I opened my eyes slowly. Vali’s face hovered in front of me, his brow furrowed, his golden eyes dark with concern.

“Karen?”

I shook my head. I was now sitting on the ice instead of leaning against Vali’s chest, and the air was so cold my nose stung with every breath. “Shit, I’m sorry,” I said.

Vali offered me his hand, and I took it. He wrapped his arms around me as I stood and gave me a long, sweet kiss that made my body flush with heat, despite the cold air.

“Do you not remember?” he whispered.

“I remember. The black wolf, by the wood pile. Of course, I remember.” I pulled away and ran my hand along his cheek. “I just can’t believe it was you. I thought—I honestly thought I invented you, as something to cheer me up during the worst time of my life.”

Vali laughed. “My beautiful Karen, I thought the same. And then, when I found you again, I thought it must have been the happiest day of my long life.”

“Found me?” My breath caught in my throat as I realized what he was saying. “Oh, Vali! Did you follow me? Did you follow me to Montana?”

His arms tightened around my waist. “I did. I’m not sure I even realized what I was doing, but yes. I searched for you. I spent years searching for you.”

His lips were on mine before I could say anything, his tongue deep inside me, his hands running the length of my back. I moaned in his mouth as my hips rubbed against his, my body trembling under his touch. When he pulled away, the cold air burned my lungs as I tried to catch my breath.

“Karen,” he growled.

I put my finger on his lips. “Vali, any other time, I would fuck your brains out right here. But it’s goddamn cold, and I’m freezing already.”

He sighed and kissed my finger so slowly and sensually that I started to seriously weigh the risk of frostbite if I ripped off my clothes.

“Fine,” he sighed. “What now?”

I shivered in his arms, trying to press more of my body against his warmth. Something hard bit into my hip. My cell phone.

“Oh, crap,” I yelped. “Colin and Zeke!”

“Who?”

Vali frowned as I dug into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. The low battery icon flashed weakly in the top corner, but at least I had two bars of cell signal. I pressed Zeke’s name as my stomach tied itself in knots. The phone rang hollowly against my ear. Come on, Zeke, I thought. Please at least have the sense to get out of Yellowstone in the middle of winter...

“Boss Lady!” Zeke cheered.

“Thank God,” I gasped. “You’re okay?”

“Uh, yeah, considering. How the hell are you?”

“I’m okay—”

“Did you find him?” Zeke asked, cutting me off.

“Yes,” I said, smiling at Vali’s hopelessly confused expression. “I found him.”

“Well, nice. That’s good and all. But, uh, Boss Lady, I got some news. And it ain’t good.”

My phone gave a sad little ping, warning me that my battery was dying. My heart sank. “Is it Colin? Or our funding?”

“Nah, none of that. Colin’s just fine, and the NSF’s got our asses covered for the next two fiscal years. Boss Lady, it’s the park.”

Zeke took a deep breath over the phone as my phone pinged again. My mouth went dry.

“I take it you haven’t exactly been keeping up on the news?” he said.

“No.” I frowned. “Actually, I’m not even sure what day it is.”

I thought that might make Zeke laugh, but his voice was deep and serious. “There’s a new hot spring bubbling up in West Yellowstone,” he said.

“What? Zeke, that’s not even within the caldera boundary!”

“Yeah, I know that. It’s swallowed half the goddamn town. And the grizzly bears are coming out of the park. There was one walking right down 191 into Big Sky, middle of the day and everything.”

I shook my head. “They should be hibernating right now.”

“It’s legit, Boss Lady. It’s been all over the news. People are freaking the fuck out. There’s, like, twelve different TV stations in Bozeman right now. John Rodriguez was interviewed by NBC, CBS, and the motherfuckin’ BBC, trying to argue that all this crazy cat crap could be part of a natural migration cycle, or some other bullshit.”

I did my best to ignore the absolutely irrational pang of jealousy that I wasn’t being interviewed by the BBC.

My phone pinged, and Zeke continued. “Uh, Boss Lady, I’m guessing you know what’s actually going on, don’t you?” he said.

“Maybe,” I said. “Listen, I’ve got to let you go. My phone’s losing it. Be careful, okay?”

Zeke’s response was cut off as my cell phone died in my trembling hands. I met Vali’s eye. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Níðhöggr,” Vali said.

“We didn’t stop him.”

“Of course we didn’t,” Vali said. “I doubt we even slowed him down.”

My gut clenched into a hard knot of fear. “What the hell are we going to do now?”

“We need to get you somewhere warm,” Vali said, taking my cold hands in his.

“Shit,” I whispered. There was an obvious solution to that problem, at least. “Do you want to meet my parents?”

****

MY FEET CRUNCHED THROUGH the ice-crusted snow as we climbed out of the ash grove and up to the woodpile behind my parents’ house. A thin column of white smoke rose from the chimney above the two bay garage at the bottom of the driveway. The McDonald’s Auto Repair sign glistened beneath its icy casing. I pictured Dad bent over the open hood of some ancient rust-bucket held together with salvaged parts and sheer willpower. Smoke rose from the chimney of the house behind as well, so they must be here. In one place or the other.

I faced Vali. He looked very tall and wild, dressed entirely in black leather, with Hrotti’s enormous sheath strapped across his back. He could not possibly be more different from Barry Richardson.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered under my breath.

“Let’s try the shop first,” I said, turning toward the garage.

Vali nodded. He looked quite stern, and possibly just a little intimidated.

We picked our steps carefully down the ice-slicked driveway, trying to stay on the patches where Dad had scattered ashes from the woodstove for traction on the ice. The little silver bell above the door to McDonald’s Auto Repair jingled as I pushed the door open, and the smell of oil, exhaust, and rust enveloped me. An ancient Chevy pickup squatted in the first bay, and a space heater clanked away in the corner. I coughed to clear my throat.

“Hello?” I said.

Mom stood up from the desk. She met my eyes, then sat back down again very quickly.

“Karen?” she asked, almost to herself. “Scott! Come here!”

The old duct-tape-encrusted creeper seat squealed and clattered as Dad slid out from under the Chevy. He sat up and stared at me, wiping his hands reflexively on the rag tucked in his belt.

“Karen?” he said. “Is everything okay?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“Mr. and Mrs. McDonald?” Vali said from behind me.

Shit! What the hell was I going to say about the enormous fucking sword on his back? I took a deep breath.

“I’m Vali Lokisen,” he said. “I’m so pleased to meet you. Karen’s told me so much about you.”

Vali stepped around me to shake my mother’s hand, and I stared at him, trying to keep my mouth from falling open. He was wearing dark jeans and a pressed chambray shirt. His long, dark hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. He looked entirely... normal. I hardly realized he was still talking.

“I offered to surprise her with a New Year’s vacation to anywhere she wanted,” Vali said. My parents were staring at him with their mouths open. “And she told me she wanted to see you.”

“Oh, Karen!” Mom pushed away from the desk and walked over to me, grabbing my arms. “Oh, honey, you didn’t need to do that!”

“Uh...” I coughed, trying to tear my eyes off of Vali.

The room filled with a sharp electronic trill. I frowned.

“That sounds like my phone,” I said. “But the battery just died.”

With everyone staring at me, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. A name flashed across the glossy black surface.

“It’s... it’s Caroline,” I said, meeting Vali’s gaze. “Caroline Laufeyiarson.”

He shrugged. “Take it.”

“Just a minute. Sorry!” I said to my parents, who were still gaping openly at Vali.

I pushed open the door, listening to the bell chime as I stepped back into the cold. Once the door was safely closed behind me, I swiped the screen, raising the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hello!” Caroline’s bright voice came over the line, somehow transmitting clearly despite my phone’s dead battery. “Karen, are you okay?”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Yeah. I’m fine. Listen, this isn’t a great time, actually—”

“Oh, right,” she said. “I know. I just thought it’d be a bit, you know, abrupt. Not to warn you.”

“Warn me?” Something cold danced up the back of my neck.

Caroline coughed delicately over the phone. “Behind you,” she said.

Very slowly, I pressed End Call and slipped my phone back into my pocket. Then I turned around.

Loki stood next to the door of McDonald’s Auto Repair, his arms folded over his chest and his bright red hair shimmering in the icy air. He raised an eyebrow.

“Hi,” Loki said.