Mor left me as soon as Raynor closed the door. Knowing my brothers were about to share Betha filled me with less jealousy than I expected. Maybe because I knew they loved her as much as I did, or maybe because Raynor and Grim needed her more in this moment than me.

And I would never be able to share her. The last thing I wanted when I finally got Betha beneath me was to see my brothers naked. When we were together, there would only be her and me.

My mind wandered as I walked through the woods toward the shore, the problem of Betha and the elders turning over in my thoughts.

Her show of strength astounded me. I was well grown before I was able to use ice and wind as she had. The magic she wielded seemed instinctual and linked to her emotions. Each time they’d surfaced had been in moments she’d been overwhelmed or angry.

Thinking back, her powers manifested most often when my brothers and I fought. I chuckled. No doubt, we were going to try our skaoi’s patience.

The larger problem continued to loom. Appealing to compassion didn’t work with the elders. They responded to strength, and they wouldn’t see Betha’s potential, but her weakness, namely, being human.

Not that I would change her for anything.

It was Betha’s humanity which added to her appeal. Jötnar rarely changed. Our technology was an example of our stubbornness. It had taken years to bring power this far north. Many continued to light lamps or make tallow candles rather than use generators like the ones we had at our cabin.

A beam of sunlight reflecting off the snow distracted me, and I stopped short. This clearing was my favorite spot. At first glance, it seemed to be buried deep in the forest, but it was actually close to the cabin and the shore. If we felled trees to the north and east, we could clear a path and have a view of the white-capped waves.

This was where, when I allowed myself to dream, I imagined building a home for myself. At the edge of the clearing was a fallen tree. Seating myself upon it, I envisioned our future. I would use smooth rocks from the shore to build the foundation and floor, and then the twins and I would fell as many trees as needed to make our skaoi the perfect home. In my mind’s eye, the roof sloped, overhanging a seating area where Betha would sit and watch our children play. I pictured a path from our door to the sea, lined with shells, white against the green grass.

Visualizing my home passed the time easily. As the day had grown colder, my skin had hardened, taking on the blue-white luster of my ice. I stood, stretching my arms over my head, and frowned. Had I wasted my time? I’d built my skaoi a home she may never live in if I didn’t solve the problem of the elders.

As if my thoughts conjured them, at the edge of the wood, the elders appeared. Even compared to me, they were huge. With their advanced age, they stayed in their ice forms, a form meant to intimidate.

The elders were indistinguishable as male and female; they merely were. With their powerful magic, they lived well beyond any other Jötnar. These were the original settlers to these lands. The ones who broke with their villages and tribes and sailed across the sea in open boats to make their home here.

Their children, and their children’s children were so far in the past, they were no longer even a memory.

For a split second, I considered talking to them, making my case, but then dismissed it. They could well be a distraction, and others could be—

Shielding myself, I tore through the woods, back to my home. The cold breath of their magic raked along my heels and back, and I redoubled my speed. A blue smudge formed in the corner of my eye, and an instant later, cold arms wrapped around my waist, throwing me to the ground. Leaves and dirt kicked up around me, covering my face and landing in my mouth. I spit them out and jumped to my feet. I didn’t want to fight. I wanted to run. Betha needed me. The twins would need me.

If only I had the same ability as my brothers. Their connection, while not allowing them to communicate, was strong enough to send impressions or warnings. Diverted as I’m sure they were by Betha, they’d never sense the elders coming.

A second elder joined the first, circling around me, cutting off the path to the cabin. I feinted to one side, flinging a wave of ice and water when they moved to intercept me. One of them roared, but I had the opening I needed. I took it, sprinting to Betha.

Crashing through the trees, I arrived in time to see four more elders, hands lifted toward the sky, directing their ice toward the cabin. Raynor yelled, his voice hoarse, and I knew whatever it was the elders had done was focused on Betha.

Warriors like me trained their whole life for battle, but four, no—behind me I heard the other two arrive—six Jötnar elders against one warrior was certain death.

It didn’t matter though.

Deep inside me, something came to life. A cold blue spark. It hadn’t been there before Betha, but fueled by my rage at seeing the elders attack her and hearing my brothers cry out for her, the spark burst—white hot. It chased my ice through the air and hit the elders. Wherever the spark landed, it melted the ice.

As one, the elders faced me, expressions a combination of surprise and horror, but I didn’t let myself think. I aimed spark after spark at them until they forgot about Betha and turned their anger on me.

Six arms raised in the sky, and about me, thunder rumbled, and the wind howled. They were calling down the elements. In a moment, I’d be nothing but ash.

But I didn’t let it slow me. I used this new power, hitting them as many times as I could, moving from one to the other only to find when I hit one, the last one’s ice had reformed.

It was hopeless. For me.

Not for Betha. If my brothers were smart, they’d have taken advantage of this skirmish and rushed our skaoi to safety.

A blast of electricity hit the ground next to me, and then another, and another, filling the air with the smell of ozone. The elders froze the air, sucking up the moisture, turning it to snow, and the next flash of lightning hit the cabin, igniting it. Betha!

I tried to run, but I was struck by the successive bolt. All control left me, and the ice melted from my body, leaving me writhing on the ground.

The flames moved fast, faster than was natural. Unable to move my limbs, I tracked the line of fire skipping along the roof and down the eaves, consuming everything.

Betha! Inside my head, I screamed for my skaoi over and over. Please be alive. Please have run.

“Fenris!” her beautiful voice cried. I shut my eyes.

I wanted her alive, but I didn’t want her here.