,though.

With Baldwin and Owenat her sides, Laurie walkedthrough Blackwell. Therewerea fewlightson insomehouses,butpeoplewerebeingcautious. She realized thatwastheThorsens’doing.The

mayor, despite being insaneenough to want the world toend, had at least found somewayofexplainingtothetownthat they had to be cautiouswiththeirresources.

“Creepy,butnotasbadasRapidCity,”Baldwinsaid.

“Yeah,” she agreed in alow voice. “But this town isalso run by the leader of theenemies,so…there’sthat.”

“Okay. I take it back:

BlackwellisjustascreepyasRapid, but in a differentway.”

Owen stayed silent. Hisravenshadappearedwhenthekids entered Blackwell andwere now perched on hisshoulders.Theydidn’tdisturbher as they had initially, butshe still wasn’t a fan of thebirds. Sharp beaks andwicked talons didn’t invitecuddlinginherbook.

Shehopedthatifthebirdshadnonews,Owencouldseewhere Fen was. That washow his seeing worked: hecouldn’t foresee things whenhewasinvolved,butFenwasaway from themnow.Surelythat should mean that Owencould see something thatcould be useful. The othersdidn’t seem to get how itworked, and Laurie thoughtthattheyrespectedhissilence

and listened to him a littlemore when he did speakbecause they thought hecould still see things—ormaybehedid still see thingsthathelpedhimtoknow.

“Iwanttoknowifyouseeanything about Fen,” Laurietold him. It wasn’t quite anorder, but it wasn’t aquestion,either.

Owen simply noddedonce… which could either

meanthatheheardherorthathewasagreeingwithher.Histwo ravens chattered into hisears, speaking to him inwords no one elseunderstood.

Laurie took her bow inhandandturnedherattentionto the potential threats inBlackwell. With the mayorbeing the head of the enemyside, there were plenty ofreasons to suspect that there

would be wolves in town.Maybe he wouldn’t havetrolls ormara or anything soobviously monstrous, but afew wolves wouldn’t benoticed.

Andthat’swhyweneedtosee our families, Lauriethought.IneedtowarnMom.

“So my mother doesn’tknow about any of this,”Laurie told Baldwin andOwen. “My dad’s the…

umm, wolf. He’s a Brekke,andmymom’sjustnormalorwhatever.”

“My parents both seemnormal.” Baldwin frowned.“Not that we aren’t normal.We’re just kids, so that’snormal. Superpowers and allaren’t really common,though.Justus.Okay,andtheenemy has superpowers.…Oh! I wonder if there areother people with god- or

monster-powers,butwedon’tknowthem.”

Laurie smiled at thebabbling that had become asfamiliar to her as Fen’s badattitudeandMatt’soptimism.She looked at Baldwin andtoldhim,“Imissedyouwhenyouweredead.”

“Oh, Iknow.Fensaid…”Baldwin’s words quicklyfaded.“Sorry.”

“It’sokaytosayhisname.

I know he’s not a traitor orspy.You’llallseeit,too.”

Owen sighed. “He iswhere hemust be. Like you,he has a role in the finalbattle. He will be with themonsters,Laurie,notus.”

Laurie ignored him andpointed toward her building.“Thisisit.Home.”

“I hope you’re right,”Baldwinsaid.“Imean,aboutFen. I’m sure you’re right

aboutyourbuilding.”Sheshookherhead.“Iam

right…aboutboth.”The boys stopped beside

her. Owen’s ravens flewaway after pausing to swoopclose enough to her that herhair blew around in thebreezefromtheirwings.

As they walked to herapartment, Laurie consideredheroptions.Therewerereallyonly two choices now. She

could take the boys insidewith her, or she could leavethem alone outside to waitwhile she talked to hermother and little brother.Dividingintoanevensmallergroup seemed like a badidea… especially if theyneededtoflee.

SheputahandonOwen’sarmastheyreachedherdoor.Hestillhadafarawaylookinhiseye,andsheneededtobe

sure he was listening. Oncehemether eyes, she told thetwo boys, “If Mom tries tomakemestay,I’llportalustothelongship.”

“Right,” Baldwin said.“Escape parents with yoursuper god-powers. That’sPlan B, I guess. What’s theplanthatdoesn’trequireustoescape?”

Laurie shrugged. “Talk toher. Make sure they’re safe.

Maybe tell them aboutRagnarök.”

“Plan A, completecraziness. Got it.” Baldwingestured to her door. “Let’sdoit.”

She laughed and openedthedoor.“Mom?It’sme.”

“Laurie?” Her mothercamerunningtoher.“Ohmygoodness! Laurie!” Hermother grabbed her andhugged her. “I’ve been so

worried. What were youthinking? And you, Fe—you’renotFen.”

“Baldwin.” He held outhis hand like he wanted toshake. “That’s Owen. He’snotverytalkative.”

Laurie’s mother stared atBaldwin, barely sparing aglancefortheblue-hairedboywearing an eye patch likesomeotherworldlypirate.

“You’re the boy who’s

supposed to be dead,” hermomsaid.“Themayorcame,andhetoldmethatF—”

“The mayor lied,” Laurieinterrupted, pointing atBaldwin. “Baldwin’s fine,and Fen did nothing wrong.Themayorisn’tsomeoneyoucantrust.”

“Oh, sweetie, is this thatBrekke-Thorsen thing yourfather goes on about?” Hermother sighed. “I know they

don’t get along, but thatdoesn’tmean—”

“Did the mayor say FenkilledBaldwin?”

“Yes,but—”“So you can see that he

lied. You can see that withyourowneyes,Mom.”Lauriewasabout tosaymore,whenher brother, Jordie, camerunningintotheroom.

“Ididhearyou!”heyelledas he tackled her. “I thought

youweregoneforever.”Laurie felt her eyes burn

with tears as she stumbled atthefiercenessofhishug.Sheheldontightlytoherbrother.“No, not forever.” Sheloweredhervoiceandadded,“But I’ll be gone for awhilelonger.”

He didn’t say anything,but she felt him shake hishead.

“Icametoseeifyouwere

bothokay,”Lauriesaidasshestraightened, releasing herbrother.“Wewantedtocheckonyou.”

“The mayor did, too, andthesheriff,”Jordiesaid.“AndyourcousinKris,theonewholiveswithFen.”

“Oh.” She looked at hermother.

“Whydon’twesitdown,”hermomsuggested.

Baldwin and Owen

followed Laurie and Jordieinto the living room. Jordiewas still clinging to her likehewasafraidshe’dvanishthemoment he let go. She felt awaveofguiltbecauseshewasgoingtoleaveagain.Shehadto.

“Ragnarök is coming,”she blurted out as they satdownonthesofa.

Instead of being shocked,her mother simply said, “I

figured.”“I know it seems crazy

but… wait, what did yousay?” Laurie glanced atBaldwin and Owen, silentlyaskingiftheyheardthesamethingshehad.

Baldwin’s eyes widened,butOwennodded.

“Ragnarök,”hermomsaidcalmly. “Sky darkened,wolves, Brekkes andThorsens at odds because of

theirancestry.”Baldwin exchanged

another look with Laurie.Then Baldwin prompted,“Anddoyouknowabout thewulfenkind?”

“Laurie’s father, probablyFen, and”—she folded herhands tightly together—“areyou…awolf,too,Laurie?”

“Umm, no.” Laurieswallowed and stared at hermother and then at her

brother. “You know? Youbothknow?”

Her mom nodded. “Yourfather explained it years ago.WhyelsewouldIforgivehimforcomingandgoing likehedoes?It’sbecausehedoesn’twant to join the crazier partof his family. I figured Fenwouldjointhem,though,andIwasafraidhe’dtalkyouintoit, too. I worried about hisinfluence.”

“You thought Fen was abad influence because he’dpersuade me to join one ofthe family wolf packs?”Laurie asked. “It wasn’tbecausewegotintotrouble?”

Hermothersmiled.“Well,therewasthat,too.”

Laurieclosedhereyesforamoment,pinchedherwrist,and then opened her eyes.She was awake. “This isreal.”

Owennodded.“Nomara as far as I can

tell,” Baldwin murmured.“Plus, this isn’t really anightmare. It’s good, right?”Helookedathermom.“Youaren’t going to say Laurieshould join the bad guys orsomething,areyou?”

“No.”Hermother sighed.“I hoped you were makingpeacewiththeThorsens.Itisthat youngest Thorsen you

ran away with, according tothemayor.”

“Itis,”Lauriesaidquietly.“HimandFen.”

Her mother nodded.“Jordie, go get that picture Ihadyouhide.”

Laurie’s brother squeezedher quickly, and then he rantoward his room. Lauriewatched him go. She wasn’tin shock. After everythingthat she’dexperienced lately,

shockwasn’tlikely.Shewas,however, more than a bitsurprised.“Youknew.”

“Ihopedyouwouldn’tgetswept up in it, but then youturnedintoafish—”

“That was a dream.” Sheremembered it more like anightmare, though. She’dwokenuptofindthatshewasa salmon and had beenterrified that she wouldsuffocate. A few days later,

she’d been on the run withFen, who could become awolf, and Matt, who couldthrow people backward withsome invisible power. “Ioverreacted,but—”

“No,dear,youreallywereafish.”Hermotherpattedherhand. “I thought maybe wecould ignore it. I told yourfather, of course, but he saidthat fish were rare in thefamily. There hasn’t been a

salmon in generations,apparently. I figured it wasbetter than a wolf, though.Maybe it would mean youwouldn’t get mixed up withthatBrekkebunch.”

“You’re a fish?” Baldwinasked. “How come you’venever turned into a fisharoundus?”

Laurie opened hermouth,realized she had no answer,andclosedhermouth.

Owen looked at her andsmiled.Thenhewalkedawaytostareoutthewindow.

Jordiecamebackcarryingapicture and a bagwith fishscales. He’d obviously heardthe end of the conversation,though, because he said, “Itook a picture of it the nextnight when it happened. Shedidn’t wake up when ithappened; it was just poof,my sister was a fish. Maybe

shecanbebothawolfandafish someday. Dad says ithappens.” He looked atBaldwinhopefullyandasked,“No wolf signs when she’sbeensleeping?”

“No,not so far,”Baldwinsaid very seriously. “She’salways been a girl, no scalesor fur, but she does have abow that shoots invisiblearrows.”

“Cool!” Jordie yelled. He

flopped down next to Laurieandasked,“CanIseeit?”

“Notrightnow.”Baldwin started to add,

“Shecanalsomake—”“Stop.” Laurie cut him

off.Shelookedathermother.“Okay, so you already knowmost of the stuff I didn’tknowhowtotellyou.”

Hermothernodded.“Here’s the rest: don’t

trust any of the Thorsens or

the Brekkes. Don’t goanywhere with any of them,and…Idon’tknow.CanyougettowhereDadis?”Shefeltbetter knowing that herfamily wasn’t as vulnerableas she’d feared, but she feltworse because this meantthey realized how dangerousthingswereintheworld—buthadnowaytostaysafe.

“Yourfatherisonhiswayto us. Last I heard he’d

reached Canada, but he’straveling by foot or by buswhenhecan.Hedoesn’twantto get caught sneaking intotown.”

Laurie nodded. “Good.Good.So…okay,then.He’llkeep you safe while I’maway.”

“Away?” Her mother’ssmilevanished then. “You’rehome now. We’ll be heretogetherwhenhearrives.”

That’s when Laurierealized that her motherdidn’t know the big part.“Mom, I can’t stay. I’mLoki’s champion. I have tofight in the final battle,alongsideMattandBaldwin.”

Her mom opened andclosed her mouth, but nowordscameout.

“MattisThor’schampion,OwenisOdin’s,andBaldwinis Balder’s, and then the

othersarewaitingforus,too.Frey and Freya’srepresentativesarewithMatt.We’ve got the hammer andtheshield,andwe’regoingtofight the great serpent, theThorsens, and the Raiders…whoaremostlyBrekkes.”

“No,” her mother said.“You can’t go fightinganything.”

“I have to. I’m Loki’schampion.” Laurie stood up

and started pacing. “Wefought a bunch of monstersalready, but the battle iscoming.Ican’tstayhere.”

“No.”“Theworldwillendifwe

don’tstopthem.”“Someoneelsecandoit.”

Hermother stood, too. “Youand your friends will stayhere, and when your fathergetshome,we’lldealwithallof us getting somewhere

safe.”Baldwin came to his feet.

Owen left his post at thewindow and walked back toLaurie.

“I’msorry,Mom.”LauriegrabbedJordieand

hugged him tightly. “Becareful,”shewhispered.

“I mean it, young lady.Youarenotwalkingout thatdoor.” Her mother gave herthe sort of stern look that

usedtomakeherquake.“Okay.” Laurie looked at

the boys and nodded once.Then she closed her eyes foramoment.Sheputherhandstogetherinfrontofher.Whenshe opened her eyes, shespread her hands apart andopened a portal. “I’m sorry,Mom.I’llbeassafeasIcan.Iloveyou.TellDad…Ilovehim,too.”Sheglancedatherbrother. “Be good for Mom.

Loveyou.”Her brother and mother

were staring at the glowingportal in the living room,butLaurie knew that their shockwouldfade.

Owen finally spoke.“She’s brave, and we’ll bewith her to help.” Then hesteppedintotheportal.

“Baldwin, now,” sheordered.

“Nice meeting you. See

you after the battle!” hecalled, and then he jumpedthroughtheportal.

“I love you. I’ll becareful,” Laurie promised,andthenshewentthroughtheportal, too, just as hermother’s shock was fadingenough for her to reach forLaurie’sarm.Hermotherwastoolate,andLauriewasgone.

EIGHT

MATT

“SMOKE

DAMAGE”

Lauriewasobviouslyupset,but she didn’t want to talkaboutit.MattintroducedJakeand explained the plan to goto Mitchell. Then, as Laurietalked to Baldwin and thetwins,heaskedOwentotakeJake aside and persuade himnottojointhem,inhopesthat

his brother would listen to aguyclosertohisage.

“It’s not happening,”Reyna said as they watchedOwen unsuccessfully tryingtodissuadeJake.“Howaboutwe make sure your brotherbrings up the rear—to guardus, of course. And then,whoops, the portal shutsbeforehegetsthrough?”

“That wouldn’t be right,”Mattsaid,withsomeregret.

“Doesn’t matter,” Reynasaid. “Even if he’s not aGradeAjerk—and the jury’sstill out on that—he’s goingto second-guess your everymove because you’re his kidbrother. He’s not Thor’schampion.Youare.”

Laurie nodded. “Reyna’sright. It might soundcowardly, but if it’s possibleto ‘accidentally’ leave himbehind, let’s do that. I’ll ask

him to bring up the rear incase of trouble. You go firstas Thor’s champion and hegoes last as another Thordescendant. I’m pretty suretheportalwillcloseafterIgothrough.It’slikeapartofme—that’swhyIalwaysgolast,buthedoesn’tknowthat.”

Matt hesitated. “I’m notsurehe’llbuythat.”

“I’ll go second-to-last,”Raysaid.“Thatway itwon’t

look suspicious. Laurie goesin.Theportalstartstoclose.Ileapthrough.”

“No,”Reynasaid.“I’lldoit.You—”

“I’ve got this, sis. Now,let’sgetmoving.”

As they moved away, Raycaught Matt’s arm and ledhimtotheside.

“I’m going to make sureJake doesn’t follow youguys,”hesaid.

“Okay.Thanks.”Ray kept hold of Matt’s

sleeve. “Imean I’mgoing todo it by not following youmyself. I’ll stall him as theportalcloses.”

“You don’t need to dothat.”

“I want to.” Ray metMatt’seyes.“I’llbetherefor

thebattle,butI…I’mnotcutoutforthis.Reynais.AslongasI’mwithher,though,she’storn between protecting youand protecting me. Like atyourplacewithyourbrother.It’s your back she needs towatch.Notmine.”

“Idon’tneed—”“Everyoneneedssomeone

towatchhisback,Matt.EvenThor’s champion. I have toletherdo that. I’mbetteroff

hereanyway.Yourfamilyhasall those books you read. Ican look through them forstuff about the battlefield, incase your uncle doesn’t haveit. I’m good at that—readingand research.” A wry smile.“BetterthanIamatfighting.”

“That’snottrue.”“Yes, it is. Reyna’s

powers might work betterwithmethere,butwhenshe’stryingtohelpyou,Iholdher

back more than I help. I getthat.SoI’mstayingbehind.”

“Okay,we’lltalktoher.”Ray shook his head.

“There’snotime.She’llfightus on this and I’ll end upgoing,andthat’snottherightmove.”

But she’ll kill me. That’swhat Matt wanted to say.WhenReyna found outwhathe’d agreed to, she’d befurious.Withgoodreason.

And that couldn’t matterbecauseRaywasright.

“Guys?” Baldwin called.“Opening a portal overhere…”

“You’ve got this,” Raysaid.“I’llbethereforthebigbattle and hopefully I’ll findsomething useful in yourbooks. Until then, look aftermy sister.” He leaned overandwhispered,“Trynottoletherdriveyoucrazy.”

They exited the portal into adust storm. Or that’s whatMatt thought,seeingthegrayfloating around them, feelingitburnandchafeashesuckedit into his lungs. He bracedhimself,peeringaboutwildlyfor stampeding bison. That’swhat had happened the lasttime—he’d come through tosee this grayish fog and

nearly gotten trampled. Ittook about five seconds forhis brain to remind him thatbison in themiddle of a citywashighlyunlikely.Thenhesmelled the acrid stink ofsmoke.

“Ray?”Matt turned and saw

Reyna’s dim outline throughthe smoke.Between that andthe darkness, it wasimpossibletoseemorethana

fewinches.“Ray?” Reyna called as

she disappeared into thesmoke. “Does anyone seeRay?” Her voice startedrisinginpanic.

Matt’s gut clenched. Hehad to tell her, but not untilhe was sure everyone wassafe.

“Roll call!” he said.“Everyonecheckin.”

Voices sounded in the

smoke.“Baldwin!”“Laurie over here, with

Owen.”Ahandgrabbedhiselbow.

It was Laurie, Owen besideher. Baldwin stumbled tothem, coughing and rubbinghiseyes.

“Where’s Ray?” Reynasaid, still lost in the smoke.“Where’smybrother?”

“He decided—” Mattbegan.

Baldwin coughed again,Owenechoingit.

“Um, guys?” Baldwinsaid. “Smoke might not killme,but…”

“He’s right,” Matt said.“Everyone, grab someoneelse, and let’s find a safeplace.”

“I’m not leaving my—”Reynabegan.

“No one’s leavinganyone.” Matt lunged in the

direction of her voice andcaughthershirttail.Hestartedhacking.“Wejustneedtogetoutofthissmoke.”

Theystumbledaboutforafew minutes, Reyna callingafter her brother until shebegan wheezing and Mattmade her stop. Baldwinspotted a door—a real door,attached to a building—andtheystaggeredover,yankeditopen, and tumbled inside.

The first gasp of clean airseemed worse than thesmoke, and Matt doubledover, hacking and gagging,feeling like he was going tothrow up. Behind him,someone did, and he lookedover to see Reyna pukingagainstthewall.Matttriedtosteady her, but she brushedhimoff,lookingembarrassed.

“I almost did the same,”Matt said. “It’s the smoke. I

can still—” He coughed andrealized his eyes werestreaming, his face wet. “IswearIcanstill feel it inmylungs.”

Reyna stumbled towardthe door. He lurched andgrabbedherarm.

“I’m fine,” she said,shakinghimoff.

He kept his grip. “Youwon’t be if yougobackout.Ray’s not there. He… he

decidedtostaybehind.”Reyna brushed her hair

back and stared at him.“What?”

“That’s what he wastellingme.Hethought itwasbest if he stayed and helpedJake look through the oldbooks in case my uncledoesn’t have what we need.Ray said he was good atresearch. He’s obviouslysmart—he handled those

Norns way better than Icould.”

“Youleftmybrother—”“He stayed behind,”

Laurie said. “I overheard it.He wanted to for… variousreasons. Good reasons. Mattstillargued,andMattwantedhim to tell you. He couldhave gone along with Ray’sstory—that he was planningto jump through, but theportalclosed.That’s theeasy

way out. Matt told you thetruth.”

Reynashookherheadandwalked away. Matt watchedher go and then pulled hisattentionbacktotheothers.

“Baldwin and I will gooutside and take a look,” hesaid. “Walk around a bit andsee what’s happening.Obviously a fire, but there’snothing in the myth aboutfire. Just…” He thought of

somethingandtrailedoff.“Matt?”Lauriesaid.“We’ll go take a look.

Baldwin?”“Rightbehindyou.”

The building they’d enteredwas some kind of office.Empty, it seemed—certainlynoone came running to kickout the kids hacking and

puking in their front hall.There was a restroom a fewsteps away. The door waslocked—one of those you-need-a-key-from-the-officetypes. But Matt broke ineasily enough, feeling littlemore than a twinge of guilt.Saving the world meansbreaking some rules… andsomedoors.

Matt took a spare shirtfromhispack,soakeditwith

water, and tied it around hisface before they went outagain. Baldwin seemedimpressed. It would be evenmore impressive if Mattcould actually breathe freelywith the thing on. But hecould breathe—smoke free—andthatwaswhatmattered.

Shielding his eyes wastougher. He walked outsidewith his hand in front of hisface, trying to wave the

smoke back. He lookedridiculous, but there was nooneinsight.Noonehecouldhear, either—he realized thatwhen he strained for voices,hoping to find someone hecouldaskaboutthefire.

Smoke.Darkness.Silence.Whatever was happening,

this was the creepiest thinghe’d ever experienced. Evencreepier than the bone beachinHel.All he could seewas

smoke,anditwaslikehewasallaloneonthestreetmovingthrough fog, lost in theswirling.

Wherewere the fire trucksirens?Thealarms?

Asifconjuringoneup,heheardthefaintwailofasiren.Itgrewlouderandlouderandthen…

Silence.Matt stopped short.

Baldwindid,too,whispering,

“Whatjusthappened?”Idon’twanttoknow.But I have to know,don’t

I? That’s why I’m out here.Thor’schampionandallthat.

Hetookadeepbreathandturned in the direction he’dheard the siren. As theywalked, a shape swerved infrontofthemsofastthatMattbarely had time to liftMjölnir. He saw the thingcoming for them, huge and

dark,whiningasitboredownon them, and he threwMjölnir the second he wascertain itwas toobig tobeaperson. As soon as thehammerlefthishand,hesawhis mistake. It was a truck.Mjölnir slammed into thegrille, metal crunching, thefront end crumpling inwardas the hammer seemed todrive right through theengine. The truck stopped

dead…andMjölnirflewbackintohishand.

For a moment, the truckjust sat there, smokewrapping around it, theheadlights glowing and thendimming as the smokewhirledpast.

“It looks like there’s noone driving,” Baldwinwhispered. “Maybe it’s aghosttruck.”

The door opened, and

Baldwin jumped back. Matthadtosteelhimselfnottodothe same. They couldn’t seeanything. Then a womanstepped through the smoke,squinting, with her forearmover her mouth. Spottingthem,shegasped.

“What are you—?” Hergaze dropped to Mjölnir.“Wheredidyougetthat?Didyousteal—”Shetookaslowstep back. “I don’t have

anything. I had to leave mypurse at the office when weevacuated.AllIhadweremykeys.”

IttookamomentforMattto realize she thought theywere going to rob her. Thatthey’d wrecked her truck onpurpose and nowwanted herwallet.

“Um,we’reheretohelp,”Baldwin said. “We’re tryingtosave—”

The woman turned andran.BaldwinracedpastMatt,calling after her, but Mattgrabbed his shirt and heldhimback.

“Grown-ups,” Baldwinsaid.“I’mnotevenateenageryet, and they already thinkthe worst of me. Do I looksuspicious?”

Matt could not imagineany kid who looked lesssuspicious thanBaldwin.But

itwas true.Youhit a certainage and grown-ups startedlooking at you funny, likeyou were two seconds fromslashingtheirtiresforkicks.

Whenanothercarzoomedup, they heard it coming andgot to the sideof the road intime. Baldwin waved hisarmsandhollered for thecarto stop, but it sped past. Thenextonehonked.Thepickupbehind it slowed just enough

to yell at them to get off thestreets, but roared awaybefore they could ask whatwashappening.

“At least there arepeople,”Baldwinsaid.“Iwasstartingtowonder.”

Therewerestillnosirens,though. Not since that onethat had been cut short. Astheywalked in thatdirection,they passed through thepocket of fleeing people and

wentrightbackintothesilentgray emptiness. Except itwasn’t completely silent.Matt could hear an oddscrapingnoise,likeafanwithonebladecatching.

As Matt followed thesound,thesmokegotthicker,untilhiseyeswerestreamingtears again and he had toblink nonstop to see, thoughhe wasn’t sure why hebothered. All he could see

was smoke. He could hearthat weird scraping sound,like it was right in front ofthemandthen—

Hebashed intosomethinghugeandred.

“Is that…?” Baldwinwhispered.

Matt ran his hands overthe thing—a massive redmetal box that disappearedinto the smoke. When hewalked farther, something

tapped against his head. Hereached up and felt a thickrope of canvas. He pulled itdowntogetabetterlook.

Ametalnozzlehithim intheface.

As he staggered back, hishands flew up and hisHammerpowerlaunchedinarushofwindthatscatteredthesmoke.

“It’safiretruck,”Baldwinwhispered.

Itwas indeeda fire truck.Upside-downinthemiddleofthe road. That sound he’dheardwasoneofthetiresstillturning, catching on thecrumpledfender.

Matt walked along thetruck, casting his Hammerpower, surprised that it wasactually working. Fear waswhat fueled it. And that’swhathefelt,howeverhardhetried to hide it forBaldwin’s

sake.He kept using the

Hammer to clear the smokeasherantothedriver’sdoor.Thesafetyglasswassmashedoutanditcrunchedunderhissneakers,butwhenhelookedinside, the seatswere empty.Heexhaledinrelief.

Baldwin swallowed.“Whatcoulddothis?Imean,it’s flipped right over, asif…”

Matt looked at the truckagain.Therewerehugedentsin the side. Dents where themetal almost seemedmelted,the red paint dripping likeblood.

What could do this? Oh,Matt had a pretty good idea,and as soon as he thought it,hisamuletvibrated.

“Better late than never,”hemutteredashegrippedit.

“Monster alert?” Baldwin

whispered.“Yeah. I think I know

what—”The ground shook.

Someone screamed. Thencame a roar, like the roar offire itself, but so loud thatMatt slapped his hands overhisears,wincing.

“Matt…?” Baldwintapped his shoulder with atremblingfinger.

BeforeMatt could turn, awave of heat hit him. Hegasped, and it was likesucking in fire, scorchinghis

lungsandsendinghimreelingback. Baldwin grabbed andsteadied him, and they bothturned toward the source ofthe heat. Turned… andlookedup.

It was a fire giant. AJotunn, like they’d met inHel. Except this one didn’thavetwoheads,whichwouldbeareliefexcept…well,thatother Jotunn had breathedsmoke and carried a flaming

sword and its hair had beenonfire.Thisone?Itwasfire.A fifty-foot-tall human-shapedtorch.

“That…” Baldwinwhispered, his eyes round.“That’swhatyouguysfoughtwhenyoucameforme?”

No, that’s what weescaped from. We hadn’tdared fight it. And it wasnothinglikethis.…

“There was… less fire,”

Mattsaid.Understatement of the

century.

NINE

FEN

“VISITSFROM

THEWRONGTHORSEN”

AsFenwatchedtheRaidersset up their new campsite atthe edge of theBadlands, hefelt almost like things hadn’tchanged. He was livingrough, traveling with kidswith unusual powers, and hewasn’t sure he was ready to

face whatever fight wouldinevitably come next. Thedifferencewasthatthesekidswerewatchinghim—notMattor Owen—for instruction.TheRaiderswerecountingonhim…andinsteadoflikingit,he wished he hadMatt therefor advice on how to handleit, especially when he sawMatt’s grandfather MayorThorsen walking through theRaiders’camptowardhim.

FenneverlikedanyoftheThorsens, not until he andMatthadfoughtagainstafewtrolls and assorted monsterstogether.Liking thatThorsendidn’t do a thing to changeFen’s opinion of the rest ofthem. It went both ways.Neither family liked theother. They saw everythingdifferently—exceptRagnarök, apparently.MayorThorsen was commanding a

bunch of Brekkes to do hisdirty work, while Fen hadbeen on the side of MattThorsen. This apocalypsebusiness was confusingeverything.

ButFenwasstillsteadfastin his anti-Thorsen stance.He’d met another Thorsen,who shot Matt with atranquilizer dart andthreatened Laurie, and nowhewasstandinginthewoods

with the chief of theredheaded clan. MayorThorsen was all the proofanyonewouldneed thatmostThorsens were not to betrusted.

“I’m glad you saw sense,youngman,” themayor said.“Skull said he could talk toyou so we could get you toyour rightful place, and hereyouare.”

“Skull cornered me,

threatened my friends, andforcedme to fight him.”Fenglaredattheoldman.“That’snottalkingtome.”

Around them, wolvespatrolled and watched. Fenwasn’t surewhat theRaiderscouldhear,buthedidn’tcare,either. Part of helping thepack was to let themunderstand that theywere onthe wrong side of theupcomingbattle.Theyshould

already know that trustingMayor Thorsen was a badidea,butclearlythatfactwassomehowescapingthem.

“Detailsdon’tmatter,”themayor said magnanimously.“Thepoint,son,isthatyou’rehere now. Loki’s champion,ready to lead the monstersintothegreatbattle.”

“My cousin is Loki’schampion,” Fen argued,before he realized that he

couldbeendangeringher.“No, son, you both are,”

themayorsaidinavoicethatsounded like he was talkingto a small child. “The girl ison the other side. You leadthe monsters. Loki was atrickster, a many-sided god,which means that for thisfight, his descendants willfightonbothsides.”

Fen stared at the man,feeling like pieces were

clicking into place. It wasn’tthat the Norns were pointingat him or Laurie when theydirected Matt to Loki’schampion. It was both ofthem. It made sense in aweirdway,but itdidn’thelp.He’d rather be no championat all than be the championforthevillains.

“Iwon’thurtLaurie,”Fenpointedout,staringdirectlyatthemayorashe said it. “I’m

bound to do what’s best forthe pack, but there’s nowaythat hurting her or Matt iswhatthepackneeds.”

The mayor laughed. “Ofcourseyouwon’t!That’snotyour role. Matty fights theserpent, and she’ll fight herown foes. You’re not asfamiliar with the myths asyoushouldbe,areyou?”

Fen stared at him, notunderstanding how he could

be so calm discussing hisgrandson’s probable death.“The myths aren’t set instone. If they were, wewouldn’t have been able tobring Baldwin back,” Fenpointedout.

“So you had an EpiPen?GavehimCPR?Thatdoesn’tmean—”

“No,” Fen interrupted.“WewenttoHel.”

“Poppycock!”

Fen shrugged andcontinued, “Wemetmy auntthere.Youknow,theonewhorules the afterlife? Werescued him from death.Webrought him back. Me,Laurie,andMatt.”

The mayor stared at himforaminute.“Whathaveyoudone?”

“Changed fate,” Fen saidfirmly. “We can do it. Mattdoesn’t have to die.None of

thishastohappen.”For a brief moment he

thought he’d reached themayor. He thought he’dgotten through to the man,and he hoped that they’dfinallyhaveanadulton theirside. It was scary trying tosave the world. They’d beendoingit,butitwasfrustratingthat none of the adultsunderstood. It was like theycouldn’t believe, couldn’t

hope. If that was what itmeant tobe agrown-up,Fenwasgladhewasstillakid.

“No,” the mayor said.Thatwasit,justno.Heshookhis head, and Fen could seethathewasn’tgoingtolisten.

Hetriedanotherapproach.“But you want to save him,right? Why would you helpsaveMattwhenthehousefellinto the ground if you wanthim to die? There are other

choices.Maybewecanallsitdownandt—”

“No,”themayorrepeated.“My grandson needs to bestrongandreadyforhisfightagainst the Midgard Serpent.Ihelpedbecausehecan’tdiebeforethefinalfight.”

Any hope that MayorThorsen could be waveringon his path stopped then.Hewouldn’t alter his plan tosacrificeMatt.Fenfilledwith

somuch anger that his voicewasshakyashesaid,“Soyouwant him strong before he…dies?”

“Yes,”themayorsaid.“Did it ever occur to you

that Matt might win?” Fenasked.“Thatmaybewecouldwork together and stop theendof theworld?Youcouldhelp him. He’s yourgrandson, and he’s Thor’schampion.”

Themayor sighed. “Kids!You just don’t understand.Youcan’tstopfate.Wecan’tavert Ragnarök!” He raisedhis voice and looked aroundat the Raiders. “This is thestart of a new era. After thefight, we will be rulers of anewworld.Wolvescanroamfree. We’ll build a newworld…onefitforgods.Onefitforus.”

The Raiders were

obviously listening. Theystopped whatever they hadbeen doing and watched theold man. It was creepy theway they smiled at him andnoddedasifheweresane.Hewasn’t. He might look sane,buthewas spouting thekindof theories that only lunaticsembraced.

“Thebloodofgodsrunsinour veins,” the mayorcontinued. “We’ll be the

rulersofthenewworld.”“And sacrificing family

members for this… perfectworld of yours is okay withyou?”Fenaskedquietly.

ThemayormetFen’sgazeunflinchingly. “Of course Idon’t want to sacrifice him,but Matt will die a hero’sdeath andgo toValhalla, theafterworld for the strong andbrave.He’llbehappythere.”

“Matt would be happier

alive,”Fenpointedout.“That’s not your concern,

Fenrir. Your role is to leadour monsters into the battle.Thesefineyoungwolvesandthecreaturesthatwillrise…”The mayor paused andgrinned, looking like he wastalkingabout someparadeorwhatever in Blackwell, notthe end of the world andbillions of deaths. Then hemetFen’seyesagain.“You’ll

be at the front of our forceswhenthebattlestarts.”

The Raiders were allwatching them attentively,and for a moment, Fen wasokaybeingtheiralpha.Beingin chargemeant putting theirneeds first. Regardless ofwhat roles fate had plannedfor any of them, Fen had aresponsibility to thewulfenkind watching himrightnow.Hewasn’tgoingto

blindly follow anyone’splans.Itwasn’taboutwhetheror not he’d die. He’d rushedinto danger repeatedly, buthe’d done it because theyoungerThorsen’splansweresane and logical. Therewerethingsworththerisk—savingtheworldwasoneofthem.

“You’re going to needmorethanthistoconvincemethat supporting your plans iswhat’s best for the Raiders,”

Fen said in a voice intendedtocarry.

The mayor folded hisarmsand lookedatFen fromthe bottom of his raggedshoestothetopofhisshaggyhairbeforesaying,“Fate,myboy. The Champion of Lokileads the monsters. If youdon’t do your job, I’ll wipeout the lot of theseragamuffins andyour cousin,too.”He smiled in a friendly

sort of way, as if he hadn’tjust threatened everyone Fenknew. He was—like mostThorsens—not concernedabout the Brekkes. Fen hadseentheflashofworryonthemayor’s face when Matt’sdeath was mentioned. Heobviously cared about hisfamily. That didn’t mean hecaredaboutBrekkes.

“Brekkes don’t have ahistoryofobeyingThorsens,”

Fen pointed out, thinking ofall his family members whoended up in trouble. TheThorsens were the law, andthe Brekkes broke the law.Thatwasafact.

The mayor merely said,“You will do your part, justasMattywill.”

Withoutanotherword,theold man turned and walkedaway, leaving Fen with acrowd of wulfenkind who

were watching himattentively. Leadership ishard,Fenthought.Helookedaround at the kids. Fear wasobvious on more than a fewfaces. He knew only onething to say that might helpthemunderstandhisstance.

“Even if I weren’t boundbywulfenkindlaw,Iwouldn’tlet anyone hurt my cousin.You all know that I’ve paidLaurie’s dues for years. I

don’tletdownthepeopleI’msworntoprotect.I’lldowhatIhavetodotokeepyousafejust like Ihavewithher. I’mgoingtofindawaytoprotectall of us.” He tried to keepfromyellingat themforevertrusting a Thorsen.… Well,trustingonewhowasn’tMatt.Ascalmlyashewasable,Fenadded, “Following Thorsensisn’tagreatideaforBrekkes,and following that Thorsen

really,reallyisn’t.”Hedidn’twaittoseewhat

they all thought. Instead, hewent straight to Skull’s tent,which had been the first oneFen had ordered erected. Heneeded to see how hisrecovery was going, and ifpossible, learn someinformation from him. Skullhadbeen the alpha since thispackwasformed.Hewastheoldestandstrongestkidthere,

and no one would havechallenged him forleadership. That meant heknew everything about thepack—which meant that Fenneeded to gainhis trust if hewas to rescue the pack fromthemayor’scrazyplans.

The older boy met hiseyes expectantly when Fenstormed into the tent.“So…”Skullstarted.

“So, that lunatic is why

youtrappedme.”Fenfloppedtothefloorofthetent.

“Yep.”“Do you believe in the

whole better-to-end-the-world-and-rebuild-from-the-ashesthing?”Fenasked.

For amoment, Skull saidnothing.He looked strangelynormalinthatinstant,likehewasn’t the same kid who’dtormented Fen for years.Then he ruined it all by

saying,“Mostofthetime.”Fensnorted.Skullgrinned.Theysat,staringquietlyat

each other for an almostpeacefulmomentbeforeSkulladded, “It’s not like it couldbe worse than now, youknow?”

Fen’s ears perked up likethe wolf he sometimes was.TherewasareasonSkullwascooperating with the mayor,

andmaybeifFencouldfigurethat out, he could changethings.Being aBrekkemadehim understand that peopleoftenmakebaddecisionsnotbecause they’re bad, butbecause they’re scared orangry.

“Ineed to thinkaboutmysister,” Skull continued. “Ineed to think about what’sbestforthepack…well,Ididbeforeyoutookover.Ihavea

littlebrother, too,youknow?I never see him, and I don’twant this life for him, too.Living like we do, alwaysmoving,camping, fighting. Itgetshard.IhavescarsIdon’teven remember getting. Mysister handles it, but she’san…unusualgirl.”

A bark of laughterescaped before Fen couldsmother it. Hattie was morewolfthangirl.Overtheyears,

Fen was pretty sure he’dgrown more scared of herthanofSkull.

Skull kept on like hehadn’theardit.“Iknowyourdadisinthelockup.Mineis,too. So’s my oldest brother.Wouldn’t it be better if wedidn’t have to live like wedo?”

There were a lot ofanswers Fen might’veexpectedfromSkull.Whathe

didn’texpect,though,wasthehopefulness he heard inSkull’svoice—andFengotit.Hereallydid.Hehadn’tseeneither of his own parents inlongerthanhecouldbegintothink about, and he’d beenshuffled around betweendifferent relatives—fromunwelcoming to semitolerant—for most of his life. Hiscousin Kris was one of thebest,butthatdidn’tmeanFen

hadn’tfeltthestingofhisfista timeor two. Itwas just thewaysthingswere.

What if it doesn’t have tobethatway?

Hewasn’tsure lifewouldbeanybetterifDadwereoutof jail. Fen had more than afew niggling doubts aboutthat, but the hopes Skull had—for something better thanthe life they all lived now—weretempting.

Carefully, he said, “Iunderstand.Iwantadifferentlife, too.Was even trying tohaveoneuntilyou—”Hecuthimself off with a shake ofhis head, not able to thinkabout his brief attempt to beon the right side of thecomingfight.Dwellingonhisthwartedattempttobeaherowould only lead to beingangrier at Skull. Fen shovedthose thoughts away and

continued,“ThepointisthatIdon’t think following aThorsen on his crazy plan ofworld destruction is the waytogetit.”

Skull shrugged. “I’m notsure,butIdon’thaveabetterplan. The Raider packs Iknowofallsupporthim.”Hestretched,winced,andadded,“I’m not a thinker, Fen. I’mnot the Champion of Loki,either. It’s your pack now.

You’re the one who visitedHel. You’re the one who’ssupposed to lead us and themonsters to victory. I’llfollowyou.Weallwill…justdon’tgetuskilled.”

Fen stared at him. Hewasn’tsureif thisglimpseoftheolderboy’s fearand trustwas better than listening toSkullspoutlunacyornot.Ononehand,itwaseasytothinkof Skull and the rest of the

Raidersastheenemy.Ontheotherhand,Fenwas just likethem in some ways: Skullwanted a better life; hewanted to protect his family,and while Fen couldn’t seeeven the first thing aboutHattie that was worthprotecting, he knew that hewould do anything to keepLauriesafe.

Theystayedlikethat,eachboy silent, until they were

interruptedbythearrivalofagirl Fen would happily feedto the monsters if he couldsummonany—Astrid,thegirlwho had poisoned Baldwinwithmistletoeandkilledhim.Fen would’ve been glad toneverseeheragain.

“Fen,”Astridsaid.That was all she got out

before he lunged at her. Heknew she wasn’t a wolf, butshe was a killer. That

overruled the no-hitting-girlsrule he used with non-wulfenkind.

She met his attack withher own. He landed his firstpunch, but she dodgedenough that instead ofconnecting with her mouth,his fist glanced off the edgeofherjaw.Herkneecameupquickly, but he had alreadymoved back and she didn’tmanage to bring him down

withthatdirtymove.“You killed Baldwin,”

Fen growled at her, and hetried to swipe her legs fromunderher.

“And you brought himback,” she countered as shepunched at him in a quickone-twooffists.“Fate.”

Fen’snextpunchknockedher backward, but not asmuch as it should have. Shewas strong, far stronger than

ahumangirlshouldbe.“I could’ve failed. He

could’ve stayed dead,” Fenyelled.“Wecould’vealldiedinHel.”

“But you didn’t.” Astridwatched him with anattentiveness that seemed outof place. She punched him,snapping his head back withforce.

He glared at her, both inanger and in planning. She

fought surprisingly well,enough thathewas surprisedthat Matt had fared okay inhis fight with her afterBaldwin’s death. She’dapparently been hiding thisfrom them, along with herallegiance to the enemy andmurderous intentions towardBaldwin.

“Well?” She was waitingfor him to figure somethingout, taunting him. Her eyes

narrowed.Astrid was in their camp,

surrounded by wolves.Wolvesdidn’tletnon-wolvestravelorstaywiththem.Howhad he not realized that shewas wulfenkind? She’dtricked all of them. Thatmade sense for Laurie andMatt,butFencouldrecognizeothersoftheirkind.

“You’re a wolf?” heblurted,pausinginhisshock,and in doing so, he loweredhis guard long enough thatAstridlandedasolidpunchtohisgut.“Oof.”

“Notawolf.”Shegrinned,

lowering her fists andstepping back several paces,putting herself out of hisreach.“I’mjustagirl,Fen.”

“No, you’re not.” Helooked behind him at Skull,whowaswatchingthemwithobvious amusement. “Is sheusuallyhere?”

Skull shook his head.“The boss said he’d bebringingher.Saidshewastostay with us. I’m not sure

who she is, but she’s not awolf. The mayor says she’sgoing to be a part of the bigfight, and we are to protecther, so you can’t really doanything to her… unless shedoes something new to upsetyou. She’s important to theoldman.”

Fen tried to thinkofwhathecouldrememberabout thevarious stories he’d heardaboutRagnarök.Ifshewasn’t

a wolf, what was she? Pink-tipped hair, bad attitude,strong, obviously on themonsters’ side? He hadnothing;nomonstersmatchedthatdescription.

Wish Thorsen were herewithhisbookgeeking.Betheknows.

Astrid was watching Fen.Quietly, she said, “I’m notyourenemy.IdidwhatIhadto.… Don’t even try to

pretend you can’t understandthat!”

Skullgroanedashesatupon his pallet. His face wasdamp with sweat, and Fensuddenlyrealizedhewashurtworsethanhe’dadmitted.

“Doyouneedanything?”“I’mfine,”Skullsnapped,

soundingliketheboyFenhadknown for years. “If thefight’sover,getout.”

Fen leveled a scowl at

him.“If you don’t mind,

Alpha,” Skull added in avoice that was far fromrespectful.

It was enough of anattempt atpoliteness, though,for Fen to nod and motionAstrid toward the tent exit.“Out.” He glanced back atSkull after Astrid was gone.“Ifyouneedserioushelp,wecan get you to a hospital or

something.”Skull rolled his eyes.

“Raiders don’t go to thehospital, Fen. We heal, scar,and fight some more. We’rewolves.Ifwe’retooweak,wedie.”

“Not in our pack. Notnow.IfI’malpha,I’llsetmyown rules. If you need thehospital,we’llgo.”

“Withwhatmoney?”Fen barked a laugh. “I

didn’t say we’d stop beingBrekkes, just that we’d gethelp.”

Skullgrinned.“Youmakeagoodalpha.”

At that, Fen realized thathecoulddothis.Ifitweren’tfor Ragnarök, hemight evenenjoy being alpha. He didn’twant to fighthis friends, andhedidn’twanthispackmatesinjured by his friends. Beingalphahadeffectivelyputhim

inasituationwherehehadtoworry about people on bothsides.

UnlessIcanfindawaytoget the pack to fight on theright side… which I can’t,since that would endangerthemmore because the goodguys—the descendants of theNorth—arelikelytolose.

The enemy was stronger.Theyhadmonsters.Theyhada leader who had been

manipulating everyone. Thegood guys were a bunch ofkids…andsomegoats.

Fen stepped outside,where Astrid waited. He’dnever liked the pink-hairedgirl.Shewasrudeandpushyand—well, shewasa lot likehim, actually. That doesn’tmatter, he thought. Whatmatters is that she killedBaldwin.Whether itwaspartof the whole fated events of

Ragnarök or not, shepoisoned Baldwin. She hadkilled the only boy withwhom Fen had found aninstant and true friendship.Sure,hehadfriendsatschool,but that was mostly becausehewas intimidating and theywanted to be on his goodside. He wasn’t stupid. Heknew that they weren’t thesort of friends who wouldstick by himnomatterwhat.

Matt was a friend, but theywere still having to work atit… and that friendshipmight’ve just been destroyedwhenhe’d seenFenwith theRaiders.No,therewasnoonequitelikeBaldwin,andAstridhadkilledhim.

“Idon’thavetobenicetoyou. If the pack is sworn tokeep you safe, I can do that.Thatdoesn’tmeananythingifyouhurtanyofthem—ormy

cousin. I’m alpha, and I’vealready ordered them not totouchher.Youwillobeythat,too, if you’re traveling withus.”Hecrossedhisarmsandglaredather.

“Understood.”It wasn’t fair that he had

to protect her, but he tooksomesmalljoyinthefactthathe’datleastlandedafewhitson the girl who’d killedBaldwin—and framed Fen

for it so he almost gotarrestedformurder.

“Is Matt, umm, okay?”she asked in a weird, softvoice.

Her question was sounexpected that Fen simplyblinkedather.“Seriously?”

“Well, I mean, I knowhe’s alive and stuff. He didokay in Hel, though, right?”sheaskedasshefidgeted.Shelooked down at her hands,

which she’d clasped tightlytogether.

Carefully, Fen said, “Iguess he’s okay. He’s outthere somewhere with mycousin, fighting who knowswhat.” He shook his head attheweirdness of his day andthewholesituationhewasinnow, before adding, “AndI’m left here trying toconvince these fools thatending the world is a bad

thing.”“You’ll be a great alpha.

I’m sure Matt taught you alot.” Astrid patted hisshoulder awkwardly. “I’mglad he’s okay, you know? Ireally don’t want Matt todie.”

Fenscowledather.“Or Laurie,” she added

quickly. “I know you worryabout her. Maybe you and Ishould talk.…We can’t stop

Ragnarök.It’salreadystarted,but maybe we can worktogether to save the peoplewe,umm,wanttoprotect.”

Fen looked at Astrid. Hewasprettysurehedidn’ttrusther,butshewastheonlyonein the camp who made eventhe slightest bit of sense. Heshook his head again, tryingnottothinkaboutthefactthatshe’d killed Baldwin oncealready.

“We’ve all had roles toplay, Fenrir,” Astrid saidquietly.“YourswastorescueBaldwin. Don’t you think Iknewyouwouldcryforhim?Trust me. I wouldn’t havesent him to Hel if I thoughtyou were going to let himstaydead.”

Fen knew Astridobviously wasn’t a regularhuman if she was to befightingwith themonsters in

the final battle. She wassomething else. He didn’tknowwhatyet,buthe’d findout. “Why should I trustyou?”

She frowned. “You’rehere with the pack whofought against yourepeatedly. You’re theirleader now. Do you reallythinkyou’retheonlyonewhodoesn’t like what he has todo?”

Fen knew how trickythings could get with mythsandfate.Hehadbeentheonetosteal the shieldandgive ittoSkullbackbeforeheknewabout Ragnarök. It washypocritical to act like otherpeople couldn’t get trapped,too.

“Idon’tlikeyou,”hesaidafter a moment of theirglaringateachother.

Astrid crossed her arms.

“That’smutual.”Theystoodtherescowling

at each other for a fewmoremoments, and then Fen said,“Fine. What do you have inmind?”

TEN

MATT

“LETITSNOW”

So, the fire giant. Fifty feettall. On fire. Completely onfire, from head to foot.Carrying two swords.Flaming, of course. Mattbarely had time to thinkbefore the Jotunn turned hisway.Hewould say it lookedathim,butforthat,he’dneedto see actual eyes. It had amouth apparently, though,whichopenedandbreathed…

yep,fire.The tongue of flame shot

right at them, like somethingout of a fire-safety videothey’dshowninschoolaboutthe dangers of back drafts,andMatthad thisweirdurgeto stop, drop, and roll.Luckily, the flame stoppedshortof them,thoughhewaspretty sure it still burned offhalf his eyebrows. Then theJotunn seemed to expand, as

if it were inhaling, filling itslungswithextraair topropeltheflame—

Matt grabbed thewindowframeonthefiretruck.Itwasstill hot enough tomakehimwince,butheshovedBaldwinin. The younger boyscrambled through and Mattfollowed.Theygotinsidejustas the flames struck, lickingthrough the window andhitting Matt’s shield as he

ducked behind it. Fireengulfed the wooden shieldonlytofreezeinaspikycoatofice.Yethestillfelttheheatof the fire blast through thefire truck’s cab. EvenBaldwingasped.

“Just holdon,”Matt said.“It’ll…”

The flames stopped then,seeming to only last as longasthegianthadbreath.

“You okay?”Matt asked,

crouchedbehindtheshield.“I’m invulnerable,

remember?”True,butMattwasn’tsure

if that meant Baldwin wouldbeprotectedfromthefire—orhe’dburntoacrispandcomeback to life. Baldwin mightlove pushing his limits, butMatt suspected that was onetesthe’dratherskip.

Anotherwaveofflamehitthe truck. This time, despite

theicyshield,sweatstreameddown Matt’s face. He madethe mistake of reaching tograb something and hisfingersgraspedhotmetal.Heyelpedandjerkedback.

“Hot in here, huh?”Baldwin said. “We’d betterhope that big guy gets boredsoon, because I feel like aThanksgivingturkey.”

When the Jotunn hit thetruckwithanotherblast,Matt

realizedthatwasexactlywhatthe giant was trying to do—heat up the cab unbearablyanddrivethemout.

“Head that way,” Mattsaid, waving to the brokenpassengerwindow.“Weneedtogetoutofhere.”

They crawled out theother side and along theupside-down truck. When adangling hose hit Matt,Baldwinwhispered,“Toobad

these things aren’t working,huh?”

Too bad indeed. Thatmight be the only way ofstopping the Jotunn.Unfortunately, unless therehappened to be a hydrantnearby, the hoses wereuseless.

“On my count, we’regoingtorun,”Mattsaid.

“Runwhere?”“Intheotherdirection.”

Baldwin chuckled.“Soundslikeaplan.”

They got into sprintingposition. Then they toreacross the road and almostplowed into a building. Thefront door was locked.Behind them, the Jotunnroared, as if realizing it hadlostitsprey.ThenMattcouldsee it coming, the flamesshimmering through thesmoke.

Hewrenchedonthedoor.TheJotunnroaredagain.Firecrackled and Matt swore hisback heated as he keptyanking on the handle. Thedoor was solid—no glass tobreak.

A blast of heat, and thistime, fire reallydid lickhim.Baldwin shouted a warningandsmackedMatt’sback.

“A couple more seconds,andyou’regoing tobe lit uplikeabirthdaycandle.”

“Iknow.Holdon.”Matt slammed Mjölnir

against the door handle. Itcracked,andwhenheheaved

again, the door opened.Baldwinshovedhimthrough,theheathittingagain,enoughforMatttowince.

Theyranalongadimlylithall. When they were in farenough for Matt’s eyes toadjust to the dark, he couldsee stuff on the floor. Ajacket here. A laptop casethere. A pair of sunglassesthat he nearly crunchedbefore snatching them up. A

trail of belongings, as if theworkers had grabbed whatthey could and ran, beingshoved along in the crowd,abandoning whatever theydropped as they were jostledtowardthedoor.

When they reached astairwell,Mattthrewopenthedoor and they started up thestairs.

“Where are we going?”Baldwinasked.

“Ahighervantagepoint.”“Vantage…? Oh, so you

can see the giant. Frombehindglass.”

“Preferably fireproofglass.”

Baldwin laughed. “Nokidding,huh?”

Theywentup to the thirdfloor and found the front ofthe building easily enough.Even from the hall, the opendoorways to his left glowed

red.Hewentthroughandsawthewholedimofficespacelitupbythefiregiant’slight.

“It looks kinda cool frominhere,”Baldwinsaid.“Lessscary,too.”

He was right. The thirdfloor brought them closeenough to see the Jotunn’shead and now Matt couldmake out features. It wasweird, like seeing flamestwisting into a nose and a

chin,darkpitsforeyesandamouth. As he watched, thefeaturesseemed toconstantlyrearrange themselves, ebbingand rising with the rollingflame.Fascinating to lookat.Morefascinating ifhehadn’tbeenwellawarethatanentirecityhadbeenputtoflamebythiscreature.

“Howarewegoingtostopit?” Baldwin asked as theystoodby thewindow, staring

outattheraginggiant.Mattdidn’tanswer.“That’s what we’re going

to do, right?” Baldwin said.“Stopit?”

In Hel, all they’d neededtodowasgetpasttheJotunn.Sure, Matt could argue thatthiswasn’tactuallyaquest—they’d just stumbled on thefire giant like the mara inRapidCityandtheirrealgoalwasfindingthatbattlefield.It

didn’t matter. Everything todo with Ragnarök was theirresponsibility, and if they“stumbled on” a problem,theyhadtofixit.

“Yes,” he said. “We’regoingtostopit.”

“So…how?”“I’mworkingonit.Inthe

meantime, if you have anyideas…”

Baldwin stared at him.“Me?”

“Sure.”Heforcedasmile.“Democracyandall that. I’mhappy to listen to any ideasyoumighthave.”

“That’s… not really mything.” Baldwin nibbled hislip. “If you want me to, IsupposeIcouldtry—”

“That’sallIask.Weneedallbrainsondeckfor—”

The Jotunn stepped up tothe window. They bothstumbled back. Matt put a

hand on Baldwin’s shoulderand pushed them both downbehind a desk. Matt peekedupjustas theJotunnloweredits face to their window, afew feet from where they’dbeen standing. Its mouthopened. Fire rushed out andengulfedthewindow,turningit into a huge rectangle ofsolidflame.

“Pleaselettheglasshold,”Baldwin whispered. “Please,

please…”It held. When the flames

cleared, the Jotunn had itsface pressed right up to thewindow and nowMatt couldreally seeeyes in that rollingflame. Black eyes peeringthrough. Matt and Baldwinduckedagain.

A roar of frustrationreverberated through theglass, shaking the wholebuilding.Mattwaited.Aftera

minute, he heard a thump-thump, and the crackle offlame started to fade. Hepeered over the desk to seethe back of the Jotunn as itstalked off, still grumbling,the sound crackling likeangryflames.

Matt cautiously movedtoward the window. “I needtogoafterit.”

“Uh…”Baldwinsaid.“We had to make it give

up on coming after us so Icouldgoafter it.Turning thetables. I can hunt it; I don’twanttobehunted.”

“Okay,Igetthat.But…”“Can you find your way

back to the others?Let themknowwhat’sgoingon?”

Baldwin squared hisshoulders. “I’m not leavingyou.”

“I could really use them.Thisisn’tasmalljob.”

“It’s not a small giant,either.They’llfinditontheirown. Laurie won’t sit backand wait for you to handlethis.”

Hehadapoint.“They’ll come,” Baldwin

said. “Now, let’s go beforeweloseit.”

It was easy to follow the

Jotunn. Once Matt knew itwas there, he could pick upits faint glow through thesmoke.Hecouldalsohearthecrackleoffire.

“Hey, I know where weare.” Baldwin pointed at astorefront, barely visiblethrough the smoke. “Wecame for a family trip. Myaunt and unclewere visiting,and they wanted to see theCornPalace.”

“CornPalace?”“Sure, it’s a big palace.

Madeofcorn.”Matt knewwhat theCorn

Palace was. Most kids inSouthDakotadid—andmanyhad been there, includinghim,manyyears ago. Itwas,as Baldwin said, a palacemade of corn.Well, coveredincorn.

Therewasa fifty-foot-tallfire giant heading toward a

city-block-sized square ofdriedcorn.

Mattbrokeintoajog.“Matt?”“That’swhereit’sgoing!”

hecalledback.“The Corn…?” Baldwin

beganashejoggedupbesideMatt.“Sure,it’llburn,butnoone will be in it. They’ll allhaveclearedoutbynow.”

“But it’ll burn. That’s thepoint.” Matt waved around

him. “It’ll burn hot. Maybehot enough to igniteeverythingelse.”

“Sowhatareyougoingtodo?”

“That’s thequestion, isn’tit?”

For a moment, Mattthought the words somehowcame from him. It certainlywas what he was thinking.Butnomatterhowscaredhemight be, his voice wasn’t

pitchedquitethathigh.Figures appeared through

the smoke.Reynawas in thelead, with Laurie and Owenfollowing.

“Gotaplan,Matt?”Reynacalled. “I sure hope so,because if that Corn Palacegoes up in smoke, thewholecitydoes.Nopressure.”

Sheranupbesidehimandtried for a teasing smile, buther face was too strained to

pullitoff.“Sohowareyougoing to

stopthisthing?”sheasked.“I’mopentosuggestions.”They all stared at Matt,

and hewas grateful he’d puton the sunglasses, so theycouldn’t see his ownexpression. He wasabsolutely stumped.Meanwhile,afireJotunnwasabouttosetthecityonfire.

“I’m thinking,” he said.

“Just…Let’skeepmoving.”Laurie ranupbesidehim.

“Sorry to put this on you.Obviously it’s a joint effort.It’s just… well, I was reallyhoping you had an idea,becauseIsuredon’t.Wesawthat thing. It’s fire. It’sentirelyfire.”

“I know. Just throw ideasat me, however crazy theymightsound.”

That’s what they did.

Theythrewoutideas.Mostofthem were crazy, and theones that weren’t just plainwouldn’twork.

“I hate suggesting this,”Laurie said, “but we mightneedtocallforhelp.”

“I already tried,” Mattsaid. “Aswewere running, Icalled the Valkyries. Noone’sanswering.”

Theyallskiddedtoastop,so fast their sneakers

squeaked on the pavement.TheywereattheCornPalace.As thick as the smoke was,therewas noway tomiss it.At least two stories tall andcovering a whole block.There was even an arenainside. And the outside wasdecoratedcompletelyindriedcorn, from the festival a fewweeksago.

“Nogiant,”Baldwinsaid.“What?”

The younger boy wavedaround.“Doyouseeit?Hearit?”

Baldwinwasright.They’dbeen following the Jotunn,butaftermeetingupwith thegirls and Owen—andrealizing where the giantseemed to be heading—they’d kept moving towardthe Corn Palace. Now theywere standing in front of itand therewas no sign of the

giant.Laurie exhaled. “Okay,

false alarm. That gives ustimetocomeupwith—”

The Jotunn’s roar cut heroff and they all snapped toattention, following thesound.

“Over there,” Reyna said,pointing to the right. “It’sheadingthatway.We’refine.Just—”

The giant roared again.

Theyallturnedtotheleft.“Thatthingisfasterthanit

looks,” Baldwin said. “Nowit’sover—”

Another roar, from theirright,wherethey’dfirstheardit.Thenanotherone,fromtheleft,answeringit.

“Tell me that’s an echo,”Baldwinsaid.

“I would love to,” Reynasaid.“But…”

She pointed in both

directions,andMattfollowedher fingers to see twoglowingshapesinthesmoke,both closing in on the CornPalace.

They’d split up again.Baldwin with Laurie andOwen now, and Matt withReyna.Onegroupgoingaftereach giant. Going after them

to do what? Well, that wasstillthebigquestion.

“There’sgot tobeabodyin there,”Reyna said as theyran,hervoiceraisedover thecracklesandroars.“Insidetheflames,Imean.It’sagiantonfire.Whichmeansthere’sstillagiantwecaninjure,right?”

“Hypothetically.”“Therehastobe.Sowe’ll

get close enough and you’llthrowMjölniratit.”

“Anddowhat?”“It’s a magic hammer,

Matt. It’ll know what to do,just like your shield does.Youneedtostarttrustingit.”

“Okay.”“Trythatagain.”“Okay,”hesaid,firmer.“Better.”He looked over at her.

“I’msorry.About—”“I’drathernottalkaboutit

or I’ll get mad again, and I

can’twatch your back if I’mmad at you.” She ran a fewmore steps, then said, “I getwhyyoudid it, and I’mgladyouwerehonestwithme,andIknowRayputyou inabadposition. So I’mmad at himandtakingitoutonyou.Let’sjust figure out how to stopthisthing.”

They kept running. Thesmoke was actually clearerhere.Thatdidn’tmakesense,

givenhowclosetheyweretothe Jotunn, but maybe thesmoke—like breathing fire—wassomethingithadtodoonpurposetosmokepeopleout,and now that there were nopeoplearound,ithadstopped.While wisps still swirledabout them, Matt couldbreathe and had pulled downtheclothfromhisnose.

TheJotunnwaslumberingtoward the Corn Palace. As

they raced up behind, thecrackle of fire drowned outthepoundoftheirfootfalls.

“How close do you needto be?” Reyna asked as theyran.

“I… I don’t know. Ishould test that. Anothertime.”

“We’ll get as close aswecan,then.”

Theypickedupspeed.“Rope,”Reynasaid.

“What?”Matthadtoraisehisvoicetobeheardoverthefire…whilehoping itwasn’tloud enough to be heard bythegiant.

“If this doesn’t work, weshouldgetrope.Tie itonthehammer.Throwitaroundthelegs. Bring it down like aropedsteer.”

Matt sputtered a laugh.“Sounds like you have someexperienceinthat.”

“Western South DakotaJunior Rodeo Girls DivisionChamp,2010.”

“Seriously?”“I have phases. Most

designed to drivemy parentscrazy. The only thing moreembarrassing than a cowgirlfor a daughter was a Gothgirl.Ilikedthecowgirlphasebetter, though. Less moping.More roping. I might goback.”

“Well, the roping is agood suggestion, if we needit. And if we can find rope.Until then, it gives me anidea. I’ll aim for the back oftheknee.”

She grinned at him andsaid,“Goodone,”andhefeltlikehe’dgottenanA-plusonanexam.

They were at the CornPalace now, and he couldmake out the glow of the

other Jotunn on the oppositeside,alsoramblingtowarditstarget.Matt clenched his fistaround Mjölnir and sprintedas fast ashecould.Whenhedrew within about twentyfeet, the giant slowed, as ifsensing something coming.Matt swung Mjölnir. Thehammerflewtowardthegiantwith perfect aim. It hit ontarget, in the back of theJotunn’srightleg.Itstruck…

andpassedrightthrough,thenboomeranged back. Mattliftedhishand.

“No!”Reynashouted.Shelungedandhithimin

theshoulder,but thehammerknew where to go, and itstruck his outstretched hand.Hescreamed.

He dropped the white-hothammer. The pain was likenothinghe’dever feltbefore,so intense he had to bite his

lip to keep from screamingagain. Reyna caught his armand something touched hisburnedhand,makinghimbitedown hard enough to drawblood, a yelp still escaping.Thenawaveofblessedcool,and he looked to see herwrapping on the wet clothsthey’d used to breathethrough.

“It’sokay,”shesaid.“It’sokay. It’s okay.” She kept

repeating the words, underher breath, as if reassuringherselfasmuchashim.Lyingtoherself.Itwasn’tokay.Hishand was the least of theirworries,because…

“It’s fire,” he said. “TheJotunn. It’s completely fire.Wecan’tfightthat.”

“Yes,wecan.”Shepulledthe cloth too tight, as if inemphasis,andhesuckedinasharp breath. “We’ll figure

out—”He grabbedReyna by the

shoulders and threw heraside. Then he swung up hisshieldjustasablastoffirehitit. The giant was lumberingstraight for them. Mattgrabbed Mjölnir with hisboundhandandwavedReynaback, while holding theshield,readytoblockthenextblast.

The other Jotunn roared

and theirs stopped. It turned.Matt told Reyna to keepgoing, justkeepgoing.Then,as the giant seemed toconsiderwhattodo,Mattslidtoahalt.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Hey,you! Do you know who Iam?”

The Jotunn turned.Reynahad stopped, and whenMattglancedover,heexpectedhertoshoutathim,tellhimtoget

moving. But she stood there,confusedbuttrustinghehadaplan. Or maybe that lookmeant he’d better have aplan.

Hedid.Kindof.“Yo! Jotunn!” he shouted

atthegiant.“Yo?”Reynachokedona

laugh. “Please tell me that’san ancient Norse word, andyou’re not going to startrapping.”

Hemayhavemadearudegesture, but if ever called onit, he would claim he’dsimplymotionedforhertobequietwhilehegot thegiant’sattention. And get it he did.TossingMjölnirdidthetrick.He didn’t aim for the Jotunnagain—he wasn’t an idiot—but he sent the hammerzooming past him. When itcame flying back into hishand, he was pretty sure the

giant’sjawdropped.“Yeah, that’s right!”Matt

shouted, so loud his throathurt. “I’mThor’s, uh, champ—”

“Again,”Reynasaid.He coughed, pretending

therewassmokecaughtinhislungs. “I’m theChampion ofThorand—”

“Stop messing around,Matt.”

He liftedMjölniroverhis

head. “I am Thor. Vingthor!BattleThor!”

Thegiantwentcompletelystill. It stared down at Matt.Then one hand reachedback… and sent a fistful offlameshootingtowardhim.

“Run!” Matt yelled atReyna.

She did, and he did, andthe giant let out a roar andthundered after them alongtheemptystreet.

“I’m really hoping there’s apart two to thisplan,”Reynasaidastheyhidjustinsidethedouble doors of a restaurant.Outside, the Jotunn wasstalking the street, cracklingwithfrustration,while, in thedistance,itspartnerroaredforit.

Part one had, of course,been simply “Get the fire

giant away from the highlyflammable Corn Palace.”Now that they’d lured theJotunn away and found aplace to hide, he needed tothink up a plan forpermanently dealing with it.That part was giving Mattmoretrouble.

“Wecan’tphysicallyfightit,”hesaid.

“Actually, we can. Fightfire with fire. There’s a

servicestationdowntheroad.Gasoline.Ifwecould—”

“Fire feeds fire,” Mattsaid.

Her cheeks flared red.“Right. I knew that. I’mjust… I’m not thinkingstraight.”

“Raywillbefine.”“It’snotjustthat.Without

Ray…” She exhaled. “I feeluseless. My power feeds offhis. I’m bugging you for

solutionsbecause,honestly, Idon’thaveany. I’mnotevensurewhat I could conjure upifIhadthepower.”

“Icecream?”Shemanagedawansmile.

Then she stopped. “Hey,wait… ice. There’s a rink intheCornPalace.”Shecaughthisexpression.

“Ice…” He fingered theshield.“Myshieldfrostsoverwhen fire hits it. If Mjölnir

coulddothat,wecoulduseit.But obviously it doesn’t, andIcan’tjustmakeithappen—”

“Yes, you can.” Sheturned tohim.“You’reThor.Godofthunderandlightning.Baldwin said you madelightning strike with thebison.”

“I don’t think that wasme.”

“Of course it was. Youcan make it rain. That’s the

answer.” She grabbed hisarm.“Comeon.Let’sseethestormgodinaction.”

They hadn’t gone far—justoutside the restaurant, so hedidn’t start a rainstormindoors. Assuming he couldstartarainstormatall.

“You can,” Reyna said,growing impatient now,

perhaps because it was thetenth time he’d voiced hisdoubt.Hewas trying ashardashecould.Visualizingrain.Notlightning.Hedidn’twantto make the situation evenworse, but when he toldReyna that, she said, “That’swhat’s blocking you. Stopworrying about what youshouldn’t do. If lightningstrikes,we’lldealwithit.”

Easy forher to say.After

anotherminute,sheskeweredhimwithalook.“You’restillworrying about lightning,aren’tyou?”

“No,I’m—”“You’realousyliar,Matt.

If rain makes you think oflightning,focusonhail.Closeenough.”

“Hail forms inthunderclouds,whicharepartof thunder—and lightning—storms. They’re caused by

updrafts, which can alsotriggertornados.”

“You know what I wishsometimes,Matt? Iwishyouweren’tsosmart.Fine.Ifyoucan’t—”

The Jotunn turned towardthem, as if finally catchingthe sound of their voices.Reyna noticed it beforeMattcouldwarnher,andtheybothran for the restaurantdoorway. The Jotunn pulled

back one massive flamingarmandlaunchedafireballasbigasacar.

“Duck!”Mattshouted.Reyna dropped to the

ground. Matt crouched overher,hisshieldraisedtocoverthem. It was an imperfectcover, but the fireballwasn’tcomingtheirway.Itflewpastandexplodedintherestaurantdoorway, blocking theirescaperoute.

“Run!”Mattsaid.Reynastartedfor thenext

building… until a secondfireball turned that doorwayinto a ring of flame. Sheveered between the twobuildings. The giant tried toblock their path, but theyweretooquick.Thenextballstruck themouthof the alleyand burst into a millionembers. Matt held out hisshieldandthrewhisHammer.

HewasonlytryingtousetheHammer’sforcetoblowbackthe embers, but a fist of iceshot fromhis fingersanddidthejobtwiceaswell.

“That!” Reyna said. “Canyoudothat?”

“Not reliably.” Heclenched his fist and felt thechillofhisfingers.

Ice.Thatwouldwork.“Staybehindme,”hesaid.“Notarguing,”shesaid.“I

willtrytohelp,though.”By helping, she meant

casting a fog spell. It wasn’tas good without Ray, butbetween the thin fog and theremainingsmoke,ithidthemin that alley while Mattclosed his eyes andconcentrated.

I know what I need. Justgiveittome.Pleasegiveitto—

Wind howled down the

alley,thegustknockingthembackandscatteringthesmokeandfog.

“Uh, Matt?” Reyna said.“Not to question yourjudgment,but…”

Heshushedherand,tohissurprise,sheshushed.Outsidethe alley, wind whined past.The Jotunn roared, but thewind whipped the soundaway. Matt keptconcentrating.

It’scoming. I think—no, Iknowit’scoming.IamThor.God of wind and rain andthunderand—

The wind hit again. Thistime, Reyna gasped, and itwasn’t the surprise of thegust, but what it brought—ablast of cold that hit theirfacesandstayedthere,slidingdown,wetandcold.

“Snow?” Reyna said.“Youcalledforablizzard?”

Matt turned toward her.“Uh,yeah.Ithought—”

“You are a genius!” Shethrew her arms around hisneck and hugged him. Thenshe pulled back and said,“Don’t take that the wrongway.”

“Uh… okay. I’m justtemporarilyagenius.”

“Notwhat Imeant,silly.”She laughed, the soundringingdownthealley,andas

he heard it, he realized he’dneverheardherlaughbefore.Orseenhergrinninglikethis,herfacelitup.

“Stopblushing,” she said,swattinghisarm.“Itwasjusta hug.Now, don’t just standthere. Keep doing whateveryouweredoing.Letitsnow.”

“Yes,ma’am.”Reyna bounced there,

humming “Let It Snow”under her breath, and as he

turned his back on her, shebrokeintofullsong,hervoicehighandlight,swirlingdownthealley,helpinghimfindhisfocus.

Letitsnow,letitsnow,letitsnow.

And it did. The snow fellandthewindhowled,blastingiteverywhere.He’dcalledupablizzard.

“Good enough,” Reynasaidfinally.“Let’sgoseeifit

worked.”She grabbed his hand—

the one without the cloths.Her fingers were warmagainst the falling snow. Shetuggedhim,slidingdownthealley,thepavementslicknowwith an inch of wet snow.Thesnowdidn’tstretchasfaras they could see—the stormseemedtohavebeenconfinedto this area—but it wasenough. Snow, falling lightly

asthewinddieddown.Matt glanced at the two

doorways that had been onfire.Bothwerecharredblack,buttherewasn’tsomuchasaspark smoldering. There wasno sign of the Jotunn.Anywhere.

A snowball explodedagainsthisshoulder.

“You did it!” Reynacalled.

He looked to see her

gather another snowball,grinning as she did it. Hescooped up a handful andshattered hers midflight. Shelaughed and waved towardtheCornPalace.

“Looks like this is over,butwe’dbettermakesure.”

He nodded and followedher,runningandslidingalongtheicystreets.

ELEVEN

LAURIE

“APRESENTFOR

AUNTHELEN”

Fight a giant tower of fire,Laurie thought as she triednot to panic at the latestimpossible task she had tocomplete. Suuuure, no bigdeal.

Therewasnowaytofightfirewhenyouwereanormalhuman girl. Actually, she

wasn’t sure there was anywaytofightitifshe’dbeenawolf likeFenorhadamagichammer like Matt. Mythicmonstersweren’tmeanttobesomething that kids had toface. It was too big, tooawful, too… everything tobegin to figure out what todo. That didn’t change thefact that she had to do thatverything.

She and Baldwin crept

through the darkened streetsof Mitchell toward the areawheretheJotunnhadseemedto be. They didn’t see it justyet,butthey’dheardtheroar,so they knew they wereheadingtowardit.

Despitethewalkingtowerof fire, a sudden blast offreezing cold air rushed overthem from somewhere.Laurie shivered. The lastthingshewantedwas todeal

with a flaming Jotunn andsomethingmadeoffrost,too.This whole fighting-impossible-monsters businesswas so not covered in herschoollessons.

“How does a giantflamingthinghide?”Baldwinwhispered from her side,drawinghermindawayfrompossible monsters to the onetheyhadtofacerightthen.

“Idon’tknow.”

“Maybe it can turn theflame on and off like alightbulb,”Baldwinmused.

Despite herself, Lauriesnortedinlaughter.Nomatterhow messed up thingsseemed, Baldwin had nosense of doom. She, on theother hand, felt like it wasrightaroundthecorner.

Andshewasright,sortof.Sheturnedleftinfrontofthenext building, and there,

lurking in the shadows, shesawthreewolves.Obviously,therewasaslightchancethatthey were real wolves, butshewas pretty sure that theywere like the rest of thewolves she’d seen the pastfew weeks: relatives of hersthat shifted shapes and werefoolish enough to want theworldtoend.

Beforeshehadachancetofigureoutwhat todo,ahand

clamped down on her armand jerked her backward.“Eeep!”

“Shh!” A hand coveredhermouth, keeping her fromsaying anything else to drawthewolves’attention.

For a brief moment, shehoped it was Fen. It couldhappen. There were wolves;Matt said Fen was with thewolvesnow.Maybehecameto help them, and that was

whathewasreallydoingwiththeRaiders.

Her hope was dashedwhen she heard Owenwhisper, “We have enoughtroublewithoutRaidersinthemix.”

Baldwinstoodshouldertoshoulderwithher.Hepointedinto the darkness where aglowing shape was nowvisible. “That is our currentproblem.”

The three stood quietlywhile the Jotunn walkedthrough the darkness like alivingtorch.

“We could try to steer ittoward Lake Mitchell,”Lauriesuggested.

“Liketag,but…painfulifit catches us.” Baldwinfrownedalittle.

It was a less-than-goodplan, but she wasn’t surewhat else to do. She glanced

down at her bow. A fewinvisible arrows didn’t seemlike much of a weaponagainst fire. Shewasn’t evensure if there was anythingsolid inside the Jotunn. Itseemed like there should be.Every living thing should besolid,right?Thatseemedlikea basic fact from scienceclass,butshewasn’tsurethatscience class—even inBlackwell—covered monster

biology.“Let’sdoit,”shesaid.The threeof themwalked

toward the Jotunn, notbothering to try to hide fromit. They needed the creatureto see them in order for it tobe willing to chase them.Unfortunately, by the timethey reached it, they hadn’tattracted its attention. It wasignoringthem.

“Umm, Laurie? Plan B?”

Baldwin nudged herwith hiselbow. “It’s a blind monsterorsomething.”

“Jötnar aren’t blind,”Owensaid.

Baldwin and Laurieexchanged a quick look, butneitherofthemaskedwhyorhowOwenknewthat.

“Okay,thelakeis…”Shelooked around. It was nearlyimpossible to get a goodsenseofdirectioninthepitch

dark.“Thatway,Ithink?”“So, we all run that way

and…What?Hope it seesusandchases?”Baldwinasked.

“No,” Owen said. “Extrarunning seems foolish. Itneedstoseeusfirst.”

“Right.Stayhere.”Lauriesquared her shoulders andmarchedawayfromtheboys.She walked into the street,feeling more like Fen thanherself.Thatwasthewayshe

wasgoingtohandlethis.Shethought,WhatwouldFendo?BebravelikeFen.

She didn’t want to thinkabout thefact that thesortof“brave” she was being wasthe exact sort of thing thatwould’ve made her yell andworry about her cousin. Shewas just going to do whatneededtobedone.

OnceshewasnearenoughtotheJotunnthatshecouldn’t

thinkofhowitcouldpossiblynotseeher,sheyelled,“Hey,you!”

Nothing.She tried again, “HEY!

Flameyguy!”Behind her, she heard

Baldwinlaugh.Okay, it wasn’t the best

thing, but she didn’t exactlyknowthecreature’sname.

“It’s not working,” Owencalled.

Laurierolledhereyes.Hewasn’t as helpful as heseemedtothinkhewaslately.She tried one more time.“Hey,you!”

Stillnoreaction.“Here goes nothing,” she

muttered.Thensheraisedherbow, aimed, drew back thesinew-string,and let looseaninvisiblearrow.

Foramoment,shewasn’tsureitwoulddoanything.Do

ghost arrows burn up? Shedrew again, and in shortorder, she let two morearrowsfly.

Then she heard and felt aground-shaking roar.At leastone of her arrows had hit itstarget.

The Jotunn was scanningthe ground, and although herplanwas for it to see her soshe could lead it to the lake,shequakedasitspottedher.

Shewasfrozeninplaceasitstalkedtowardher.

“Move!”Owencalledout.The Jotunn was steadily

approaching.

“Idon’twant tohurtyou,but you can’t stay here,” shecalled.

Itseemedtostaredownather.

“TheywatchedyourAuntHelen the same way,”

Baldwinsaid.Maybe it would listen to

her! She was Loki’schampion. In as stern of avoice as she could muster,Laurie said,“Youneed togoaway.Gohomeorwhatever.”

Itdidn’tmove.“Do you think it

understands you?” Baldwinasked.

“Bow up,” Owensuggested. “It understood

that.”With a reluctant sigh, she

didashesuggested.“Fire,”Owenordered.She letavolleyofarrows

fly.The Jotunn roared again,

and this time it took severalstepstowardthem.Itwasn’tafull-out run, but it waschargingtowardthem.

“Run!”Owenyelled.The three of them ran

toward the direction she’dthought the lake was. TheJotunn pursued them, lettingoutgrowlsandroarsasitdid.

The angrier it got, themore it sounded like aninferno.Therewasn’taforestnearby, but she could swearshe smelled burning woodandheardthecrackleoftreesfalling. She wanted to turnandlook,but theheatbehindher made it pretty clear that

the Jotunn was closing thedistancebetweenthem.

Ifitgottooclose,itwouldbe a lot more than phantomtreesthatwouldbeburning.

They ran until theyreached Lake Mitchell andskiddedtoastop.

“Now what?” Baldwingasped.

This was the part of theplan they hadn’t thoughtabout: if they got into the

water and it followed, they’dboil to death like vegetablesinasoup.If theydidn’tkeepmoving, therewas no reasonfor the Jotunn to get into thewater.

“Get it in there.” Shegestured.

“How?”“Idon’tknow!”They were only moments

from being cornered by thetower of fire that they’d

angered.“Tellittogetinthewater

or something,” Baldwinsuggested.

“Inthewater!”sheyelled,pointing at the lake, wavingboth arms toward it like shecouldshooitin.

It didn’t seem tounderstand or react. It didn’tevenlookather.

“I’ll go in,” Baldwinsuggested.“Itcan’thurtme.”

She hated that idea, butshedidn’thaveabetterone—anditdidn’tmatterifshedid:before she could sayanything,Baldwinturnedandjumpedintothelake.

Quickly she jerked Owenwithherandpulledhimdownbehindashrub.

Baldwin splashed andyelled, “Hey, you with theflames!” He smacked botharms on the water. “You’re

not nearly as intimidating astheonesinHel,youknow?”

The Jotunn chargedtoward the lake, and then allshecouldseewassteam.Theairwasonegiantwhitecloudasthefirehitwater.Thehisswas intense, like the largestsnakeintheworldwashidinginthatwhitecloudofsteam.

The light of the Jotunn’sfiredimmed.

“Baldwin?”Laurie called.

“Areyouokay?”“I’m wet, but fine,” he

called back from somewhereshecouldn’tsee.

“Owen.”“Soggy,but fine. Iwasn’t

expecting a steam bath,”Owensaidfromherside.

“Okaythen…”ShelookedforBaldwin,butshecouldn’tsee him without the light ofthe Jotunn—and with theblanket of steam all around

them.Thenthesteamseemedto

starttoglow.Asshewatched,theJotunn’sfiresparkedbackto life and the warm orangeglow of the creature madeeverythinglookeerie.

Uncharacteristically,Owenbitoffacurseword.

“What he said,” Baldwinmuttered.“IwishHelenwerehere.Theylistentoher.”

“That’s it!” Laurie

whispered. She raised hervoiceandcalled,“Stayback.”

The Jotunn pulled itselfout of the lake and movedtowardher.

The idea of the towering,flamingJotunngoingthroughher via the portal was scary,but shehad runout of ideas.This was it. She opened thelargest portal she ever had,andthenshebracedherselfastheJotunnchargedintoit.

The heat from the Jotunncrossing through her portalwasintense,butitsfiredidn’tburn her. It lumbered towardthe glittering air in front ofher,andinasnap,itstartedtobesuckedthroughthepanel.

“I hope Aunt Helendoesn’t mind surprisevisitors,” Laurie muttered astheportalblinkedclosed.

After the last sparkvanished, Laurie dropped to

her knees, shaking. Shehadn’t been sure whethershe’d get burned, and she’dnevercreated suchamassiveportal. The combination offearandexcitementmadeherunsteady.

She lookedupatBaldwinandOwenstandingathersideagain.

“Are you okay?” Owenasked. His hand came downonhershoulder.

“Not sure yet,” shewhispered.

The queasiness fromopening several portals onerightaftertheotherwasback—and this time, it hadbrought its friends: headacheand chills. Her whole bodyfelt wrong. It was like theawful case of the flu she’dhad a couple of years ago.Then, she curled up in bedandswitchedbetweenreading

a stack of books, sleeping,andplayingvideogameswithFen, who’d visited as muchashermotherallowedhimto.Now? None of that waspossible.ShewaskneelinginthestreetinMitchell,andtheonly light around her wasfrom all of the things theJotunnhadsetonfire.

“Sofar,Ragnaröksucks,”shetoldOwenandBaldwin.

Baldwinnodded.“Died.”

“Lost an eye,” Owenadded.

“Lost Fen,” shewhispered. She felt guilty.Dying or losing an eye wasworse. She knew that, butlosingFenwas a lot like shefigured it would feel if shelostherarmorherlungs.Sheneeded her cousinmore thanever. The world was ending.The sky was black, and thebuildings were on fire. She

couldn’t fix any of that, butshewasgoingtotrytofixtheproblem of Fen’s loss.Thankstoherencounterwiththe Jotunn, she even had aplan.

Shecouldopenportals.Shecouldgoanywhere.Laurie wasn’t used to

thinking about her gifts foranything other than fightingmonsters,rescuingfriends,orchasing artifacts, but that

wasn’tall theycouldbeusedtodo.

Resolved, she put herhands on the pavement infront of her and pushedherselftoherfeet.

“I need a Raider,” sheannounced.“Catchone.”

“Youwantusto…catchawolf?”Owenasked.

“Human. Wolves don’ttalk.”

Baldwin started, “Well,

they sort of do. It’s notEnglish,but—”

“Human Raider,” Laurieinterrupted. She scanned thestreet. There had been a fewRaiders lurking in the darkduring the fight with theJotunn. Surely therewas onestillaroundherenow.

The street was mostlyempty of people. Lauriewasn’tsureifthey’dfledthispartof townor theywereall

hiding inside. A toweringgiantmade of fire seemed tocleartheareaofeveryonebutthe people who weren’tsurprised that monsters werereal.

“Whydoyouwanttotalktoawolf?”Owenaskedfromherside.

“Raider,”shecorrected.“IwanttotalktoaRaider.”

Owen put a hand on herforearm.“Thereisanorderto

things, Laurie. You andFenrir are bothrepresentatives of Loki. Hewas a god with two faces, atrickster, too complicated tobe contained by only onedescendant.”

Laurie spun and facedOwen. She met his calmexpression with fury. “Youknewthis?”

“Yes.”She wished she were the

sorttopunchpeople,becauseright now her temper wasboiling up. She folded herarmsandsnapped,“Soyou’resayingI’mLoki’sheroicside,andFenisthevillainousone?Bull!”

“He’snotlikey—”“Shut it, Owen.” Laurie

shuddered at the temper thatfilled her. She liked Owen.Hewasherfriend.Hewasthefirstboywhohadkissedher.

He’d taught her how to usethe bow now clutched in herhand. None of that changedthe fact that he didn’tunderstand that Fen wasnecessary to her—or thatkeeping huge secrets wasn’tcool. Everyone was sofocused on the fight, theshield, the hammer, themonsters, the serpent. Shewas, too, but right now, thelack of Fen in her life was

more important than all ofthat.

“Next time you keep asecretlikethat,we’llfindouthowmuchofLoki’sbadsideI have, too,” she warnedOwen. “Fen and I bothshould’ve been told this assoonasyoumetus!”

Owen said nothing. Heopenedhismouthlikehewasgoing to speak, but thenclosed it without uttering a

word.While Laurie and Owen

staredat eachother,Baldwinhad been concentrating onLaurie’sorder.Withamightyyell, he went hurtling acrossthe street to the flickeringshadows of a building withthe front glass windows allsmashedout.

Laurie followed him,grabbing Owen’s hand andtugging him with her as she

ran.Shemightbeangrywithhim, but he was still herfriend.Shesqueezedhishandand hoped he knew that washer way of saying “we’ll beokay.”Eventhoughshewasagirl,shewasstillaBrekke—and not as comfortable withwordsaswithactions.

Insidethewreckageoftheshop, they foundcharredandcrushed shoes surrounded byshards of glass from the

broken windows. Nothingwascurrentlyburning,butthesmell of burned leather andplasticmadehercough.

Standing in themiddle ofthe destroyed shoe store wasBaldwin,whohadcapturedaRaider. The captive boy’sarmswere pinned behind hisbody by Baldwin’s grip, buthestillstruggledtoescape.

“I don’t want to knockyoudownintoallthatglass,”

Baldwin said as Lauriewalkedcloser.“ButIwillifIhave to, so can you pleasestoptryingtogetfree?”

Laurieshookherhead.Noone else could be so nicewhile they were holdingsomeone prisoner. She liftedher bow and aimed it at theboy’s leg. She wasn’t reallygoing to shoot him, but hedidn’t know that. “I needyourhelp.”

“No.” He met her eyesand glared at her. “I’mnot atraitor.”

“Good,” she said.“Because I’mnotaskingyoutobeatraitor.”

He scowled in confusion,but he stopped trying tosquirmoutofBaldwin’sgrip.

“Ineedtoseemycousin.”Owenstartedtoask,“Are

yousurethat’sagood—”Lauriecuthimoff.“Ineed

to see Fen. I need to talk tohim.” She stepped a littlecloser to the Raider. “Andyouneedtotakemetohim.”

For a moment, no onespoke, but then the Raidernodded once. He told her,“The camp is out toward theBadlands.”

Laurieopenedaportalandnodded towardBaldwin.Thegrinning boy and the captiveRaidersteppedintotheportal,

and Laurie looked at Owenbriefly. “You stay here, andtellMattI’llbeback.”

Shefeltasurgeofguiltatthehurt lookonhis face,butsomeone needed to tell Matt—andOwenwasn’t a fan ofFen, or her plan, anyhow.Quickly, she added, “Trustme.”

Owen sighed, but henodded.

And Laurie stepped

through theportal to findhermissingcousin.

TWELVE

MATT

“POSTAPOCALYPTIC”

BythetimeMattandReynamade their way back to theothers,thesecondJotunnhadbeendefeated.AndaccordingtoOwen,LaurieandBaldwinwere gone, having opened aportaltoFen.

Would Fen be ready tolisten tohiscousinandcomeback? Or would he try topersuade her to stay there?Matt had no doubt Laurie

wouldn’tstay,butwhatiftheRaiderstookherandBaldwinhostage? Matt had to trustthat Laurie knew what shewasdoing.

“Off to find your uncle,”Reyna said. “Finally. Youknowwherehelives,right?”

“Ihaveanaddress.”“But you’ve been there?

He’s your uncle, isn’t he?Wait, Jake said somethingabout not having seen him

since youwere a baby.Howcome?”

“There’s… a familysituation. With mygrandfather.”

“Shocking.”“The address?” Owen cut

in.Mattrattleditoff.“Iknow

the general area, too. Jaketoldme.But I’ve never beenthere.”

“We’ll find it,” Owen

said. “Just point us the rightway.”

They passed one smolderingbuilding after another, butthings seemed quiet.Everyone must haveevacuated the city center. Itlooked like something out ofa postapocalyptic movie. Akid’slunchboxdroppedinthe

middleofoneempty road.Anylon jacket caught on asignpost, flapping in thewind. Dumped trash andrecycling bins, spilledcontents on fire, tongues offlame licking out. The sizzleand pop of wooden buildingtrim, embers glowing in thenear-dark.Andsmoke.Afogof smoke, settled low butrefusingtodissipate,thestinkeverywhere. Smoke and fire

anddestruction.If this looks

postapocalyptic, what woulditlooklikepost-Ragnarök?

The streets were eerilysilent except for the crackleof smoldering wood and thesnap of that abandonedjacket. A sudden yowl fromup ahead had them allstarting.Asmalltreesmokedononeside,thefaintglowoffire darting from a burning

patch of dead foliage. Theyowl came again. Matthurried over and peered upthetreetoseeacalicocat,itsgreeneyesstaringdown,asifinaccusation.

“No,” Reyna said,stoppingbesidehim.“Wearenotrescuingthecat.”

“Butthetree—”“—is on fire. I see that.

Have you ever owned a cat?If they can go up, they can

comedown.Guaranteed.”Matt eyed the feline. It

eyed him back, then yowled,asiftosayWell,hurryitup.

“Itmightbe tooscared tocomedown,”hesaid.

“It’s a cat,” Reyna said.“They don’t get scared—justannoyed,which I’mgoing toget if you insist on playingheroandrescuingthatfaker.”Shescowledat thecat.“Yes,Imeanyou.Faker.”

The cat sniffed, thenturned to Matt, clearlysensingthesoftertouch.

Owensteppedforward.“Ifyou’llfeelbetterrescuingthecat,Matt, thengo ahead.Wearen’tonatightschedule.”

Reyna waved her armsaround the smoking street.“Um,Ragnarök?”

“And the longer you twobicker…”

“Fine,” Reyna said. “I’ve

got this.” Before Matt couldprotest, she walked to thebase of the tree, grabbed thelowestbranch,andswungup.“Rodeogirl,remember?Also,five years of gymnastics,which my mother thoughtwould make me moregraceful and feminine. Hermistake.”

She shimmied along abranch.“Comeon,faker.I’myour designated hero fortoday.” She looked down atMatt. “And if you ever tellanyoneIrescuedacatfromatree…”

BeforeMattcouldanswer,thecatsprangtotheground.

“Arggh!”Reynasaid.“You scared him out,”

Matt said. “He just neededthe extra motivation. No,wait. It’s a she. Calicos arealmostalwaysfemale.”

“Are they? Huh.” Reynaswungout.Thecatsatonthegroundbelow,watching.

“See?” Matt said. “She’sgrateful.”

“She’sgloating.Let’sgo.”

They went. So did the cat,headinginthesamedirection,trotting along behind Reyna.Whenevershegloweredat it,the cat would look aroundinnocently,asiftosayWhat?I happen to be heading thesameway.

Astheywalked,Matttried

to talk to Owen. Not aboutanything to do withRagnarök. Just talk.Conversation. But Owendeflected questions andinstead turned them to Matt,asking how Matt felt aboutthe coming battle. Whichreally wasn’t his idea ofdistractingconversation.

“Give it up,” Reynawhispered to Matt as hepulledbacktoletOwengoon

ahead. “If you’re bored, youhavetomakedowithme.”

“Iwasjusttryingtogettoknowhimbetter.But Iguessall-knowingdoesn’tmeanall-known,huh?”

When she lookedconfused, he said, “Odin istheall-knowinggod.”

“Idon’t thinkOwen’sall-knowing.”

“Yeah,butheknowsmorethanus.”

“True.” She fell in stepbeside him. “How about youbringme up to speed on themyth stuff. Yes, I know,you’ve told me everything Ineed to know. But…” Sheshrugged. “I’d like to knowmore.You’retheguyforthat.And it also seems as if wehaveabitofahikehere.”

“Well…”Heglancedbackat the calico. “TheValkyriestold you that Freya’s chariot

is drawn by two house cats,right?”

She smiled. “Right. Iforgotthat.”Shelookedatthecat. “Hey, make yourselfuseful. Find a friend and achariot, okay? My feet aregettingsore.”

Thecateyedherbalefully.“Doyouwanttohearhow

Freya got her cats?” Mattasked.

Reynanodded,andhetold

thestoryabouthowThorhadfound twomotherless kittensand been asked by theirfather, amagical cat, to takethem home. Thor had giventhem to Freya, and theybecame her booncompanions,oftendepictedather feet, when they weren’tdrawinghergoldenchariot.

“You know what thatmeans, right?” Reyna said.“Youowemeanothercat.”

Mattlaughed.“Iguessso.There’s another part of themyth, one that says afterseven years, she rewards hercats by turning them intowitches. Maybe that’s whatthisoneishopingfor.”

“Seven years?” Reynalooked back at the calico.“You try sticking around forsevenyears,andI’llturnyouinto something, all right. Aprettycalicorug.”

Thecatonlylookedofftoone side, as if to sayWhatever,andtheycontinuedon.

The fire didn’t seem to havereached Uncle Pete’s street,but the smoke certainly had.And the blackouts. In thedistance, Matt heard whatsounded like a guy with a

bullhorn.“Stayinyourhomes,”the

guy was saying. “The firedepartment has managed tocontain the blaze to thedowntown.”

“Um, no, that would beus,” Reyna said. “You’rewelcome!”

The bullhorn mancontinued, telling people tokeeptheirwindowsanddoorsshut, not to venture outside

because of the highconcentration of smoke stillintheair.

They found Uncle Pete’sbungalow andwalked up thedrive behind a Jeep that hadcamping gear and two bikesloadedup.

“Judging by that mud, itlooks like he was four-by-four’ingwiththeJeep.Cool.”Reynalookedat thebikes.“Ithought you said he wasn’t

married.”“He must have a

girlfriend.”They walked to the door

and knocked. When no oneanswered, Reyna jumped offthe stoop and peered in thefrontwindow.

“Ooh,”shesaid.“Helikesold action movies. He’s gotpostersforIndianaJonesandThe Terminator. Whoa, isthat an original Blade

Runner?”“Do you see any actual

peopleinside?”“No, but there’s a sweet

hometheatersetup.”The cat leaped up beside

her and peered in, and Mattalmost laughed, the two ofthemwith theirnosesagainstthewindow.Reynarappedontheglassandcalled,“Hello?”

“Isitdark?”Mattasked.“Um, yeah, considering

thelackofelectricity.”“Exactly. Considering the

lack of electricity, peoplewould be lighting candles sothey aren’t sitting around inthedark.”

“Ah, good point.” Sheshielded her eyes against theglass. “I see light, but it’sway back. A basementmaybe?”

Mattknockedatthefront.Thenhewentaroundtheback

anddidthesame.Whenbothfailed to bring anyone, hetriedthedoorknob.Itopened.

The cat slid through hislegs, nearly tripping him. Itwalked in. Looked around.Walked out onto the backporch.Meowed.

Noone’shome.Whenthecatjumpedonto

the railing,Owenmurmured,“Yes, stand watch. Thatmight be wise,” and Matt

laughed softly, but Owenonlyfrowned,asifwonderingwhatwasfunny.

They went in, and Mattlooked around the darkenedhouse.“UnclePete?”

Noanswer.A little illumination came

froma solar-rechargednight-light, glowing in the kitchen.Mattfoundthebasementdoorand opened it to see pitchdark. In the kitchen, he

paused at the fridge. Therewere photos of Matt and hisbrothers, neatly lined up in arow. As toddlers, then askids,thenteens.

The front room wasempty. He left Reynaadmiring the home theatersetup while he checked thethreecloseddoors.Oneledtoabedroom,onetoabath,andthethirdtoanoffice.MostofthebooksseemedtobeNorse

history and myth. At least athirdofthemwerestackedonthe worktable. Papers andjournalsblanketedevery inchofremainingspace.

Mattpickeduponepaper.Handwritten words likeserpentandMjölnirandrulesof engagement covered thepage, with arrows betweenthem and notations thatlookedlikepagereferences.

When Matt saw the cell

phone, his heart picked upspeed.

“No one goes out andleavestheirphone,”hesaidtoReynaasshejoinedhim.

“Theydoifthere’snocellservice,”Reynasaid.

Reyna hit a couple ofbuttons, and then looked up.“Isyourdad’snamePaul?”

Mattnodded.“There’s a voice mail

from him, dated yesterday.”

Her finger moved over thescreen, then she stopped.“You should—Or if you’drather…”

I’dratherignoreit.WhichI can’t, of course. Face thetruth,whateveritmightbe.

“I’lltakeit,”Mattsaid.“Youdothat,”Owensaid,

looking in from the hall.“Reyna and I will check thebasement to be sure it’sempty.”

“Matt’s uncle is adescendant of Thor,” Reynasaid. “Hewon’t be coweringdown there in the dark.”Shepaused, as if catching a lookfromOwen.“Oh,youwanttogive Matt privacy. Just saythat.”

They left. Matt lookeddown at the message. Hechecked call logs instead,telling himself he wasgathering data, not stalling.

There were three incomingcalls fromhisdadsinceMatthad left home. No outgoingcalls since themessagecamein,thoughithadbeenlistenedto.

MatthitthePLAYbutton.“It’s Paul. I’m not sure if

you’llgetthis.I’vejustheardpeople inLeadandWall lostpowerandcellservice.Ihopeyou still have it. It’s—” Hisdad sucked in breath.

“Obviously, if you lookoutside your window, youknow I haven’t been entirelyhonest. Matt didn’t just runoff. It’s Ragnarök. If I’dknownitwascomingsofast,you’d have been the firstpersonIcalled.I’msorry.Butthe seers selected Matt asThor’schampionandhetookoff with a couple of theBrekkekids.Dadsaidhegotscaredandran.I…”

His father inhaled again,the sound hissing down theline.“Thatdoesn’tsoundlikeMatt,butheisjustakidandIhandled the whole thingbadly. He found out he wasgoing to fight the MidgardSerpent, and I patted him onthe back and sent him to thefair with a hundred bucks.Butifhedidjustgetspooked,he’dhavecomebackbynow.He’s a responsible kid. I’m

just worried about him. Ithink there’s more going onherewithDad.”

A longpause.Then, “I’mgoingtoaskyounottophoneme back. I’m just… I’mbeing careful. I’ll call youlater,okay?”

Themessage ended.Mattstood there, staring down atthe phone. Then he played itagain.

Matt was heading to thebasement to call up ReynaandOwen,whenheheardthecat meow at the back door.Hedidn’teventhink,movingon autopilot, his mind stillwrapped up in that call, andsoheopenedthebackdoortoletthecatin.

Dad didn’t believe I’dtakenoff.

He said that I wasresponsible. That he wasworried about me, moreworriedaboutme thanaboutRagnarök.

“Whatthe—?”Reynasaidbehindhim.

He turned to see herstopped at the top of thebasement stairs. The cat hadzoomedpasthim—directlytothe front door, where it wasmeowing.

“Seriously?” Reynalooked at him. “Let them inone door and they want outanother.”

Mattstruggledforasmile.Reyna eyed him and said,“Did your dad say anythingweneedtoknow?”

“Onlythathe’sstartingtosuspect things aren’t rightwithGranddad.”

Shesnorted.Owenclearedhis throat, as if to back her

off,butsheonlywalkedovertoMatt,hervoiceloweringasshesaid,“Anythingelse?”

Heshookhishead.“Youokay?”Henodded.She paused, then said,

“Do you want… I don’tknow…” She shiftedawkwardly, voice droppingagain as she said, “Do youwanttotalkaboutit?”

When he shook his head,

shestiffened,as if she’dsaidthe wrong thing, and shestarted to back away, but hesaid, “Maybe later?” and shenodded, color rising in hercheeks as he murmured,“Thanks.”

The cat scratched at thefrontdoor.

“Hey, no,” Matt said,jogging into the front room.“Don’t—”

The door opened. It

wasn’t Matt’s uncle, but adark-haired, bearded guy inhis thirties, wearing gogglesagainst the smoke. He sawthe kids and stopped asMattliftedMjölnir.

“Yeah,” Reyna said. “Seethat hammer? Wrong housetoloot.Movealong.”

The man pulled off hisgoggles. He smiled, a broadgrin that creased his eyes atthecorners.“Matt.”

Matt froze. “You knowwho I am,” he said, shiftingMjölnir to the other hand,makingsuretheguysawit.

“Your picture’s on thefridge.”

“Youaren’tmyuncle.”“No, I’m Alan.” He put

outhishand.“I’mafriendofhis.”

“Alan Dupree?” Reynasaid.

A pause, then the man

said,“That’sright.”“There’s an office

downstairs,”shesaidtoMatt.“Adiploma in pharmacologyhashisnameonit.”

“Right…”Alansaid.“I’myouruncle’sroommate.Well,housemateand—”

“There’s only onebedroom,”Reynasaid.

“I… just moved toMitchell a few months ago,so I’m taking the pullout

couchuntil—”Matt cut in. “Where’smy

uncle?Ineedtotalktohim.”Alan hesitated, then he

pulled himself straight andwaggled the goggles fromone finger. “We heard therewere people trapped inapartments on the edge ofdowntown, and he had to goseewhathecoulddotohelp.”

“Which proves he’sdefinitely your relative,”

ReynasaidtoMatt.“Where’s he now?” Matt

asked.“Still there,” Alan said.

“A couple of apartments areaffected, and the firedepartmentisAWOL.Idroveback to grab cases of waterandgethimsomethingtoeat.Otherwise, he’ll keep at ituntil he collapses. I can takeyou—”

“No,” Matt said. “We’ll

gobyourselves.”“Matt’s earned his

paranoia,” Reyna said. “Justpointusintherightdirection,and give us your keys. I’lldrive.”

Alan looked at Reyna.“Howoldareyou?”

“Fourteen.Gotmylicenselastmonth.”

“Youwon’tmind if I asktoseeit,then?”

She waved at the front

window. “Um, apocalypse?Kindofforgotmywallet.”

“Can we take your car?”Matt said. “We’ll be careful,and there’s not much outtheretohit.”

“All right, but I’m goingwith you.” When Mattpaused, Alan said, “I knowyoudon’ttrustme,butunlikeyour friend there, I canshowID.IfI’msendingyouintoatrap,atleastyoucantakeme

hostage.”

Matt sat in the back withAlan. Owen took shotgun.Reynadrove.Thoughshewasreally only thirteen, sheobviously had experience,and she was careful, stayingunder the speed limit andobeyingthestopsignsevenifthere wasn’t another car in

sight.Thecat sat in thebackwindow, having hopped inand made itself comfortableassoonasadooropened.

“So that’s the famousMjölnir?” Alan said. “Is ittrue that only Thorsens canholdit?”

“No, anyone can,” Mattsaid. “You just need to be aThorsentoliftit.”

“Right. I know all thelore.” Alan quirked a smile.

“Spend enough time withyour uncle, and it’sunavoidable.”Hesoberedandcleared his throat. “If there’sanything you want to talkabout…about…me.”

“Unlessyouturnouttobea Raider or a monster indisguise?” Matt shrugged.“It’sanonissue.”

Alan nodded slowly, thenhe took out his wallet andflipped to his license. He

paused, and instead passedover a photo of himself,grinning and covered withdirt,wearingacavinghelmet.Beside him was a man wholookedlikeayoungerversionofMatt’sfather.

“Is thatproofenough thatIknowhim?”Alansaid.

“Not in a world withPhotoshop.”

Reyna chuckled from thefrontseat.

Alan shook his head.“Youkidsaretough.”

“We’velearnedtobe.”“Iimagineyouhave.I—”

He stopped short. Mattfollowed his gaze to see anapartment, smoke billowingfrom the windows, flameslickingout.

“Let me guess,” Reynasaid. “That’s where you leftMatt’suncle.”

“On the top floor. There

were people trapped upthere.”

Before he could finish,someone ran from thesidewalk, waving frantically.It was a young woman, herfacecoveredinsoot.

Alan jumped out beforethe car came to a completestop.“IsPetestill—?”

“He’s in there,” she said.“They were right behind meand then something

happened.”“Of course it did,”Reyna

muttered.“I need to go—” Matt

began.“Of course you do,” she

said.“Andwe’rerightbehindyou.”

THIRTEEN

FEN

“PROVOKINGA

DRAGON”

The Raiders’ campsite was,as their camps always were,tidy and organized. This onewas a little different, though,because they were settled inthe Badlands. Craggy rockformations jutted up andlooked a lot like thelandscape of Hel. Usually a

hike or run through thegorges and exploring theimposingcliffswasatreatforFen.Itwasaperfectterraintoenjoy being a wolf. Now,however, itmadeFen a littleuncomfortablebecauseof thesimilarity to Hel. He halfexpectedmonsterstostepoutof the gorges, but so far theonly horrible creature he’dfoundattheirsitewasthegirlbesidehim.

Astridwastobeprotected,according to the mayor, andFen wasn’t sure howseriouslythepackwastiedtothecrazyoldman.Heneededanswers,andalthoughtalkingto Skull had clarified somethings, theonlyonewhohadproposed trying to figure outaplanwas…Astrid.

Itcouldbeatrick.Itcouldbetrue.Either way, Fen saw no

harm in talking to her. Hehadn’thiddenhisthoughtsonRagnarök so far, and hecouldn’t actually make anydecisions that wouldendanger his pack, so therewerenosecretshecouldspill.If she knew anything aboutwulfenkind—and he guessedthat she must, since she wastraveling with them—sheknew that already… whichmeant shemight be honestly

looking for a way to protectMatt.

Fen was silent as he andAstrid walked farther awayfromSkull’s tent.Hehadthefeeling that he needed moreprivacy than he’d get incamp. He motioned towardtwoof theRaiderswhowerewatchinghim.

When the boy and girlcame over, Fen said, “AstridandIaregoingforawalk.No

oneistoleavecamp.”They both nodded. The

girl said, “Do you need anescort?”

“No.Justpassthewordtostayincamp.”

Then Fen turned to hisformer enemy and motionedtoward the hills. “Killersfirst.”

She rolled her eyes, butshe said nothing as shewalked deeper into the cliffs

andravinesoftheBadlands.Temporary truce. He

could do that. He wouldn’tforget, though, not ever, andif they all got throughRagnarök,he’dfindawaytomakeherunderstand thatsheshould never ever hurt hisfriendsagain.

Astrid stopped in aclearing that was shelteredfrom view by the rockformations. “Before I say

anything, Ineed toshowyousomething.”

Fen made an impatientgesture.

Astrid looked around theclearingand thengaveFenaglance that—on most people—would seem to mean theywere scared. On her, hefigured it was a trick. Hecouldn’t do anything to her.She was under his pack’sprotection.

“Iwon’thurtyou,”Astridsaid quietly. “Don’t run orfreakout,okay?”

Her eyes changed as shespoke. Instead of normal girleyes, her eyes looked like asnake’s or alligator’s. Theyweren’t human eyes. Theyweren’t even mammal eyes.Hewas right thatAstridwassomething other than human.She was a shape-shifter ofsome sort, but she wasn’t a

wolflikeFen.“What…whatareyou?”“I won’t hurt you,” she

repeated.Then her skin started to

change. What was smoothbecame scaled. Her pink-tipped hair vanished. Herfingers stretched, and herfingernails became claws.Her jaw lengthened, and herteeth extended to fit hernowextended mouth. Thin-

skinnedwingsstretchedfromher back and flapped once,then twice, and then oncemore before folding flatagainstherback.

“You’re a dragon,” hebreathed.

The pink hue on the tipsof her hair when she was ahuman was a slightly palershade than the color of herscaled body. She looked like

shebelonged in akids’bookor cartoon, if not for thescary-lookingclawsandgiantteeth.Thosewereweapons.

His plans to make herunderstandnottothreatenhisfriendssuddenlylookedmoredifficult… which made himrealize that he’d beenprovoking a dragon. He’dbeen rude to her since he’dfirstmether.And rightnow,she looked like shecouldeat

himalive.Itmadehimalittlequeasy.

Astrid the dragonstretchedherbodyoutontheground, watching him fromreptilianeyesthewholetime.

Fen hadn’t moved. Hehadn’t run, but he wasn’tmovingnearertoher,either.

She exhaled a puff ofsulfurous air from behindthose gleaming fangs, butthere was no fire or even

smoke. Then in a quickmoment, the dragon seemedtofoldinonitself,becomingagirlagain.

“You’re a dragon,” herepeated.

“I am.” She didn’t comeany closer, but she watchedhim carefully as she added,“Myroleasguestofthepackmeansyouhavetodowhat’sin my best interest, just likethewulfenkind.”

“Iknow,”hesaid.Agiantpit opened up in Fen’sstomach. Whatever she wasabout to saywasgoing tobesomethinghe reallywouldn’tlike. Worse yet, he waspowerless to argue. Therewere ruleshecouldn’tbreak,nowulfenkindcould.

“I had to… poisonBaldwin. I had tomake surethe myths stay on track,”Astrid said, her voice

soundinga little likeshewastrying to convince herself,too. “My family plays a rolein this, too. I had no choice,Fen.”

He thought about it. Hismind rolled through everyNorsemythhecouldthinkof.Dragons? Where weredragonsinthestories?Therewereotherreptiles,but…Hismindclickedonwhatshewassaying suddenly. “Reptile,”

hewhispered.“Reptile,”Astridagreed.“You’re the Midgard

Serpent?” he asked, backingaway so quickly that healmost tripped over his ownfeet.

“It’sa littlemorecomplic—”

“All Matt needs to do isbeat you?” Fen interrupted.There were some seriouspossibilitieshere.Theycould

end this whole mess prettyeasily.Mattcouldtakeherinafight,right?Thewholepartwhere she was a dragonwould be a little harder…ormaybe not. Thorsen was agood guy. He might find iteasiertofightadragonthanagirl.He laughed. “So thebigbad monster we were soafraid of is a girl our age?Thisissoawesome.”

“Not exactly,”Astrid said

slowly. “My grandmother isthe serpent right now, but…it’s a family trait. You andLaurie are Loki’srepresentatives; Matt isThor’s.…” Astrid shrugged.“Everyone’s a descendant ofsomeone. My ancestor justhappens to be a dragon.That’smyroleinthebigend-of-the-worldfight.IgettobethemonsterthatkillsThor.”

“Wait a minute! In the

myth,Thor fights the serpentoncebefore thegreat battle.”Fen glared at her, folded hisarms over his chest, andshook his head. “You… youcametoussoyoucouldfighthim.”

Astrid gave him a pitifullook, seeming far morevulnerable than any dragonshould be.Her eyeswidenedimploringly, and she claspedher hands together. “I like

Matt.Idon’twanthimtogethurt.Igrewuphearingabouthim.MywholelifeIwastoldabout Thor, about him.…Theywantedmetohatehim,butreally,Mattisahero.”

Fennarrowedhiseyesandstaredather.“Youlikehim.”

Astrid blushed, but thenshelookedstraightatFenandsaid, “He’s brave, and heshouldn’t have to die. I’vebeentryingtofollowtheparts

ofthemythIhaveto.Maybewe can change the ending alittle,though.”

Something didn’t add up.He wasn’t sure what it was,but he knew that he wasmissing something. Thiswaswhen he’d typically talk toLaurie or even Matt, but hecouldn’t.Heknewthingstheyneeded to know, but he wasmagically bound by his rolein the pack. He couldn’t tell

them,nomatterhowmuchhewantedtodoso.

“How about you just letMattfightyou,lose,andthenwe can call off the wholeending-of-the-world part?”Fensuggested.

Astridgiggled.Somehow that seemed

almost as disturbing as thefact that she was a dragon.Whenthemonsterlaughs,it’sneveragoodthing.He’dread

enoughcomicbookstoknowthat.

“What’s so funny? Ithink…” He didn’t get tofinish telling her that hethought that his idea couldwork,becausetheairinfrontofhimstartedtoshimmer.

“Portal,” Astridmurmured.

Fen glanced at her andthenbackat theopening thatwas forming in front of him.

Seeing a portal open up wascommonplace lately. Whatleft him with his mouthhanging open like a gapingfish, though, was seeingLaurie and Baldwin step outof that portal at the edge oftheRaiders’camp.Theywerethe good guys, the heroes,part of the team that woulddefeat the monsters that hewassupposedtoleadintothefinalbattle.

But there she was, hiscousin.ARaiderwhosenameFen didn’t rememberstumbled forward, andBaldwin stood shoulder toshoulder with Laurie as theportal snapped closed. Allthree of them were ashcovered, and there weresmudges of soot on Laurie’sface.

“Whathap—”“What happened?” Laurie

cut him off. “Whathappened?Well,you’dknowif you hadn’t vanished onme!” She folded her armsover her chest, and the lookon her face was one thatmade him want to tuck histailbetweenhislegsandslinkaway.

Before Fen could answer,she stepped forward andhugged him, and thensmackedhimontheshoulder

and said, “You have someexplaining to do, FenrirBrekke!”

FOURTEEN

MATT

“BATTLECRY”

Owen stayed outside theburning apartment building.Matt, Reyna, and Alan wentin. So did the cat. Reynamutteredthatifthefelinehadto hang around, at least itcould make itself useful andlead the way and risk beingfirst in line into a burningbuilding.Thecatfellinattherear.

“Here,”Alansaid,passing

the goggles to Matt at thefront.

When Matt shook hishead, Reyna dangled thekeys. “Trade?” Alan passedoverthegoggles.

Reynaslappedthegogglesinto Matt’s hand. “Wearthem, Thorsen. Otherwise,you’re going to get blindedby smoke and lead us into aburningroom.”SheturnedtoAlan. “That’s how you need

todoit.Don’ttellhimhe’sindangerifherefuses—tellhimsomeoneelseis.”

Alan grinned. “Itmust bea Thorsen thing. I wastempted to faint and pretendI’dcollapsedfromlowbloodsugar to get Pete back to thehousetoeat.”

He led them to thestairwell, explaining thatwhen they’d heard aboutfolksstuckinthisbuilding,it

had seemedaneasy job.Thestairwellswereclear,no signof smoke, the problemapparently just a jammedstairwell door, which Petecould handle with hisThorsenstrength.

The woman outside hadsaidPetehadgotten thedooropenandabunchofthemhadescaped, only to reach thebottom and realize the restweren’t behind them. That

waswhen the stairwell filledwithbillowingsmoke.

Matt opened the stairwelldoor. Smoke swirled down,the stairs completely hiddenunderit.“Fifthfloor,right?”

Alannodded.Matt hefted Mjölnir. “I

canhandlethis.”“Um,” Reyna said. “Did

you hear the ‘right behindyou’ part? That’s not anoption, Matt. Unless you tie

me to the railing, I’mwatchingyourback.”

“Seconded,” Alan said.“Except the part about therailing.”

“And as Owen said, thelongerwebickeraboutit…”

Matt nodded. “Come on,then.”

Alangavethembottledwater

tosoakclothshe’dbroughttohold over their noses andmouths, but climbing stairswhile breathing through thatclothleftMattfeelinglikehewas running uphill. Theymade it as far as the fourthfloor. That’s when the heathit.

Mattglanceduptoseetheceiling on fire. It looked likearoilingseaofflame.Thecatraced past to the stairwell

doorandpawedatit.“He says thatway,”Alan

said,hisvoicemuffledbythecloth.

“She’s just trying toescape the flames,” Reynasaid.

“Soshe’snotmagical?”“Huh?”“Matt said you’re Freya’s

descendant, and I know shehasacat.…”

“Freyahastwo.”

He smiled. “Maybe youget the second afterRagnarök. Like a graduationgift.”

Reyna laughed. “Maybe,but I don’t think that cat’smagical.”

“It’s just randomlyfollowing you into burningbuildings?”

Matt was already at thedoor, feeling it for heat.When he opened it, the cat

ranthrough.“Magic or not, let’s

presume she has goodsurvival instincts and seewheresheleadsus.”

They followed the catdown the hall, into an openapartment and out to thebalcony door. Matt reachedfor the cat to move it asidewhileheopened thebalcony.When he opened it, the catraced out and jumped onto

therailing.“Whoa!”Mattsaid.“Hold

on!”The cat balanced there,

peering up. A portable fireescape ladder dangled fromthe balcony above. BeforeMatt could say anything,Reynawasontherailing,onehandbracedonthewall.

“Careful,”hesaid.She nodded and gave the

ladder an experimental tug.

Then a harder one. When itheld, she grabbed on andbegantoclimb.Mattheldhisbreathuntilshewasup.Thenhe went. Alan followed. Thecatdidnot.

At the top, Matt walkedthrough the balcony door.Despite the smoke, he couldsee Reyna in the middle ofthelivingroom,staringatthehall door. Flames curledaround the edges, like fiery

fingerstryingtopryitopen.“Wrong way,” she said.

“We—”A tremendous crack cut

her off. It came from theroom to their left. Theyfollowed the sound into abedroom…withaholeinthewall. An ax hacked at thehole. Matt took a step back,one arm going out to stopReyna and the other heftingMjölnir. The ax continued to

chopaholethroughthewall.“Who’sthere?”Mattsaid.The axwithdrew.A head

ducked in—a man wearinggoggles, his red hair tiedback, a Thor’s Hammerdangling from his neck. Hesaw Matt and rubbed hisgogglestoclearthesoot.

“Matt?”hesaid.“Hey,”Mattsaid.Alan stepped forward.

“He brought friends. Other

—”Uncle Pete cut him off

with “Hang on” and pulledback, then kept chopping thewall.When the holewas bigenough,hesqueezedthrough.Mattcould seepeopleon theother side, looking onanxiously. His unclemotionedforthemtowait.

“Youokay?”Alansaid.“Sure. I need you to take

thekidsbackdownwiththese

people.Igottheladderready,as you saw. Then the fireengulfed the door. So…”Hemotioned at the hole. “PlanB.”Hesaidthisallcalmly,asif rescuing people fromburningbuildingswasadailyoccurrence.

“Andyou?”Alansaid.“There’s a family trapped

inanapartment.”“Ofcoursethereis,”Alan

saidwithasoftsigh,shooting

a look atReyna,who smiledandshookherhead.

“I can help with that,”Mattsaid.

“No,you’ll—”“Iwillhelpwiththat.”He

met his uncle’s gaze andlifted Mjölnir. “This mightcome in handy. You canwieldit,butI’musedtoit.”

Uncle Pete blinked, thenhe stared at the hammer.“That’s…It’sreally…”

“Myshieldalsofightsfirewithice.Nowcanwego?”

His uncle still hesitated.Matt walked to the hole andclimbed through. He heardUncle Pete say, “Wait. No.You help Alan.” He wasturningtorefusewhenhesawReyna coming through afterhim.

“Packagedeal,”shecalledbacktohisuncle.

Matt was already moving

down the hall, past the knotof people watching inconfusion. Reyna followed.His uncle did, too, aftertelling the others that Alanwould help them down. Asthey filed through the hole,Uncle Pete caught up andsaid,“Freya,Itakeit?”

WhenMatt glanced over,Reyna looked startled as shepushedbackaroguestrandofblack-dyedhair.

“Um,yeah,”shesaid,andwhile she didn’t add it, hecouldhearHow’dyouknow?in her voice as she glanceddown at herself—her fadedjeans andUnion Jack T-shirtandchippedblacknailpolish.

“ThenI’mguessing that’syours,” his uncle said,pointing.

They followed his fingertothecalico.

“Where’d she—?” she

began. Then sighed. “Yes,apparently,that’s—Matt!”

Reynawrenchedhimbackas a tongue of flame shotthrough an open doorway.Fartherdown,theycouldhearachildcrying.Hisuncletriedto move into the lead, butMattputouthisarm.Thenheinchedforward,shieldout,asthe flames withdrew into theopen apartment. As soon ashe drew up alongside the

door,anothertongueshotoutand his shield flew up andicedoverjustintimetomeetit.

The flame pulled backagain, almost like a livingthing, but it wasn’t alive,wasn’t supernatural. Just firedoingwhatfiredoes,seekingnew material to burn. Hecould see it inside theapartment, engulfing theceiling in a sea of rolling

flame. He carefully grabbedthe knob to shut the door tokeep thefirecontained.Thenheheardthecrying…comingfromwithintheapartment.

“They’re in here, aren’tthey?” he said to his uncle,whonodded.

“Of course they are,”Reyna muttered. When Mattwent to step in, though, shestopped him and called,“Identifyyourselves!”

“What?”Mattsaid.“Random crying child in

fieryroom?Hello,trap?”She called again, and the

peoplewithin responded, butMatt couldn’tmakeoutwhattheyweresayingoverthehissand spit and crackle andwhoosh of the flames. Hethought he caught a boy’svoice,yellingaboutfireandabird.

“Did he say—?” Matt

began.Grim-faced, Reyna

pointed across the room, andhe couldmake out the shapeof a bird cage on a pedestal.There was no bird perchedinside.Given the smoke, it’dbeonthebottomofthecage,which he thankfully couldn’tsee.

“Okay,”hesaid.“Butthatidentifies them as actualpeople,right?”

Reyna nodded, agreeingthat a monster or Raiderwasn’t going to ask them torescuethepetbird.

Matt stepped into theapartment, and it was likewalking into a sauna as theheat fromtheflamingceilingpoured down. Through thesmoke, he saw more firesahead—a chair, a couch, adiscarded sweater, burningpilesdottinghispath.

“Turnleft,”hisunclesaid.“They’reinthebedroom.”

Theycreptalong,oneeyeon the ceiling, waiting forthat fire to shoot down. Itstayedwhereitwas,cracklingand spitting.Mattmade it tothebedroomdoor.HehandedReyna his shield. Then hetook the wet cloth from hisnoseandmouthandwrappedit around the scorching hotmetal. The cloth hissed and

spit. He turned the knobquickly, pushed the dooropen,and—

Flame leaped out. Reynagrabbedhimby one arm, hisuncle lunging to catch theother. As Matt yanked thedoor closed, his grip on thecloth slipped, his fingertipstouching down on white-hotmetal. He yelped. His unclefumbled for the fallen clothandgotthedoorclosed.

“There’s nootherway in,isthere?”Mattsaid.

Uncle Pete hefted his ax.Matt nodded. “Okay, so weneedtofindtherightplaceto—”

The cat let out a yowl.They looked down to see itstaring at thewall, its fur onend,wirebrushtailextended.

“I think she’s saying thatisn’t a good spot,” Reynasaid.

His uncle chuckled.“Okay, Trjegul. Or Bygul,whichever you might be.Where should we breakthrough?”

The calico just kepthissing and yowling at thewall.

“Apparently, cats arecats,” Reyna said. “Magicalornot, theydon’t takeordersfromhumans.”

The cat paced from the

doortothecornertwice,thenstopped at a spot, sniffed it,then lookedathisuncleas iftosayWell,gettoit.

“All right,” Uncle Petesaid. Then he yelled, “Standback! We’re comingthrough!”

He chopped a hole in thewall. When he went to lookinside, Matt motioned himback and pushed the shieldthrough, his head following.

He saw a mother and twokids, maybe six and two,huddledontheothersideofaflamingbed.Theyoungerkid—a boy—pointedemphaticallyacrosstheroom.Matt could make outsomethingburningontopofadresser.

“Got it,” he said. “We’llbe careful. We’re comingthroughassoonaswecan.”

Hisunclekeptchoppingat

the hole, while Matt helpedwith Mjölnir. When it wasbig enough, Matt wentthrough first. He startedwalkingaround thebed, thenrealized there was a verygood reason the family washuddled there. A tippedbasket of laundry had caughtfireandblockedtheirescape.

“Bird!”thelittleboysaid.“Bird!” He pointed, jabbinghisfinger.

“Don’tworry about that,”his mother said quickly.“He’s concerned about hispet,but just…justgetusoutofhere.Quickly.Please.”

Reyna had stuffed waterbottles inherpocketandwasusing them to put out thelaundry fire as Matt beat itdownwithhisshield.Assoonas it was clear enough, themother hustled her kids past.His unclewent back through

the hole towatch the fire onthat side as the family camethrough. Matt and Reynaguardedfromthebedroom.

When the family wasalmost through, the little boydartedbackintotheroom,hismother letting out a cry.Thechild scrambled and pointedone chubby finger at thedresser.

“Bird!”hesaid.“Bird!”Matt looked. All he saw

was the dresser, withsomething burning on top ofit, something big, maybethree feet tall, reachingalmosttothefieryceiling.Hewasabouttoturnaway,whenhe noticed something in theflames.

An eye? No—two eyesand then a beak and then, ashestared, thebirdtookform.Agiantflamingbird.

“Is that… a phoenix?”Reyna asked. “Do they havethoseinNorsemyth?”

No. The only kind offlamingbirds…

Matt swallowed. Heremembered being in Hel

when a bird had swooped atthem. A chicken, Baldwinhad said, and Fen hadlaughed, but that’s exactlywhat itwas.Agiant soot-redrooster. One of three thatwould herald the coming ofRagnarök. That was the onethatwouldalertthedead.Thesecond, Fjalar, would alertthe giants in their realm, andMatt presumed that hadalready happened. Then the

thirdwouldalert—Theburningroosterthrew

back its head and let out acrow, so loud they bothstumbledback,handstotheirears.

“Gullinkambi,” Mattwhispered.

Thecatleapedthroughthehole and ran to the dresser,hissingwithitsfuronend.

“Kitty!” the little boycried,runningafterit.

“No!”hismothershouted.Matt dove for the child,

but the toddler darted past.Gullinkambi rose: wingsflying out, flame shootingfrom every burning feather,the walls igniting with awhoosh.

Mattdroppedhishammerand shield and ran for theboy. He scooped him up asthe child’s mother screamedbehind them. Matt wheeled

toward the hole in the wall,but it was covered in flame.The fire was everywhere,engulfing the walls and theceiling, lines shooting acrossthefloor.

“Matt!”hisuncleyelled.“Working on it!” Matt

shouted back.He handed theboy to Reyna. Then hesnatched up the shield andhammer. The flames beat in,the heat unbearable, and the

boy was howling, drowningoutMatt’suncleandReyna.

A wall of flame blockedthepathbacktothehole.Theonlyotherwayout…

Matt saw the door just asthecatrantoit,dodgingfire.

“Wrong way!” Reynashouted. There was a reasonthey’dbeenunabletocomeinthrough that door. It was asolidrectangleofflame.

The cat yowled. Matt

looked from the wall of fireto the flaming door.Then hethrew Mjölnir. Threw it ashard as he could. Thehammer crashed through thedoor,rippingitoffitshinges.

That works, Reynamouthed.Clutching the childto her chest, she startedrunning for the door. Mattyanked her back as flamesswallowed the opening, thedoorjamb still on fire, the

flames powered by magicnow, burning hot and fast,devouring everything in theirpath.

HelookedatGullinkambi.Areyousupposed toalert

methatRagnarökiscoming?Or stop me from making itthatfar?

Theroosteronlysettledin,its dark eyes fixed on Matt,those eyes telling him thebeast was neutral on the

matter. It was merely themessenger, and if it set theroom on fire and Mattcouldn’t survive that, well,then he was hardly ready tofight the Midgard Serpent,washe?

MattlookedatReyna.Hereyes were closed, lipsmoving,tryingtocastaspell,but whatever she was doing,itwasn’tworking.

He thought of the fire

Jotunn. Snow. Rain wouldwork,too,butbothrequiredasky for it to fall from. Helookedat theburningceiling.Nope. As he was about tolook down, a chunk fell,heading right for Reyna. Hepulledheroutoftheway,hereyesflyingopenasthechunkhit her shoulder. The boyshrieked as her shirt caughtfire. Reyna put the childdown fast.Matt smackedout

the fire, hitting her hardenough for her to stumble,but when he tried to steadyher,shegrabbedhiminstead.Another chunk of flamingceilinglandedbesidethem.

“Matt!” his uncle calledagain.

“Stillworkingonit!”Mattwheeledonthedoor,

his frustration surging, andwhenitdid,hethrewMjölnir,as if reflexively lashing out.

The hammer sailed throughthe flaming door and backintohishand,redhot,makinghimhissthroughhisteeth.

That won’t help. It can’tknockoutfire.Ineedto—

The answer came in aflash, and he swung thehammer again, this time intohis other hand, sliding theshield strap up on his arm.With his right hand free, hemade a fist. Then he threw

the other Hammer. Theinvisibleone. Ithit the flameand the fire withdrew. Itlasted only a few secondsbefore flame swallowed thedoorwayagain.

“Okay,” Matt said.“You’ve got a five-secondwindow.Canyoudoit?”

“Iwill.”Holding the boy again,

Reyna got as close as shecouldtothedoor.Mattthrew

his Hammer, and she ran assoonashishandshotout,andhe tried to shout for her toholdon,tobesureitworked,but she was already racingthrough the flames. TheHammer blast hit the door.The fire recoiled. Reyna andtheboyranthrough.

Matt readied theHammeragain. He bent, prepared tosprint,thenthrewitand—

Nothinghappened.

Outofjuice.“Matt!” It was Reyna

now.He tried again. Nothing.

Hewasabouttogiveitathirdshot when a huge chunk ofceiling fell. He spun out ofthe way, only to step into afire, slip, and barely avoidanother falling piece ofceiling.

He swung Mjölnir backinto his right hand. Then he

lifted the shield, hunkereddown, and ran, his shieldraised to block his face. Butthat was all it blocked, theflamesswallowingtherestofhim as he sprinted throughthe door. He felt theincredible heat. Smelled theflames, inhaled them andsmelled them and thought,I’mdead.But hekept going,running through to the nextroomandhittingthefloor.He

rolled fast. Somethingenveloped him, and all fourlimbsshotout toward itoff,but he realized it was ablanket, dropped over him,hisunclepattingout the fire,saying “Hold still,Matt. Justholdstill.”

Matt did hold still. Foraboutthreeseconds.Justlongenough to be sure hewasnolonger a human torch. Thenhepushedofftheblanketand

gottohisfeet.“You heard

Gullinkambi?”hesaid.UnclePetenodded.“Then we need to get

thesepeopleoutofhere,fast,because I have someplace Ineedtobe.”

After they made sure therescued families were safe,

they returned to his uncle’shouse,wheretheywashedupandAlangotthemsomethingto eat. No one said much.Matt had told Owen aboutGullinkambi, but he’d onlynodded, as if he’d heard therooster—or already knewwhat was coming. WithOwen, either was equallypossible.

Aftertheyate,UnclePeteannounced,“I’dliketospeak

to my nephew,” which evenReynaknewmeantalone.

They went inside thestudy. Uncle Pete closed thedoor.“I’msorry,”hesaid.

“Forwhat?”His uncle gave a short

laugh.“Everything.I’msorryIwasn’tpartofyourlife,andI’m sorry that when wefinallydomeet,it’sundertheworstpossiblecircumstances.Butmorethanthat,rightnow,

I’m sorry you need to gothroughthis.”

Matt nodded. Therewasn’tanythingtosay,really.No undoing what had beendone.NostoppingRagnarök.

“Ever since I got yourdad’s message, I’ve beenlooking for a loophole.” Hisuncle gestured at the paper-strewn table. “I’ve beentrying to figure out ifsomeone else can take your

place.Namelyme.Buteveryreference I’ve found to theprophecy says no. I thoughtmaybeIcouldtry,butthere’sone”—he lifted an old bookand opened it to a markedpage—“that says no oneexcept the champions cansteponthebattlefield.Iftheytry, it’ll be trouble for theirside.”

“Apenalty,”Mattsaid.“Right.So…”

“Itneedstobeme,andwecan’t take the chance ofputting someone else in myplace. It’s okay. I’m…” Heglanced down at his hammerand shield. “I won’t say I’mready,butIhavewhatIneed.I can’t get any more ready.Not in time.Thenext step isfinding the battlefield. TheNorns said you’ll show mewherethatis.”

“That’suptoyou.”

“But—but I have no ideawheretogo.”

“I mean it’s up to youwherethebattlewillbeheld.The descendants choose.”Uncle Pete pulled an atlasfrom the shelf. “And we’dbetterdoitfast.”

FIFTEEN

FEN

“TRAPPEDBY

MAGIC”

Asidefromtheobviousbadtiming of Laurie’s arrivalwhile he was talking toAstrid, her appearancecomplicated things. On onehand, Fen really wanted towhoop in joy. She was hereand apparently still speakingto him. On the other hand,

she couldn’t stay. He wasn’tgoingtotrytopersuadehertofight against Thorsen. Mattneeded help if he was goingto win, stop the MidgardSerpenttosavetheworldandallthat.

Obviously something hadalerted his pack to Laurie’sarrival,becausewulfenkindinboth wolf and person shapewereheadedtowardhim.Fenstraightened his spine and

squared his shoulders withmore self-assurance than hefelt.More than a few of hispackmemberswerewatchingwith a mix of curiosity andhostilityontheirfaces.

Itwasn’tsafeforhertobehere—orforBaldwin.

“You don’t belong here,”FentoldLaurie.“Goaway!”

“Neither do you, you…you… nitwit!” She steppedforwardandpokedhiminthe

shoulder,hard.Baldwin stayed at her

side, but he shot anunreadable look at Fen andsaid,“Hi.”

A sudden growl justbeside Fen’s left side madehim look over his shoulder,where he found Hattiesnarlingasifshewasreadytobite someone, probably hiscousin.

“She has a weapon,”

Hattiemuttered.“Shebroughtithere.”

Her gaze was low, andwithout even looking Fenknew what she’d seen. Still,he looked in the direction ofher glare and saw the bonebow in his cousin’s hand. Itwasn’tupraised,butitwasinher hand and could be liftedinablink.

This day just gets betterandbetter.

If she raised the bow,there would be a flurry ofviolence that he wasn’tentirely sure he could stop.She was an intruder in theircamp;worse yet, shewas anarmedintruder.

“Noonetouchesher,”Fenyelled. “Anyone who doeswillbeexiled.”

Growls and grumblesgreetedhiswords.

“What about him?”

someonecalled.“I’m impervious,”

Baldwinansweredcheerfully.“And just back from thedead.”

“As expected,” a veryunwelcomevoicesaid.Astridhad to draw the attention toherself.Shecouldn’tjuststaysilentandhidden.

Fenwincedasahurt lookcrossed Baldwin’s face.Astrid’sinvolvementwaslike

adding gasoline to a fire.“Notnow,”hebarked.

“You!” Laurie halfscreamed, half snarled. Herbow hand tightened on themagical weapon, and shestartedtostraightenherarm.

Fen caught her wrist.“No.”

He couldn’t help butflinch at the look of purebetrayalinLaurie’seyes.

“Why?” she whispered,

and he knew it wasn’t justabout this moment. Therewereanumberofquestionsinthose three letters.Why washe here? Why was hedefending the enemy? Whyhadn’thetalkedtoher?Whywashealosernow?

All he could say was,“ThisiswhereIbelongnow.”

“Why?Why are you herewith them? You owe mesomeanswers,Fenrir.”

“It’s not that simple,” hestarted.

“Guys?” Baldwin’s voiceinterruptedthem.

Fen and Laurie bothturnedtolookatBaldwin.

“The wolves aregrowling…andmoreofthemareactuallywolvesnow.Theevil one there”—he gesturedtoward Astrid—“makes menervous, and Laurie lookslikeshe’sgoingtostartfiring

thosearrowsanyminutenow.Do you think we can talksomewhereelse?”

Fen dropped his gaze towhere his hand was stillwrapped around Laurie’swrist and then back to meethereyes.“Please?”

Silently, she nodded, andhe felt her relax under hisgrip, no longer fighting toraiseherarmandtheweaponinit.

“Step back, everyone.”Fenglancedbehindhim.

Theysnarledandgrowledabit,buttheylistened.

Astheyretreated,Fentoldher, “I won the pack fromSkull.Ineedtostayhereandleadthem.”

“Areyou…”Laurieshookherhead.“I’mnotevengoingto ask if you’re crazy.Clearly, you are. They aretrying to end theworld, Fen.

Didyouforgeteverything?”Hetookacalmingbreath.

“As their alpha, Ihave to dowhat’s in their best interest.”He wished he’d taken thetime to explain their heritagea little more, so sheunderstood.Thebesthecouldsay for nowwas, “I have nochoice.It’smagic.”

“No. You will not stayhere. You listen to me”—Laurie poked his shoulder

again—“youarecomingbackwithmerightnow.”

Astrid stepped forward tostand shoulder to shoulderwith Fen. “He has a role toplayinthegreatbattle.Wealldo.”

Laurie snapped herattention to Astrid. “You donot talk to me.” If shecould’vehissedorsnarled,hewasprettysureshewould’ve.That look of sheer fury that

was on Laurie’s face neverbodedwell.

Astrid is a dragon. Mycousinisyellingatadragon.

“You need to leave,Laurie,” Fen said, trying todefusethesituation.“GobacktoThorsenand—”

“Fine.” Laurie opened aportal quicker than he’d everseen her do it. Apparently,fury made her faster. Thenwithakicktothepink-haired

girl’s legs, she shovedAstridthroughit.

As Astrid fell through,LaurielookedatBaldwinandsaid,“Grabhim.”

“Sorry, man,” Baldwinsaid cheerily, and threwhimself into Fen, propellingthemthroughtheportal.

Before Fen opened hiseyes, he already knewwherehiscousinhadtakenthem:toThorsen. He didn’t know

whattownthiswasatfirst,orwhat ruins of a town it was,but he knew who would bethere. He looked around atwhathequickly realizedwasMitchell, SD. Shakily, Fencame to his feet and lookednot at the one-eyed boystaring at Laurie in obviousdisapproval,butatMatt.

Themixofreliefandfearwas a familiar one at thispoint.It’showhe’dfeltwhen

Matt learned that Fen wassupposed to turnhimover tothe enemy, how he’d feltwhenhewas standingbeforehisAuntHelenand the then-dead Baldwin, and how Fenhad felt when he’d won hisfight with Skull. Familiarwasn’t the same as good,though.

“We need to talk,” FentoldMatt.

“I figured,” Matt said,seeming surprisingly calm.Then he looked at the otherperson who’d come throughthe portal with them. Hiscalmexpressionfaded,andheblanched.Allhesaid,though,

was,“Astrid.”Owen stepped up and

grabbedoneofAstrid’sarms.“I’ll keep an eye on her,” hesaidinacoldvoice.“TheoneIstillhave…”

Astrid went with himquietly. Baldwin walkedaway from them, stillunusually quiet. Fen wantedto say something.He’d goneto Hel for Baldwin, but hehad also been harboring his

friend’smurderer. Fen didn’tknowwhattosay…toanyofthem, really. Astrid was oneof the rare people that all ofthe descendants of the Northdisliked. She’d pretended tobeOwen’sgirlfriendwhenhewasn’taroundtodenyit,liedto them, tried to steal fromthem, and killed Baldwin.Then, while they were all inHel rescuing Baldwin fromthe death she caused, the

enemy had taken Owencaptive,andhe’dlostaneye.

And I’m supposed toprotecther.

As much as he loathedsaying it, he still had tospeak. “She’s under theRaiders’protection.Ican’tletyouh—”

“Shut it!” Laurie yelled.Then she turned toMatt andannounced, “I cannot dealwith him, Matt. My cousin

apparently hit his head orsomething, because the onlyother answer is that he’s acompletefool.”

Oddly or not, this madeFen grin for the first timesincehe’dbeenforcedtotakeover thepack.He’dfollowedthe rules as much as themagic could force him to.Nowhewasstandinginfrontof Laurie andMatt. Shewasfrustrated with him, but he

wasstillrelieved.Theycouldhelp him figure out a plan.That’swhatheneeded.

“Comeon,”Mattsaid.The threeof themwalked

towardabuildingthatwasn’tonfire,and theystood in theshadows of the constantnight. It reminded him ofbeing in Hel. The worldaround them certainly didn’tlook like Mitchell normallydid. This wasn’t the nice,

clean city he’d visited for aschool trip. It was anightmare land with cars onfire and broken chunks ofbuildings littering the street.Fen’s eyes widened as hetookinthedestruction.

“Whathappened?”“Jötnar,”Mattsaid.“Two of them,” Laurie

added.“Good idea getting rid of

yours,” Matt said to Laurie,

and Fen felt a flicker ofresentment at being left out.Maybe Matt knew that, ormaybe hewas just that goodofaguy,becausehelookedatFenandsaid,“SheportaledittoHel.”

Fen laughed. “You sent itto Aunt Helen? That’sawesome.”

Laurielookedsheepishforamoment.“It’snotlikethereweren’talreadyjötnarthere!”

Atheranxiousexpression,Fen butted his head into hershoulder,notcaringthatMattstood with them, simplyneeding to let her know thathe still felt the same towardher. Quietly, he told her, “Iwas worried that you wouldbehurtorneedme—”

“I do!” she interruptedquickly. She tilted her headtowardMatt. “We both needyouhere.”

Matt nodded and broughtup the hard question: “Whywereyouwith theRaiders? Isawyou.”

Fentookadeepbreath.“Iknow.”Quickly,heexplainedaboutthefightwithSkull,therules of being alpha of aRaider pack, and then thedifficultyoffiguringoutwhatto do since he couldn’tendanger the pack and hedidn’twanttofightforMayor

Thorsen.Mattwinceda littleat the

reminder that his grandfatherwas the enemy, which Fensort of understood. A lot ofthe Brekkes were Raiders,which meant they’d beenFen’s enemy until he’dbecome alpha against hiswishes. Family could beconfusing.

“I’m trapped by magic,”Fensaidafterhe’dexplained

everything. “Unless fightingwithyoubecomesbetter thanstanding against you, I can’tdoanything.”

The surge of relief atgetting to tell them the truthwas overwhelming. Big end-of-the-world battles couldmean they all died. In themyths, it was awful: Lokidies, the serpent kills Thor,Fenrir swallows Odin, Freydies, even Garm dies. The

descendants had changedsmall pieces of the myth sofar, but Ragnarök was “thetwilightofthegods.”Itwasastory of endings, and goinginto a fight where most ofthem were supposed to diewithoutthemknowingthathecaredwasscarierthantalkingaboutfeelings.

Matt was quiet for amoment.

“Astrid wants to help

you,”FentoldMatt.“Changethe end of the battle orsomething. At least that’swhat she’s saying. I don’tknow if I really trust her,but… there are things sheneeds to tell you. It couldbegood.”

“What things?” Laurieprompted.

“I can’t tell you,” he saidafter a moment. “Magic.Seriously,Laurie,it’snotlike

I want to keep secrets, but Ican only do what’s best forthe pack. Astrid could tellyou, though,because she’s…notawolf.”

He looked at his cousin,hoping that she caught thepause, hoping she’d think,Well, if she’s not a wolf, isshe something else? Thatdidn’twork, though, becauseshe just stood frowning withher lips pressed tightly

together.Sheseemedlikeshewasreadytoeruptinyells.

Fen bumped her shoulderagain. “No matter whathappens, the Raiders knownottotouchyou.”

Instead of being happy,his cousin looked furious.“Whyisthat?”

“You’re my cousin, soyou’renottobetouched.”

“So they can attackMatt,Baldwin, Owen, the twins,

the Berserkers, and anyoneelse…justnotme?”Herarmswere folded over her chestagain, and Fen knew thatmeant she was angry aboutsomething. He wasn’t surewhy shewas, but she clearlywasn’t seeing his protectionasagoodthing.

“Ican’tprotecteveryone,”he said. “You’re my family.You’retheirfamily.”

“It’sokay,”Matt toldher.

He sort of hugged her, butwith only one arm. SeeingMatt comfort Laurie madeFenangrier.Heshouldbetheone who got to stay at herside. He should be the onewhomadeherfeelbetterandprotectedher.That’s thewayithadbeentheirwholelives.

“I hate Ragnarök,” hesaid.

“Agreed.”Mattnodded.“Double agreed,” Laurie

said. She seemed to calmdown then, like the anger allfaded away as quickly as ithad come. She met Fen’seyesandasked,“We’llfigureitout,though,right?”

“Definitely,”Fen lied.Hewasn’t at all sure that theycould,buthewasn’tgoingtosay that aloud, not to her. “Ican’t stay here. You have tosendmeback.”

“The battle is coming,”

Mattsaid.“I figured it was soon,”

Fensaid.“Prettymuchnow.”Fen nodded. “If the tide

turns so it’s better for mypack… I just need to dowhat’s best for them. That’stherule. Ihave todowhat isbest and safest for mywolves. Right now, they’refighting on the side mostlikely to win, but if who’s

winningchanges…”“Got it,” Matt said,

immediately understandingthat Fen couldn’t help eventhoughhewantedto,butthatthere, hopefully, would be atimewhenthatwouldchange.

“You’llbecareful,right?”Fen started. “They all knowthemythsand—”

“Yes,” Matt interrupted.“Andwe’llbecareful.”

“I don’t want any of you

todie,”Fenadmitted.“Weknow.Weshould’ve

known that you weren’t atraitor,” Matt said. “Laurieneverdoubtedyou.”

Fen lookedather,buthiscousin saidnothing.Shewasstaring at him, arms foldedover her chest, and her eyeswere wet. She wasn’t cryingoutright yet, but it wascoming.

“Try to be safe,” Matt

said.Fennodded.Hefeltbetter

forhavingtalkedtoMatt,buthe still needed to talk toLaurie.Matt obviously knewhowtheywere,sointhenextminute he said, “I’ll see youatthefight,then.IneedtogodealwithAstrid.”

MattturnedtoLauriethenandasked,“CanyougetRay?Reyna’s worrying, and weneed him with us for the

fight.”And then he was gone,

and the cousins were leftaloneagain.

“I didn’tmean for this tohappen,”Fentoldher.

Sheturnedaway,herbacktohimandhermouthclosed.He didn’t want to fight withher,buthecouldn’tundo themagic that came with beingalpha of the pack. Hecouldn’tstayhere.

And he had no idea howto persuade her to open aportal so he could leadwolves and monsters intobattleagainsther.

SIXTEEN

MATT

“MONSTERS”

Matt was pacing. Theothers had moved away,leaving him alone as theywaited for Gullinkambi toreturn. According to hisuncle’s books, Gullinkambiwould crow once to alertthemtoprepare,thenitwouldreturn to say, “Stop messingaround and get your butts inthere.”

He peered around for

Reyna. She’d been off to theside, talking to his uncle andgetting details on her role.Thoughts of Reyna cheeredhim up, but the mood didn’tlast. He kept thinking aboutAstrid.Hewas about to startthe biggest fight of his life,and the last thing he neededwastobedistracted.

A footfall crunchedbehindhim.He turned to seeReyna heading his way with

thecatatherside.Hegrinnedat them, and Reyna stoppedshort, glancing over hershoulderas if lookingfor thecauseofhisgrin.

“Someone spike yourprefight Gatorade?” sheasked.

“No,I’mjusthappytosee—” He rocked back on hisheels.“Happytoseethecatisstill with you. Have youpickedanameyet?”

“What are my optionsagain?”

“Trjegul, Bygul, andHeyyu.”

“Tree-gool and Bee-gool?” she said. “And Hey-yu?”Shestopped.“Hey,you.Oh.Ha-ha. Leave comedy totheprofessionals,Thorsen.”

He shrugged. “You couldalways ask the cat what hernameis.”

“Nope. I pick Trjegul.”

She looked down at thecalico. “You’re Trjegul now.Evenifyou’rereallyBygul.”

Thecatonlyblinked.“So if I call you by your

name,you’llcome,right?”Trjegul got up and

wandered off in the otherdirection.

“Watch out or I’ll tradeyou for a swan!” Reynacalled after her. “A giant,killer stealth swan that eats

ungrateful kitties forbreakfast.”

Matt chuckled and whenshe turned back to him, hewanted to continue theconversation. It didn’tmatterhow. Tell her another storyaboutFreya’scats.Teaseherabout Trjegul. Keep herengaged and joking, andstretch thismoment as far ashecould.Likea locker roomgoofing off before the big

bout.Yet even as he thoughtthat, a shadow passedoverhead. He looked upsharply toseeabirdwingingpast.Hisbreathcaught.ThenherealizeditwasonlyoneofOwen’sravens.

Raven.Owen.Astrid.“Matt?”Reynasaid.“Astrid’s here.” He

blurtedthewords.Reynastiffened.“Didyou

say—?”“Astrid. She came back

withFen.”“Oh, and let me guess.

She’shere to tell youwhat abig mistake she made andhowshe’s so sorry and she’stotallyonoursidenow.Yourside, that is. Fortunately,you’dknowbetterthantobuythat.”

“I’mnotstupid,Reyna.”“Ineversaidyouwere.”He shifted his weight.

“Maybe, but sometimes you

make me feel…” Heshruggeditoff.“Nevermind.The point is that I know herwell enough to be careful.But Fen brought her back.She’s under Owen’s guard.As far as I’m concerned,she’s a prisoner of war. Apossible source of valuableintelontheenemy.”

Reyna barely seemed tohave heard him. “Do Imakeyoufeelstupid,Matt?”

He adjusted the shield onhis back. “Nah, not really.Ignore me. I’m just…” Heshrugged. “Lots of things onmymind,andI’mfeeling…”Another shrug. “Whatever. IshouldgotalktoAstrid.”

He got about three stepsbefore Reyna said, “I’venevermetaguywhowaslessstupid, Matt. Or less brave.Orless…everything.”

Heturnedslowly.

“Oh gods,” she said,rubbingher face.“Thatcameout wrong. I don’t mean—Ijust wanted—” She stompedher foot. “Can I saysomething nasty to even itout? Please? I’m so muchbetteratthat.”

He gave a small smile.“Sure,goforit.”

He was only teasing, butshe looked away fast andmumbled,“Idon’tmeantobe

nasty. I just… I justwanted…”Shelookedathim.“I wanted you to hit back,Matt. I wanted you to standup to me, because the onething you need is the onethingI’vegotinspades.Self-confidence. Only you neverhitback.Youjusttakeit.ButIhopedyouunderstoodthatIdon’t really think you’restupid or anything like that,because if you were, I

wouldn’tstandatyourside.Itrust you like I don’t trustanyone except my brother.”Shepaused.“Doesthatsoundlame?”

“No.”“If I make you feel bad,

tellmeoff.Icantakeit.”“Okay.”She exhaled. “Good,

enoughofthat,then.WeneedtogotalktoAstrid.”

“I… I’m not sure you

should…”“I’ve got your back,

remember?” She looked athim.“Always,Matt.”

Not always. You can’t.Once that rooster crows, I’monmyown.

“She’sgoingtotrytotrickyou,” Reyna said. “It’ll helpifI’mtheretomakesureyouseethroughit.”

As soon asMatt sawAstrid,he realized Reyna was right—ifAstridpretendedtohaveseen the error of her ways,he’dbetemptedtobelieveit.He needed someone to keephimon track,andnoonedidthat better than Reyna. Plus,ofeveryone there,Astridhadthe least issue with Reyna.They hadn’t connected orclashed.

When he walked over,

Owen having slipped off togivethemprivacy,Astridsawhim coming and she smiled.It was a nervous smile, hereyes alternately glowing andshadowing, as if she washappytoseehimbutknewhewasn’t happy to see her.Playing a role. He got thatnow. He’d gotten that for awhile, but it was interestingtoseeitinaction.

That’s when Astrid

noticedReynaathisside.Shelooked from Matt to Reynaand back. Then she pulledherself straight and turned,just enough to cut Reynafromherfieldofvision.

“Hey, Matt,” she said.“Bet youwere hoping not toseemeagain,huh?”Thatshysmile. “Thank you forcoming. I know I’m the lastpersonyouwanttotalkto—”

“No,” Reyna said.

“You’re the first person hewants to talk to, becauseyou’regoingtohelphimwinthisbattle.”

Astrid turned, slowly anddeliberately, toward Reyna.Shelookedherupanddown,and then frowned, as if shecouldn’tquiteplaceher.

“Reyna? I didn’trecognize you without theemo girl costume. Still notquitethegoddessoflightand

beauty,areyou?Bigheels tofill.It’ll takeawhiletogrowintothem.”ShelookedReynaover again. “Maybe a longwhile.”

“Oh, I fit my shoes justfine. Today, they’re a sweetpairofcombatboots,becausetoday,I’mplayingadifferentaspect of Freya. Goddess ofkick-your-butt-if-you-mess-with-me. Or mess withanyoneelse.”

“Anyone in particular?”Astrid slid a sly look atReyna.

“Yep,”Reynasaid.“Matt.Oh, wait. Did you think Iwouldn’t admit it? Sorry todisappoint. I likeMatt. I likehim a lot—because he’s anawesome guy, not becausehe’sacuteboy.He’safriend.The concept may beunfamiliar to you. Just gowithit.”

Astrid’s eyes narrowed,and she opened her mouth.Reyna cut her off with“Stop.”

“I’mnot—”“Whateveryou’reaboutto

claim you aren’t doing?You’re totally doing it. Andwe’re going to stop righthere. Two girls hissing ateach other over a boy?Cliché. Doing it when weshould be strategizing for a

save-the-world battle? That’san insult togirls everywhere.Catfight,done.”SheturnedtoMatt. “You have the floor,sir.”

“Uh…” He blinked.“Right. Astrid? I need toknow—”

“Alotof things.Butfirst,there’s one very importantthing I need to tell you.Alone.” Astrid looked atReyna.

“Seriously?Did you evenhearmygirl-powerspeech?”

“It’s a privateconversation. Unless you’resuggesting he can’t handlemehimself?Ithinkhe’sabigboy,Reyna.Strongenoughtofightmeandsmartenoughtooutwit me. Are yousuggestingotherwise?”

Reyna just looked Astridin the eye as if to sayNope,notplayingyourgames.

Astrid glanced at Matt.Hereyespleadedwithhimtointercede.Hedidn’t.

“Just tell me, Astrid,” hesaid. “We don’t have muchtime—”

“I’mtheserpent.”Hepaused.“You’re…”“The Midgard Serpent.

It’sme.”“What?”Reyna said. “Oh

no.Don’t you dare pull that.The Midgard Serpent is a

fourteen-year-oldgirl?”Astrid turned on her.

“Whathappenedto‘girlscando anything’? A prettysentiment… until it doesn’tserveyourpurpose.”

“Being a girl has nothingtodowithit.I’dsaythesameif you were a boy. Thor isdead;Mattishisreplacement.The Midgard Serpent? Notdead.It’salogicproblem,nota gender one. Unless you

aren’t really a fourteen-year-oldgirl.”

Astrid bristled, as if thisweretheworstpossibleinsultReyna could have dreamedup.“I’magirl, just likeyou,whowent to school, right upuntilafewweeksago,whenIwas told I was destined tofightThoratRagnarök.”Sheturned to Matt. “Soundfamiliar?”

“But Reyna’s right,” he

said. “The Midgard Serpentisn’t dead. I felt it rising—saw it rising—nearBlackwell.Deep in theearth.If you’re tellingme thatwasyou—”

“No. It was mygrandmother. She’s the…”Astrid struggled for words.“I’dsaythe‘real’serpent,butthen you’ll think I’m lyingabout myself. The MidgardSerpentisn’tonecreature.It’s

a hereditary responsibility,passed from generation togeneration. Like being thedescendant of Thor, exceptwe have an actual role toplay, all the time. Thenthere’s the starring role. AtRagnarök. That one,apparently,ismine,whetherIwantitornot.WhichIdon’t.NomorethanyouwanttobeThor.”

“Proveit,”Reynasaid.

“That I don’t want to bepartofthis?”AstridturnedtoReyna, her eyes snapping.“The fact I’m here shouldprove—”

“It proves nothing exceptthat you have a story to sellus. But I didn’t mean that. Imean prove that you’re theserpent. Matt says he sawyour grandmother. If youwantustobelieveyouaretheMidgardSerpent—atleastfor

the purposes of the battle—there’s an easyway to proveit.Shape-shift.”

Astrid bit her lip. Shelooked at Matt. Then sheclosedhereyesandwhensheopened them, they weregreen, with slits, like asnake’s.

I’ve seen that. I caught aglimpseofit—

The fight. When Astridtried to steal his shield.

They’d fought, and she’dhissed,asifinpain,andhe’dcaughtasplit-secondglimpseofhereyesand—

Mattswallowed.Thatwasthemyth,wasn’t

it? That Thor faced theMidgard Serpent twice. Thefirsttime,heovercameitandleft it alive. He’d lived toregretthat.Died regretting it.Thor had seen theworld endbecause he’d been a decent

guy. Because he’d shownmercy.

Ishouldhave—His gut clenched so hard

he staggered, and he heardboth girls say “Matt?” butonlydimly.

I should have killed her?IsthatwhatI’mthinking?

HelookedatAstrid.She’sakid.Aregulargirl

withfriendsandfamilyandafuture and… and I’m

supposedtokillher?“I…Ineedaminute,”he

said.Hestumbledaway.Astrid

ranafterhimandgrabbedhisarm.

“Matt, please. I just wanttotalktoyou.”

“Later.”“There won’t be a later,

Matt. Please. We can workthisout.”

Isn’t that what he’d

expected her to say? WhatReynawarnedhimshe’dsay?And what he’d told himselfhewouldn’tfallfor?Andyetas soon as she did say it, hethought, Yes. That’s theanswer.We’llworkitout.

I’d let you trick me. Killme.Killmyfriends.BecauseIcan’t deal with thealternative.Ican’tkill—

“Five minutes,” he said,pushing her off. “I need five

minutes.”

Mattwent as far as he daredand then sat on a rock.Something brushed his legand he jumped. Trjegulwound around his feet,purring. He reached down,expectingher to takeoff,butshe leaped onto his lap andrubbed against his hands,

purringlouder.He glanced over and

wasn’tsurprisedtoseeReynaabouttwentyfeetaway.

“Don’tworry,”shecalled.“I’mnotinterruptingyou.I’mjust…”

“Making sure Raidersdon’tappearoverthehillanddrag me off before thebattle?”

“Right.I’llstayhere.”Shefidgeted. “Unless you want

company. And don’t say yesbecause you think youshould.”

He waved her over. Thecat hopped off his lap andwent to Reyna as she sat ontheground.

“TheMidgardSerpentisakid,”Mattsaid.

“Seemslikeit.”“Do you think she isn’t?

ThatAstrid’spretendingtobeakid?It’sadisguise?”

Reyna shook her head.“No. Trust me. I knowenough girls like her to besurethat’snotanact.”

“Oh.”She looked up at him.

“Which isn’t what youwantedtohear,isit?”

“I… She’s… It’ssupposed to be amonster.Arealmonster.LikeaJotunnora troll, and sure, I wouldn’tgo around killing them for

fun, but if I had to, well,they’remonsters.This…”Hemet her gaze. “She’s a kid,Reyna. Just like the Raiders.A girl who can shape-shiftandthisiswhat’sexpectedofher,anditdoesn’tmakeheragoodperson,butevenifshe’slyingaboutnotwantingtodoit? That doesn’t make her amonster,either.”

“I know.” She absentlypatted Trjegul. The cat

rubbed against her hand. “Isthere a loophole? Can youjust take her outtemporarily?”

“ATKO?”“Exactly. You—” She

caught his expression. “Oh.Youwerekidding.”

“Not kidding. Just… no.According tomyuncle, thereare no loopholes. We mustfight. I kill her or she killsme.Or, like in themyth,we

bothdie.Wecan’t justshakehands and walk away. Orscore a TKO.” He ran hishand through his hair. “IknowI said Iwouldn’t listento her. That I wouldn’tbelieve her if she said shewanted to help us. And I’mnot saying I would now,but…”

“You need to hear herout.”

“I do. I’m sorry if you

thought I’d be stronger thanthat.”

She looked at him. “I’dnever want you to be strongenough to kill a kid, Matt.Never.WhenIsaidyouneedto hear her out, it wasn’t aquestion. It was a statement.Youneedtohearherout.It’sthe only chance we have toavoid you doing somethingthatwouldmakeyou…”

“Amonster?”

She nodded, her facegrim.

AstridtoldMattexactlywhatheexpected.That shewasasmuch a victim ofcircumstance as he was. Asmuch a victim of birthright.Likehim,though,she’drisento the challenge. She’d doneas she’d been told by his

grandfather. That’s whoseorders she’d been following.Not her grandmother’s,becausehergrandmotherwasno longer really hergrandmother—she was theMidgardSerpent.

Astrid explained that thelast time she’d seen hergrandmother as a human,she’d been too young toremember her. Hergrandmother had volunteered

for the role because she’dbeen dying of cancer. Tobecome the serpent was, asAstrid explained, a kind ofdeath.Insteadofbeingabletoshift from human to serpent,she sacrificed herself to berebornaserpent.

“If I was to see her, I’drun the otherwaybefore shekilledme,”Astrid said. “Shewouldn’t recognize me. Myrealgrandmotherisdead.She

volunteered sonoonewouldhaveto.”

“But for the purposes ofRagnarök, you’re theserpent,”Mattsaid.“Right?”

“My people are fair,whatever you might think ofus. I’m supposed to take herplace to level the playingfield.I’m…”Awrysmile.“Alittle smaller than her, asyou’llsee.”

“But once you take her

role, are you her? Theserpent? If you survive, canyoushiftback?”

“No one expects me tosurvive, Matt. Certainly notyour grandfather. If youthink, for one second, thathe’s on my side, you’rewrong. He’s told me I can’tdefeatyou.Thatit’llendasitdoes in the myth—we bothdie. The world will be bornanew. The Thorsens and the

Brekkes and the Raiders andthe serpent-shifters willsurvive and thrive together.That’s his dream.” Shelooked at him. “If someonehonestly believed the mythcouldn’t be avoided, like hedoes, it’s not a bad dream.Unless you’re the ones whohave to die to make thishappen.”

“So how do we avoidthat?”Reynaasked.

“Well, originally, I hopedto convince Matt to switchsides. He jumps to ours andhelpsus,andthatwouldmesseverythingup.”

“Except for the ‘monsterswin’part?”Mattsaid.

“There is that.” Shesighed. “Not all of us aremonsters, but I came torealize that didn’t matter.You’d never help theMidgard Serpent and jötnar

and the trolls and the rest ofus defeat your friends. Sothere’sonlyoneotheroption.I’mtheonewhoflips.”

“Seems the obviouschoice,”Reynasaid.

“Does it?” Astrid lookedather.“ThatmeansI turnonmy family. You might notthink much of the Raiders,butIhavefriendsthere.Iwillbetray my entire family andall my friends. That’s not

simple.Notonebit.”Reyna nodded. “You’re

right. I’msorry.Telluswhatyouhaveinmind.”

Matt was still talkingwhenavoice said,“Hey, sis,still bugging poor Matt?”They both turned. ThenReyna leaped up and ran toRay, throwing her armsaround him. Matt started toleadAstrid away, togive thetwinstimetoreunite,butRay

called, “Hold up. I need totalktoyou,Matt.”

Mattturned.Ray walked over. He

hesitated a second, on seeingAstrid, but someone musthave explained it to him,because he didn’t ask abouther, just said, “I founda fewthings in my research inBlackwell that might helpReyna and me in our battle.But I’m not the mythology

expert. Can I run them byyou?Getyourinput?”

Matt glanced at Astrid.Reyna caught his look andsaid,“Astrid?Whydon’tyoucome with me,” and as theyleft, Matt turned to Ray.“Let’sfindsomeplaceprivateandtalk.”

Rayhadindeeddugupafew

things to help his Ragnarökbattle. Matt was impressed.He might not be much of afighter, but he definitely hadagoodheadonhisshoulders.He helped Matt adjust hisplanwithAstrid, too, thoughthe scheme was incrediblysimple.

When Gullinkambicrowed,Lauriewouldopenaportal to their chosenbattlefield. They’d go

through… and Astrid wouldjoin them. She would walkonto that field as their ally,nottheirenemy.She’dforfeither battle with Matt. Whilethatwouldn’tlethimwalkoffthe field, hehadno intentionofdoingsoevenifthechancewas offered. He’d fightalongside whicheverdescendantneededhimmost,aswouldAstrid.

AtRay’s suggestion, they

didn’t tell Astrid where thebattlefield would be, just incase she was still trying totrick them. That meant shecouldn’tzipoffandwarntheothers. Nor did they sharemartial strategy. The onlypossible way to trick Mattwould be to pretend to fightalongside him and then turnon him.AsRay pointed out,that was a problem easilysolved. Matt wouldn’t take

his eyes off her. He’d staybehind her, at all times. Sheunderstoodthatandagreedtohisterms.

Convincingtheotherswaseasier than he expected.Reyna drilled Astrid andfound her answerssatisfactory.SameforLaurie.Matt gave everyone thechance to ask whatever theywanted and make whateverstipulations they wanted.

Even after all that, he stilldidn’t trust Astrid, but heagreed, as Reyna said, thatthiswas their only chance toavoid the unthinkable. Theyhad to take it. Eyes wideopen,buttakethedeal.

They’d barely finishedwhenGullinkambi arrived. Itperched on a dead tree andcrowed to the night sky andthat was it. The battle hornhadbeensounded.Therewas

nothing left to do. Nothinglefttosay.

Itwastimeforwar.

SEVENTEEN

LAURIE

“FROSTGIANTS”

WhileMattandReynawereoff talking to Astrid, Lauriehadtoreturnhercousintotheenemy. She hated that Fenhadtoleave,butsheknewhehad to go back to lead theRaiders.Partofherwantedtoinsistheignorethemagicthatmade him need to return tohis pack, but the rest of herknew that trying to stop Fenand overcome magic wasn’t

realistic. Plus, of course, theRaiders were kids like them.Maybe Fen could save themsomehow. Hewas a hero inheropinion.

I justwishweweren’t onoppositesides.

“I don’t like this,” shemumbled.

Fen, in a surprisingmoment, grabbed her tightlyand hugged as hard as hecould.“Idon’t,either.Iwish

IcouldtellyoutogohometoBlackwell, but you’re Loki’schampion. You can do this.Youcandefeat…”Hiswordsfaded because the forces sheneededtodefeatincludedhimnow.

“I won’t fight you,” shewhispered. “No matter what.Iwon’t.”

“I’m going to delayarrivingaslongasIcan,”Fenpromised.“It’s thebest I can

do.… Then I guess I’ll fightthe goats or something. Idon’tthinkIcanfightyouorBaldwin or Matt.” Hegrinned. “I wouldn’t mindtaking a swing at Owen,though.”

“You wouldn’t hurt him,either.”

“Looking for a silverlining,”hesaidwithaforcedlightness.

Lauriesniffledagainsthis

shoulder. “Jerk,” she said,knowing Fen heardwhat shereallymeant:Iloveyou.

“Besafe,”heorderedher.Hepulledawayandlookedather. “All you need is to besafe. IfThorsenwins, it’s allgood, and… if he doesn’t,you’ll come with my pack.Either way, you’ll be okayafterthefight.Iswearit.Youjust need to get through thebattle,okay?”

She didn’t bother arguingthat there was no way shewould livewith themonstersifMattlost.

“Themyths aren’t alwaysright,” Fen reminded her.“Youwillbeokay.”

“You too,” she halfordered,halfasked.SheknewthatLokiand thewolfFenrirbothdiedinthegreatbattleofRagnarök.They’dfocusedsomuch on Matt and the

Midgard Serpent, but Fenrirwas ripped apart by Odin’sson and Loki was killed byHeimdall, another of thegods.Lauriefiguredthattheyall knew that. Ragnarökwasn’t only about that onebattle. The word itselfliterally meant “twilight ofthegods.”Itwasthestoryofhow the gods died.Obviously, it wasn’tcompletely accurate, because

the gods themselves werealreadylongdead.

“Stupid gods, leaving usto fight these battles,” shemuttered.

Fen laughed. “Call AuntHelen when the battle starts.Staybyherside.”

“Loki led the monsters,and you fight for themonsters,so…”

Fen gestured to Laurie’sbow. “She gave this to the

one she will help: Loki’sdaughter,notme.”

There was nothing left tosay then, soLaurie opened aportal to the Raiders’ campand Fen stepped through it.She stood there alone for amoment, and then shestraightened her shouldersandheadedtotheothers.Thedescendants picked thebattleground, and when theyarrived, the fight would

begin.She wasn’t ready.

Honestly, she didn’t thinkshe’d ever be ready, but itwas time. The Berserkerswere going to arrive there,although they couldn’t entertheactualfield;Raywasbackwith that group. Owen washere. Everyone was ready,even the Midgard Serpent—who was currently watchingMatt like she was a lost

puppy, not a world-endingmonster.

Laurie met Matt’s eyesandnodded.

Then silently, she openeda portal into theBadlands. Itwas the right place and timeto do this. Helen’s monsterscould fight better on familiarterrain,andnowhereonearthlooked as much like Helen’sdomain as the strangelybeautiful and frightening

Badlands.“Owenfirst,”Mattsaid.One by one, the

descendants and the dragon-girl went through the portaluntil it was only Laurie andMattstandinginMitchell.

“Thisisit,”shewhisperedasshelookedathim.

“Wecandoit,”heassuredher.“Wehaveaplan.”

Thenhewent through thegateway to the battle that

would either save or doomthemall.She tried tobelievethat they’d win as she fellthrough the portal, letting itclose behind her. It felt farmore final than any otherportal,butsheclungtoMatt’swords:We have a plan. Shechantedthewordsinherheadlike they’d make the hopeinto a fact:We have a plan.We have a plan. We have aplan.

Of course, it took all offive minutes for that plan tofallapart.

Laurie looked around atthe group that stood at theedge of the Badlands: Matt,Baldwin, Owen, Reyna,Ray…andnooneelse.Astridwasn’tthere.

“Where is she?” Reynaasked,lookingaroundforthedragongirlwhowasnowheretobeseen.“Iknew—”

“Astrid came through,”Laurie interrupted, meetingMatt’s eyes. “She did. I sawher step in, and I felt her gothroughthegateway.”

“There is an order to beupheld,”Owensaid.

Theyall turned to lookathim, but he seemedunperturbed by theircollective stares. He simplyshrugged. “I told you thatthere were things that could

and could not change. It’swhy I stayed away so long.”HemetLaurie’seyesbriefly.“It’swhyIdidn’ttellyouthatFenrirwoulddefect.Astridisboundbythesamethingsweall are: there are only somanythingswecanchange.”

“Says who?” Lauriechallenged. “We aren’tmindless players inRagnarök.Wewillchange it.We will win. We will live

throughthis.”“I hope you’re right,”

Owensaid.Astridwassupposedtobe

theoneMattwouldfight.Shewas the version of theMidgard Serpentwhowas totakethefield,butnowAstridwasmissing.

The thunder of hoovesrattled the ground sointensely that Laurie thoughtthe buffalo were stampeding

again. They did roam theBadlands, but not the partwhere the descendants of theNorth now stood. Here, onthe edges of valleys andeerie-looking rocks, therewerenobuffalo.

Instead,thereweremythicwarrior women on enormoushorsesbearingdownonthem.Fortunately, the Valkyrieswereon the same sideas thedescendants.Thehorsescame

toasuddenstop,dustanddirtkicking up around them.Hildar, the one who seemedto speak for them, lookeddownatthekidsandnodded.

“It is time,” shepronounced. “Son of Thor,come.”

Laurie expected to hear alowwhisper at the oddity ofherorderingMatttoheellikea house pet, but Fen wasn’ttheretocrackajoke.What if

I never seehimagain?Whatifhedies?OrIdie?

“Where is Astrid?” Mattasked.

“Nothere,”Hildarreplied,asifthatpartweren’talreadyobvious. “I believe Odin’schildexplained.”ShenoddedtowardOwen.“Heis theoneclosesttotheNornsandtheirinsistenceonrules.”

Hildardidn’tquitesayshewas irritated by the Norns,

but Laurie was getting goodat reading between the lineswhen it came to mythicalcreatures. The Valkyriewasn’tentirelypleasedbytheNorns’apparentinterference.

“Freya’s daughter, youandyoursiblingwillcomeaswell.” Hildar’s sternexpression seemed to softenever so slightly as she metLaurie’s gaze. “I wish yougoodbattle,daughterofLoki.

I am pleased that you fightwith the right side inRagnarök.”

Laurie lifted her chin alittle higher. “There wasneveranydoubt.”

Hildar smiled. “YouremindmeofLoki’s…bettertraits.” The moment passed,andshelookedatMattagain.“Come,”sherepeated.

Matt and the twins wereswept away with the

Valkyries, leaving Laurie,Owen, and Baldwin alone.She’d known that theywouldn’t all be hip to hip inthegreatfight,butthatdidn’tmake the moment ofseparationanylessscary.

“Laurie?” Owen saidquietlyfromherside.

She turnedandglancedathim.Helookedreadytobolt:hands clenched, lips pursed.Silently he inclinedhis head,

and she looked to where hewasnowstaring.

Baldwinwhistled.“Seriously?”sheaskedno

one in particular. Lauriewasn’tasuponmythologyasalotofpeople,butsheknewenough to know that thetowering creature headedtheirwaywas ahrímthursar,a frost giant. Like thetowering monsters made offire that they’d faced in Hel

and in Mitchell, this was aJotunn…butoffrostandice.It was one of the creaturesthat she remembered far toowell from the stories herfather toldherwhen shewasalittlegirl.

“Is that actually ahrímthursar?” Owenmurmuredfromherside.

Shecouldn’t tearhereyesawayfromit.“Uh-huh.”

“Any idea how we’re to

fightit?”Laurie shook her head.

“When will the Berserkersarrive?”

“Soon,” Owen promised.“I’ve sent the ravens tosummonthem.”

Soon might not be fastenough. She didn’t knowwhattodo.Thelastgianthadonlybeenhandledbysendingit toseeherAuntHelen,andLaurie wasn’t sure how well

thathadgoneover.Shedidn’twanttoriskangeringtherulerofHel by sending a flood ofmonsters to her domain. Inthemyth,Helenfoughtontheside of the monsters. Lauriereally wanted to avoid thatpart. That meant coming upwith a plan to get rid of afrostgiant.

Right, piece of cake, shethought.

Portaling it would work,

butsheneededalocationshecould visualize or adescendant she could zero inon. If not, she’d be portalingit blindly, and she wasn’tgoing to send it somewherewhere it could kill people.She couldn’t think of anyvolcanos, and Hel was out.That left stopping ahrímthursaronherown.

Admittedly, Matt wasgoing to face a dragon, but

Laurie was facing a frostgiant and who knew whatelse—and she feltexceptionally under-armed.Matt had the Valkyries, thegoats,theshield,andMjölnir.Shehadaone-eyedboywithhis currently absent acrobaticfighters, another who wasimpervious to harm, and abow made of bone.Somehow, every fight she’dbeen in up to this moment

seemedeasyincomparison.The battle hadn’t even

properlybegun,buttherewasa mammoth creature of iceandfroststalkingtowardher.Who knew what else wouldbe coming? The world wasteetering on the edge of itsown destruction. Thatcertainlydidn’tbodewellforanyone’s ability to have aneasytimeofit.

“Does anyone else think

it’sstrangethatwecanseeinthe total darkness?” Baldwinasked, pulling her attentionfromherbuilding terrorsandself-doubts. “Imean, the skyis black, but I can see justfine.”

“Me too…well, with theeye that still works,” Owenadded.

“Hey, guys?” Baldwinpointed. “The frost giant isbringingfriends.”

Following at a greatdistance behind thehrímthursarweretrolls,mara,and wolves. They couldn’tmove as quickly as thetowering creature, but theywerecoming.Thatalonewasenough tomake Laurie wantto runscreaming in theotherdirection. She could fireendlessarrowsfromherbonebow, open portals, andapparently turn into a fish.

OwenwouldhaveBerserkerswhocouldcatapultintofightsand ravens who would spy.Baldwin simply couldn’t behurt.None of that seemed tobe anywhere near enoughwhen she thought they werefacing one monster. Howcoulditbepossibletofightabattalionofthem?

“Plan?”Owenaskedher.“What’s themythagain?”

Even though she’d heard it

earlier that day and severaltimes before this in theirvarious conversations, shewanted to hear itnow. Therehad to be something shewasn’t thinking of, and thatmeant hearing it fromsomeoneelse,hopefullysoasto trigger her memory ortheirs.

Owen started, “Thor andOdin are separated. Lokifights Heimdall; Odin fights

Fenrir; Thor fights theserpent. We all die.” Hisvoicewascalm,evenas theyall watched the horde ofmonsters approaching. “Doesthathelp?”

“Maybe we could avoidthe death part,” Baldwininterjected.

“Anything useful in thatmyth?”Laurieasked,lookingat the enemy troops. Theywere maybe fifteen minutes

away.Owen grabbed Laurie’s

arm and tugged. “Do youthink we could keeprecounting the mythsomewhere a little less intheirlineofsight?”

The three of them startedtowardafissureinthenearestrockformation.

“What about thermite?”Baldwin asked as theycrouchedbehindarock.

“Thermite?”sheechoed.“You need to watch

MythBusters. The source ofall useful knowledge… well,at least the sort my parentswon’t letme have.”Baldwingrinned. “If you mix rust,aluminum oxide, and asparkler, it makes a sort ofmodern Greek fire.Completely and utterlyinappropriateforus—orevenmost adults—to make or

use.”“Wherewouldwegetany

of that?” Owen asked asLaurieeasedoutofthefissureto see how far away themonsterswere.

The frost giant was stillahead of the other monsters,and none of them seemed tobe in a hurry. “Tenminutes,tops,”shetoldtheboysasshemoved back to their sides.“It’ll see us in maybe ten

minutes.Weneedtohurry.”Baldwin opened his bag

from Hel and dug aroundinside it. “I have sparklers.”HetossedthemtoLaurieandkeptdigginginhisbag.“NowI need one of those Etch ASketchthings.”

“Why can’t we just getmodern weapons from thebags?”Owenasked.

Baldwinpausedandshotadisbelieving look at him.

“Because Helen didn’tprovide themwhen I openedthebag.Maybeshewantsthemonsters to have a sportingchance?Maybe shewants ustoproveourselves?Ormaybewhatevermagicthebagshavedoesn’t work with grenadelaunchers”—he glanced intohis bag hopefully and thensighed—“even though itwouldbekindofneat.”

“Neat?” Owen echoed

weakly.“Do you have a better

plan?” Laurie gave him alook that made her feel likeshe was turning into Fen.She’d only used that I-dare-you stare a few times in herlife, but it always madepeople back down. Todaywasnodifferent.

“No.”“Lookinmybagforrust.”

She tossed it to him. “I need

to crack these open.” Shestarted grabbing the Etch ASketches and sparklers thatBaldwin was tossing out ofhisbaglikeitwasanendlessvendingmachine.

Baldwin paused, glancedatOwen,andasked,“Doyouthink we can light thethermite and then send ittoward the frost giant withyourravens?”

“No.”

“Clay pots,” Baldwinyelled.

LaurienoticedOwenraisebothbrows,buthedidn’task,and Baldwin didn’t answer.After a few more minutes,Baldwin was giving theminstructions toassemblewhathe was calling “modifiedthermite bombs meets Greekfire.”

“Greekfire?”“Early warfare tactic,”

Baldwin said, diggingthrough his bag. “ByzantineWar maybe?” He shrugged.“A lot of theories about it:generally delivered viaearthen pots or siphons,possiblyignitedbywater,butmostly thought to burn onwater. Aha!” Baldwin pulleda small vat of some sort ofold-fashioned jar from hisbag and exclaimed, “Thanks,Helen.”

“How do you know allthis?”Owenasked.

“Wemighthaveaboutsixminutes before it sees us,”Laurie reminded them. “Lesshistory.Moreexplosives.”

“MythBusters, theHistoryChannel, and chatting withHelen when I was dead,”Baldwin answered as heopened the jar, grinned, andpointed at it. “You need todipyourarrows into thisand

—”“They’re ghost arrows,”

she interrupted. “I don’t eversee them until they hit atarget.”

“Hmm.”Hesatbackfromhis makeshift science lab.“That’saproblem.”

They stood staring at themiscellaneous pots, jars,broken toys, and sparklerboxes. The giantwas gettingcloserbythemoment.

“Four minutes,” sheremindedthem.

“Try,” Owen murmured.“There’snootherplan.Betterto try than not.According tothe myth, I’m going to beswallowed by your cousin…and you will die fighting.Baldwin is already meant tobe dead. I know you wouldrather Fenrir be at your side,butwe’rehere.Webelieveinyouasmuchashedoes.”

Baldwinnodded,andthencrouched down to openanotherjarandwaited.

“You can do this,” Owenadded.

In thatmoment,allofherirritation at him seemed tovanish.

She didn’t know if shecould, but the arrows flewtrue, and the best weaponagainstacreatureoffrostwasan incendiary one. Laurie

lifted her bow, pulled backthe string, and whispered,“Tolightthearrow,Ineedtosee it.” She wasn’t surewhyshe thought to say it, but assoonasshespoke thewords,anarrowappeared.

“Yes!” Baldwin punchedhisfistintotheair.“Testone,we’ll use theGreek fire.Theprecise ingredients areunclear, but I know that’swhat it is. Helen is helping

us.”It wasn’t the sort of help

Laurie had hoped for, but itwas the only way they wereeven getting a chance todefeat the hrímthursar, so itwasenough.

Shedipped thearrowintothejar.“Threeminutes,guys.Thisneedstowork.”

“Itwill!” Baldwin flickedalighterandsetthetipofthearrowon fire. “Fire inone…

two…three.”Whenhesaid“three,”she

let loose, and the flamingarrow went sailing throughthe sky. She saw a flash oflight when it hit thehrímthursar. Shewasn’t surewhere or if it even matteredenough to notice. Maybe asmall flamingarrowwas likeagnattosuchacreature.Shedidn’t know. All she didknow was that she had no

otherplans.“Ineedarrows,” she said,

andflippedthetopofherbagopen with her foot. Arrowsspilledoutofit,andsoonthethree of them had anassembly line. Owen dunkedthearrowsintotheGreekfireor thermite, and Baldwin litthemforLaurie.

After being hit by thetwelfth arrow, the frost giantroared and started to runtowardthem.

“Now,” she whispered,andbeganfiringasfastasshecould.“Itseesusnow.”

“Hurry!”Owenurged.Thehrímthursarranfaster

andfaster,icespreadingfromthe ground where its feettouched, extending out likefrozen lakes that seemed tostretchcloserandcloser.

Laurie sent a volley ofarrows,shootingtwoorthreeatoncewithoutevenrealizingthat the boys had given herseveralineachturn.

As the hrímthursar got

closer, Laurie could feel thecoldstarttohittheminarcticwaves. Her hands wereshaking, and her teeth werechattering. Every bit ofexposed skin started to burnwiththecold.Stillshefired.

“It’sworking,”Owentoldher. “Just keep going.Please.” His words werewavering as he forced themthroughlips thathadtobeascold as hers now were.

“Again.”Baldwin’s fingers were

slipping off the button as hetried tohold and squeeze thelighterwithshakinghands.

It was working, though.Sections of the frost giantwereblackenedfromfire,andsomefireswerestillburning.When the flames went out,the exposed parts of thehrímthursar were turned tostone.

She targeted the feet andankles. If it couldn’twalk, itcouldn’trun.

Then she targeted thehrímthursar’s mouth, eyes,and hands. Little by little,partsof thefrostgiant turnedtostoneasthethermite-Greekfiresolidifiedthefrost.Asthefrostwarmed, they could seethe creature under the ice, asiftheicethawingrevealedanentirelynewshape.

Fiery arrow after fieryarrowturnedthefrostgianttostone—first in patches, andthenaneye,afinger,anankle—until it was completelysolidified. There, in theBadlands of SouthDakota, anew rock formation wasmade, this one as a result ofthe descendants of the Northtrying tostop theworldfromending. She wasn’t sure if itwould freeze again and go

back to its home, but rightnow,she’dstoppedit.

Sheshiveredallover,andfor a brief moment, theystood staring at it—but thatwasallthetimetheyhad.Therestofthemonsterswerestillcoming,andwhattheylackedin size, they made up for insheernumber.Atthebackofthe horde, a secondhrímthursar walked. Themomentofvictory that she’d

feltvanishedasshelookedatthe monsters stillapproaching.

“One down… way toomanylefttogo.”

EIGHTEEN

MATT

“THOR’S

CHARIOT”

They’d lost Astrid. Losttheir best chance at an easywin.

Did you really think itwould be easy, Matt? Afterallthis?

No, not easy, but perhapseasier.Was that toomuch tohopefor?

He looked out at theBadlands,thedustsothickhecould barely see what theywere about to face. Barelydared consider what theywereabouttoface.

Nope, easier wasdefinitely too much to hopefor.

“So,withoutAstrid…”hecalled to Hildar. He rodebehindherashersteedracedacross the field. “Now that

she’sgone,whathappens?”“Her family will appoint

anothertotakeherplace.”“Anotherkid?”“No.”Heexhaled.“Good.”“Theywill send an adult.

One better trained in the artofwar.”

“W-what? But… but thebattle… it’s supposed to befair. That’s why Astrid’sfourteenand—”

“And you turned heragainstthem.”

“I—”“WhileIunderstanditwas

heridea,thefactremainsthatshe joined theopposing side,and one can argue she wasinfluencedbythatside.”

“Could you have warnedme about that?” Mattglowered at Hildar’s back.“Inadvance?”

Hildar glanced over her

shoulder. “Would it havemade a difference? Wouldyou have fought and killedher?”

Hedidn’treply.“Ithoughtnot.”They continued on. After

a moment, Hildar looked athim again. “Iwill be honest,son of Thor. I thought yourploy might work. I wouldhave warned you otherwise.ButIbelieveditwas…”

“Worthashot?”The faintest tweak of her

lips, something that mightevenbecalledasmile.“Yes,Ithoughtitwasworthashot.Itwasaworthystrategy.Iamproud.OfyouandofAstrid.”

“Will she… She’ll bepunished, won’t she? Whenshegoeshome?”

“We will ensure she isnot, son of Thor. Providedshestillhasahometo return

toandyoudonotlosetoyournew opponent and see theworldencasedinice.”

“Umm…”“You would rather I did

notmentionthatpossibility?”“Kindof.”Anothertwitchofasmile.

“Iwillnot,then,becauseIamconfident that your chancesare very good. At least sixtypercent.”

“Sixty?”

“At least. Perhaps evensixty-five.”

Sheofferedabiggersmilenow,asifshe’djustpaidhimthe highest and mostreassuringcompliment.

“Any last-minute adviceon how to raise those oddsand—”

The horse rearedsuddenly. Matt flew off itsback. He dimly heard Hildarletoutacryandsawhergrab

for him, but it was too late.He hit the ground. A horsescreamed.Anotherwhinnied.A hoof skimmed Matt’sshoulder.

“Whoa!” Reyna shoutedfrom behind her Valkyrie.“Whatthe—?”

Trjegul yowled.Mattwaspushing to his feet, but thethunder of hooves shook thegroundsohardthevibrationsknocked him down. He

peered into the dust. Aroundhim, he heard shouts ofsurprise and the whinny offrightened horses. He startedrising again, but a horseleaped rightoverhimandhebarelyduckedintime.

The horse came down infront of him… and keptgoing. Kept dropping. TheValkyrie on its back washolding tight, her eyes widewith horror as her steed

plummeted into what lookedlikesolidearth.

Mattmanaged togetontohis knees, scrambling towardthe fallen horse, certain he’dseeitlyingonitsside,hopingithadn’tstumbledbecauseofhim.

His hands touched downonair.Hejerkedback.Then,blinkinghardagainstthedust,he slowly reached forwardagain,hishandmovingalong

thegrounduntilitreachedtheedge.

The edge of the ground.Beyondthat?Nothing.

He heard Reyna callingfor her brother, who replied,and then they both yelled,“Matt!”

Something landed onMatt’s back. He raisedMjölnir just as Trjegul ran asandpaper tongue over hischeek. The cat bounded off

into the dust cloud. WhenMatt looked again, the dirthadsettledenoughforhimtoseehewas lyingon theedgeofachasm.Below,hecaughtaflashofthewhitehorseandheard a shout and a whinny.The Valkyrie and her mounthad fallen into the fissure,andwerestandingona ledgebelow.

The earth shook again.Yetitwasn’tthepoundingof

hooves. He could make outthe dim figures of the horsesall aroundhim, somemillingabout in confusion, anotherfallen with a Valkyrie bentbeside it. When the earthshook,thehorsesneighedandwhinnied and stamped. Andthe earth was shakingbecause…

Somethingmoveddeepinthe chasm. The horse belowscreamed,anditsValkyrielet

outabloodcurdlingbattlecry.Her sword flashed, butwhatever moved below wastoofardownforhertoreach.

Matt leaped into thechasm. As he hurtled down,thethoughtWhatamIdoing?did pass through his mind,but itwas too late to changecourse. He shot past theValkyrie, who shoutedsomethinghedidn’thear.Helandedonthethingwhipping

through the earth and theforce of it knocked him offhis feet onto his hands andknees.Helookeddowntoseegreen scales under him.Emeraldgreen.

Um,you’reontheserpent.TheMidgardSerpent.

Whichwasaproblem.He crouched on the

serpent as it tore through theearthintoaholetoosmallforhim to follow, leaving him

stuck atop a conveyor beltmoving sixty miles an hour,battering him against thewallsofthechasm.

“Matt!” Reyna shouteddown.“Getoutofthere!”

Helookedup.Wayup.Howwas he going to get

out?A problem to be solved

later. Right now, he hadsomethingelseinmind.

He looked up at the

Valkyrie and shouted, “Yoursword?”

“My…?”shereplied.“Drop your sword.

Quickly. Before the serpent—”

He didn’t need to finish.She let go of her sword. Itembedded itself in the dirtwalljustabovehishead.Mattpositioned himself, thenjumped, grabbed it, anddropped. The fact that he

managed to do so withoutslicinghimselfinhalfprovedsome higher power was stillonhis side.Whenhe landed,hehadboth feetdug into thesides of the chasm, with theserpentpassingbeneath.

He readied the sword,knowing his chance wasescaping,fast.

With both handswrappedaround the hilt, he slammedthe sword down. Into the

serpent. A tremendous boomrent the earth, like a screamtrapped below ground. Theserpent writhed. The groundshook. Above him, horseswhinnied in panic, and theValkyries shouted to calmthem.

Matt closed his eyes andshoved the sword into thebeast, pushing it right up tothe pommel. The serpentwrithedandscreamedandthe

ground quaked, but itcouldn’t escape, nor could itbackupandcomeafterhim.

Matt wrenched the swordout for another blow, but thebeastshotintotheearth,Mattsailing backward, landingagainsttheside,dirtflyinguparound him. Somethinglanded behind him. Heglanced back to see Hildar,with another Valkyriedropping beside her. Both

lifted their swords to plungethem into the serpent, andthen—

And then there was noserpent. A flash of a taperedend, like a tail, and it wasgone.

Matt struggled tohis feet,the ground still trembling asthe serpent slithered away.Panting, he pointed atHildar’ssword.

“You aren’t supposed to

do that,” he said betweenbreaths. “It’s against therules.”

Her chin shot up. “I amnot permitted to aid youagainst the serpent on thebattleground. This is underthebattleground.Amatterofinterpretation, and I am veryprecise in myinterpretations.” She returnedher sword to its sheath. “Itwasagoodidea,sonofThor.

Youhavewoundedit.”“Seriously?”“Yes, I am always

serious.”“No, I mean did I

seriouslywoundit.”She paused. “I do not

know.Youmay havemostlyangeredit.”

“Great…”“It was already going to

be angry. But with angercomes rage, and with rage

comes weakness. The bestwarrior is dedicated andpassionateyetclearheaded. Itis not about revenge orvictory.Itisabouthonor.”

“Uh,guys?”Reynacalleddown. “You still need to getoutofthere.”

“Yes, we do.” Hildarlooked at Matt. “I trust youhaveaplan,sonofThor?”

“Um… sure. Just… givemeaminute.”

Matt figured out a way up,with help from Ray andReyna. Ray suggested “dirtclimbing”—in theabsenceofrocks—with some kind ofrope to help.Reyna used thehorse’sreins.Whichsoundedobvious enough, except thatthe reins were made fromthreaded finger bones,whichwaskindofgross.

TheValkyriewho’dfallenin went first. Hildar had toorder her to leave her horsebehind. A Valkyrie neverabandons her steed… unlessthere’s a battle brewing andher leader needs her and herhorseissafeenoughwhereitisandshecanrecoveritlater.Whiletheirhorsescould“fly”across the ground, it was apower of speed, not actualflight. So the horse stayed.

The rider went. Mattfollowed.

He crested the top of thefissure to see a terrible sightthroughthecloudsofdirt.Anarmy of the dead marchedtowardthem.

At least fifty warriorstramped across the earth, theentire ground shaking undertheir boots. Draugr warriors.Zombies,ifyouwantedtogetpop culture about it, but

draugrsweretentimesscarierthan any Hollywood zombiebecause they retained thepower of human thought—plus they could grow todoubletheirsize.

The draugrs wore therottedremainsoftheirarmor.And the rotted remains oftheir bodies. Leathery stripsof skin hung from theirskeletal frames, nearlyindistinguishable from the

leathery strips of, well,leather. Some wore helmetson heads with matted hanksof hair. Some wore helmetson heads of skull. Missinglimbs, missing eyes, missingjaws… none of thoseinfirmities slowed themdown.Theymarched in step,relentlessandslow.Awallofdeath. Coming straight forthem.

Matt scrambled up from

the crevice. And thedraugrs… He’d have saidthey stopped dead, but thatmight be disrespectful. Theywere, after all, greatwarriorswho’d given their lives inVikingbattles.

Now they stopped.Absolute silence fell acrossthe plain. Even the dustsettled,andMattcaughtsightofadistantbird, toohighforhimtomakeout.Ahugebird,

itseemed,butmaybeitwasatrick of perception; andbesides, he shouldn’t begaping up with fifty undeadwarriors standing less than ahundredfeetaway.

The draugrs had gonecompletelystill.Notsomuchasashieldorswordclanked.

Matt hefted Mjölnir. Hedidn’t wield it or swing it.Justraisedithigh.

“Vingthor!”

Thecrywentupfromfiftythroats. Or as many of thefifty still whole enough fortheir throats to form words.Then, as a single body, thedraugrsdropped tooneknee,the impact nearly knockingMattoffhisfeetagain.

Matt lookedoutoverfiftydraugrs on bended knee,heads bent to him, and hedidn’t see fifty rottingzombies—hesawfiftyViking

warriors.Soldierswho’ddiedfor their country. Who’dfought battles as big as theone he was about to face.Truewarriors.

That’s what I need to be.Atruewarrior.Willingtodieformypeople.AsmuchasI’dreallyrathernot.

As Matt walked towardthedraugrs,oneinthemiddlerose.

“Vingthor,” he said. “We

have come to escort you tothebattlefield.”

“Thank—”hebegan.“That is our task,”Hildar

said, walking forward, herchin up. “The ValkyriesescortthesonofThor.”

The draugr lowered hisgaze. “And we wish you nodisrespect, queen of theshield-maidens. But the wayto the fieldwill not be clear.Already, they gather to stop

you.”Heextendedabonyhand.

Atfirst,Mattsawonlycloudsof dust. Then, above thoseclouds,theheadsoftrolls,anarmyofthem,marchingtheirway.

“Trolls, jötnar, mara, andmore,”thedraugrsaid.“Theyare not permitted to fightalongside their champions,butuntilyouareat thebattleproper…”

“Yes, yes,” Hildar saidwithsome impatience.“Theymayimpedeourprogress.Weexpect that.We are preparedfor it. I will dispatch mytroopstodealwiththem,andVingthor’sgoatswillassist.”

Shewaved,andasiffrombehind a curtain, a swarm ofValkyrie and battle-goatsappeared, the groundthundering with hooves, theair ringing with bleats and

whinniesandwarcries.Theybore downon the troll army,stopping it in its path as theshouts and grunts and clangsofconflicttookover.

“And our warriors joinyours,” the draugr said,pointing as another cloudappeared from the oppositedirection. Draugrs ran at thetrolls with their shields andswords and maces and bowsraised.

“That’s great,” Ray said.“Canwegonow?Beforethatfightgetstous?”

Hildar grunted and eyedthe draugrs. Matt had seenthat same expression whenshe’dhadtodealwithHelen.Hildar’s domain wasValhalla, landof thehonoreddead. Helen’s was Hel, thelower realms for everythingelse, which included thedraugrs.

“The more the merrier?”MattsaidtoHildar.

Her browwrinkled. “It iswar. It is not meant to bemerry.”

The lead draugr smiled,showingrowsof rotted teeth.“Then, my lady, may Isuggest you have not beendoingitcorrectly?”

Allthedraugrslaughed.Itwasnotnecessarilyapleasantsound,given theconditionof

their windpipes, but Mattsmiled and said, “The morethe better, Hildar. That’swhat I meant. And Ray’sright.Idon’tmindawarm-upboutbeforemychampionshiptitle, but I’d rather not facethat.”Hewavedattheroilingmass of combatants.“Onward?”

“Yes,”shesaid.“Onward.You”—she gestured at thelead draugr—“cover us from

the rear anddonot expect tokeepup.”

Theymounted the horses.MattsatbehindHildaragain,Ray andReynawith the twoValkyries immediatelybehind, theothers fannedoutin a protective circle. At aword fromHildar, theywereoff.

The draugrs could notkeep up. While they werefaster than Hollywood

shambling zombies, theValkyries rode at a pace thatturned the ground to a blur.For all her grumbling,though, Hildar wasn’t eagerto leave allies quite so farbehind, and periodicallyslowed to “survey thebattlefield,” which gave thedraugrsachance toclose thegap.

During one of thoseslowdowns, the lead draugr

shouted, “My lady!” andpointed overhead. Mattlooked up to see that distanthugebird,stilltoofarawaytomakeoutanythingmorethanthe shape of wings and abody.

Hildargrunted.“Whatisit?”Mattasked.“None of our concern,”

shesaid.“Itwon’tattack.Notyet.”

“Okay,butIshouldknow

what—”“We are nearly there.

Onward.”Hildar began to spur on

her horse, then pulled it upshort. There, rising over thecloud of dust, were threehuge trolls. Or so it seemed,until themonsters’ shouldersappeared,andMattrealizeditwas one troll. Three heads.Not so bad, then… if itweren’t at the lead of six

more trolls, all with singleheads, but not one less thanten feet tall. Mountains ofrock. Moving straight forthem.

HehoistedMjölnir.“No,sonofThor,”Hildar

said.“Wewillhandlethis.”“I wasn’t kidding when I

said I could use a warm-upbout.”

“Andwewill leaveyouafight.Butthetimedrawsnear

and you will not have achance to rest before…” Sheglanced up at the distantcreature still circling abovethem. “Before the timecomes.Dismount.”

She motioned wordlesslyto the draugrs. The leadwarriornoddedandseparatedhis troops. Most were to gowith the Valkyries. A few,himself included, were toremain behindwith the three

champions, now on thegroundbesidetheirescorts.

“This will be quick,”Hildar said. “Keepyour eyesopen.Allofyou.ShoutandIwillreturn.”

Matt nodded. Hildar rodeoff. She looked back onlyonce.That’s all shehad timefor. Then the trolls chargedand the Valkyries charged,their battle cries splitting theairanddrowningouttheroar

ofthedraugrsattheirheels.Matt looked at the leader

of the draugrs, who wasclearly waiting forinstructions.

“Formacirclearound thethree of us,” Matt said.“Watchforattackfromeverydirection. Reyna? Ray? Canyougiveus some fog cover?The dust isn’t quite going todoit.”

“Aye-aye,captain,”Reyna

said.They took up positions.

AllexceptTrjegul,whoslunkoff through the fog and dustto do whatever magical catsdid. Or just to stretch herlegs.

Matt triednot to focusallhis attention on the draugrsandtheValkyriesbattlingthetrolls.Therewereotherfightsraging around them, distantclouds of dust and cries and

shouts.He thought of LaurieandFen,BaldwinandOwen,andwonderedifanyof thosebattles were theirs. After allthis time fighting together,the thought that the othersmightbeindangermadehimstrain to hear their voices, asifhecouldraceto theirsidesif he heard trouble. Hecouldn’t. That part of hisjourneywasover.

Once Matt reached his

battle ring, he’d lose evenReyna and Ray, who wouldbe led off to their own fight.Ragnarökwasforchampions.Championsfoughtalone.Hadsomeonewarnedhimofthisafew weeks ago, he’d havelooked at them askance andsaid “Okay…” notunderstanding the problem.Alone was the only way hefought.Hewasaboxerandawrestler,notafootballplayer.

Not a team player. Nowthinkingoffightingalonewashardenough.Thinkingofhisfriendshavingtofightalone?Almostunbearable.

A hand brushed his, andhejumped.Helookedovertosee Reyna beside him. Shegave his hand an awkwardsqueeze.

“It’llbeokay,”shesaid.Henodded.“I know I should say

more,” she said. “Somethingbetter.”

“No, I should have.Earlier. A better speech.Rousingwords ofmotivationand support for those aboutto…”

“Die?” She quirked asmile.

“Yeah,sorry.Forgotthat’show it goes. For those abouttowin?”

“No, for those about to

vanquish the enemy andreturn triumphant, ready toface an even greater trial:eighthgrade.”

Mattlaughed.“No kidding,” Ray said.

“Seemsweird,doesn’tit?Wecould be back in school nextweek.”Hesquintedoutatthedarkness. “Well, if they getthelightson.”

“And ifwemanage to—”Mattbegan.

Reyna clapped a handover his mouth. “Uh-uh.Wewill. Next week, we’ll beback in class, facing downnasty teachers, bully boys,andmeangirls.”

“Idon’tthinkyouneedtoworryaboutthat,”Mattsaid.

Herbrowsshotup.“Why?Because you think I am oneofthemeangirls?”

“No, because I can’timagineanyonemessingwith

you.”She laughed and looked

down as Trjegul trotted backandyowled.“Sheagrees.”

“No, sis,” Ray said. “Ithink she’swarning us aboutthat.”

He pointed. At first Mattsawnothing.Thenhe lookedjust above the dust clouds tosee a swarm of somethingcoming at them. White andfeatherylike…

“Mara, incoming!” Mattshouted.

“Holdhands!”Reynasaid.“Matt?Close your eyes.RayandIwillworkon—”

They disappeared, and hestartedto turnherwaytoseewhatwaswrong,butwhenhedid, he kept spinning,whirlingrightoffhisfeetandfallinginto—

Snow. Matt landed in asnowbank. He lay there, on

his back, fingers digging in,snow melting against hiswarmfingers.

DidIdothis?“Reyna?” he called.

“Ray?”His voice echoed back to

him.That’swhenhe realizedeverything had gone silent.So silent that he rubbed hisears,asiftheywereplugged.

He pushed to his feet,slidingonthesnow.Itwasso

dark he could barely makeoutthewhitesnow.

But I can see it, meaningthere’s light coming fromsomewhere.

He craned his neck backto see one cluster of stars.Just one. The Big Dipper.Also known as Thor’sChariot.

He blinked hard, and theworld got brighter. Or asbright as itwasgoing toget,

because therewas nothing tosee.Snowandicestretchedineverydirection.

“Reyna? Ray?” Then,“Hildar? Owen?” Louder.“Fen?Laurie?”

Silence answered.Absolute silence. When hetook a step, the crunch ofsnow beneath his shoessounded like a gunshot, andhewheeled,hammerraised.

Nothing there.Nothing at

all.Thenasound.Avoice.A

very weak cry. He startedtoward it, running, shoesdigging in and giving himtractionasheracedacrossthesnow-coveredice.

Gazefixedonhispath,hesawwhite,white,morewhite,and then… black. A crevicein the ice, nearly as wide ashewas tall.That’swhere thevoice came from. Someone

trappedinthefissure,liketheValkyriehadbeen.

He dropped to all foursbefore he reached it andcrawled forward, carefully.Whenhereachedtheedge,hepeereddownandsaw…

Faces. Dozens—no,hundreds of people partiallyembeddedintheice,moaningand waving their free arms.Faces going down, down,downintodarkness.

One looked up and itseyes were black pits ofdespair. Matt couldn’t eventell if it was a man or awoman. Ice spiked its hairand covered its face, leavingonly those dark eyes and agapingmouth.

“Help us,” the personmoaned.“Please,helpus.”

Help them? Hundreds ofpeople trapped in ice and allhehad—

HeraisedMjölnir.Maybe I can’t free them

all,butIcantry.He lowered himself

carefully into the icy fissure.It was easier than with thedirt one—this almost hadsteps leading down. He keptgoing until he reached thatfirst person. Then he drewback his hammer andslammed it into the ice walland—

The entire wall shattered.Bodies tumbled out, peoplescreaming, falling, pitching,and dropping into theblacknessbelow.

“No!”Mattscreamed.“You can’t help,” a voice

said.Matt looked to see the

personwho’dcalledtohim—a woman—suspended inmidair,asifbymagic.

“You can’t save us.

You’re the one who doomedus.”

She reached out andgrabbed the hammer andyankedMatt into thecrevice.As he fell, turning end overend, tumbling into theblackness below, he sawThor’s Chariot dimmingagainst the night sky abovehim.

Thenitwentout.

NINETEEN

FEN

“TURNINGTIDE”

Fen had thought a lot aboutthe final fight, the bigshowdown, the epic momentwhen he and his friendswould face impossible oddsandwin because that’s whatheroes do. Now that it washere, he didn’t feel like ahero.Hefeltafraid.Hedidn’twant to die or let anyonedown—but he wasn’t surethatwas possible. If hewon,

thatmeanthiscousinandhisfriends would lose andprobably die. They were theheroes now, and he was avillain…excepthedidn’tfeellikeavillain.Hefeltthesameway he’d felt when he waswith Matt and Laurie andBaldwin, but now they wereontheotherteam.Itwasn’tassimple as “teams,” though.Thiswasn’tgymclass.Thesewere legions of people and

monsters who were fightingto decide if the world wouldend.Today.

Initially,aheadofthefrontof thehordeofmonsterswasone of the frost giants, but ithad charged forward whenflamingarrowsstartedhittingit.HeknewLauriewasthere,facingamonsterwithouthim.He could tell by how thearrows all hit the frost giant;every arrow flew sure and

true.“Wait!” he called, when

the rest of the troops startedto speed after thehrímthursar. It was the besthe could do—buy her a fewminutesoftime.

Themonsters all stopped.Even the second frost gianthalted. They looked to himand listened. They didn’tevenaskwhy.HewasLoki’schampionfor thesemonsters,

and if they defeated thedescendants of the North, itwould be a better world forthemonsters.

I am not a monster, Fenreminded himself. He had todorightbyhispack,but thatwas all. He tried to think ofhow tomake his duty to hispack mesh with the way thehorde ofmonsterswaited forhis command. He couldn’ttellthemonstersnottoattack.

Hecouldn’tthinkofanythingtodootherthansay,“Raidersnearme,notinthefront.”

No one questioned him,although both Skull andHattielookedalittlepleased.

Quietly, he told Skull, “Iprotect my pack. Themonstersarebiggerthanus.”

Skull grinned, looking alittle horrific with hisdiscoloredbruises.

Butthenachatteringnoise

came from thegroundbyhisfeet,andFenlookeddowntosee an enormous squirrelstaring up at him.No, not athim,butatthesky.Ifthishadbeen any other day and anyother place, Fen would’vegotten far, far away, but thiswasRagnarök.

Fen followed thesquirrel’s gaze to the sky—where he found the largesteaglehe’deverseen.

“Wretched inchworm,”theeaglecalled.

At first he thought it wastalking to him. Aside fromthe oddity of such oversizedanimalsexisting, thefact thatitwas talkingwas enough tomakeFen unable tomove orspeak. Then the squirrelchitteredanddoveintoaholein the ground. The eaglecircled overhead almostlazily.

As weird as it was, Fencouldn’t stay any longer. Hemotionedhispackforward.Abird shrieking insults wasn’treason to stop advancing,evenifthatbirdwasasbigasa dairy cow. He started tomarch forward again, not inwolf shapebecausehedidn’treally want to rush, but notexactlydawdling,either.

He’d gone a few moreyards when the squirrel

popped back out of theground,chatteringandstaringattheskyagain.

The massive eagle dovetoward the ground, talonsoutstretched and screamed,“Lazydecayfeeder.”

Again the squirrelvanishedundertheground.

The eagle swooped lowenoughthatagustofairfromits wings made severalRaiders stumble. No oneseemed overly concerned,

although the Raiders weremoving closer to Fen. Hewasn’t sure if they wereintending to protect him orhopinghe’dprotectthem.

When the earth started tobreakopenathirdtime,Fen’sirritationboiledover.“That’sit!Someonemakethat…”

Hiswordsdriedupas theground rumbled. Dirt andrubble scattered like shots asan enormous white reptilian

headcametothesurface.“Youweresaying?”Skull

muttered from his left-handside.

“…squirrelshutup,”Fenmurmured.

“That’snotasquirrel.”Fen shot a glance at his

second in command. “Youthink?”

The snake’s vibrant bluetongueflickedout,tastingtheair like any snake would. It

might be acting like anaverage reptile, but it suredidn’t look like one.Slithering out of a vast holewasthestrangestcreatureFencouldimagine,likesomesortof zombie snake with wingsbut twice as long as areticulated python. Theenormous, more than forty-foot-long snake was whitelike bone, and it movedtoward him with the rustling

sound of dried grass like ontheSouthDakotaprairie.

“I thoughtAstridwas theMidgard Serpent that Matthastofight,”Fensaidquietly.

Skull raised his eyebrowsin surprise—either at therevelation or that Fen said italoud. He didn’t sayanything, so Fen continued alittle louder, “If she’s theserpent,what’sthat?”

The trollsand theRaiders

whowere in human form alllaughed.

“Nidhogg,” Skull said.“Eaterofcorpses.ItgnawsonYggdrasil, the world tree.”He gestured at the dog-sizedsquirrel. “That’s Ratatoskr.He carries the eagle’s insultstoNidhogg.”

“Uh-huh.”“And at Ragnarök,

NidhoggkillsThor’sson.”Fen tore his gaze from

Nidhogg, who was nowhissing at the eagle. “Ithought theMidgard Serpentkilledhim?”

“No,” Hattie clarified.“The Midgard Serpent killsThor.”

“Well, that’s clear asmud.”Fensnorted.“Whatdowedowithit?”

The oversized snaketurned its slitted eyesonFenand flicked its weird blue

tongue out close enough thatFengagged.He thoughthe’dsmelled the worst stenchwhen he’d faced the cavebear on the way out of Hel,but this was a whole newlevelofnasty.

“Corpse eater,” Skullreminded Fen, who turnedaway from the smell,choking.

Nidhogg turned itsmammoth body away from

Fen and started slitheringtoward the rocks whereLaurie was. The rest of thetroops followed. All Fencould do was go with themonsters. To do otherwisewould be horrible for thepack.With these odds, therewas no way that switchingsides could be in thewulfenkind’sbestinterest.

“I’m so sorry,” hewhispered to his friends,

although there was no waythat Laurie or Baldwin orOwencouldhearhim.

The trolls and wolves allaround him sped up, and heknew he couldn’t let thishappen. There had to be acompromise, a way not tohurtLaurieor thekidsatherside.EventhoughhedislikedOwen,evenhedidn’tdeservethe slaughter headed towardhimfasterandfaster.

“Take them prisoner,” heblurtedout.

“What?”Hattiescreeched.“There are, like, three

kids,” Fen continued. “It’snot even a battle. It’s amassacre.”

Yips and growls camefromsomeofthewolves.

Helookedaroundat themand all but snarled his nextwords. “If anyone hurts mycousin, there will be

consequences.”“Not wolf,” a troll

grumbled. “Not listen. Willcrushenemy.”

BeforeFencouldtryagaintoargue that takingprisonersmade more sense, Owen’sseemingly endless crowd offighting clowns arrived.There was no way he couldconvince his side to takeLaurie and the othersprisoners now. The

Berserkers were alreadyhurtling into fights as theystarted the skirmish with themonsters.

Fen growled and gave intotheinevitable.Helaunchedhimself into battle with therest of the wolves, swingingfists at Berserkers and tryingto reach Laurie.He knew hecouldfighthiswolves,buthehoped that they would obeyhisorders.Therewasnoway

thathe’dletatrolloranyoneelsehurther,though.

I’ll throw Berserkers intheirpathiftheytry.

As far as plans went, itwasn’t any worse than mostofhisfightstrategies.

“Beonthelookoutforthegoats,”hecalledout.

“Snacks!” ground out atroll.

“Where?” asked another,scanning the crevices in

search of the pants-bitingbeasts.“Where?”

If the enemy won thisbattle, itwouldn’tbebecauseofsuperiorintellect.

“The goats aren’t hereyet,” he clarified for thetrolls. “They fight forThorsen,though.”

“Yum,”atrollsaid.“Hi,”Baldwincalledashe

clamberedupatrollcheerily.HewavedatFen.“Sorryyou

turned to the dark side, but Idon’t really want to fightyou.”

Fen smothered a groanand punched a Berserker.That, he could do. In fact, ifhewasgoingtohavetofightonthewrongside,hethoughthemighttakealittlefuninit.He didn’t mind hitting theboy who seemed to bepursuingLaurie.IfFenhadtofight someone, it was going

tobeOwen.Afteraquickglancetosee

that Laurie wasn’t inimmediate danger, Fenscanned the crowd, lookingfor blue hair as he kicked,growled,andpunched.

Several Berserkers later,Fenwasfeelingfullofenergyand standing eye-to-eye withOwen.

“Fate can’t always beavoided,” the one-eyed boy

saidcalmly.Fen snorted. “Especially

when you hide what youknow.”

“True. Here we are,though. It was fated.” Hespread his feet and took aboxer’s stance. “I’m notsurprised.”

“Who does Odin fight atRagnarök?” Fen had asuspicion that he knew theanswer.

“Fenrir.”Fen laughed in a mix of

amusement and bitterness.“NowonderyoutriedtoturnLaurieagainstme.DoIneedtoguesswhowins?”

Owen swung.Fenduckedand returned a punch of hisown.

“They both loseeventually,”Owensaid.

“I’m not going to lose,”Fen promised. “This”—he

swung and hit Owen in themouth—“is for trying tomakeLauriedoubtme.”

No more words wereexchangedastheyfoughton.

FenhadtogiveOwencredit:hewasmore thananaveragefighter. Fen had been gettinginto scrapes since he couldstand. It was just how his

childhood was. Owen,however, didn’t go downeasy, and when Fen didknock him to the ground, hepopped back on his feet insomesortofgymnasticmovethat Fen envied—not that heever intended to tell Owenthat.

“Son of Loki,” said avoicebehindhim.

He turned, taking a one-two punch to the head as a

result of the distraction, andtherestoodHelen.

He grunted and shot adirty look atOwen. The boysimplysmiledathim.

“That’s not a very politegreeting,” Helen pointed outas he spat blood from hismouth.

Beforehecouldreply,shelooked away and fixed onLaurie approaching fromacross the field of battle. “I

amheretohonormypromise.In themythsofold, theysayHel opened wide, and IbroughtmyforcestofightforFatherLoki.”

“I know,” Fen saidquietly.

It seemed likely thatHelen’s arrival was eithervery good or very bad. Herdress, which had beencovered in insects when helast saw her, had been

replaced with a long whitecoat that seemed to writhe.Sheliftedanarmlikeshewasgoing to hug him—and herealized that she was drapedin some sort of tatteredshroudthatwascrawlingwithmaggots.

All around them, fightsstoppedasbothsidesrealizedthat Helen was standing intheirmidst.

“SheisLoki’schampion,”

Helen said in a raised voice,motioningtoLauriewithonemaggot-covered arm. “And Iwill do as my father wouldhave:Ifightonthesideofhischampion.”

Still,noonemoved.“Nephew,” Helen

murmured meaningfully asLaurie reached them. “Youappear to be on the losingside.”

“Thelosing—”

Ifshehadpickedme,Fenrealized,we’dhavewon,andthe world would end. Shehadn’t, though. The ruler ofHel, Loki’s daughter, hadchosen Laurie to back—andHelen’s idea of support wasto bring forth the monstersthatlivedinherdomain.

“Hi, Helen! Best. Fight.EVER,”Baldwinyelledasheran by to launch himself atNidhogg.

Helen smiled and shookherhead.“Hehasafondnessforsnakes.Somethingaboutasnakegarden?”

Fen laughed. “Maybe wecouldtakeafieldtripbacktoReptile Gardens after theworlddoesn’tend.”

“Itstillmightend,”Helensaid. “We’ll tend to thesecreatures, but Thor’s childhas todealwith theMidgardSerpent on his own.” She

gaveFena smile that lookedunnervinglylikeLaurie’sandconfided, “Father Loki neversuggested that his childrenmust play by the rules,though. Rules are moresuggestions to work aroundthan absolutes to obey,accordingtoFatherLoki.”

She lifted her hands andthe earth split open in widegorges.

“Pickyourside,nephew.”

Garm was at the front ofthelineofmonstersemergingfrom the fissures. TheimmensedogmetFen’seyesand said, in a reference totheir first conversation backin Hel, “This is not play,either,butitwillbefun.”

Since he was in humanform, Fen was surprised thatheunderstoodGarm,butnowthat he was alpha of thewolves, this seemed to have

changed, too. “I’m gladyou’reonourside.”

Garm offered a toothysmile.

Fen watched as the fireJotunn stepped out of thecracks and various deadwarriors pulled their rottingbodies out of the earth. Themyth had made clear thatHelenhadbroughther forcesto fight on Loki’s side, butwith two champions, it had

never been clear whichchampionshe’dback.They’dhopedthatitwouldbeLaurie,but until this moment, theycouldn’t be sure—and Helenhad never committed forcertain.

With a giant grin, Fenlooked at the wulfenkind.“Helen fights to stop theworld from ending. The tidehas turned. As your alpha, Itell you that we will fight

with my Aunt Helen—as inthe myth.” He met Skull’sgaze and added, “It’s what’sbest for our pack.” Then helookedathiscousin,whowassmiling at him with thehappiestexpressionhe’dseenin a long time, and added,“Ourpackwillbeontherightside.”

Skull yelled, “You heardouralpha!”

The wolves immediately

stopped fighting theBerserkers.

Fen strolled over to standbesideLaurie.“Whichshouldwetakefirst?Atroll,anotherJotunn, or the big creepysnake?”

She bumped her shoulderinto his. “Jerk. I saw youfightingOwen.”

“No boys allowed nearyou. Your dad made mepromise,”Fensaid.Whenshe

gavehiman“ohreally”look,Fenadded,“Plus,Idon’tlikehim.”

Laurie rolled her eyes.“Comeon.Monsterstofight.I’llyellatyoulater.”

He wasn’t sure if they’dstoptheworldfromendingornot,butitwasalotlessscarynow that he was beside hisbestfriend.“Snakefirst.”

TWENTY

MATT

“WARM-UPBOUT”

Mattlayfacedownonrock.Cold dark surrounded him.The moans and screams ofthedeadfilledhisears.

I’m in Hel. No Valhallafor me. Straight to Hel withall the people I doomed todeath when I let the serpentwin.When—

Something tugged at theback of his jeans. Pulling atthe waistband. He flew up,

Mjölnir in hand. Then heheard a bleat. A hard butt intherearknockedhimforwardinto something solid andwarm and covered with softhair. Another bleat. Anotherbuttinthebutt.

Matt blinked hard. Thedarkness lifted and the colddissipated, and he foundhimself standing in a widecrevasseamidstjaggedrocks.Except… the rocks rested on

ground level and onlyreachedtohishead.

Whathadhappened?Mara.A third bleat, impatient

now, and he turned to see asnow-white goatwith goldenhorns and black spots underitseyes.

“Hey, Tanngrisnir.” Hehugged the goat. When herealized what he was doing,he pulled back fast, but

Tanngnjóstr pushed forward,clearly expecting the samegreetinghisbrothergot.Mattgave it to him—afterchecking to be sure no onewaswatching.

“Thanks for the wake-upcall, guys,” he said. Hegrabbed the edge of the rockand hoisted himself up for acareful look around. “Maraclearedout?”

Tanngrisnir snorted, as if

tosayOfcourse.“Lead the way, then,” he

said.Tanngrisnir showed him

thebestpathoutoftherocks,whileTanngnjóstrbroughtuptherear.Afterafewyardsofpicking through rocks, Mattcouldseethebattlefield.Hearit,too,inthedistance.

“How far did I wander?”hesaid.

Tanngrisnirbleated.

“Yeah, far enough,obviously.Okay,well,sinceIdoubt you guys broughtThor’schariot…”

He trailedoff, thinkingofThor’s Chariot in thenightmare. The end of theworld. The end of him andeverythingandeveryoneelse.He shivered. Tanngnjóstrrubbedagainsthim.

Mattnodded.“Notimeforthat, I know. My job is to

make sure that’s onenightmare that never comestrue.Let’sgetmoving—”

Tanngrisnir reared up, hisgoldenhoovespawingtheair.Then he fell. Right atMatt’sfeet. Fell with an arrowthroughhisthroat.

“No!” Matt droppedbeside the goat. Tanngnjóstrleaped over him with a wildsnort and Matt looked up toseethegoatcharging—

It was charging a draugr.One armed with a bow andnocking an arrow to fire atthe goat. Matt shouted “No!They’rewithme!”andasthewords left his mouth herealized the futility of them.Ofcoursethegoatswerewithhim.Thedraugrhadtoknowthat Tanngrisnir andTanngnjóstr were sacredbeasts.

Matt launchedMjölnir. It

slammed into the draugr andknocked it back, bonesshattering,butitwastoolate.ThearrowstruckTanngnjóstrin the throat. The goat wentdown. Matt raced forward,catching Mjölnir withouteven thinking. He ran andskidded to his knees besidehisgoat,itsgoldeneyeswideas blood poured from itsthroat.

Matt buried his hands in

thegoat’slongfur.“You’re immortal,” he

whispered.“You’resupposedtocomeback.”

The goat lay there, stillandsilent.

At a noise, Matt leapedup. A draugr strode forward,flankedbytwoothers.Itwastaller than the rest, withtangled reddish yellow hairanda longmattedbeard,oneside of its face had rotted to

bare skull. This was noanonymous dead warrior.ThisoneMattknew.ThisoneMatt had fought. Fought anddefeated and watched HelenexiletoHel.

“Glaemir,”Mattsaid.The former king of the

draugrs smiled. “Did youthink you’d won that easily,MatthewThorsen?”

“Howdidyou—?”“Escape?” A rotting-flesh

grin. “It is Ragnarök.Everything that wishes toescape can. I had help.”Glaemir waved and a halfdozen draugrs appeared fromthe dust. The half dozenwho’d stayed behind withMattwhentheValkyriesrodeoff.

“Someofmymenarestillloyal to me,” Glaemir said.“And still loyal tomy cause.Which, sadly, is not yours.

Now,Ibelievemymenheardyou sayyouwishedawarm-upfight?”

Eight draugrs clankedtheir weapons against theirshieldsandstoodatattention.

“Enoughofawarm-upforyou, boy?” Glaemir said. “Ithinkso.Infact,Ithinkitwillbesuchawarm-upthatyou’llneverseethebattlering.”

At Glaemir’s signal, hismen charged.Matt ran. That

wastheonlythingtodowhenfacedwith a troopofundeadwarriors on open ground.Behind him, Glaemirwhoopedwithlaughter.

“There is your champion.A little boy who runs away.Fitting,Ithink.”

Matt jumped overTanngnjóstr’s still body andthenTanngrisnir’s, tryingnottothinkaboutthedeadgoats.He raced into the rocks,

wound around two smallerones, and found the placewherehe’dwoken, ringedbystone. He stopped there andbackedagainstonerock.

When the first draugrripped around the corner,Matt startedcounting to five.He’d barely reached twobefore a second draugrappeared. Matt launchedMjölnir. It slammed into thefirst, knocking it backward

against the second andramming both into the rocksbehindthem.

The impact of hammeragainstbone?Itwasn’tpretty.There was cracking andcrunchingandshattering,andthen two draugrs on theground, in pieces, asMjölnirwhacked into Matt’soutstretched hand. Anotherdraugr appeared. Mattcounted, but at four he

realizedhecouldn’twait anylongerandthrewit.

The hammer hit its targetjust as another draugr camearound the corner, too far tocatchtheimpactandtoocloseforMatttowaitforMjölnir’sreturn.HehurledhismagicalHammer. That only knockedthe draugr off balance. Bythen,Mjölnirwas on itswayback, and it slammed thedraugrinthesideofthehead.

Matt flinched at the crackingof the warrior’s skull as itfell.

“Four down!” Mattshouted. “Do you want totalk,Glaemir?Orletmekeepwarmingup?”

The draugr king didn’tanswer, but Matt swore heheard the gnashing of teeth.

Anotherdraugrappeared,thisoneon the rocksoverMatt’shead, and he hurled Mjölnirwith a little too muchconfidence—and at theentirely wrong angle. Thehammer sailed over thedraugr’sheadandkeptgoing.

Matt launched his amuletpower, but the Mjölnirmistake distracted him andthe Hammer fizzled. Thedraugr leaped in frontofhim

and raised its sword,chuckling a horriblewheezing chuckle. It peeredat Matt with one good eye,theotheradriedblobhangingonitscheek.Thenitcharged.Matt dove.He hit the draugrin the legs and knocked itback.Outofthecornerofhiseye, he saw the sword swingdownandheslammeditsarmwith a blow hard enough toknock the bone from its

socket. The draugr snarled…andswitchedtheswordtoitslefthand.

Matt jumped to his feetand backpedaled just in timeto avoid the draugr’s swing.He was dodging the nextwhen Mjölnir slapped backinto his hand, which wouldhave been awesome, if he’dseen it coming. As it was, itknockedhimoff balance, hishand barely closing in time.

He started to swing thehammer, when two moredraugr appeared. MattslammedMjölnirintothefirstand ducked the sword of thesecondand—

A shadow passedoverhead. A fourth draugr?Hecouldn’t takeon four.Hedanced backward,consideringhisoptions,whena leaping figure hit the one-eyed draugr with an angry

bleat.ItwasTanngnjóstr.Matt’s sigh of relief was

cutshortashewasnearlycutby a sword aimed at hismidriff. He spun out of thewayjustintime.

One whack of Mjölnirknockedtheswordoutof thedraugr’shand.Asecondblowcaught it in the side with ahorriblecrunch.Athirdbrokeits femur, and it went down.Mattpulledthehammerback

to aim at the fourth draugr,but Tanngrisnir leaped fromthe rocks and toppled it. Awild stamp of hooves madesure the draugr stayed down,groaning and alive, butmakingnomovetorise.

“Two left,” Matt said tothegoatsastheysurveyedthezombified bits littering theground. “If you guys canfocusonthelasttworegulars,I’lltakeGlaemir.”

The goats bleated. Thistime,Mattknewexactlywhatwas out there—namely thedraugr with the bow andarrows.Hewarned thegoats,and they dodged arrows asthey galloped toward thedistantdraugr.

Matt surveyed the openground.Glaemir stood to theside,brandishinghissword.Itlooked more like a dagger,barely the length of Matt’s

forearm… because Glaemirhimself had grown to twicehisalreadyimpressivesize.

“No one left to hidebehind,”Matt called. “If youwant to run away, I’ll letyou.”

Glaemir laughed. “Youare indeed Thor’s champion,boy.Asdelusionalabraggartasyourancestor.”

“It’s not delusional if it’strue.ButIcanseewhyyou’d

hide behind your warriors. Ibeat you once. Rather notface me again, I bet.EspeciallynowthatIhave…”HeheftedMjölnir.

Glaemir charged. Mattwalloped him in the knee,which was at the perfectheight. Glaemir barelystaggered before recoveringand swinging his sword. Theproblem with being twiceMatt’ssize?Mattcouldeasily

strike his kneecap, butGlaemirhadtobendtoswinghis now-undersized sword. Itwas an awkward move,handilyavoided.

Matt slammed MjölnirintoGlaemir’sotherkneecap.Now the draugr kingstumbled. A third blow andhefelltohisknees.

“The bigger they are…”Mattsaid, raisingMjölnir forafinalblow,butasheswung,

Glaemir suddenly shrank tohisnormalsizeandMattflewoffhis feet from the forceofhis missed blow. The tip ofGlaemir’sswordtorethroughhis shirt. This timeMattmetit with his shield. The clangwas enough to set his armquivering,buthemanaged toget to his feet and face offagainstthedraugrking.

“You know what’smissing from thiswarm-up?”

Matt said. “The warmingpart.I’dreallyliketoatleastbreak intoasweatbeforemyrealbattle.”

Glaemir swung. Mattblocked.

“Soifyoucouldstepitup—”

Anotherblock.“I’d really appreciate it,

andIthinktheserpentwould,too.Otherwise—”

Whoosh.Clang.

“—I think she’ll bedisappointed. It is Ragnarök,afterall.”

“Hey, Matt!” a voiceyelled. “You talking orfighting?”

He caught a glimpse ofReyna, running through thedustwithRayatherheels.

“Icandoboth,”hecalledback.

“Yeah, well, maybe lessof one and more of the

other?”Shepointed towardamangled draugr crawlingtowardthem.

“Right,”Mattsaid.“Okay,then. Gimme a real fight,Glaemir. Get my bloodpumpingand—”

Glaemir snarled andswung. The sword cut socloseMattfeltthewindofit.

“Um, Matt?” Reyna said.“Youwantsomehelp?”

“Nope. Unlike some

people—someundeadpeople—I fight my own battles.Thanksfortheoffer,though.”

“Anytime. But if youcouldhurryitup…”

Another swing. Anotherblock. Matt heaved Mjölnirback. Glaemir rushed him,grabbing a shield off adowned draugr. The zombieducked Matt’s blow andwhen he spun off balance, itslammedhimwiththeshield.

Matt went down, flat on hisback.

“Matt!” Reyna rushedforward.

“Got it,” Matt said… asGlaemir put his sword toMatt’sthroat.

The twins and the goatslunged toward the fighters.Mattraisedhisshieldhand.

“Really, I’ve got it,” hesaid. “I think Glaemir and Ican discuss this reasonably.

I’m willing to accept hissurrender with no hardfeelings.”

Glaemir laughed. “Youtruly are Thor’s child.Arrogant to the core. I haveyou pinned, boy. One thrustofmysword—”

“Atruce,then?”“You are amusing.

Perhaps even brave.But it istimetoadmitdefeat,boy,andprepare to meet Hel on the

other side, an ignoble fightercutdownbyatruewarrior—”

Matt smacked Glaemir’ssword away with his shieldandleapedtohisfeet.“Can’tresist the urge to gloat, canyou?Thanks, Iwas countingon that.” As he spoke, heswung Mjölnir. It caughtGlaemir in the side of thehead—and both kept going,hammer and skull, knockedcleanoffGlaemir’sneck.The

draugr’shead shotacross theplain, disappearing into thedust.

“Hey, hear that?” Mattsaid. “The sound of silence.Finally.”

He hefted the shield overhis shoulder as the twinsstared at him. “Oh, don’tworry. He can put it backon.” Matt waved at thedraugr’s body, crawlingpathetically in the wrong

direction. “As soon as hefindsit.Bythen?We’llbe—”

Thethunderofhoovescuthimshort.Hildarrodeup,hernormally impassive facedrawn with worry. Then shesawMattandreinedtoastop.

“Son of Thor.” Sheexhaled.“Finally.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Oldbusiness to attend to. But Igotmywarm-up.”

He motioned to the

disableddraugrkingcrawlingtheirway.

Hildar sniffed. “I knewtheywerenottobetrusted.”

“No, you just don’t likethem.Butwiththesefew,youhad good reason. Now, Ithink I have a real battle togetto.”

“Youdo,”Hildarsaid,andreached down to swing himontoherhorse.

“So this is the spot?” Mattsaid, peering around in theneardark.It lookedalotlikethe place where he’d foundthe draugrs, with both openlandandrocksforcover.

“We were granted theright of choice in this aswell,” Hildar said. “Youapprove?”

Matt slid off the horse.

The others were gone. Evenhisgoatsweren’tpermittedtojoin him here. Just Hildar,and only for transportationservices.Matt climbed to thetopofarockandlookedout.

“Seems good. Is there afoulline?”

“Whentheserpentarrives,your battle-ring will becomewarded.”

Matt looked at theexpanse of open earth to his

left.“Is thereadepthbarrier,too? I mean, I’m hoping theserpent can’t just burrow inthegroundifIinjureit.”

“It cannot. The boundaryapplies to the ground and totheair.”

He squinted up. “Um,okay. That’s not going toblockmypowers, is it?Sure,I can’t fly like the comicbook Thor, but if there’s anupper barrier, can I still

invokeweather?”“Youcan.”“Let me rephrase that.

Will that weather still reachthebattlefield?”

“Itwill.”“Good. So the sky

barrier…? Why…?” Hetrailedoffashesawthegiantbird,highinthenightsky.“Isthat so it can’t attack?Whateveritis?”

Hildar did not reply.

WhenMattlookedather,shetugged a strand of hairanxiously. Then she caughthim looking and tossed thestrand back, her chin lifting.Yetshesaidnothing.

“Hildar…thisisaone-on-onebattleisn’tit?”

“Yes.”A distant crack, like

thunder. The bird wasdescending.No,notabird,herealized.Itwasanoddshape,

almost like an airplane, longand thin with wings. Heblinkedhard, trying to focus,but the night was too darkandthecreaturetoohigh.

“Idon’thave to fight thatthing,right?”hesaid.

Silence.“Hildar?”“Yes.”Apause.“Yes,son

ofThor.Youmustfightit.”“But…?” The creature

dropped lower and let out a

horrible cry, one that nearlyknocked Matt off his feet.When he recovered, it hadswoopeddown,andhecouldseeitclearly.

It was a dragon. A huge,serpentine dragon with bat-like wings and a massivehead.Mattstaredupatit.

“That… That…” Heswallowed. “That’s theMidgardSerpent?”

Hildar didn’t answer. He

lookedovertoseeherstaringas the creature swoopedagain, its shape blockingeverystarabove.

“No,”shewhispered.“That’s not the serpent?”

he said. “Thank the gods,because—”

“No!” she shouted,punching the air with hershield.She swungandyelledintotheopenexpansearoundthem. “It is to be the

champion. The chosenchampion.”

A voice answered,slithering from all aroundthem,anunearthlyvoice thatdidn’tcomefromthedragon,but from the earth itself.“Youstoleourchampion.”

“No,Astridbetrayedyou.Not us. Your side mustchooseanewchampion.”

“Wehave.”“That is not—” She

wheeled,roaringnowintotheemptiness. “That is not achampion. It is the serpent.ThetrueMidgardSerpent.”

Laughter floated allaround them. “So it is. So itis.” And, in a blink, Hildarand her horse vanished, andMatt was left alone, staringupatthecreatureabove.

NotAstridindragonform.Nothercousinorhermotheroranaunt.Hergrandmother.

No, not even hergrandmother. The thing thathad consumed hergrandmother, that hergrandmother had died tobecome.

TherealMidgardSerpent.That’s what he had to

fight.

TWENTY-ONE

LAURIE

“ENEMIES

BECOMEALLIES”

When Helen had arrived,Lauriehadn’tknownwhetherto cheer orweep. Themythstold that Helen worked withthe monsters to bring aboutthe end of the world, butshe’dseemed to favorLaurieover Fen. She’d gifted herwith the incrediblebonebow

and ghost arrows, and she’dgivenherthemaptoexitHel.Still, one could never becompletely sureaboutanyofthe children of Loki, andHelen was his actualdaughter.

Butshe’dopenedtheearthand brought forth hermonsters, not to fight for theendof theworld, but to stoptheworldfromending.

“I’m glad you’re withme,”LaurietoldFen.“IwishwecouldbewithMatt,too.”

“He’ll be fine,” Fen toldher. “Come on. We have aworld tosave…startingwithBaldwin.”

To their right, Baldwinwas trying to wrap a ropearound Nidhogg’s neck.Laurie couldn’t tell whetherhewasattemptingtostranglethe corpse eater or ride himlike awarhorse.Eitherway,hewasn’tdoingtoowell.Thecheers of glee were to beexpected,buthelookedlikeasmall toy in a swimmingpool: he was tossed aboutwithnocontrolatall.

“Baldwin!”He looked down at her

and grinned—but then helooked at Fen beside her.“Are you evil, too, or is Fengoodagain?”

“We’reonyourside,”Fenyelledback.

Their yelling caughtNidhogg’s attention, and theoversized white serpentturned its gaze to them. Thelong blue tongue shot out,

and both Brekke cousinsduckedjustintime.

“Pull back and help theBerserkers,” Fen ordered hispack. “Hattie and Skull, givetheorders.”

Hattie nodded andinstantly started deployingwolvestoattackthetrollsthatthey’djustbeencallingallies.Laurie knew Fen still didn’tlike the girl, but he hadn’tliked the twins or Owen,

either.BothHattieandOwenwere on their side, as wasSkullandtherestofthepack.Liking teammates wasn’tnecessary if he could workwith them. That was Fenthrough and through, andLauriewasgladofittoday.

Skull hadn’t budged. HestayedatFen’sside,leveledaglareathim,andpointedout,“You’remyalpha.My job isnot to blindly obey, but to

help you.” He motioned atNidhogg and at the Jotunnthat was lumbering towardthem. “You two need all thehelpyoucanget.”

Fennodded.Thentwowolveslaunched

atthem.Skull snarled, “Not our

pack.”Thetwoboysweresideby

side and punched thewolvessimultaneously. Fen grinned

andlookedaroundthem.TheBerserkerswereledbyOwen—who was keeping hisdistance from Fen—andFen’s pack was beingdirectedbyHattie.GarmandHelen were rounding uptrolls, and that left the fourkidsfacingNidhogg.

Baldwin was stillmanaging to stay on top ofthe serpent, but Laurie waswatchingthehrímthursarthat

was headed toward them.Thatfrostgiantwouldneedtobe defeated, too, but rightnow,shehadotherplans.

“What are you thinking?”Fenasked.

Sheglanced at her cousinjust as Skull clotheslinedanother wolf. Fen winced insympathy at the gaggingnoise from the fallen wolf.Lauriemethiseyesandsaid,“Chicken.”

“Playing chicken with ahrímthursar? That’s yourplan?”Fenclarified.

“Yep.”He laughedandshrugged.

“Okay.”Itwasmomentslikethese

that reminded her that theywere both Loki’sdescendants. She quicklyexplained that she neededhim to play chicken so theycould“steer”thecreatureand

anger it enough to use itsfrostastheirweapon.

Fen glanced at Skull andsaid, “Shift and stick withme.” Then he told Laurie,“Berightback.”

Once they were gone,Laurie looked at Nidhogg.What she was about to dowould be easier without Fenbeinghisusualoverprotectiveself.Shepulledoutherbow,nocked an arrow, and called

to Baldwin, “Slide down.Newtactic.”

Baldwin didn’t questionher. He simply let go of therope he’d been using as amakeshiftbridleandreins.Inthe next moment, he wassliding over the side of thewhiteserpentandtumblingtothe ground. He rolled to hisfeetandrantoherside.

Shehadtorestrainherselffrom puking at the smell. A

thickpinkishslimecoatedhisclothesfromridingthecorpseeater. “Breathe through yourmouth,” Baldwin offered. “Ithelpsuntilyougetusedtoit.”

Laurienodded.Shewasn’ta prissy girl, but she waspretty sure that she wouldn’tevergetusedtothestenchofrot that currently coated herfriend’s clothes. She tooksmall breaths through hermouth.Ithelpedalittle.

Nidhogg started to slitheraway, picking up speed as itmovedtowardthethickofthefight.Itwasfarenoughawaythatshewasstartingtoworrythatitwouldbegineatingthestill-living fighters.Unfortunately, it wasn’t farenoughthatshecouldsaythatshe was at a “safe distance”forwhatsheneededtodo.

“Just like in Mitchell,”Laurie whispered. “Be ready

torun.”Come on, come on, come

on,shesilentlyurgedFenandSkull. The two wolves weredartingtowardtheJotunnandthen retreating. Slowly butsteadily, it turned on its pathand veered to the left—awayfromtheareawhereshenowstood andwheremost of theBerserkers and Fen’s packwerebattlingwiththeenemy.

“In three…two…one…”

At each count she launchedan arrow at Nidhogg. Itturned to see what wasattacking it, and then at one,she let a volley of them flytoward its face. As arrowsstuck in its face and eyes, itlurched toward them, pullingits massive coils into the airanddarting toward them inamove between a hop and aslither.

“Go!Go!Go!”

Laurie and Baldwin ranfullout,buttherewasnowayto completely dodge theserpent. Itwasbigger, faster,andangrier.Shedidn’thaveabetter plan to lead it awayfromthecrowd,andtheonlyweapon she had other thanherbowwashermind.Ifshecould get it near thehrímthursar, she could useone monster’s weapon—thefrost—againsttheother.

Then one of theBerserkers went flipping byherandtossedablackfeatherto her and Baldwin. “Odin’sravens’feathers,”heyelled.

As Laurie and Baldwingrasped the feathers, sherealized that they weresuddenly moving so quicklythat their feet barely touchedthe ground. They weren’texactly flying, but they weremovingfastenough that they

weresailingovertheground.Nidhogg was surging

toward them, its hisses loudbehind her. Apparently, likemanysnakes,itdidn’tneedtorely on its sight to locatethem.

The Jotunn was chasingFen and Skull now, firingblasts of ice at them as theydartedanddodgedinfrontofit.

And it felt like everyone

wasgoingtoconvergeinonebigheapofchaosandpain.

“Fen!” she yelled.“Incoming!”

Her cousin ran towardNidhogg.

TheJotunnfinallysawthemassive white snake headeditsway.Wronglyinterpretingit as an attacking enemy, thehrímthursarroared.

Nidhogghissedandraiseditsgazetothegiant.

The blast of frost was soclosetoherthatLauriehearda crinkling soundas someofherhairfroze.

ThesnakeandJotunnflewat each other in a battle thatwas far better matched thankid versus either one.Nidhogg twined around theJotunn, crawling up its bodyrapidly at first but growingsluggish by the time itreached the hrímthursar’s

neck. Until that moment,Laurie hadn’t known if thecorpse eater was cold-blooded like other reptiles,but as it grew slower in itsmovements, she realizedhappilythatitwas.

Icicles fell to the groundlike spears as the slime ofdecayed things that clung toNidhogg’s body froze andsloughedoff.

Still, Nidhogg didn’t give

up. It tightened its coilsaround the hrímthursar’sthroat and simultaneouslytried to sink fangs into theJotunn’sface.

The blast of cold andsnowknockedallfourkidstotheground.

“Way too close to them,”Skull said from Laurie’s leftside. She flinched withoutmeaning to. He’d been theenemysincebeforesheknew

heexisted.Seeinghimatherside any day before nowwould’vebeendangerous.

“What were youthinking?”Fensnarledather.“It could’ve killed you. Ithoughtyouhadgivenmethedangerousone.”

Laurie flashed her cousinagrin. “I did. I just gavemeanequallydangerousone.”

Skull laughed, andLaurie’sdiscomfortwithhim

decreasedalittle.As snake and Jotunn

wrestled, seeming almostevenly matched, Laurielooked at the rest of thefights. The Berserkers andwulfenkindthatfoughtonherside were winning. Varioustrolls were sitting aroundlookingdazedorfleeing.Onewas facedown with Garmsitting on its back. The gateguardian from Hel was

surveyingthefights,too.Thedoglikecreature flashed teethat her when their gazescrossed in what she thoughtwasasmile.

Garm made a growlingnoise, and Helen turned tostareatLaurie.

TherulerofHelstartedtostride toward Laurie just astheJotunngotagoodgriponNidhoggandtossedit.

The massive serpent hit

the ground hard enough tocrack theearth—andcreateacrater.

“Hush, you,” Helen toldthe snake as it hissed andstarted to move slowlytowardthekidsagain.

The cold had obviouslymade thegreat reptile all butunconscious. Its tongueflicked slowly, and it movedat a near glacial speed. Itmight be struggling, but it

wasn’tdone.“Itoldyouthiswasabad

idea,”Helencontinuedassheapproached Nidhogg. Shepatted it on the nose gently.“My niece is a clever littlebeast, I said.Myside iswithher, I said.” She tsked atNidhogg. “Now, do we killyouorwillyouretreat?”

Although Laurie was noexpert on reptiles, when iteyed her and flicked its thin

blue tongue, she was prettysure there was hatred inNidhogg’sexpression.

The serpent hissedsomething else, and Helensmiled.

With a flick of Helen’shand, the two-headed fireJotunnthatLauriehadseeninHelcamelumberingforward.At its approach, the snakealmost glowed. Laurie couldseeitwarmingbackup.

All that for nothing! shethought.

But then, instead ofturning to face the kids whohad tricked a frost Jotunn toattack it, Nidhogg slitheredoff and vanished into thecrack in the ground thatHelenhadopened.

“Silly thing,” Helenmurmuredasitvanishedbackinto the earth. Then sheturned and flashed them a

smile.“Welldone.”Ofcourse,thisstillleftthe

hrímthursartocontain.Lauriepulledoutherbow

and, as before, mentallyrequested arrows she couldlight.

“We could light it offthat,” Baldwin said, pointingattheflamingJotunnthatwasnowtalkingtoitself.Thetwoheads were discussingwhether theBadlands looked

like home or home lookedliketheBadlands.

“Hey, you’re a bigwolf,”Baldwin said to Skull. “Howabout you shift, and I’ll rideyou?Youruntowardthefireand—”

“How about no.” Skullshook his head. He wasstaring at the ground. “I justneed a couple of goodrocks…”

“Or we could simply do

this,” Helen suggested. Withanotherwaveofherhand,shesent the two-headed Jotunntoward the frost Jotunn.“Come, dears, we need tofinishupwiththetrolls.”

Then she strolled away,humming a little song likeLaurie’s mother did whentheywentwalkingtogotoanafternoonpicnic.

“Your aunt is scary,”Skullsaid.

“You’re related to her,too,”Laurietoldhim.

The once-intimidatingRaidershivered.

Anything he might havesaidwaslostunderaroar,asbehind them the two-headedJotunnfromHelclashedwiththe hrímthursar. Fire andfrost smashed together, andsoon the air was hazy. Itrolled out like a fog aroundthemandmade ithard tosee

at all. It was like standinginside one of those steamrooms at the gym that hermom liked—hot and hard tobreathe.

“Back up,” Laurieordered.

“Be careful of thecrevice,”Fenadded.

A rumble shook theground under their feet andthe earth seemed to rip openagain. The movement sent

them all tumbling to theground.Laurie rolleddownasudden hill, stopping with ajolt as she slammed into arock.

“Whatwasthat?”“Thor’schildisfacingthe

Midgard Serpent.” Helen’svoice carried across thedistance. “It doesn’t soundpromising.”

No one else answered orevenspoke.

When Laurie got to herfeet, she couldn’t feel any ofthe boys near her. She saidtheir names, swept her armsaround,and…discoveredthatshe was alone at the bottomof whatever hill she’dtumbleddown.

Theclashoffireandfrostalsomadeloudhissingnoisesover and over… which wasscarier than usual whenthey’d just faced a giant

snake. In a matter ofmoments,Lauriecouldbarelysee in the fog around her.Several times, she stumbled,felltoherknees,andgotbackup.

Even though the hazemadeithardtosee,shecouldstill hear cries and grunts.Waves of cold and heatsurged at her, and flashes ofredfromthefireJotunnlitupthemistlikeexplosions.

“Fen! Baldwin!” After agrudging pause, she added,“Skull?”

Nooneanswered.All sheheard was the sounds offightingandthehissofsteam.

Carefully, Laurie startedcrawlingbackuptheinclinedground to where she thoughtshe’dbeen,hopingtoatleastget herself back to the rocksso no one could sneak upbehindher.She’dgoneabout

ten feet when she felt thebrush of fur against her armand yelped in surprise. Thewolfnudgedherhandwithitsmuzzle and then nipped hersleeveandtugged.

“You’dbetterbeFen,”shemuttered as she allowed thewolf to lead her out of thesmall ravine where she’dfallenwhenthegroundunderherfeethadconvulsed.

TWENTY-TWO

MATT

“UNFAIR

ADVANTAGE”

Theserpent landed.No,nota serpent.A giant snakewascertainly nothing to scoff at,but if you stayed away fromthefang-bearingend,itcouldbemanaged.This?Thiswasadragon the size of Matt’sschool.

He’d seen the serpent,

twice, wriggling through theground,andveryclearly, thiswas no earth-dwelling snakesoitcouldnotbetheMidgardSerpent, right? Yet it tookonlyonecloselooktorealizethat excuse didn’t hold. Itmight have the head and thewingsandeventhefrontlegsandclawsofadragon,buttherest was pure serpent—emerald green on the backwith a pale green stomach—

and that’s what he’d seen intheground.

Aserpentinedragon.Abletoburrowthroughthegroundor soar through the air. Adragonwithwings thatcouldbatter his puny body againstthe rocks. A dragon withclaws that could rip him toshreds. A dragon with fangsthe size of his forearm, onescratch of which would senddeadly poison racing through

hisveins.The serpent landed. Matt

raised his shield. It was thesize of one massive dragonnostril.

This.Was.Not.Fair.The dragon opened its

mouth. Matt saw tendrils ofsmoke and a faint red glow,deepinthecreature’sendlessblackthroat.

No.Noway.Pleasedon’tlet it be the kind of dragon

thatbreathes—Fire blasted from the

Midgard Serpent’s mouth.Fortunately,Mattalreadyhadhis shield up. Unfortunately,itwas like blocking a geyserwith his finger. The flameswhooshedpast theshieldandwrapped around its icysurface, and Matt fell backwithayelp.

The serpent took a deepbreath, preparing for blast

two.Mattdovebehindarock,barely making it in time.Then he crouched there, hisbrainspinning.

Notfair.Notfair.Notfair.The words kept looping

through his brain.Meaningless. There was nocrying foul here. Hildar hadtried. The Norns apparentlycouldn’t do anything to fixthis.All’sfair inwarandtheapocalypse.

Matt took a deep breath.He hefted Mjölnir. Then hecarefullypeekedoverthe—

Awaveofflameengulfedtherock.Matthittheground.Helaythere,onhisstomach,ponderinghisoptions.

Options? What options?I’mpinnedbehindarockbyahundred-foot-long fire-breathingdragon.

Well, no, thatmight be aslight exaggeration. Thedragon wasn’t quite ahundred feet long. Maybeeighty. The pinned-behind-a-rockpart,though?Mattliftedhis head again, not evengetting his eyes over the topbefore the serpent blasted

him.Yep, that part? Totally

accurate.Shieldraised,Mattstarted

lifting up again, seeing if hecould just take a look, hishead shielded, and throwMjölnir—

The next blast of fire hitthe shield with enough forcetoknockhimflatonhisback.

Okay,newplan.As Matt rose, the ground

shook. For a second, hethought it was him, quakinginfear.Butdespitetheratherdire predicament, he wasn’tthe one trembling. Meaningtheserpent—

Matt scrambled betweentwo rocks just in time as theserpent lumbered around hisoriginal hiding spot. Itstopped,eyesnarrowingas itlooked at the now-emptyplace. As he stared at it, he

sworeheheardReyna’svoiceinhisear.

Um, Matt? You’ve facedfierymonstersbefore.

Right,but…Then his coach, when

Matt panicked once onheadingintotheringagainstaguy who looked twice hissize.

Thatonlymeansyoucan’texpecttoknockhimflyingonthefirstblow,Matt.Focuson

whatyoucando.Ignore the size of the

dragon. Focus on the currentproblem. The fire-breathingpart.

Matt closed his eyes andimagined a blizzard—snowand sleet and gale-forcewinds buffeting the haplessdragon. He concentrated ashard as he could and after aminute, a snowflake landedon his nose. Grinning, he

openedhiseyestosee…Big, fluffy snowflakes,

gentlyfallingfromthesky.NotquitewhatIordered.Still,buoyedby thequick

—if not entirelyoverwhelming—response, hesqueezed his eyes shut andpictured the worst storm hecould remember.Threeyearsago. They’d been at schoolwhenitwhippedup,dumpingso much snow that the kids

hadtospendthenightthere.Fluffy snow continued

driftinglazilydown.Noproblem,justkeep—Thunder cracked. Wind

whipped past, grabbing hisshieldandliftinghimontohistiptoes.Heyanked the shielddown and ducked his headagainst the incredible gustblowingpast.

Well, you asked for gale-forcewinds.

True,buthereallyneededsnowwith it, and even thoseuseless big flakes seemed tohavestopped.Wait.No.…Hecould see them. Fallingsomewhere else. Just not onhim.

Matt lookedup to see thedragon. Right over his head.Flying. Blocking the lightsnowfall. Its beating wingscausingthosegustsasitsjawsopenedto—

He dove just as theMidgard Serpent loosedanothervolleyofflame.

It’snot supposed to fly inthering.

No, it just can’t fly veryhigh. Actual flight? Not aregulatoryviolation.

The dragon shot anotherfiery wave, one that ignitedthe dry grass around therocks.Mattranontotheopenground, racing as fast as he

could,strugglingtothink,justthink,think,think—

“Matt!”Was that someone calling

hisname?Hewasn’tslowingdowntofindout.

“Matthew!” Then,“Matty!”

Matt’s gut went cold. Heknew that voice. But itcouldn’t be. No one wasallowed here except him andthedragon.

No rules, Matt. No refs.Notnow.Anythinggoes.

Thedragonswooped,jawsopening,teethglittering.Matthitthegroundandrolled.

“Matty!Overhere!”As he came out of his

tumble, he glanced over.Hisgrandfather stood on one ofthe rocks, waving madly.Matttookonelook,leapedtohis feet—and ran the otherway.

Granddad? Here? In thefight?

DidheactuallythinkMattstood a chance against thereal Midgard Serpent? Thatthe outcome was notguaranteed and the dragonneededhelpbeating thepunymortalkid?

“Matt! Over here! I’mtryingtohelpyou!”

Matt turned tostareathisgrandfather.

“I’m sorry!” Granddadyelled.“Imadeamistake,butI’mhereforyounow.”

Of everything Matt hadbeen through, nothing wasworse than hearing thosewords. With his mindspinning, his confidenceshattered, unable to eventhinkofastrategyagainstthemonster circling above him,he’dstillhadhope.Crazyandcompletely groundless hope,

but hope nonetheless. I cando this. Somehow, I can dothis. Then he heard thosewords and something insidehim cracked, and it tookeverythinghehadnottodropto the ground, put his headdown,andcry.

You did this to me. Andit’s not enough to want medead. You have to help medie, by preying on the oneflicker inside me that still

hopes,thelittlekidthatlovedhis granddad and can’tbelieveyou’vesenthimofftodie.

Matt did not drop to theground. He did not cry. Hedid not stop running. But hedid answer. An answer thathis grandfather would neverhave imagined coming fromhis lips. An unrepeatableanswer. But the only one, inthatmoment, thatMatt could

give.Matt raced into another

outcropping of rock. He gotintoitjustasatongueoffireslid around the rock andscorched his leg. His jeansignited. He started droppingtoputout theflames,but theserpent hit him with anotherblast and he barely got hisshieldupintime.Itturnedtoiceagain,protectinghim,butMatt had already been

dropping to the ground, andnowhiskneegaveoutandhewentdownand—

A hand grabbed him. Heswung Mjölnir up, but histrajectory was wrong and bythe time he lashed out, hisgrandfather had him by theshirt, Matt unable to reachhimashewasdraggedacrosstheground.

Matt twisted and fought,and then he remembered his

otherHammer.Hishandshotout to launch it, but hisgrandfather had alreadydropped him into a gapbetween rocks. Matt hit theground and scrambled up,only to knock his head onmorerock.

A cave of sorts. That’swherehewas.Aweirdcave-like rock formation. Mattstarted lunging to get out,thenstopped.

He was safe. Shieldedabove and on three sides byrock. The fourth side wasopen, but a scattering ofnearbylargestonesmeantthedragon couldn’t get to him.The beast was, perhapsironically,toobig.

I’msafe.No,you’retrapped.True. He was wedged in,

the only exit leading to thedragon, but while his

grandfather had doubtlessmeant to trap him, he’dinadvertently given Matt aplace to catch his breath andthink.

The ground thumped asthedragonlanded.

“You aren’t supposed tobe here!” Granddad boomedto the monster. “This isn’tyourfight.”

The dragon hissed andbeat itswings,drumming the

air.“Thereisanotherchosen,”

Granddad said. “She waitsoutside the ring. The properchampion.A serpent of yourlineage. You are to retreatand allow her to take yourplace.”

Asnarl.ThenacryofpainfromhisgrandfatherandMattlunged forward beforecatchinghimself.

It’satrick.Evenifitisn’t,

he’sonlytryingtoplaybytherules and let one of Astrid’sfamilytakeherplace.

“Begone, serpent!” hisgrandfather shouted. “Or ifyou take your champion’splace, I will take mine. TheNorns have allowed me onthe field because you broketherules.Unlessyouretreat,Iampermittedtostay.”

Matt shot fromhis hidingspot, yelling, “No!” He

clambered onto the rocks tosee his grandfather at thedragon’sfeet.

“It’s all right, Matt,”Granddadyelledback.“Icandothis.GivemeMjölnir,andI’llfighttheserpentforyou.”

Matt almost laughed atthat.“GiveyouMjölnir?”

“I was allowed in on theconditionI’munarmedexceptfor my amulet. But I canwieldThor’shammer.Giveit

to me, and I can do this foryou.”

“You honestly think I’dbelieve that? You aren’tgoing to useMjölnir to fightthe dragon. You’re going totake it from me so I’mguaranteedtolose.YouthinkIhaveachanceof surviving,ofwinning.”

“Yes,Ido.You’veprovedIwaswrong,thatthisdoesn’tneedtoendthewaythemyth

says. You brought Balderbackfromthedead.YouwonAstrid to your side. Theoutcome of the fight canchange. I see that now, andI’mheretohelpyou.”

“I don’t believe you.”Matt raised his shield. “I amThor’s champion, serpent.I’m the one you’ll fight.Theonlyoneyou’llfight.”

“Matt,no!”Thedragon jetted into the

sky, as high as it couldwithout hitting the barrier.Then it swooped atMatt.HethrewMjölnir anddovebackinto the rock shelter. A roarof pain as Mjölnir hit. Thehammer sailed back into hishand.

Matt’s hiding place wentdark as the dragon hoveredover it. Fire engulfed therocks. Matt pressed back asmuch as he could with his

shield blocking his face.Sweatpouredoffhim.

Then the beast let outanothercryofrageandpain.

“Yes!” his grandfathershouted. “Over here! If youbreak the rules, thenwebothbreakthem.YouhavetwoofThor’s descendants to fighttoday,serpent.Comeand—”

A howl from hisgrandfather. Matt ran out tosee him on the ground. He

had no shield. No hammer.OnlyhisThor’spower,anditwasn’tenough.Mattsawhimlyingthere,knockeddownbythedragon,andhedidn’tcareif his grandfatherwas on hissideornot.Thiswasstillhisgrandfather.

Matt hurled Mjölnir. Itbounced off the serpent’sflank, and if the creature feltit, it gave no sign, justhovered there, gaze fixed on

itstarget.FixedonGranddad.The dragon opened its

jaws.Mattshoutedawarning.Thebeastletlooseawaveoffire, but his grandfathermanagedtorolloutofitspathandscramblebehindcover.

Matt climbed onto thetallest rock. He looked upintotheskyandcalledonthepower of Thor. The truepower.Noticeandsnowandwind, but rain and thunder

and lightning. The power ofthe storm god. He threweverythinghehadintocallingon that power, into believinghe had that power. And theskiesopenedandrainpoureddownintorrents.

Thedragondroppedtotheearthas if shoveddownbyagiantinvisiblehand.Itletouta roar. Then it stompedtoward Matt. He pitchedMjölnir,hittingthedragonon

the snout, and it let outanother roar. Then it drewbreath,itschestinflating,andMatt heard his grandfathershout for him, his wordsdrownedoutby the torrentialrain.

The dragon’s jawsstretched as wide as theycould. Fire kindled in itsthroat, filled its mouth, shotout,and…disappeared.

Thedragonstoodthere,as

if confused, a bubble of fireroiling from itsmouth,goingno farther. Matt swungMjölnir. The hammerlaunched and the beastsprang. It leaped with thegrace of a cat, and thehammer flewharmlesslypastit. Matt jumped off the rockintohishidinghole.

Theholewentdark.Windbuffeted the rain as thedragon hovered above the

rock. Then its giant clawsreached down, as if to land.Those claws, eachas longasMatt’s forearm, wrappedaround the top rock as hewriggled back farther, out oftheir reach. But they didn’tswipe for him. They graspedthe rock and they wrenched,and the stone disappearedabovehim.

Matt ran out from hisruined hiding place. He

looked up to see the dragonhovering there, the massiverock clutched in its claws. Itflew directly over him andthoseclawsbegantoopen.

“Matt!” Granddadshouted.

Matt didn’t move. Hereadied Mjölnir. The beastdropped the stone. Hisgrandfather screamed, aterriblerawscream.

But Matt was already

launching Mjölnir and hisamulet’s power, one rightaftertheother.Mjölnirhittherock and exploded it into ahundredshards.TheHammerpowerstruckthoseshardsandhurledthemintothedragon’sbelly.AndMattgotoutofthewaybeforegravity tookoverand brought that rain ofstonesdownonhishead.

As the dragon screechedin pain, Matt ran for his

granddad, knocking him outof the way, the rock showerfalling harmlessly behindthem.ThenMattspunbacktothe dragon, and saw tears inits abdomen where some ofthe sharper rocks hadembedded themselves. Itswings flapped, lashing therain into hail-like bullets.Matt didn’t stop the storm,though. However much therain hurt Matt, it hurt the

beast just as much… andextinguisheditsflames.

Matt threwMjölnir again.This time, he aimed for thedragon’s eye, and the beastwas too enraged to see itcoming.Thehammerhit.Thedragon bellowed, the soundcrashing like waves, Matt’shands flying to his ears,nearly missing Mjölnir as itsailedback.Hecaught it andthrew it again at the same

eye,butthedragonsawitandflew off awkwardly,struggling to keep itself upagainst the downpour,veeringtoonesideasifhalf-blind.

Hands grabbed Matt. Hewheeled to see hisgrandfather.

“We can—” Granddadbegan.

“No,”Mattsaid.“Thereisnowe.”

His grandfather’s facecrumpled at that, but therewasnoshockinhiseyes,justgriefandunderstanding.

“If you’re serious aboutfighting the serpent, then doit,” Matt said. “I’ll do thesame. Just not together. Idon’t trust you.Don’t expectmeto.”

“Iwaswrong.I—”“No.”Matt stepped back,

shaking his head. “If you’re

going to fight, then fight.Anythingelseisadistraction.Andprobablyalie.”

“I—” His grandfather’seyeswidened.“Matt!”

Matt heard the dragonfirst. Heard the loud beatingof its wings. He was ready,though. Nothing hisgrandfather said woulddistract him, and he’d beenlistening for that sound. HewheeledandthrewMjölnir.It

smashed into the side of thedragon’s skull with a cracklike thunder. The dragonscreamed and rose, wingsflapping fast and hard. Thenitdove.

Matt dove, too. He fakedthe dragon out, starting oneway,thentwistinganddivingthe other, rolling behind arock.

He heard a scream. Notfrom the dragon. From his

grandfather. Matt jumped tohis feet and turned to seehisgrandfather caught in thebeast’s giant claws.Matt ranfrombehindtherock.

“No!” he shouted so loudhis throat hurt. “He’s not thechampion. I am! I’m the oneyou—”

The Midgard Serpentthrew his grandfather to theground. Hurled him at therocksbelow.

Matt letoutacry.He ranat the beast and loosedMjölnir.Itcrackedagainstthegiant snout. The dragonpulled back. The suddenmove threw it off balance,and the beast thudded to theground. Matt raced to hisgrandfather, who was lyingontherocks,groaning.

Matt grabbed hisgrandfather and carried himtoanoutcroppingofrock.He

laid him down between tworocks as he listened to thedistantthumpsofthedragon.

As soon asMatt laid himdown, his grandfathercollapsed. He tried to raisehisheadbutcouldn’t.

“Just wait here,” Mattsaid.“I’llendthis.”

“I know.” Hisgrandfather’slipscurvedinapained smile, his blue eyesglowing with pride. “I know

you will. You can win this,Matt.Youwillwinthis.Iseethatnow,andI’msosorry—”

“Shhh. Don’t talk. I’ll berightback.”

He tried to leave, but hisgrandfather caught his hand.“Imadeamistake.IthoughtIwas doingwhatwas best forourpeople.Savingthem.Andyes,thatmeantlettingyougo,but that wasn’t my choice—you were the chosen

champion, and I didn’t seeany way to save you. I toldmyself you’d go to ValhallaandtakeyourplacewithThorhimself, and you’d be betteroff there, not here afterRagnarök, fighting forsurvivalwith therestofus. Iaccepted our fate and yoursbecause I thought it wasinevitable. But I was wrong.Now I know why you werechosen, Matt. You have the

power of Thor and thebraveryofThor,butit’smorethan that. You will win thisbecauseyouhavetheheartofThor. I am so, so proud ofyou, and so, so sorry foreverything.”

For a moment, Mattcouldn’t move. It waseverything he’d wanted tohear, everything he’ddreamed of hearing,everything he’d told himself

hewas a fool for imagining.Whatever happened with theMidgard Serpent, this wasMatt’s real victory. His realreward, and he crouchedthere, mouth open, unable toget out the words he wantedtosay.

“Go,” Granddad said.“Youcan’tturnyourbackonit.”

Matt nodded. He reacheddowntohughisgrandfather.

“I’mgoingtoreallymakeyouproud,”hesaid.Thenhepulled back, ready to doexactly that, to kill thedragon. But when he movedaway, Granddad’s headlolled,hisblueeyesopen,hisbreathstopped.

“No,” Matt whispered.“No!”

Behind him, the dragonroared.

TWENTY-THREE

MATT

“FATE”

Granddadwasdead.Dead.Mattleapedtohisfeet.He

barely saw the dragonthrough the rain and throughhis rage.He ran at it, andhelaunched Mjölnir, and heblasted his Hammer power,but both missed, Mjölnir

flying wild, the Hammerfizzling. Even the rainseemed to slow, coming infits and starts as if riding therollercoasterofhisemotions,thefuryandthegriefandthefearandtheconfusion.

Afreshrushofanger,andhe threw Mjölnir again. Thedragon ducked it easily andflew at him, sending Mattscrabbling togetbehindrockas flames shot out. The fire

sputtered away, but slowernow, sparks still showeringMatt’sfaceandhands.

Mjölnirreturned,andMattreadied to throw it again.Then he stopped. He heardHildar’s words—with angercomes rage, and with ragecomes weakness—and hereplayed his last fewmoves.They’d been fumbling andblind.

She’s right. I might feel

better,hurlingthishammeratmy grandfather’s killer, butwhat am I doing besidestiringmyselfout?Andgivingthedragontimetorecover?

What else had she said?Thebestwarriorisdedicatedand passionate yetclearheaded. It is not aboutrevengeorvictory.Itisabouthonor.

Honor. A fine word. Butwas this really about honor?

No. A fight for honor was afight to defend somenebulous ideal. The stakesherewerenotnebulousatall.Matt flashed back to thenightmare the mara had senthim, and he shivered as ifhe’dbeen thrust into that icywasteland again. Heremembered the chasm, thevoices, the cries, the peopletrappedintheice,fallingintoHel, all because he’d failed

thisfight.Honor was a fine word,

but thiswas a battle for life.Ifhelost…?Heglancedupatthe stars, at Thor’s Chariot,yes, but mostly at the starsbehind it, billions of stars,billionsoflives.

Matt hefted Mjölnir. Helookedintotheskyagain,andhe focused, clearheaded asHildar said. Simple and purefocus. He had to knowwhat

he wanted and then make ithappen.

Thewindpickedup,anditmight have been the dragonbeating its wings, but Mattwouldn’t believe that.Wouldn’t accept that. Foronce in his life, he wouldn’tdoubt and deprecate hisabilitiesandhispowers.Thatwind was his. He controlledit.Heownedit.

The sputtering rain began

tofallstraightandtrue.Thenthewindcaughtit,blowingitlikeicycoldbullets,andMattthought of earlier, when thedragon’s beating wingsseemed to turn the rain tohail,andthat’swhatheaskedfor. No, that’s what hedemanded.

And it fell. Slow at first,slushyrainthatsoakedhimtothe bone. Then the rainhardened, and he lifted his

shield over his head as hestrode from his hiding place.The hail beat down like golfballs, pounding against hiswooden shield, the sounddeafening, but Matt keptgoing. He walked straightinto the middle of the openstretch of land. The dragonflew above him.He couldn’thear it, but its shape cast ashadow, blocking what littlelightthestormletthrough.

Then he saw the beast,diving straight at him, itsclaws extended. He whirledout of the way and launchedMjölnir. It hit one of thegaping wounds on thedragon’s chest, and thedragon let out a roar thatresounded over the poundinghail.

Matt caught the hammer.The beast dove again. Mattspun—and slid on the sleet-

covered ground. One footshot left, the other right, andhe started to go down. Thedragon let out a piercing cryof triumph. Giant clawswrapped around Matt. Hisshield fell. He foughtmadly,swinging thehammerwildly,but the claws closed and thedragonliftedhimintotheair.

Matt twisted and lookedupand sawonlydarkness.Askyofendlessnight.Heknew

that wasn’t what he wasseeingatall—itwasthebellyof the dragon blockingeverything else—but in hismind, he saw that nightmaresky, every star extinguished,andhe thoughtaclear, calm,deliberateNo.

Iwillnotletthosestarsgoout.

He lowered Mjölnir,testingtheweightasifitwereabaseballbat.Thenheswung

it at the dragon’s thin,birdlike leg. The beastscreeched.Hehit it again, inthe same spot, and the clawsopened.

Matt fell. He didn’t lookdown to see how high he’dbeen. He didn’t let himselflook.Heclosedhiseyes,andhefocusedonthewindandagust of it lifted him, slowinghis fall. He still hit hardenoughtogaspinpainashis

knees screamed with theimpact.But he landed on hisfeet.

Hesawtheshieldandleftit where it lay. The hailpounded down like softballsnow, and with each hit, hefelt a future bruise and hethought,So I’ll have bruises.I’ll live to see those bruises,andthat’sallthatmatters.

The dragon landed. Thehail was too much, covering

itsbackinicysleet.Itlandedright in frontofhimandmethisgaze,oneofitseyeshalf-closed,itssnoutbashedinonone side, pain and rageblazing in its good eye. Itlooked at Matt, standingthere,anditletoutanoise,adeep rumbling noise, and itwasn’t a growl or a snarl. Itwasalaugh.

The dragon looked downat him, a mortal boy, no

bigger than its head, holdinga puny hammer, this boy,standinghisground, far fromanyshelter.Anditlaughed.

Then it snarled, openingits jaws as wide as theywould stretch, giant fangsflashing… and Matt threwMjölnir. He threw it straightintothegulletofthebeast.

Thedragonstoppedshort,its injured eye widening.Then itbegan tochoke.Matt

stepped away, looked up atthesky,andstoppedthehail.

The dragon’s head swungwildly, jaws still wide. Mattjumped back, and again heslid on the ice. When hetwisted to catch himself, theserpent’s fangs slashedathisjeans. As he felt the fabricrip, his mind flashed to themural back in the Blackwellhall—Thor versus theMidgard Serpent at

Ragnarök.The god defeatingthe beast, only to turn awayand have it, with its dyingbreath, bite him with itspoisonedfangs,killinghim.

Matt danced out of theway, his brain screaming,“No!” But the serpent hadonly ripped his jeans. Itslashed down at him again,still choking, still dying, butfighting with everything it

had.Matt looked up into the

sky,atthestars,andhemadehisfinaldemandtothegodofstormand thunder.The skiesopened in answer. Oneperfect bolt of lightning shotdown, striking the dragon. Itlitup,blazingredagainst thedarkness. The giant bodyconvulsed.Thenitfell.

The serpent dropped ontothe earth, splashing up mud

andwater.Itkeptconvulsing,the very ground shakingbeneath it. Matt tensed, hisHammer power at the ready.But then, with one finalshudder, the beast lay still.Poisondrippedfromitsfangsand a puff of smoke curledfrom its throat.ThenMjölnircame hurling out andsmackedintohishand.

Matt looked down at thehammer,drippingwet.

“Serpent drool,” he said.“Great.”

Then he laughed. Hethrew back his head andlaughed.

There was a moment,holdingMjölniroverthedeadMidgardSerpent,whenallhecould think about was thathe’d won. He’d defeated theserpent. He’d defied themyth.

And then he remembered

theothersandtheirfights.Asfear crept in, he rememberedsomethingelse.Hisgranddad.Lyingdeadintherocks.

Matt clenched his handaroundMjölnir, and any lasttraces of that victory laughdied in his throat. He pickedup his shield and startedtoward his granddad’s body.As soon as his foot toucheddown, burning pain shotthroughit.Helookeddownto

see the pant leg the serpenthad ripped. Under it, blooddripped down his leg. Bloodand poison, burning a traildowntohissneaker.

“No,” he whispered. Hefelltooneknee,droppingtheshield and the hammer. Heripped back the torn fabric.There it was. A singlepuncture wound, blisteringnowasthepoisonworkeditswaythroughhisbody.

Did you think you couldcheatfate,Matty?Really?

Exhaustion washed overhim.Heblinkedhardandfelthimself toppling. He tried tostayupright,butthedarknessfell,andasitdid,hesworeheheardtheserpentlaughing.

TWENTY-FOUR

FEN

“AFTERTHEFIGHT”

The worst of the monsterswere contained, and AuntHelen was coordinating thestragglers with an almostcheerful efficiency. Fen,however, still felt thelingering threads of feartwisting throughouthisbody.

He’d just seen Laurie rolldown a hill and dangleperilously close to that gashin the earth.He’d rather facemoremonsters than anythinglikethatmomenteveragain.

Hedecidedtokeepherbyhis side by any meansnecessary as he led Laurieawayfromthegorgesthatleddown to Hel. Honestly, Fenwas ready to bop her on thehead and send her home

whether she liked it ornot—andhealreadyknew thatheranswer would be a big not.Unfortunately, she was theone with the ability to openportals,sohewasleftlinkinghisarmwithherstokeepherfrom falling to her doomagain.

Beingaroundhernowthatshewasacting…well,actinglike him, was almost scarierthan watching her being

pursued by a massive snakethathadarrows in its face. Ifthey survived the end of theworld,hewasgoingtoassignsomeofhispacktoguardhertwenty-fourhoursaday.Thiswhole adventure had turnedhis previously trouble-avoiding cousin into a girlversion of him. It was notgood.Notatall.

“Shecouldleadthepack,”Skull said in awe. “Are you

sureshe’snotawolf?”“I’m a fish, actually,”

Laurieinterjected.“Fish?”Skullechoed.His

mouthgapedopen.Fen shrugged. “Dude,our

family is weird in so manyways, and it’s the fish thingthatsurprisesyou?”

“Salmon,”Laurieadded.“Oh.” Skull stared at her

andthenshookhishead.Fen glared at him. It was

badenoughthatOwenlookedatherinawe;hewasn’tgoingto tolerate any of thewolveslooking at her, too. Familykept family out of danger.Skull and Owen were bothdangerous—especially nowthat Laurie seemed to enjoybattles andadventures.Therewas no way those twoweren’tboth likely toendupinperil.Owenhadahordeoffighters;Skullhadbeenpack

alpha.Fen pulled Laurie closer

to his side. Bopping her ontheheadandputtingher in afortress sounded like a betterplanbytheminute.

The remaining smallfights were fading. Most ofthe monsters were findingtheirwaytoAuntHelen,wholooked like an orchestraconductordirecting the lotofthem into that gash in the

earththatwouldleadthemtoher domain. She wasmeandering around the cragsand crevices, her faceseeming almost lifelike forthefirsttime.TherulerofHellookedstrangelyhappy.

“She’s asmuch a hero asanyone else,” Lauriemurmured, catching thedirectionofFen’sgaze.

Helen looked up, findingthem unerringly. “I expect

visits, children. I’ll evenspare you the journey nexttimesinceyou’veprovedthatyou can complete itsuccessfully.”

Fengapedather.“It was a test,” Laurie

said,halfquestioningly.“Ofcourse,”Helenagreed

with a smile that Fen hadseen on his own face often.They really were related.Therewas something strange

and a little awesome aboutrealizing that this immortalbeing really was part of hisfamily. She nodded at himandwentback toherding themonsters into Hel, where, asshe put it, “They’ll be morecomfortable.”

“Thank you,” Laurie toldtheiraunt.

Helen looked suddenlysadandadded,“Fatherwouldhaveenjoyedit.”

Fen didn’t know what tosay to that. Loki, their long-dead ancestor, was just anameandstoriestothem,butto Helen he had been aperson, a parent, someonereal. Before he could figure

outwhattosay,Helenturnedawayandwasgone.

“WeneedtogettoMatt,”Fen said. “The wolves arehelping… Aunt Helen.” Hepaused briefly, newlycomfortable with calling herhisaunt.

“Let’sgo,”Lauriesaid.Fen was ready to crawl

into bed and sleep for days.Firstthingsfirst,though:theyneeded to go check on

Thorsen. He’d obviouslybeaten the dragon, but in themyths, he died because ofthatfight.

As if she could read hismind, Laurie said, “He’ll befine.Hehastobe.”

AllFencoulddowasnod.He wasn’t as optimistic asher.

MATT

“Matt?Matt?”Someone was shaking

him.Heopenedhis eyes andsaw…

Sunshine.Acatjumpedonhischest

and peered down at him.Then a face blocked the sun.Reyna,grinning.

“Hey,champion,youdone

napping yet? I’m sure yourfight took a lot more out ofyouthanminedid,butIthinkyou’vehadenoughrest.”

Matt lifted his head. Raystood behind Reyna. On hisother side, Hildar wasswingingoffherhorse.

“You’ve slain theserpent,”Hildarsaid.

“Dragon,” Matt croaked.“Itwasadragon.”

“Ofcourseitwas,”Reyna

said.Shegrinnedagain,ahuge

one,asbrightasthesun,andhe stared at her a momentbefore pushing up, blinking.HelayonthebattlefieldwiththeMidgardSerpentinaheaptwentyfeetaway.Thebeast’smouth was open, fangsjutting. Seeing those fangs,Matt pulled up his pant leg.Themarkwas still there, redand swollen, but nothing

more.“You fell into the river,”

Hildarexplained.“River?”“InHel.”“Um,sure,but…”“You swallowed the

poison there. Do youremember what I said whenyoutoldme?”

He struggled to recall.“You said that was as itshould be. So it inoculated

me?”She frowned at the

unfamiliarword.“The poison I swallowed

built up a tolerance for thisone,”hesaid.

“Yes.Everythingwasasitshouldbe.”

He blinked harder and ashedid,herealizedtherewereothersthere—LaurieandFen,along with Baldwin andOwen. Behind them were

TanngrisnirandTanngnjóstr.“Everyone’s… okay?” he

said.Laurie smiled. “Seems

thatway.”“Wedidit.”Laurie hugged him. She

was filthy and smelled likewet dog and smoke, but shewas alive. “Yes, apparentlywedid.”

“So what happened?”Matt asked. “How did you

guys—?”“Later,” Hildar cut in.

“Comenow.Otherswait.”

LAURIE

There were a million andtwelve things they would allhave to talk about. Someweresimplytalesofthefightsthey’d had, but some were

questions. They could talklater.Rightnow,well…rightnow, they could go home.They’d all survived. They’dstoppedtheendoftheworld,and they’d actually survivedit.

“Are you okay?” sheaskedMatt.

Henodded.“You?”“We’re alive, and Fen’s

nota traitor.”Lauriebumpedhisshoulderlikeshedidwith

Fen.Matt gave her a small

smile.“Wedidit.”“Of course we did,” Fen

said.“Neveradoubt.”Laurierolledhereyes,and

Matt shook his head. It feltgood tobeback tonormal…or as close to normal aspossible surrounded byValkyries, magic goats, anddescendantsofdeadgods.

“Are we ready to go

home?”sheasked.Hildar spoke up. “I’ll see

Freya’sdaughterhome.”“And my brother,” Reyna

interjected.“Later,”Baldwinsaid.He

looked at Owen and asked,“CanItravelwithyouguys?”

Owen nodded andhesitantlysaid,“The threat isover, though, so you don’thaveto—”

“Friends, dude. We’re

friendsnow,right?”At that, Owen looked a

little stunned. “I suppose weare.”

Lauriegrinnedattheboys.Somehow it had been easierwith monsters than witheveryday things. “We’re allfriends,” she told them, hervoice making it very clearthatitwasanorder.“Andwewillkeepintouch,right?”

Fen slung an arm around

her. “Whatever you want,Laurie.”

“It’s like she’s becomeevenscarier,”Baldwinsaidinwhat he might’ve thoughtwasawhisper.

“I like it,” Owen saidquietly, earning warninglooks from both Matt andFen.

“I expect e-mail!” Laurietold them all, and then sheopened the portal to

Blackwell and told her twopseudo-brothers, “Let’s gohome.”

MATT

Matt stepped through theportal.His uncle stood there,holdingabottleofwaterandasandwich.

“Alan insisted I bring

this,” Uncle Pete said,handingthemover.

Matt laughed. Heuncapped thewater and tooka deep drink before saying,“Whereishe?”

“Home. This next part’sjustforfamily.”

“Heisfamily.”Uncle Pete smiled.

“Thank you. Next time,though. Eat your sandwichandcomeon.Wedon’twant

anaudienceforthis.”Mattsaidhisgood-byesto

Laurie and Fen. Temporarygood-byes. This wasn’t likeanout-of-townchampionshipmatch where you say you’llkeep in touch and never do.They would. Always. Therewasnoquestionofthat.

After the farewells, Mattwalked with his uncle. Afigure came running towardhim.Fora split second,Matt

froze, his fingers wrappingaround Mjölnir. Then helooked up at the sky. Thesunlit sky. No more battles.No more enemies. And withthat,hesawwhowascoming—ateenageboywithredhairandawidegrin.

“Hey, kiddo,” Josh said,racinguptohim.“Youdidit,huh?”

Mattdidn’tgetachancetoanswer before Josh’s arms

grabbedhim, liftinghim in ahug so suddenly that MattdroppedMjölnir.OntoJosh’sfoot.

“Ow!”Joshsaid,releasingMatt and hopping away,holding his foot. “Bighammer.Heavyhammer.”

Jake strolled over,chuckling. “Doofus.” Hereached down for Mjölnir.His fingers wrapped aroundthe handle sticking up. He

had toheave toget it off theground, the tendons in hisneckstrainingashehandeditback.Matt took it easily andJakesmiled.“Andthatproveswhoitbelongsto,doesn’tit?”He reached out and clappedMatt on the back, leaning into keep his toes out ofhammerrange.

“Matt?”Anothervoice.Asoftone,

choked with tears. Matt

looked up to see hismother.Her eyes were red, and shelookedlikeshehadn’tsleptina week. When she saw him,shestoppedandteetered,asifshewasn’t sure it was reallyhim.

“Hey,Mom.”Sheranforwardthen.Ran

and threw her arms aroundhim. Jake said, “Watch thehammer!” and she onlyhugged Matt tighter, saying,

“I don’t care. I don’t care atall.”

Matt felt a hand on hisshoulder. He looked over toseehis father.Hismother letgo andhis father gavehimafierce hug. Then he pulledback and said, “You did it,Matt.”

Mattnodded,mute.“Youdid it,”hisdadsaid

again.“Weknewyouwould,and if you thought, for one

second,wedoubtedthat,thenwehaveafewthingstoworkon.”Anotherhug.“Now,let’sgetyouhome.”

LAURIE

Laurie stepped through theportal, last as she had to be.She’d had a moment of fearthattheportalwouldn’topen,

that her god-gifts wouldvanish with the monsters.She’d had a fear that hermom would be furious, thatFen would be rejected, thatMatt’s family wouldn’t wanthimhome, but as she lookedaround,herfearsvanished.

Her father was huggingFen tightly, and her motherand Jordie were alreadywrappedaroundhersotightlythat she thought she might

winceinpain.Ofcourse,thatwould mean admitting thatshewasbeatenupabit.

“You did it,” Dad said,pulling Fen toward them sotherewasagiantBrekkehug.“I’msoproudofyoutwo!”

“How did you stop theworld from ending?” Jordieasked.

LaurieandFenexchangedaglance.

“There was a battle. We

won,” Fen offered after amoment. He was doing hisnormal Fen-softens-detailsthing that he’d always donearoundhermom.

Noone spoke, andLaurierealized that she and Fenwere both a bit bruised andbleedinginseveralplaces.

“We’reokay,”sheblurtedout as she saw her momcatalogingherinjuries.“AuntHelenwasthere.Wecouldn’t

have done itwithout her andthe Raiders and the otherdescendants. Matt fought theserpent. Oh, and theValkyries and some of thedescendantswerewithhim.”

“Yeah, without help, I’mnot sure what we would’vedone when the jötnar… Imean…” Fen looked atLaurieandgulped.

Laurie reached andsqueezedFen’shand,silently

tellinghimthatshewasokaywith his slipup. “There weresomemonsters, but we won.Theworld is safe, andwe’rehome.We’renotinjured,justalittlescratchedup.”

Her parents still saidnothing. Itwas anodd, tensesilence,and hermom lookedlike she might cry. ThenJordie asked, “Who’s AuntHelen?”

“Um, Loki’s daughter.

She rules Hel, the um,afterworld,” Laurie saidquietly.

“Oh.” Her mom blinked.“Right… as in really hisdaughter?Howdid you even—doIwanttoknow?”

“Probably not,” Fenanswered.

Lauriesmiledathermomandadded,“Wedidit,Mom.Everything’sokaynow.”

“And I’m so proud of

you,” hermother said. “Bothofyou.”

“Let’s go home,” Dadadded.

Although Laurie knew hemeant all of them, Fenobviously didn’t. He noddedand looked away. “See youlater,then,”hesaidquietly.

“You too, Fen,” Momsaid. “You could both usesomething to eat, and ashower, and a good night’s

rest.”“Shower first. You both

stink,”Jordiepipedin.Fen stared at them,

surprised that Laurie’s momand brother seemed happy tosee him, too. No one butLauriehadeverbeenproudofhim before Ragnarök. Hestaredatthem,halfexpectinga laugh at his gullibility inbelieving them. They didn’tlaugh,though.Theysmiledat

him.

EPILOGUE

Matt lay in bed, staring atthe ceiling, listening to hisalarm blaring. His dooropened.Jakepushedhishead

in. “Hey, you going to turnthat off, kid? Or wait untilyou wake the wholeneighborhood?”

Josh pushed in behindJake. “Wakey-wakey, Matt.Mom made you somethingspecial for the first day backat school.Rakfisk andwhey.Breakfastofchampions.”

Mattgroaned.Josh laughed. “Just

kidding. She made waffles.

Youcanstayinbedforafewmoreminutes,okay?Giveustimetoeatthemall.”

Matt shook his head asthey retreated, closing thedoor. He yawned, stretched,androlledoutofbed.

Itwasgoodtobehome.

In a home in Blackwell,Laurie curled up in bed, not

quite ready to get out of thesoft, warm cocoon ofblankets. After so manynights in a sleeping bag onthe cold ground, it feltincredible to be in her bed.There were no monsterscoming in the door, nomarawith their nightmares, notrolls shaking the floor, nojötnar. What was there wasthe smell of breakfastcooking and a bark of her

father’slaughter.“Get up, sleepy bones,”

her mother said as she satdown beside Laurie. “Yourdad, Jordie, and Fen aredrivingmecrazy.”

“Glareatthem;itworks.”“Nope. I’m

outnumbered,” her motheradded. “Come to the kitchenandhelpme.”

Fencouldn’tsmotherhisgrinas he watched his cousincomeintothekitchen.Afewdays ago, he was afraid thatneither of them wouldsurvive.Theoddsofstoppingthe end of the world hadbeen… bad. Every adult heknew—except the villainousones—thought that kids hadno business running aroundfighting monsters, and whileFenwouldn’thaveadmittedit

out loud, he had sort ofagreedwiththem.

Fate—or the Norns,actually—hadn’t cared onebitabouthisopinion,though.Honestly,formostofhislife,noonehad.Nowhewas thealphaofapackofwulfenkind,ones he was going to try toconvince togo to school andtry to plan better futures.Maybe then, if some otherlunatic came along talking

about ending theworld, theymight not be so quick tolisten.

“Fen? Laurie?” Laurie’sfatherlookedatthemboth.“Ihave aproposal foryou.Thethreeofusweretalkingwhileyou were away… fighting.I’m not going to roamanymore. I have permissionto stay in Blackwell becauseofwhatyoukidsdid.”

FenandLaurieexchanged

tense looks, but he noticedher little brother grinningwidely.

“I talked to Eddy,”Laurie’s father continued.“He’swillingtoterminatehisparentalrightsifyouagreetoletusadoptyou,Fen.Wouldthatbeokay?”

“Sayyes,soyougettobemybrother,”Jordieblurted.

Laurie reached out andsqueezed his hand. “You’re

already my brother. Alwayshavebeen.”

Then Fen looked atLaurie’smother.Hisaunthadnever really liked him, andalthough he’d stayed withplentyofrelativeswhodidn’tlike him, this felt different.She’d be hismom if he saidyes.

“Give me a chance?” sheasked.“Imisjudgedyou.”

Fennodded.“Okay.”

Both Laurie and Jordielaunched themselves at him,and his new parents smiledand joined the giant grouphug. He wasn’t usually ahugger,butthiswassortofanexceptional moment. He hada family, a real family whowanted him. He could hugthem.

Laurie and Fen walked toschool in a sort ofcomfortable silence thatmeantevenmore toheraftereverythingthathadhappened.Theywerealmosttherewhenhe glanced at her and asked,“Do you think your momminds?”

“No.” She bumped himwith her shoulder. “She’dhave stopped him before weknew about it if she

disagreed.”Fen nodded, and they

walked a little farther beforehe said, “Baldwin sent me amessage. He’s trying toconvincehisparents tomovehere.”

Laurie laughed. “Ifanyone can do it, it’d behim.”She lookedat her feet,not reallywanting to tellFenthat she’d heard fromOwen,but not seeing any way to

avoid it. They’d learn to getalong, or they wouldn’t.There was no way she waschoosing between them—butif shedid, theyallknewFenwouldwin.

“So did Cyclops boy callyet?”

“Fen!” She blushed andlookedaway.She’dneverhadaboy likeherbefore.“Don’tcallhimthat.”

“I could call him other

things,”Fengrowled.Lauriemethiseyes.“You

might be an alpha now, butyou’re not the boss of me.You don’t have any moreright to pick my… friendsthanbefore.”

“Oh come on, Laurie, hewas willing to let Matt dieand didn’t tell you I wasgoing to end up with theRaiders.” Fen’s voice wasgrowly like the wolf he was

sometimes. “I don’t likehim.”

She sighed and admitted,“ButIdo.”

Fen bumped her with hiswhole side. “Yeah,well, I’mreally your brother now, andit’s not justme he’ll need toprove himself to. I’ll betelling Unc—I mean, Dadandourlittlebrotherallaboutyourboyfriend.”

“Of course you will,”

Laurie muttered. They mighthave saved the worldtogether, but Fen was stillFen—overprotective andsurly. “Well,maybe I shouldtell them about the crazystunts you pulled when wewerefighting.”

Fen laughed. “Like yousending flaming arrows at afrost giant? Or opening aportaltoHel?”

Laurie sighed. “How

aboutwedon’t tell themanyof it, including anythingaboutOwen.”

For a moment, Fen saidnothing. “Fine, but you tellthe Cyclops that I’ll bekeepingbothmyeyesonhim,and I have a pack ofwolvesready to release if he evenmakesyou think about beingsad.”

She hugged him. “I loveyou,too.”

Then she made a note totry togetMattorBaldwin totalk some sense into Fen. Itfeltkindofwonderfultoonlyhavetothinkabouthersmallproblemsinsteadoftheworldendingormonstersattacking.Of course, there was noguarantee that the monsterswouldn’t come again, butrightnow,theonlycrisesshewas expecting were Fen’sattitude and the upcoming

math test she was woefullyunpreparedtotake.

Even the pending apocalypsecouldn’t keep school closedforlong.Nor,apparently,didsaving the world from thatapocalypse earn him a fewextradaysoff.

Matt’sphonebuzzedashewalked. Itwas a new phone,

courtesy of his parents, whohadalsoboughthimtheiPadhe’d been putting asidemoney for. Apparently,saving the world did comewith a few perks, though hestill hadn’t been able to talkMom into the dirt bike.Defeating an eighty-footdragonwasallwellandgood,but it didn’t compare to thedangers of off-road biking.He’d keep working on it.

He’d learned a few thingsabout strategy over the lastcoupleofweeks.

He’d also learned a fewthings about his family, andthemistakes they’dallmade.Hewasn’t going to dwell onthat—hejustwantedtomoveon—but they’d talked a lot,him and his parents. They’dtalked about Granddad, too,and Matt was still workingthrough that, how he felt.

Therewasgriefandtherewasanger and there wasconfusion, and maybesomedayhe’dfigureitallout,but that wasn’t happeninganytimesoon.

He’d gotten an e-mailfrom Astrid that morning,letting him know she wasfine. He wasn’t sure how torespond to that. That wasanother thing Matt was stillworking out. Astrid had

ultimately done the rightthing, but he couldn’t forgetthatshe’dkilledBaldwin.

Luckily,thetextwasfromsomeone he could easilyrespond to. Reyna wasreminding him that Ray hadinvitedhim toDeadwood fora historical festival nextmonth.Matthadafeelingtheinvitation didn’t really comefrom Ray, but he wasn’tquestioningit.Itwaseasierto

explain to his parents thatRay invited him, and they’dagreed that a weekend awaywith his new friend seemedlikeafineidea.Theywantedto meet the twins’ parents.NotexactlywhatMatthadinmind, but how bad could itbe? Maybe he shouldn’t askthat.Thelasttimehedid,his“serpent” turned out to be afire-breathing,poison-spittingdragon.

Matt chuckled to himselfand texted Reyna back,telling her what his parentshad said. They were stilltextingasMattstoppedonthecorner. Kids passed andwaved and called hello. Acouple of his distant cousinsstopped,asifwantingtowalkto school with the“champion,” and Mattchatted, but he stayed wherehewas.Thenhesawwhohe

was waiting for. Laurie andFen. Laurie was weigheddown by her book bag, andFen was trudging along,trying to look as if he wasbeing dragged every step oftheway.

Matt sent a final text toReyna,called“Hey!”andranto catch up with Laurie andFen.

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CONTENTS

COVERTITLEPAGEWELCOMEDEDICATION

CHAPTERONE:MATT

CHAPTERTWO:FENCHAPTERTHREE:LAURIECHAPTERFOUR:MATTCHAPTERFIVE:LAURIECHAPTERSIX:MATTCHAPTERSEVEN:LAURIECHAPTEREIGHT:MATTCHAPTERNINE:FEN

CHAPTERTEN:MATTCHAPTERELEVEN:LAURIECHAPTERTWELVE:MATTCHAPTERTHIRTEEN:FENCHAPTERFOURTEEN:MATTCHAPTERFIFTEEN:FENCHAPTERSIXTEEN:

MATTCHAPTERSEVENTEEN:LAURIECHAPTEREIGHTEEN:MATTCHAPTERNINETEEN:FENCHAPTERTWENTY:MATTCHAPTERTWENTY-ONE:LAURIE

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO:MATTCHAPTERTWENTY-THREE:MATTCHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR:FENEPILOGUE

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