That Friday, Sigyn requested Jess see her in her office, and for once, Jess was not thrilled for a one-on-one moment. Climbing the stairs, a million thoughts racing through her head. Did she know Jess had seen her in the shed? Was this about keeping her quiet?

  Sigyn held the door open for her and then sat on the edge of the desk, showing off her long legs beneath a leather skirt. "I wanted to take the time to commemorate you surviving your first week of work. How do you feel?"

  Jess had to snap herself out of staring at Sigyn's legs. "Uh...a little tired, but good, I guess."

  "You've impressed me. That's not easy for anyone to do. On behalf of myself and Kark, we're really grateful to have you here."

  "Uh...thank you." Unsure how to respond to the praise, Jess fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater.

  "It got me thinking: dedication like that doesn't come from nothing." She fixed Jess in her cool gaze. "Tell me more about your aspirations."

  Jess' mind went completely blank, as if she had never had a thought before in her life. "I don't know...I like writing, but that's just a hobby."

  "What's stopping you?"

  Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a call from her sister, so Sigyn went up the stairs to her room to offer Jess some privacy. The call went on for ten minutes, and when Sigyn returned to the office, Jess was barely holding back tears.

  "My sister got invited to a party tonight," Jess sniffled. "She can't pick me up, and my dad's working late tonight. I'm gonna have to book a room."

  Though the call had ended, Jess kept looking down at her phone as if expecting her sister to call back and say it was all a joke. But she didn't. Sigyn was underprepared for how much it hurt watching Jess fight so hard to keep from bursting out crying. She couldn't fathom carrying out the rest of her plan as if nothing had happened.

  "Well...this is a problem." With a straight face, Sigyn returned to her desk. "We're completely booked for the weekend. You'll have to stay with me tonight." She met Jess' surprise with a reassuring smile. "Where I come from we take care of our own. At least...I do."

  At the end of her shift, Jess made her way through the 'employee's only' stairwell to the secret third floor hallway, passing a couple of supply closets on the way to Sigyn's room. A blast of cold air assaulted her as she opened the door. The room had the same cold leather and dark wood and stone aesthetic of the rest of the lodge, only now in an open penthouse space. Jess had to admit - it was the best view in the entire lodge, but she couldn't enjoy it through her chattering teeth. It must have been as cold as the outside, and then she realized why: the windows were open.

  Sigyn walked in just as she closed the last one and apologized, admitting it was something she often forgot. She turned on the fireplace in the living room and gave Jess a few extra blankets to wrap around her shoulders.

  "Hungary?" She pulled out a large chunk of meat from the fridge and set it on the center island. "I just learned a new recipe for reindeer tenderloin." The outside looked dry and crispy, but a slice from the steak knife revealed a secret layer of soft pink meat that made Jess want to gag. She wasn't sure if the red liquid pooling at the bottom of the plate was blood or not, but she didn't want to find out.

  "I'm vegetarian," she said, declining as politely as she could.

  "Right! I forgot. You don't agree with killing animals. Here." Sigyn grabbed another plate, this one full of vegetables. Before handing it off to Jess, she hesitated. "Unless you also have a problem with stealing their food."

  Once their meals were heated, they sat across from each other at the island. She was careful not to look at Sigyn's plate which reminded her of the wolf head she had seen.

  As if noticing the dilemma in her eyes, Sigyn said: "I'm not the vicious killer you think I am."

  "Then why did you do it?" Jess held up her empty hands. "I'm not recording or anything. I just wanna know."

  "Like I said: it's kill or be killed. I don't hate or love animals the same way I don't hate or love oxygen, or water. It's a dependent coexistence." She pulled down the sleeve of her blouse to expose a long red scratch across her collarbone and down her chest. "Those wolves were sent by someone who's looking for me, and they will find me, unless I get them first."

  It never puzzled Jess why the wolf had attacked Sigyn and not her when she had shouted at it. As impossible as a trained 'attack-wolf' seemed, it made a strange kind of sense. If the wolves were some sort of special breed, that could have been why the lab hadn't found a match for the DNA. "Who would send wolves after you?"

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  "This might come as a shock but I'm not well-liked by everyone."

  "No! You?" Jess playfully responded to her sarcasm. "Why haven't you told the police?"

  Sigyn sighed. "The police can't help me. It's a bit complicated, but nothing you should worry about. But tell me more about your writing. What have you accomplished so far?"

  Jess turned her focus to pushing vegetables back and forth across her plate. "I've mostly just written for myself. I don't like sharing it with anyone..."

  Jess remembered last weekend, and all the laughter her sister subjected her to. Without saying a word, Sigyn picked up on her shame.

  "You know," Sigyn said, "I grew up with a family who loved reminding me what a huge disappointment I was. I wasted years trying to live up to their expectations. The hard truth is, they're never going to pull their heads out of their asses long enough to think beyond what they think is best for you. You have to cut them off, trust your own instincts, and find your own way."

  Jess shook her head. "I can't. My dad and my sister are all I have. I don't wanna be alone."

  Alone.

  Sigyn hadn't thought about that word in a long time. "Well...I'm doing fine..." She trailed off as an empty reality sunk into her bones.

  They ate the rest of their dinner in silence.

  Sigyn lent Jess one of her silk nightgowns to sleep in. It was a loose fit, but still comfortable, and the light kiss of the silk against her skin felt like heaven. She couldn't resist a small twirl in the bathroom mirror. The icing on the cake was burrowing into the clean bedsheets and pulling the weighted comforter over her shoulders to shield from the chilly air.

  Once Jess was settled in bed with a fire in the hearth to keep warm, Sigyn threw on a pair of shoes and left, which slightly disappointed Jess who had expected her to crawl into the other side of the bed. Before falling asleep, she turned to her phone on her nightstand and scrolled through her album to see the photos and videos of Sigyn's closet.

  Her thumb hovered over the delete button.

  Sigyn was no criminal, and the true secret Jess had stumbled upon was so much bigger than a few illegal guns. She couldn't turn in the photos, but once they were deleted, they'd be gone forever. Both options felt too permanent.

  She put her phone back on the nightstand and closed her eyes.

  "You're going soft," Angrboea mumbled, resting her head on Sigyn's shoulder. It was just about after breakfast, but they were both still tired, not having slept much last night. "You let one in, and suddenly you're a sucker for all their sob stories."

  Sigyn adjusted herself on the couch to be more comfortable. "She got left here by her family, I was just doing a nice thing."

  "Sure. And what happened to 'getting rid of her'?"

  "I can still do that if I need, but we're fine for now. She didn't even ask anything about what she saw. Like I said: they'd sooner believe they're going crazy then believe in the likes of us."

  An irritating, grating voice drew everyone's attention to the front counter, where Kark was dealing with an angry customer. Sigyn groaned, pushing herself up from her comfy spot next to Bo and walked over. "Is there a problem here?"

  Elizabeth turned her venom on Sigyn. "Where the hell is my sister? She's not answering her phone and your employee-" she shoved a finger in Kark's face - "won't give me her room key!"

  Sigyn took a step forward, angling her body to force Elizabeth away from Kark. "That's because Jess is in my room taking a shower, and I don't allow just anybody access."

  "You spend the night with my little sister?"

  "It's more than what you've done for her in the past 24 hours," Sigyn shot back with a smug look.

  Elizabeth cocked her head to the side. "What did you say to me?"

  She reminded Sigyn of a little kitten, puffing itself up and arching its back to look big and scary, but only looking funnier. Guests were giving them concerned looks as they passed by. She had just about enough of Elizabeth being a loud-mouthed American. "Maybe you can get away with treating your sister like shit, but if you act like this to my employees, I will put you outside."

  "You don't know shit about my sister!" Elizabeth growled.

  Sigyn's fingers twitched, begging for an excuse. They were nose to nose. It would be devastatingly easy to break her perfect little face. Her restraint wobbled on a cliff edge, needing only the tiniest push to send it over. Poor Elizabeth was egging her on, thinking she actually stood a chance. Until Sigyn's eyes flashed white.

  Elizabeth jolted back from the counter without Sigyn ever touching her. Before Sigyn could make the first move, Kark reached over the counter and dug his fingernails into her wrist to remind her where she was. She blinked and her eyes went back to normal, but it was too late for Elizabeth to unsee what had happened.

  "Sorry!" Jess called, running down the stairs. "I didn't see your texts, I was-"

  "Get in the car!" Elizabeth ordered, keeping one eye on Sigyn as she shoved her sister out the door.

  Once they were gone, Angrboea stood up and gave a loud, sarcastic round of applause. "Look on the bright side - you didn't shove an icicle up her ass!"

  Sigyn rubbed her forehead. "I don't know why I let her get to me like that."

  "That's what happens! Spend too much time around humans, and they ruin everything!"

  "Unless you're Loki," Kark joked. "He mingled with humans for years, and never let them get the best of him."

  Both of the girls shot Kark a dangerous look, and he quickly made up an excuse to go somewhere else and check on something.

  "I take it you haven't heard from him?" Angrboea asked Sigyn.

  "I take it you haven't killed him yet?" She glanced at Bo's belt, where she stored away her knives, and remembered she was missing her most prized weapon. She must have felt the most vulnerable she'd ever been without her sword at her disposal. "I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I know how important that sword is to you. It's just...you've been at this for so long. I'm worried about you. I just want you to be happy."

  "You're not a mother," Bo answered with a somber smile. "You wouldn't understand. But I want you to be happy, too." She took her hand. "As long as we're stuck here, that can't happen. This world is fit for us anymore."

  Sigyn pulled her hand away. It was no use arguing with Angrboea: they were fundamentally different. One was a warrior who could die happy as long as they died fighting for what she believed.

  The other could not even face death, despite it turning into her only option.