“I just want to keep you safe. Thorsen does, too,” Fen muttered.
“Matt’s coming around. Maybe you could try to do the same thing,” she suggested.
Fen grunted. “Maybe you could stay where it’s safe. I’m the descendant who hasto fight, not you.”
She stood up and glared down at him. “Fine! You fight, but don’t you even try to act like I’m not helping, too. I opened that door that got us the shield that yougave the Raiders.”
Fen glared right back. She had heard what Baldwin had said; he’d thought for a moment that she’d missed it. He shook his head. “Your skill is to open doors, to escape. How are you going to protect yourself from the monsters that keep coming?”
She blinked away the tears he could see forming in her eyes. “We’re a team. We rescue each other and fight together. That’s what teams do. That’s how we’ll stop Ragnarök. You’re a wolf. Think of it like a pack.”
Thinking about packs was the problem. For most of his life, the most important person in his life was Laurie; he’d always figured they’d be a pack of two once she transformed—or that he’d hide what he was to keep her safe if she didn’t become a wolf. He might not have parents, but he did have a sorta sister in her. If he was going to be a good packmate, a good almost-brother, he’d have to keep her safe, so if she wasn’t going to let him protect her, maybe it was best to go home, leave the world-saving to Thorsen. “Well, maybe I don’t want to be part of this pack! Maybe we ought to both go home, where it’s safe.”
“You’re such an idiot! There is no safeanymore. The world is ending.” She went inside, slamming the door and leaving him outside. He was alone, and he told himself that it was what he wanted, that he didn’t want to be part of any team—except that the moment she left, he had to admit to himself that it wasn’t what he really wanted at all. He just didn’t want Laurie to get hurt—or to find out what he’d done and hate him.
Fen rubbed his hand over his face. He was sore, bruised, tired, and, if he was totally honest, he was scared. It was one thing to deal with the Raiders, but it was another to think that if he failed—if anyof them failed—the world would end. That was a lot worse than getting smacked around a little. At first, he’d thought Skull and Hattie were crazy, talking about the end of the world, but now that he was in the middle of a fight against them to stop the end of the world, it felt so… big.What if Matt asked him to leave? What if he didn’t, but they failed? What if the serpent killed Matt? What if they went up against trolls or mara or who knew what else and Laurie got hurt? What if Baldwin died, like in the myths? What if he or Laurie somehow turned evil or whatever because they were Loki’s descendants? How do you even know if you’re turning evil?He closed his eyes and tried not to think about any of the questions he couldn’t answer, especially the last one. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before the door opened. He expected it to be Laurie or Baldwin, but when he turned his head to look, he saw Matt.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out you stole the shield?” Matt asked. “You could have told me. Then you could have come into the camp with me.”
“I wasin the camp. I saved your butt, Thorsen. Again. I’m not sure what you mean, but—”
“Don’t,” Matt interrupted. “I get it now. You offered to get the shield back alone. Then you didn’t want to come into camp. You didn’t want me to know you were involved with the Raiders.”
“Wolves pay dues,” Fen said. “That was mine and Laurie’s. I didn’t know the shield mattered, just that I needed to get it.”
“And the part about delivering me?” Matt asked.
Fen froze. He’d known it was a bad idea to go after the shield, but he hadn’t thought Skull would actually tell Matt. What? Did he stop midfight for a heart-to-heart?Fen growled low in his throat. “I didn’t, though! I fought at your side against Raiders. I tramped all over with you and fought monsters at your side. I mighta agreed to deliver you, but I didn’t do it.”
They faced off. Fen’s heart was racing like they were fighting, even though all they were doing was staring at each other.
Finally, Matt rolled his shoulders and nodded. “Okay. I believe you. But no more secrets. We’ve gotta be a team now, trust each other, watch each other’s backs so no one gets hurt.”
Fen wanted to say something smart, to pretend he hadn’t been wrong, but he couldn’t. He would feel horrible if someone got hurt because of him, and he did want to save the world. He lifted a shoulder in a small shrug, but he stayed silent.
“At Ragnarök, Loki was Thor’s enemy,” Matt said. “But in other stories, they were friends. They traveled together. They fought side by side. We need to be that version. Friends.”
And Fen didn’t know what to say, so he settled on, “Whatever.”
Matt turned and left, and Fen half expected Ray, Reyna, and Astrid to all come out to lecture him about something else. It felt like everyone wanted to tell him what he had done wrong or, worse yet, what he would do wrong.
Twenty minutes later, when the pizza arrived and Baldwin came out to pay for it, Fen took one of the two boxes and followed Baldwin into the kitchen. Astrid was already in there.
“I got everything out,” she said. She pointed at the counter where plates, napkins, glasses, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and red-pepper flakes were all lined up neatly.
“Thank you,” Baldwin said.
Astrid beamed at him. “You did everything. This part was easy.”
“Suck-up,” Fen muttered.
Instead of snapping back at him, Astrid turned her supercharged smile at him. “Oh, and thank you, too, Fen, for being you!”
He snapped his teeth at her, and she left the kitchen.
After Astrid had left, Fen said, “I don’t trust her.”
“You don’t trust anyone,” Baldwin said.
“Not true.” Fen picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite. “I trust Laurie, Thorsen… and you.”
Baldwin shrugged. “Sure, but everyone trusts me. It’s like the not-getting-hurt thing. I don’t think I count. Matt’s our leader. You might not like Astrid, but she was right about that. He’s the one who’s going to lead us into the big battle, right? You kind of haveto trust him, or you wouldn’t be here.”
Fen knew Baldwin was right, but he still didn’t like Astrid or the twins. Maybe wolves don’t like witches?He chomped the pizza while he thought about it. He’d ask Matt about that later. Right now, he just wanted some downtime. Baldwin was cool about the talking thing, too. He wasn’t pushy, like Laurie and Matt were.
“Food?” Reyna—or maybe Ray—said as the twins came in. They were more of a single entity than made sense to Fen.
Everyone else followed. Laurie, Matt, and Astrid were laughing at something, and Baldwin stood there grinning in that way of his that made Fen want to get along with the witch kids. Maybe he was just being difficult.
“Do you want to pick a movie with me?” Baldwin gestured toward the door with a slice of pizza.
Fen nodded and grabbed another slice.
They abandoned the kitchen to the others and headed to the living room to figure out what to watch. They had a better chance of avoiding some girly nonsense if they picked it while all three girls were in the kitchen. It was nice to have someone on his side, too. Laurie seemed so mad at him, and Matt wasn’t exactly mad, but Fen thought that was only because he’d decided not to be. He’d looked pretty hurt over the whole Raiders thing.
I’d like to pound Skull.
“Fen?”
He looked at Baldwin, who was pulling movies out of a cabinet.
“You’re growling again,” Baldwin said. “It’s a little weird.” Then he held up both hands so Fen could see the options. Star Warswas in one hand; in the other was a movie with an explosion on the cover and another with a cowboy on it. “Space or Earth? Monsters or humans?”