Chapter 2

Erik

The lodge wasfull of people, surprisingly so considering the weather outside. I hadn"t expected this when my oldest friend had convinced me to come to a Jinx event with him. I believed the words Donel had used were small and intimate, which I supposed this was when there were only a few dozen people in the room.

"Cheer up, mate," Donel said, holding out a bottle of pilsners to me.

I took it from him. "I"m cheery," I responded.

He chuckled and sat down beside me, stretching out his legs. "Then why do you look like an international megastar who has just been snubbed for a major award?"

I snorted. "I"m one of those things."

"Snubbed, right?"

I took a swig of my beer. "So you were desperate to come. Are you here for someone specifically or are you just hoping Zeus will be here to seduce you?"

"Is Zeus into men?"

"If the stories are to be believed, he"s into everything. Though I doubt he"d make the journey all the way up here." We were far from Greece and the snow didn"t really seem like his thing either. Not that I knew that for certain, never having met Zeus before, I wasn"t particularly aware of any of his personal preferences.

"Ah well, he"s not that hot anyway."

"Don"t say that to his face." I took a sip of my beer. "But there seem to be plenty of guys here. Oh, what about the redhead over there? With the beard, he"s your type."

"Not gay," Donel murmured.

I frowned. "How can you tell?"

"I struck out with him earlier."

"Maybe he just wasn"t into you," I pointed out.

"Pfft. Not likely." My friend grinned at me. "But it"s fine, I"m going to try my luck with the guy over at the bar. I need a new drink."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you really need an excuse to talk to him when you"ve both come to a dating mixer?"

"No. But it helps. You"re sticking around, right?"

"I wanted to leave soon so I could go check on my grandfather in case the snow gets worse. You know he won"t have put the heating on until the very last minute."

Donel nodded. "Just make sure you don"t leave without saying goodbye, all right?"

"I won"t," I promised. "Unless it looks like you"re about to have an overnight guest in the room I know you"ve paid for. I got in the way of that too much at uni."

"I don"t remember you being celibate at uni either," he responded. "Nor now. You should make sure to talk to some people while you"re here."

"Mmm." Though that would be hard. He wasn"t wrong about my international megastar image, and that made it difficult to talk to people without them thinking that they could end up being the subject of my next song.

Or freaking out when they realised who they were talking to.

I sighed and took another sip of my beer, surveying the room. He was right, I should at least try to talk to someone. That way I could say that I had. I put my empty beer bottle on a pacing tray.

My gaze landed on a gorgeous woman with striking white-blonde hair and a sparkly black shirt. Something about the way she moved caught my attention, there was a grace to it that I couldn"t quite place, and she held her head proudly.

I got to my feet and made my way over to her without thinking twice about it. Hopefully, she wouldn"t mind having someone to talk to.

"Hey," I said.

She turned, a serene smile on her face as she took me in. "Hi."

"I"m Erik." I held out my hand, not knowing what else I was supposed to do in greeting.

"Adi," she responded.

"It"s nice to meet you."

"Is it? You don"t know me." There wasn"t any accusation in her voice, it was more a statement of fact. "For all you know, I could be the person responsible for the death of your sister."

"Luckily for both of us, she"s very much alive," I responded.

"Then we"re off to a good start," Adi joked, leaning against the wall as she watched me with curious eyes.

"Would you like a drink?" I gestured to the area that had been set up as a bar.

"Are you getting it for me, or has Lofn included it in the ticket price?" she asked, already moving in that direction.

"It"s included. I guess I was asking more if you wanted to sit and have a drink with me."

For a moment, I thought she was going to say no. "Sure. Why not?"

"A glowing response."

"Just as you don"t know me, I don"t know you either. Maybe you love trapping reindeer and hate the snow."

"Neither of those things are true," I assured her. "I grew up just down the mountain."

"Ah, so you"re a local too."

"I"ve never seen you in town."

"I didn"t say I was from the town." She leaned on the bar and looked down the limited drinks menu. "I think I"ll have some mulled wine for now."

"Same."

The bartender nodded to us both and proceeded to fill two mugs, placing them on the counter.

"Thank you." Adi took hers and wrapped her fingers around it, taking a deep breath inwards. "Ah, I haven"t had any in ages."

"I had some at one of the Christmas markets last week," I said. "But this smells better."

"It"s probably made from wine that came from one of the wine gods," Adi pointed out as she made her way over to a pair of comfortable chairs by one of the three fires in the room. I was surprised they weren"t occupied yet, and a little disappointed that I wouldn"t be able to sit closer to her, but maybe that was for the best when I didn"t know her.

"Do you think that"s true?" I asked as I took a seat. "I know that Jinx was set up by gods, but I find it hard to believe they"re actively meddling with the rest of us."

She raised an eyebrow. "The gods have always meddled."

"According to the stories written by men."

She shrugged. "I"ve found there"s a lot of truth in them. Surely you know you"re attending an event run by a Norse goddess?"

"I do," I assured her. "And that the resort we"re on is owned by another. Skadi, I think she"s called."

An amused expression crossed Adi"s face, but I didn"t know precisely why.

"I think she"s the goddess of snow."

"And skiing, and the hunt," she responded.

"You know your mythology."

"I know some of it," she corrected, taking a sip of her drink. "And I know enough to never underestimate the gods" ability to get involved with the lives of mortals."

"Maybe I like living dangerously."

"Then you"ll find yourself inadvertently insulting a god sitting right across from you." There was a sparkle in her eyes that suggested mischief.

"Speaking from experience?"

She almost choked on her wine, before setting down her mug. "I"ve crossed gods before."

I raised an eyebrow. "Plural?"

"Surprised?"

"You don"t seem like the type."

Adi let out an amused laugh. "And what is the type to cross a god?"

"Erm..." Now I"d said it, I realised there wasn"t a good way to answer that.

"I"m teasing," she promised. "So if I"m the type to accidentally cross a god, what about you?"

"I"m not even sure I"ve met one."

"You"re at Lofn"s party," she pointed out.

"Yes, but I wouldn"t say I know her. I"m here with a friend."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you"re not here to find love."

"No."

"Interesting choice in coming to a members-only party run by a dating agency."

"I"m a wingman," I responded, trying not to feel too flustered by what she was insinuating.

"Are you doing a good job?"

I looked over at the bar where Donel and his new potential fling were leaning very close together. "He seems to be doing okay, but I don"t know how much help I was with it."

"At least you"re honest." She took another sip of her wine.

"Are you here for love?" I asked her.

"I"m here because Lofn invited me and I didn"t want to be rude. I"ll be leaving soon before anyone gets the wrong idea."

"Anyone being Lofn?" Was that normal? I"d heard of the goddess of forbidden marriage before, but other than that, I didn"t know much about her at all.

"Something like that. I think she worries that I"m lonely."

"And are you?" I asked. "Lonely?"

"I like my own space," she responded.

"Meaning that it"s not a question you"re going to answer to a stranger?"

She let out an amused laugh. "Pretty much. You seem nice enough, but I don"t know you."

"That"s fair. I could change that?"

The expression on her face said it all. "And how are you going to do that?"

"What do you do for work?"

"I manage a ski resort."

"Huh, like this one," I said.

"Exactly like this one," she responded. "What about you?"

"I"m a musician."

"That must be fun," she responded.

"Sometimes. Other times I wish I didn"t have to play for anyone but myself," I admitted.

Adi cocked her head to the side and studied me with an intrigued expression on her face. "Then why don"t you?"

"Time, mostly."

"Ah." She finished her wine and set it down. "Well, it"s been nice to meet you, Erik, but I really should get going, I think the snow is heavier than I expected."

I nodded, disappointed that she was leaving when we seemed to be having a good conversation. Or maybe I was reading it wrong. "It was nice to meet you, Adi."

"You too." She smiled and headed to the cloakroom, leaving me alone. I leaned back in my chair and let out a loud sigh. I should get going myself so I could go and check on Grandfather. But before I did that, I needed to make sure Donel was all right and that he wasn"t going to get himself into trouble in my absence.