Once I was done ineffectively cleaning the desk, I tried to figure out what I should do next. Megan had promised I’d get a case by the afternoon, but it was 11 o’clock, and it was still several hours away. Just when I began to freak out, realizing once more how impossibly, frighteningly awful this situation was, I heard somebody scoot over to me, the casters of their chair clattering over the floor.

  I looked up to see a woman probably a couple of years younger than me. “You’ve just become contracted, ha? What was your crime?” She shoved a hand in my face. “Theft and arson,” she announced almost proudly. “What are your powers? My name is Cassidy,” she added as an afterthought, her hand still hovering before my face.

  Considering this situation was so fricking surreal and kept moving along at a frightening pace, all I could do was stare from her face to her hand. When I didn’t grab her hand, she leaned forward, grabbed mine, and shook it like a businessman about to seal a deal.

  “Yeah, you must be pretty shocked,” she continued her one-sided conversation. “When Vali dragged me out of prison, I had no freaking clue what was happening. But now I’m here, and now I can do this, it ain’t so bad.” She flicked her fingers and played with a magical disc of power. Somewhat like John from last night, the disc looked like a hologram. It spread out wide from her touch, and there were multiple symbols around the inside of the magical ring.

  I stared at it with slack-jawed surprise. This only drew a hearty chuckle from Cassidy. “You must be pretty new to still be surprised by one of these. I mean, I’m on the lower end of the magical spectrum – still learning the ropes. Vali only saved me two months ago.”

  There was something she’d just said – something that could finally break me out of my surprised reverie. “Saved you?” I asked through a swallow. Even though the move was nervous, my voice still rang with indignation.

  “Sure, if he hadn’t come along and given me another chance, I would have served another few years in prison. And let’s face it, when I got out, I was destined to re-offend. You see, I have a talent – a talent for finding trouble. I’m always hanging out with the wrong kind of people. Anyhow, what’s your name? We should be friends,” she concluded with some finality.

  I stared at her. It wasn’t only because she hadn’t taken a single breath between saying she had a talent for hanging out with the wrong kind of people, to suggesting we should be friends. Before Cassidy could start patting me down so she could find my driver’s license, figure out my name, and then continue this one-sided conversation, someone else scooted over.

  I looked up to see the stiff-lipped, determined woman I’d figured had been in the police or the army. “Cassidy, for the love of God, give her some breathing room. She’s only just found out about this world. It’s a little too soon to be exchanging numbers.” She shoved a hand in my face, and I had no option but to grab it and let her do all the shaking. “Alice.”

  “Ah, Lilly,” I volunteered.

  Alice crossed her arms and scooted back half a meter, pushing out a foot and expertly stopping her chair as she crossed her legs. “What was your crime?” she asked. “I took a hit, got too involved with the mob. They paid me off, so I turned a blind eye whenever I saw one of their cases cross my desk.” She spoke so casually as if she were talking about nothing more innocent than where she’d gone to school.

  I stared at her with a wide-open mouth. “So, you’re a cop?”

  She snorted. “I was a cop. Now I work for Vali, cashing in my second chance.”

  Second chance.

  Those words rang in my head. As they did, I swear they took on the exact tone and force of Vali himself.

  I shook my head and unashamedly leaned back. Sure, these guys were being friendly, but Alice was a bent cop who’d turned a blind eye to the murderous mobsters of this city, and Cassidy, though bubbly, had admitted to arson and theft.

  Alice was more on the ball than Cassidy, because her friendly grin stiffened. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t deserve to be. So what did you do?”

  I glanced around to see that everyone was staring at me again.

  When I’d first walked into this room, I’d assumed it was just an ordinary office full of workers from a large cross-range of society. Now I realized it wasn’t. It was from a cross-range of criminals, and I very much didn’t belong.

  I took a pronounced swallow and pretended to be interested in my desk. “It doesn’t really matter. Nothing much.”

  Alice snorted. “Something pretty bad, then? It can’t be murder; Vali never accepts murderers,” she said, her voice dropping down low. “But trust me, as an ex-cop, I’m well aware that there’s a full range of other heinous crimes out there. So put us out of our misery. What did you do to get in here with us?”

  I frowned as I stared from her to everybody else. I could feel their attention like drills driving into the back of my neck.

  “What did you do?” Alice asked through a growl.

  She reached just the right pitch, and it shook through me. She had been a police officer before coming here, after all.

  “Nothing, okay? Nothing. I stole a few things when I was a teenager, but nothing big. No one ever got hurt. And I… I got so absorbed by this box—” I suddenly lost the ability to speak as the memory of that Norse box filled my mind. I could still see it, still feel it. As its memory filled my senses long enough, I swore I could even hear it. “I got so obsessed with it, that I forgot about an injured friend. I forgot to get a first aid kit. It wasn’t too bad, though. It’s not like my friend was on death’s door—” I shook my head as guilt kindled in my gut. “That’s it. That’s all I did,” I repeated in a punchy tone brimming with frustration and emotion.

  If I’d been paying attention to anyone other than myself, I would have realized that both Alice and Cassidy stiffened. I would have also heard the direct footfall behind me.

  “I have no idea why that asshole has me here, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  Someone cleared their throat. From the exact ominous tone of it, there was only one person it could be. Slowly, like a pig on a rotisserie, I turned. There he was right behind me – Franklin Saunders. Or should I say Vali.

  “Do you really have no idea what this asshole wants with you?” he questioned, his voice neutral but his expression about as deadly as a gun to my head.

  I was frozen to the spot, and it was from more than the way he was looking at me. It was from the reactions of everyone else. Seconds ago, Alice had seemed like the strongest woman I’d ever met. Now, she looked meek as she stared at her hands and pretended not to be interested.

  I glanced around the rest of the room and saw everyone else was the same. Even Cassidy, who’d been bubbly and vivacious moments before, was now withdrawn.

  Though I was mortified at the fact Vali had heard me ragging on him, a flare of anger licked through my gut.

  I wasn’t usually a courageous girl. I didn’t fight battles for other people. I kept my head down, kept quiet, and avoided trouble like the plague. But I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared back at him.

  I watched his eyes narrow. “Is that really all you did, Lilly-White?” he questioned. He said Lilly White in the same way he always did – like it was a color, not a name.

  Lily-white had been my grandmother’s favorite color. And as I thought of that, I thought of her. My gut clenched.

  “Aren’t you leaving out the most pertinent detail?” Vali continued. “Your grandmother?”

  I couldn’t tell, but he seemed to take a great deal of satisfaction in saying that – in pointing out I’d missed my grandmother’s own death. Though I’d had a heck of a lot to deal with over the past two days, my grief still sat under my shock and surprise. It was lodged hard in my chest like a pill I would never be able to swallow. Sure, I’d never gotten on with her. Sure, I’d been nothing more than a disappointment to her. But she was still dead. I’d passed up the opportunity to say goodbye and give her one more chance to change.

  Though ideally I wanted to continue glaring at him, I shifted my gaze and stared at my hands as I held them on the desk.

  From far off into the room, I heard people whisper. “What did she do?”

  My hackles rose, and I yanked my head up, glaring at him. “What did I do? Nothing. I failed to see her before she died. What the hell kind of crime is that? She never wanted to have anything to do with me. She struck me off her will. I was nothing more than a disappointment.” I rose from my chair. I was a smart girl. Or so I thought. But smart girls don’t try to intimidate gods of revenge. The frustration was getting too much for me. It had formed a knot in my gut, one that was twisting harder and harder, harder and harder. “So we didn’t play happy families. So I didn’t achieve her crippling, impossible expectations. You tell me where the hell the crime is in that, asshole?” I finished with a snap.

  Vali didn’t shout at me. He crossed his arms in his go-to intimidating move, and I could see just how much the fabric of his suit had to stretch to accommodate his biceps. “I suggest you start facing your sins instead of running from them.”

  “Facing my sins?” I practically shrieked. “What sins? Behind me are a bent cop and a kleptomaniac arsonist. And you think I’m in the same boat? I accepted a fricking job from my desperate employer rather than going to see my grandmother. I had no idea it would be the last night of her life. That’s not a crime. It’s a tragedy.” I wanted to keep my voice even. On the word tragedy, it shook, stirring up all the emotions I’d been desperately trying to keep controlled until now.

  Vali’s eyes narrowed again, though I couldn’t exactly say it was in anger. “The arsonist and the bent cop are now your colleagues. And I suggest you make friends. With them, you’ll find the only redemption and comradeship you deserve. And don’t make light of your crimes, Lilly-White. You didn’t simply fail to see your grandmother on her deathbed – you’re the reason she was killed in the first place.”

  It was the verbal equivalent of a slap. No, who was I kidding? It was the verbal equivalent of being sliced right through the heart.

  “What?” My voice came out in a throaty, harsh, shaking gasp. “How dare you suggest something like that. My grandmother was dying of emphysema. I was the reason she was killed?! She died of too many cigarettes.”

  “Your grandmother was killed because she was always taking the fall for your crimes. Either consciously or unconsciously.” His voice dropped low in such a rattling growl, it was a surprise the floor didn’t shake.

  “What? How dare you say that. You’re a monster,” I said, the only words I could manage through the choking gasp that shook through my throat.

  Just for a second, I saw his expression change. I thought I saw the anger and righteous indignation that was the hallmark of his personality slip. As it shifted, I saw someone I recognized – the kind Franklin Saunders from last night.

  The second didn’t last.

  Vali returned as he took a strong step toward me. “Incorrect. I am the god who shepherds monsters. You,” his voice did it again – sinking right through the earth, “are the monster. Now come with me.”

  When I stood there, frozen in shock and indignation, he locked a hand on my shoulder.

  The threat was clear. Or maybe it wasn’t a threat – momentarily, his touch was soft, almost inviting. But the second didn’t last.

  Before I could erupt – not that there was much I could do against the god of revenge – with one hand still on my shoulder he inclined his head toward the door. “Come with me.” His tone was pregnant with a warning.

  Something stopped me from screaming at the guy, and/or trying to kick him in the shins.

  My face hot with anger and just a little shame, I followed him out.

  If all eyes had been on me before, it was nothing compared to the attention I got now.

  I might have just insulted Alice and Cassidy, but they didn’t look angry – just awed. I got the sudden impression that Vali didn’t come and pay house visits to just any criminal under his command.

  I managed to hold it together until we were out in the corridor, but my fuse progressively burnt shorter and shorter. As soon as the door closed behind me, I let rip, with more than words. Though I really wanted to control my expression, I couldn’t. It cracked up like a melting glacier. “I don’t know where you get off. But suggesting I got my grandmother killed – do you actually have a heart in that chest? Or are you just some kind of uncaring robot?”

  From experience, I knew that anything I said could not affect Vali. Yet as I accused him of not having a heart, his face stiffened. I watched his cheeks pale. “I have a heart. I am simply careful who I show it to.” His words didn’t punch out with echoing, ringing snaps. No. They were slow, cautious, careful.

  I saw that specific look in his eyes that reminded me not of the cold god of revenge, but of the man who’d picked me up so caringly after my fight last night.

  That curiosity alone was enough to stem my anger. For like half a second. “Why would you even suggest that I got my grandmother killed? Anyone with a phone would be able to look up her obituary. She never looked after her health. She had a lot of money, just no sense—”

  Vali took a quick, snapped step in. “Do not speak ill of the dead. Especially when they are your family. This is a lesson you have yet to learn, but one you must if you are to ever pay for your sins. Loyalty and trust are all that matter.” His voice took on an almost godly ring, echoing like a strike of lightning on the word loyalty.

  I’d only known this man for two days, but this interaction was enough to prove that loyalty was clearly the most important thing to him.

  “It is the truth, though you cannot appreciate it and maybe never will – but your grandmother sacrificed her life, her health, to keep you safe.”

  I wanted to point out that what he was saying was utter madness. I wanted to thrust forward and slap him. But more than anything, I wanted to run away – go home, fall asleep, and wake up from this brutal nightmare. Instead, I just stood there, broken and tired. So very tired.

  Briefly, Vali looked almost compassionate, but then that compassion disappeared as his jaw stiffened. “Tonight, once you have finished your first caseload, you will meet me in my office. You will dress elegantly. And you will accompany me to a function.”

  “What? What kind of function? And why do you want me? And what the hell did you mean about my grandmother?” I lost it again, my voice tightening with emotion as I tried to dismiss what he’d said. Uncomfortable memories suddenly came to mind. Back when I’d been a teenager, after I’d been dragged in by the police for stealing, my grandmother had sat me down. I could still remember the tea she’d served, the roaring crackle of the fire in her sitting room, even the damn sickly scent of the perfume she always wore. More than anything, I could remember her expression. She’d stared at me with such utter disappointment. I’d just nicked some shitty, worthless costume jewelry from a friend. Something I’d stolen for the thrill of it. But in her eyes, I might as well have attacked her. The way she’d looked at me, the harsh, acerbic words that had spilled from her stiff lips – they’d been totally out of proportion to the crime.

  “The function is at 9 PM. You will be in my office at 8. Do you understand?” Vali continued.

  Pushing the memory from my mind and shaking my head, I returned my full attention to him. “Why exactly do you need me to come to this function? Why can’t you take your secretary?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “What the hell did you mean about my grandmother?” I asked once more. I was starting to lose it. As uncomfortable memories flooded back in, I was beginning to feel something I’d pushed away, something I couldn’t afford to feel right now – total grief.

  I fought and fought against the tears threatening to well in my eyes.

  “Megan is not suited to this task. You are. And considering you still have not accepted your folly, you will have to work even harder to pay off your sins.”

  “Bullshit,” I spat under my breath.

  His gaze hardened.

  “You need me to do something. This has nothing to do with my sins. This is to do with those symbols. My magic,” I began.

  I didn’t get the opportunity to finish. Vali took a strong, quick step up to me.

  I had to flatten myself against the door. He stared at me with the totality of his icy gaze. Coming from a god of revenge, that was saying something. I couldn’t move as I stared at him.

  “Never forget what I told you. You will tell nobody of those symbols or your magic. And you will never, ever,” he began.

  I pulled up my bangles and stared at them. “I’ll never take these off unless I get a direct order from you and unless I’m in your presence,” I finished his statement, my voice dull.

  I was taken by his expression. Vali usually looked strong – impossibly strong, because he was a frigging Nordic god and not a real human. Now he looked vulnerable.

  It was enough to still my anger, to turn the anxiety that always shot down my spine into curiosity.

  He nodded. “Only in my presence,” he continued, his voice so low it was a hushed whisper. “Now, return to work. And I suggest when you do, you apologize to Alice and Cassidy. Whether you appreciate this now or not, the people in there are your only family. Turn your back on them, and you will truly be alone.”

  I shivered. I didn’t stop watching him. The curiosity that had been ignited by his strange reaction could not be dulled. If you’d asked me two days ago, I would’ve told you that Vali could not feel emotion. Nothing could scare him. He was nothing more than a brute – an automaton, an uncaring, unfeeling god. So what was the look in his eyes? Why was he staring at me like this?

  “8 o’clock,” he said with a snap as he turned and walked off, his steps strident, the powerful, in-control god back.

  Now I’d seen his searching vulnerability, I couldn’t unsee it. It was there in the way his shoulders were slightly hunched. There in the way his steps were slower than usual, his legs stiff with tension.