By the time the sun fell behind the trees I was seriously regretting my decision to stay on the beach. The rocky strand had narrowed to a thin strip between jagged cliffs and crashing breakers, just perfect for twisting an ankle, and I was growing increasingly certain the damn tide was coming in. From the looks of the littoral zone along the cliffs, the water at high tide would be well over my head. A wave surged over the rocks and up my ankles, dumping cold seawater into my boots.

“Fuck this,” I muttered, struggling to keep my balance while the wave clattered back to the ocean. “Vali must’ve climbed the cliffs.”

A low, soft moan echoed across the dark rocks. My heart stopped. I stared at the slick, seaweed-covered strip of rocks in front of me. An enormous, half-submerged boulder blocked the way.

“Vali?” I called.

There was no response. In the still air, my heartbeat seemed loud enough to drown out the constant murmur of the hungry tide. Slowly, I scrambled across the rocks to the boulder. It was too slippery to climb, and I’d get drenched going around it.

That low, pained moan came again, rippling across the water. Adrenaline shot through my body, and my exhaustion evaporated.

“Vali!” I called. “Hang on, I’m coming!”

I edged into the waves. My hands scrabbled across the seaweed covered boulder, looking for purchase. The ocean was freezing. The shoreline dropped off quickly, and I sank up to my waist before I reached the other side of the boulder. The waves rose to my breasts, making my jacket puff and float around me. My teeth were chattering violently by the time I dragged myself around the rock and out of the water. Behind the boulder was a small, sheltered cove of broken rocks and strange echoes, already knee-deep in water. It seemed deserted in the fading light.

“Vali?” My voice trembled.

“Leave.”

I saw him the moment he spoke. He was sitting chest-deep in the water, the scabbard of his great sword Hrotti across his folded knees. His hair was drenched, and his red-rimmed eyes were wide and wild.

“Vali, oh God, I’m so glad—” I stumbled toward him.

He exploded to his feet, leaping backward until his body pressed against the cliff face. In an instant Hrotti was in his hands, its blade glowing a soft blue as it pointed directly at my heart. Some distant, rational part of my brain noticed his motions were quick and smooth; physically, he looked fine.

But Níðhöggr doesn’t hurt you physically.

“Don’t touch me,” he growled.

“Vali, it’s me. Karen.”

“Go. Away!” His eyes burned as he stared at me down the length of his sword.

I swallowed and stepped closer to him. The water in the sunken cove rose to my hips. Vali’s sword remained level, its wicked blade inches from my chest. I held my hands up at my side.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said.

“I’ll hurt you,” Vali said. His voice was strange and distant, as if it were coming from far away.

“Vali, I know about your brother Nari. I’m so sorry. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I killed him,” he hissed, his voice low and thick. “I kill the ones I love. I’m a monster.”

“No. Vali, stop it.” I tried to ignore the way Hrotti’s blade trembled in his hand as it moved closer to my heart. “You’re not a monster.”

“Of course, I’m a monster. I was imprisoned as a monster.” His sword touched my chest and sank silently into the center of my jacket. “And, when the sea claims me, I’ll die as a monster.”

I had a sudden vision of Vali’s body claimed by the sea, his long hair drifting in the current, his beautiful, golden eyes darkened forever. Hot, righteous anger surged through my frozen body, choking whatever reasonable argument I was about to make. After all I’d come through, after literally facing down a dragon, I was not going to watch Vali drown.

“Oh, stop it!” I yelled.

I grabbed the point of Vali’s stupid sword and pushed it away, although it burned my palm. My jacket ripped open with a low growl. I ignored the sting of pain in my hand and stalked toward him, cold sea water swirling and gurgling around my waist.

“You think you’re a monster? You? Because you were trapped? Because you were tortured, and forced to do something terrible? That doesn’t make you a monster, Vali! That makes you the victim of monsters!” I screamed over the dark rumbles of the ocean.

Vali trembled. He stared at the sword in his hand like he’d never seen it before.

“I’ve killed people,” he said. “Men. Women. I killed those who helped my father.” His voice echoed off the rocks. Tears streaked his cheeks, shimmering in what little remained of the day’s light.

“So what?” I yelled. “So fucking what? You want to know what I did? You want to know what Níðhöggr showed me?”

Vali stood silent and motionless. His eyes looked very large in his pale, tear-streaked face.

“I killed myself!” I screamed.

I paused, shoulders trembling, my breath catching in my throat. Vali stared at me with his mouth open.

“You killed your brother, but you were under a spell. You’d just been transformed, and you killed Nari as a wolf. But me... I planned it out. I planned it for weeks. I calculated the lethal dose myself, then doubled it just to be sure. And I was not under someone’s goddamn spell.”

My vision blurred. I wiped the back of my hand across my eyes, but it just encouraged a new flood of tears. Barry’s face filled my mind, the way he’d held my shoulders in the mud under the crabapple tree with his glasses askew and his shoulders heaving.

“Don’t you dare tell me you’re the monster,” I said, although my voice was already half strangled with tears. I closed my eyes, blocking out Vali’s wide eyes and open mouth.

An enormous, cold wave slammed into my shoulders, driving me face-first into the ocean. Seawater stung my eyes and my knees sang with pain as they crashed against the rocks. I shoved off the bottom and gasped as my head broke through the water. Saltwater stung my eyes. My feet clattered against the rocks, trying to find purchase. The wave was receding, dragging me into the black ocean with it.

Strong hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me to my feet. Vali’s tear-streaked face came into focus.

“Karen, you have to leave. You’ll die here.”

I threw myself against his chest, digging my fingers into his hair. “No,” I growled.

Some distant, rational part of my brain noted that leaving wasn’t much of a possibility. Vali and I were pressed against the enormous cliff face, hemmed in by boulders whose tops already swirled with white-capped breakers. Even if I were a strong swimmer, and I wasn’t, the icy waves would smash me against those rocks if I tried to get back to shore. A broken femur would probably be the best-case scenario.

The ocean surged again, lifting my entire body, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

“I’m not leaving without you,” I said.

His arms tightened around me. “Karen, no,” he moaned. “You can’t. I—I don’t want to lose you.”

The next wave hit the back of my neck, lifting both of us. My mouth filled with cold salt water. Vali staggered backward, somehow managing to keep his balance on the slick rocks. I closed my eyes and pressed my face against his neck, feeling his pulse pound against my lips. Oh, damn, I’d missed him! The wild, dark desperation I’d felt in the cave swelled again inside me, and I held him so tightly my arms ached.

“I won’t leave you,” I said as the freezing wave receded. “Vali, I love you!”

His entire body trembled. The air began to tremble as well, whistling and pulling at our clothes. I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to his strong body as the world around us was ripped apart.

We fell together.