Laurie wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Fen quite so friendly with a stranger, but Baldwin was really likable. The whole extreme sports thing would appeal to Fen, too. He wasn’t exactly bookish. She glanced at Matt, who was beckoning her. They went into the foyer.

Matt stared directly at her and said, “In the myths, Loki kills him.”

When she didn’t reply, Matt continued, “Loki gave Balder’s blind brother a spear of mistletoe, and that spear killed him. That’s the main version. There are others. They also say that the gods tried to get Balder back from Hel—the lady in charge of the afterlife—because everyone was so upset. Hel said that if everyone mourned Balder, he could go back to life, but Loki wouldn’t cry at all, so Hel wouldn’t let Balder go. Loki was responsible for Balder’s death and his staying dead. But that’s the real Loki. It doesn’t mean anything for us.” He looked toward the kitchen, where they could hear Fen and Baldwin laughing. When he continued, he sounded almost angry, as if she had argued with him. “The Seer and my family say the myths are true. After everything we’ve seen, I believe some of it is, but we’re ourselves, not god clones. The Norns say we aren’t destined to lose, so that means the rest doesn’t have to happen like it does in the myths, either.”

Laurie weighed the details out in her mind. She wasn’t entirely sure what to think of a lot of things, but she was certain that they could win. What would be the point in doing all the stuff they were if she thought they were going to be trapped by what the myth said happened? That was just a story; this was real.She called, “Do you have any brothers, Baldwin?”

“No.” Baldwin came into the foyer, swiping at his floppy hair as he did so. “Do you want to borrow some clothes? I can throw yours in the washing machine.”

They both smiled at him. He really was the nicest person she’d ever met. She liked him, but it was sort of the way she liked Matt—with the sense that he could be a brother, that he was important to her the way Fen was. She didn’t feel that way about Reyna or Ray, though, and that made her nervous… more so because Reyna was the only other girl. She’d mostly had boys for friends, because of Fen, but still, she wantedto have girls as friends, too.

As she followed Baldwin, he chattered about the pictures on the wall as they went upstairs, the first time he’d jumped out of the second-floor window, and something about trying to order a sword on eBay, which had gotten him grounded.

Upstairs, he grabbed a T-shirt and jeans to lend her—and a belt to keep them from falling off. At the door to the bathroom, he pointed at the towels. “I’m going to see how many pizzas Mom left in the freezer. Probably better than going anywhere, right?”

“Yes, please.” She yawned. “It’s been a long few days.”

“Right.” He walked away humming.

It was a blurry couple of hours of everyone getting food and claiming spots to sleep. Matt had tried to talk about the next part of the plan, but Fen had threatened to bite him if he didn’t give them a few hours of peace. The twins appeared to be in a daze over everything, and Baldwin peppered Fen and Matt with questions. As the boys relayed mostly accurate stories of Mount Rushmore, tornadoes, trolls, Valkyries, and all the rest, Laurie dozed—until the doorbell rang.

At first, Laurie was confused. She was in a strange house, sleeping on an unfamiliar sofa, wearing someone else’s clothes. The ringing was followed by a knocking, and then Baldwin was standing beside her. Seeing him made her remember where she was.

“Trolls don’t ring the bell, right?” he said.

“I don’t think so.” She got to her feet and went with him to the door. They both took turns looking through the peephole in the door.

A girl stood on the porch. She had short dark hair that was dyed pink at the tips and was wearing the sort of clothes that screamed “not from here”: a funky cropped jacket with a fur collar, a skirt that looked like it was sewn together from all sorts of different materials, and a pair of tall pink boots.

“Is she with you?” Baldwin asked.

Laurie shook her head.

“Huh.” Baldwin opened the door. “Hello.”

The girl beamed at them and said, “Hi, I’m Astrid. I hear you’re looking for my boyfriend.”

EIGHTEEN

MATT

“WAKING NIGHTMARE”

After talking to Baldwin for a while, Matt had drifted off. Now he was dreaming that he was back at home, before Vetrarblot, his mother making rakfisk in the kitchen.

“I’m quitting boxing,” he said to his mother as he took milk from the fridge. “Wrestling, too.”

His mother looked over, knife raised, frowning. Josh and Jake stopped eating. All three stared at him.

“I’m thinking I’ll join the football team,” he said. “Be a team player.” He put the milk back. “I’m not very good at fighting anyway.”

“Of course you are,” his mother said. “You’re the best in middle school.”

“You’ll be the best in high school, too,” Josh said, shooting him a thumbs-up. “You’re a natural, Mini-Matt.”

Matt slammed the fridge door. “No. No, I’m not. I’m a lousy fighter. You need to find someone else.”

“Find someone else for what, dear?” his mom asked.

“Matt?” his dad called from the hall.

“In here!” his mom called back.

Dad walked in holding a box with holes punched in the top. “Got you something today. I know we’ve always said you can’t have a pet, but I think you’re finally ready.”

“Finally responsible,” his mom said.

“ Finallyresponsible,” his brothers echoed.

Dad handed him the box. Matt opened it to see a small snake curled up in the bottom. It lifted its tiny head, red eyes flashing as it hissed at him.

Matt dropped the box onto the counter. It toppled, snake spilling out as he backed away. The snake uncurled, and when it did, it was half as long as the counter, its head as big as the box it had come in.

“Matt!” his mom said. “You’ll hurt the poor thing.”

“It—it’s a serpent.”

Dad scooped up the snake, draping it over his arm. “It’s a very special serpent, Matt. It’s yourserpent. You need to take care of it.”

The doorbell rang. Everyone ignored it and just watched Matt, shaking their heads in disappointment as he recoiled from the box. The serpent stretched until its head touched the floor, then it swung over and wrapped around his father’s legs.

“Dad!” Matt shouted.

He tried to leap forward, but he couldn’t move. The serpent wound its way up his father’s body, wrapping around and around like a python, green scales glittering, red eyes gleaming.

The doorbell rang again.

“Aren’t you going to take your serpent, Matt?” his mom said. “You won’t make your father look after it, will you? That isn’t very responsible.”

The serpent’s coils now enveloped his father’s entire body, its head poised over his father’s. Its jaws opened, fangs flashing. It looked at Matt, who couldn’t move, couldn’t even shout now, but was frozen there, watching the serpent’s giant jaws hover over his father’s head.

“You really should take care of it,” his father said… right before the serpent devoured him.

Matt’s eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring up at a white ceiling with a weight on his chest, pushing him down, pressing the air from his lungs. He struggled to breathe, but he couldn’t open his mouth. He couldn’t move. It was like he was still in the dream, paralyzed. He couldn’t even blink. His eyes stung, and his chest was on fire, and he couldn’t breathe.