Chapter 6

Skadi

I setdown my knife and fork and let out a satisfied sigh, pleased with how delicious the food had been. Sometimes I worried that when I cooked while someone else was watching that I"d discover I was terrible at it and that no one else found my food edible.

"That was good," Erik said, setting down his own knife and fork. "Better than anything Lofn served."

I gave him a look. "I know that"s not true. She had a trained chef making her dishes, I"m just a home cook at best and even then it"s mostly because I have to be able to make food or I"ll starve."

He raised an eyebrow. "No delivery on the mountain then?"

"Not really. Sometimes I go get a pizza from Stefanos in town."

"Oh, I love that place." He picked up his glass of water and took a sip. "It"s where we go for almost every family dinner."

"I love their stuffed crusts. I know it"s not traditional to have it in pizza, but there"s really nothing like gooey cheese and great bread."

"I"m right there with you," he said.

"Though there"s a place in the god realm that serves even better pizza."

"I"ve never been."

"To the god realm?"

He nodded. "I"ve never really had a reason to go," he responded. "Most non-gods need an invitation to get there."

"Which have been given out more and more regularly recently. I heard that the Four Heavenly Kings hold concerts in the Meru Palace for the Chinese pantheon, though they invite other people too."

"Really?" A contemplative look crossed his face.

I nodded and picked up my glass, swilling it around. "I"ve never been, but I keep meaning to. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun."

"And they"re inviting non-god acts to perform?"

"It"s a recent thing, I don"t know that much about it, it"s only a rumour that I"ve heard going around."

"I"ll have to look into it," Erik said, leaning back in his chair.

"You should. It would be a good gig." I didn"t know much about being a musician, but I had to assume that was true. "So I"m guessing you"re probably tired."

"It"s been a long day," he agreed.

"If you have the time, I can take you on a tour of the cabin so if you wake up before me you know what"s what," I suggested.

"I guess I was thinking I"d just get going once the morning comes."

"You might not be able to," I responded. "The snow is still going strong."

Erik frowned, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "How can you know that?"

"Magic," I responded. "And I"m not being glib."

"Ah, now it makes sense why you live on a mountain."

"Mmm." I got to my feet. "All right, so this is the kitchen," I waved unnecessarily behind me.

He chuckled. "I got that."

"Well, help yourself to anything in the fridge. There"s not much, I didn"t actually prepare for a snowstorm."

"So your magic isn"t infallible?"

I laughed. "Far from it. I make mistakes about the weather all the time. Anyway, let me show you the rest of the cabin. Your room has an ensuite, there are toiletries under the sink in there."

He got to his feet to join me. "You"re ready for guests then?"

"Normally. Though I don"t tend to have many," I responded. "Anyway, the living area is over there, there"s a gym in the back including a sauna. You"re welcome to use both."

He raised an eyebrow. "What about the sock rule?"

"There are socks outside the sauna room that can be worn in there, and in the hot tub."

"You"re very serious about the socks, aren"t you?"

"I"m very serious in not liking feet," I responded.

"That"s okay, I think I can manage to keep mine covered for the next twelve hours or so."

"That"s appreciated," I said. "Anyway, if you go upstairs and to the left, you"ll find the library. I don"t know if you"ll be able to find anything you like, there aren"t that many romance books up there."

"You really don"t like them, do you?"

I shrugged. "It"s not that I don"t like them, I just prefer to read about other things."

"Fair enough."

"So, yeah, that"s about it." I paused and took a deep breath. "If you need anything, just let me know."

"Even if it"s the middle of the night?"

Indecision warred within me. I wanted to be a good hostess, but at the same time, I didn"t want to be disturbed.

"It"s okay, I was just joking," he said quickly when I didn"t respond to his question. "You won"t even know I"m here."

I gave him a small smile, a little relieved, but also a bit disappointed. There was no doubt that there had been a hint of awkwardness between the two of us at points, but I"d enjoyed talking to him more than I expected, especially considering he was in my space unexpectedly. "So, yes, good night," I said.

"Night." He gave me a small wave and disappeared off into the guest bedroom.

I let out a sigh and ran my hand over my face. Why couldn"t I just be a normal person?

Then again, what was a normal person in this situation? I"d had guests due to the snow before, but it hadn"t felt like this.

I shook my head and climbed the stairs to enter my room. I paused at the door and twisted the key in the lock. I didn"t normally bother when I was home alone, but this was one of those situations where I was glad that my cabin had the same layout as the others in my resort. It wasn"t that I thought Erik was untrustworthy, I just didn"t really know him, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

I headed over to my window and stared out at the falling snow. A tug deep within me suggested that the snow was finally starting to ease off. Maybe Erik would be lucky and would be able to get down the mountain when dawn came.

And then I"d have my cabin, and my peace and quiet, back.

I couldn"t wait. Even if I didn"t think the elf downstairs was going to be a difficult house guest to begin with.