فصل 56

Let’s Try This Whole “Meeting for Coffee” Thing Again

JUDGING FROM the line of empty cups, Sam was on her third espresso.

The idea of approaching an armed Valkyrie with three espressos in her system was usually not advisable, but I walked up slowly and sat across from her. She didn’t look at me. Her attention was on the two raven feathers in front of her. It was a windy morning. Sam’s green hijab rippled around her face like waves on a beach, but the two raven feathers didn’t flutter.

“Hey,” she said.

It was a lot friendlier than get lost. Sam was so different from Alex, but there was something similar in their eyes—a sense of urgency churning just below the surface. It wasn’t easy thinking about Loki’s inheritance battling inside my two friends, trying to take control.

“You got feathers,” I noted.

She touched the one of the left. “A memory. And this one”—she tapped the right—“a thought. The ravens don’t really speak. They stare at you and let you stroke their plumage until the right feathers drop out.”

“So what do they mean?”

“This one, the memory…” Sam ran a finger down the barbs. “It’s ancestral. From my distant forefather, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan Ibn al-Abbas.”

“The guy who traveled among the Vikings.”

Sam nodded. “When I took the feather, I could see his journey like I was there. I learned a lot of things he never wrote about—things he didn’t think would go over well in the court of the caliph of Baghdad.”

“He saw Norse gods?” I guessed. “Valkyries? Giants?”

“And more. He also heard legends about the ship Naglfar. The place where it’s docked, the Eastern Shores, lies on the border between Jotunheim and Niflheim—the wildest, most remote part of either world. It’s completely inaccessible, locked in ice except for one day of the year—Midsummer.”

“So that’s when Loki will plan to set sail.”

“And that’s when we’ll have to be there to stop him.”

I craved an espresso, but my heart was racing so fast I doubted I needed one. “So what now? We just wait until summer?”

“It’s going to take time to find his location. And before we can leave, we’ll need to prepare, train, make sure we can beat him.”

I remembered what Alex had said: I’m not sure I can teach her.

“We’ll make it happen.” I tried to sound confident. “What did the second feather tell you?”

“That’s a thought,” Samirah said. “A plan to move forward. To reach the Eastern Shores, we’ll need to sail through the farthest branches of the World Tree, through the old Viking lands. That’s where giant magic is strongest, and where we’ll find the sea passage to Naglfar’s dock.”

“The old Viking lands.” My fingers tingled. I wasn’t sure whether it was with excitement or fear. “Scandinavia? I’m pretty sure there are flights from Logan.”

Sam shook her head. “We’ll have to go by sea, Magnus. The way the Vikings came here. Just as you can only enter Alfheim through the air, we can only reach the wild borderlands of the Eastern Shores through salt water and ice.”

“Right,” I said. “Because nothing is ever easy.”

“No, it’s not.”

Her tone was distracted, wistful. It made me realize I was being kind of insensitive. Sam had a lot of other problems going on besides her evil father.

“How’s Amir?” I asked.

She actually smiled. In the wind, her hijab seemed to shape-shift from waves to grassy fields to smooth glass.

“He’s very good,” she said. “He accepts me. He doesn’t want to cancel our engagement. You were right, Magnus. He’s a lot stronger than I gave him credit for.”

“That’s great. What about your grandparents, and his dad?”

Samirah laughed drily. “Well, we can’t have everything. They remember nothing about Loki’s visits. They know that Amir and I have made up. For now, all is well. I’m back to making excuses about why I have to rush off in the middle of class or after school. I’m doing a lot of ‘tutoring.’” She put the word in air quotes.

I remembered how weary she’d looked when I met her here six days ago. If anything, she looked more tired now.

“Something’s got to give, Sam,” I told her. “You’re running yourself ragged.”

“I know.” She put her hand over the feather of thought. “I’ve promised Amir—once we recapture Loki, once I am sure that Ragnarok has been averted, at least for the present, then I’m done.”

“Done?”

“I’m retiring from the Valkyries. I’ll devote myself to college, completing my pilot’s training, and…marriage, of course. When I’m eighteen, as we’ve planned.”

She was blushing like…well, like a bride.

I tried to ignore the hollow feeling in my chest. “And that’s what you want?”

“It’s entirely my choice. Amir supports it.”

“Valkyries can resign?”

“Of course. It’s not like being…ah…”

An einherji, she meant. I was one of the reborn. I could travel the worlds. I had amazing strength and stamina. But I would never again be a normal human. I would stay as I was, the same age forever—or until Ragnarok, whichever came first. (Certain restrictions may apply. Read your service agreement for full details.)

“Magnus, I know I brought you into this weird afterlife,” she said. “It’s not fair of me to leave you, but—”

“Hey.” I touched her hand just briefly. I knew that wasn’t Sam’s thing, but she and my cousin Annabeth were the closest thing I would ever have to sisters. “Samirah, I just want you to be happy. And, you know, if we can keep the Nine Worlds from burning before you leave, that would be nice, too.”

She laughed. “All right, then, Magnus. It’s a deal. We’ll need a ship. We’ll need a lot of things, actually.”

“Yeah.” Salt and ice seemed to be making themselves at home in my throat already. I remembered our encounter in January with the sea goddess Ran—how she’d warned me that I would be in trouble if I ever tried to sail the seas again.

“First we need advice,” I said. “About sailing across magical waters, fighting weird sea monsters, and not dying at the hands of a bunch of angry aquatic gods. Strangely enough, I know just the person to talk to.”

“Your cousin,” Sam guessed.

“Yeah,” I said. “Annabeth.”