“You’re not going anywhere without me,” Laurie insisted. Fen might think he was keeping her safe by leaving her behind, but she knewthat he wasn’t safe without her. Between his temper and his recklessness, there was no way he could avoid trouble when he was here in Blackwell. Once he was on the road running from other wolves and who knows what—or who—else, he’d be in trouble she couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The lighter died again.

“Why would I risk you getting hurt?” Fen asked. She heard the fear in his voice that he always thought he hid, and she understood, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t letting fear—his or hers—stop her. He needed her.

Laurie tried to think of an argument. She felt like she was missing something obvious, and then it hit her. “I met Odin,” she blurted. “Oh. Wow. I thought he was just a weirdo, but I met Odin. Remember? I told you I met a stranger who acted like he knew me.” She filled them in on her whole conversation with Odin and was surprised by how quiet Fen still was when she was done. “Fen?”

Fen flicked the lighter on one more time.

“I’m coming with you, Fen,” she said. “I know what Odin looks like, and he said I’d see him again, so I’m supposedto come.”

Fen opened his mouth to say something, no doubt an objection, but she folded her arms over her chest and used the one thing she knew he couldn’t ignore: “What if the Raiders come back, and I’m here alone? They know who I am, and I’m not a wolf. How am I supposed to fight them on my own?”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Matt said. “We can take care of her.”

“Take care of me?” Laurie sputtered.

“Yeah,” Fen snarled. “If you’re coming, next time there’s a fight you stay out of it. If they’re up there right now, you let Thorsen and me handle it. Or you can stay here, where it’s safer.”

“Safer?” Laurie echoed. “Did you listen to anythingI said?”

“About as well as you did to what I said,” Fen muttered.

They sat in tense silence for a few moments until Matt pointed out, “Sounds like the storm’s ended. Let’s get out of here.”

Cautiously, they started up the stairs. Matt was in front, and Fen was behind her.

When they stepped outside, they stopped and looked at the destruction all around. A lot of the shields on the side of the ship were thrashed. Trees were uprooted. A car was overturned. The stop sign at the intersection had been flung halfway down the block.

Laurie didn’t see any wolves, but people were already appearing, and she wasn’t sure which ones were the ones who became wolves. Fen hadn’t technically agreed to her coming, but she wasn’t going to wait for him to stop being difficult. She looked at him and said, “We need to get out of here before the wolves find us. We’ll stop at home, grab some clothes and whatever money we have, and then figure out where to go.” She glanced at Matt, who was now squirming. “Look, if you’d rather tell your dad, we can—”

“No,” he interrupted. “It’s just… I can’t go home.”

Laurie and Fen exchanged a look.

“You’re a Thorsen. Just walk in, get your stuff, and pretend like you’re going to the gym or something.” Fen shook his head. “I know you’ve probably never told a lie in your perfect life, but I can talk you through it. Easy as falling off a pedestal.”

Laurie hid her sigh of relief. If Fen was focused on Matt, he’d stop being a pain about her going with them. She felt a little bad for Matt, but better Matt having to put up with Fen’s teasing than her needing to fight about being left behind in Blackwell.

“I’m okay with lying, Fen,” Matt was saying. “It’s just… My family…” He took a deep breath. “They don’t expect me to kill the Midgard Serpent. They expect me to die. And, apparently, they’re okay with that.”

For a moment, no one spoke. Fen’s characteristic rudeness vanished, and Laurie wasn’t at all sure what to say. The Thorsens were perfect; Matt had a family, a big family, who treated him like he could do no wrong. Carefully, she repeated, “They’re okay with you dying.”

“They told me I was going to be the one to stop Ragnarök, but I overheard my grandfather”—he paused, and then he spoke really quickly, all his words running together, as he looked at them both—“when I was with one of the Norns. My grandfather and the town council wantRagnarök to happen. Granddad wants me to fight the Midgard Serpent. He wants me to defeat it—so the monsters don’t take over the world—but he expects me to die trying, just like in the myth. Then an ice age will come, and the world will be reborn, fresh and new.”

“After almost everyone dies. That’s messed up.” Fen shook his head. Then he looked at Laurie and said, “We’ll go to your place first. It’s closest. He and I will stay outside. Aunt Janey won’t let you go anywhere with me. Then we’ll stop by the garage for my stuff.”

They didn’t have to worry: her mom wasn’t home, so Laurie left a note and they headed to Kris’ place. Leaving Blackwell seemed scary, but the other descendants weren’t here—and the Raiders were. Plus, there was the whole Matt’s-family-wanting-the-end-of-the-world problem. Leaving home was necessary.

But she was still nervous, and she was sure the boys were, too.

Once they had backpacks and a couple of sleeping bags they’d borrowed from Kris’ garage, she turned to the boys and asked, “Okay, where to?”

The boys exchanged a look. Neither spoke. Day one and they were already lacking any sort of plan. They had no idea what to do. They were kids and supposed to figure this all out… because Matt said his family and some women claimed he and Fen were to defeat monsters. It was crazy. No one was saying it out loud, but she suspected they were all thinking it.

Fen turns into a wolf.

There was that one detail, proof that the crazy was real, that kept her from thinking it was all a great big joke. The rest of her “proof” was just her instincts and a conversation with a blue-haired boy. It wasn’t much. The wolf thing was real, though. She’d seen it.

After a few moments, Matt said, “I can do this.”

“Riiiight.” Fen drew out the word. “Didn’t we already decide that?”

“Not that,” Matt said. “Maybe I can…” He stood straighter. “I’ll talk to my brothers. They’ll know about this. They’re smart. They can help.”

“Are you sure?” Laurie asked.

Matt nodded, but she didn’t believe him, and from the look on Fen’s face, neither did he.

“I’ll go with you,” Fen suggested. “You”—he looked pointedly at Laurie—“need to stay out of sight in case the Raiders come back.”

She wanted to argue, but she was pretty sure that Fen wouldn’t need much of an excuse to decide to leave her behind. She nodded as meekly as she was able. “Fine.”

This time, she added in her head. I’ll hide and waitthis time.

Fen and Matt both looked tense, but she knew they were trying to hide it. They had a start of a plan of sorts. For now, that would have to be enough.

This is going to be a disaster. The world is going to end because we don’t know what to do.

TEN

MATT

“NIGHT FRIGHT”

Matt stood on the corner, looking at his house. For the first time in his life, he realized how much it looked like every other house on the block. Each was painted a different color, but otherwise, they were identical—split-level houses with single-car garages and exactly the same size lawns, sometimes even the same flowers now dying in the same size gardens.

“Come on,” Fen whispered. “We don’t have all night.”

Matt tried to hurry, but his feet felt like they were made of lead. Shame burned through him. Some champion he was, too frightened to even face his family. That was nothing new, but—like looking down this street—it felt different now. Maybe it was because Fen was here, and he was seeing things like Fen would, just a bunch of nice houses, all in a row. Just an ordinary family living in the third one down. Nothing special. Nothing to be afraid of. Not for a kid who was destined to fight a giant serpent.