Fall (The Ragnarok Prophesies) Read Online Free

in the center of the arrangement, seeming more ominous than elegant.
    “It’s a beautiful arrangement,” Esther said. “No card this time, though.”
    Geri growled.
    Dace cursed softly.
    What’s wrong?
I turned my head to look at him.
    He sat ramrod straight in the chair, his gaze focused on the flowers. He looked… pissed.
    Unease snaked up my spine.
    Dace?
    He didn’t answer me.
    “The entire ward
ohhed
and
ahhed
over the arrangement when it came in. Whoever sends them has wonderful taste.” Esther lifted my arm to inspect the IV line.
    I frowned, confused. I’d gotten more flowers in the last few weeks than a florist had in a shop, but she made it sound as if I’d received the same arrangement before. I hadn’t, had I?
    I looked back to Dace. His expression hadn’t changed.
    What does she mean?
I asked, my scalp prickling.
    Dace ripped his gaze from the flowers, dropping it to mine. The hatred stamped across his face was answer enough.
    I swallowed hard.
    I’ve gotten others, haven’t I?
    Dace nodded, his entire body tense.
    From…?
I couldn’t finish the question. It wasn’t like I needed to anyway. The truth burned in his eyes and in the furious stillness of his mind.
    Sköll and Hati were back.
    Yes
, Dace said. Rage flashed through his gaze, setting fire to emerald.
    Geri vibrated in his corner of my mind, his entire being shaking with repressed anger. Dace shifted, rolling his shoulders. The muscles in his arms twitched in response to Geri’s internal quaking.
    I shuddered and swallowed hard.
    Why? How long? Why didn’t you tell me?
    I couldn’t decide which answer I wanted first. My heart raced, but the rest of me didn’t move. I felt frozen. Panic, fear, and revulsion burned like bile up my throat. Sköll and Hati were sending me flowers. They knew where to find me.
    Dace reached out, placing his hand on my cheek.
Breathe, Arionna.
    I took a deep breath.
    Esther kept chattering away as she finished hooking up new bags of medicine and saline, oblivious to the horror ripping through me. I wanted to scream at her to go away so I could talk to Dace, but I couldn’t yell at her.
    We’d been so careful to keep up the façade of normalcy as best we could. I wasn’t really sure why, since things were anything but normal, but it seemed important that no one else find out about the awful nightmares bubbling beneath the surface. The ones threatening to suck all of us into some hellish Nordic nightmare version of reality. Better everyone not know the truth than to face those horrors until they had no choice.
    But I didn’t realize I was being kept in the dark, too. I’d assumed I knew everything, that Dace had told me everything he knew. Stupid since that hadn’t ever really been the case, but I’d assumed it anyway.
    Arionna, no.
    As I dug my fingers into the sheets of my bed, tears welled in my eyes. I fought them back, refusing to give in to the painful sting of betrayal twisting around inside me.
    We were trying to protect you.
    You lied to me.
    You’re still healing. You didn’t need to know.
    I choked out a laugh, not sure if his answer surprised or offended me more. He spoke like that should have been obvious to me. I was healing, so I didn’t need to know the monsters lurking in the shadows were sending me little tokens of their affection to remind me they were still here, still watching.
    Esther looked at me, her smile slipping. She narrowed her eyes as if finally noticing how rigidly I lay, or how tightly my hands were clenched around my sheets. “You okay, hon?”
    I gave her a curt nod.
    She didn’t look like she bought it.
    She looked at Dace and then back to me.
    I didn’t mean it like that,
he said, ignoring her questioning gaze.
    No?
    I knew he hadn’t meant his comment the way it sounded, but I couldn’t help feeling hurt. I couldn’t help feeling foolish either. I knew Skoll and Hati were still out there, but I hadn’t realized how close they were. All this time, I’d