Chapter 7

Skadi

One lookout of the window confirmed that the snow hadn"t actually gotten better overnight. Though luckily, it hadn"t gotten worse either. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I supposed the best thing to do was to go downstairs and make sure my house guest had slept well and that he was entertained for the day.

I threw off my covers and got out of bed. I got my phone off the nightstand and checked the signal, but it was showing exactly the same thing as the night before. It was to be expected, it wasn"t like they were going to have fixed the mobile network overnight, just like it would have been too difficult to get down the mountain, it would have been too difficult to get up too.

Hopefully, that would change soon, and not just because I didn"t want to get stuck with my house guest. It was probably best if I also headed up to Lofn"s cabin to make sure she and all of the guests who were also stuck there were okay. At least that was the only occupied cabin right now, which made things a lot easier for me to manage.

I grabbed my fluffy jumper from the hook on the back of my bedroom door and pulled it over my head. The cool air prickled at my bare legs between the end of my sleep shorts and the fuzzy socks I had on, but I liked the feeling.

I headed downstairs and to the kitchen, going to turn on the coffee machine. At least the generator was doing what it was supposed to, though I"d have to replace the fuel once the snow had subsided. I might like the snow, but even I didn"t want to be trapped in it without heat and electricity. I"d grown used to having the creature comforts around me, and I wasn"t willing to let them go.

The coffee machine whirred and I set up my tablet, only to remember that the internet was down and I hadn"t remembered to download my latest playlist. I was normally much more prepared than that. I selected an older one that didn"t have the same problem and started humming along under my breath as I made the rest of my coffee.

A creak made me jump before I remembered that the guest room door needed oiling. I picked up my tablet and added the task to my to-do list along with getting more fuel for the backup generator.

"Morning," Erik said groggily.

"Morning," I responded.

"Oh no, you"re a morning person," he murmured.

"I don"t know about that."

"This suggests you are."

I flashed him a smile. "I can offer you coffee? I believe most people think that makes them into morning people."

He chuckled. "I think coffee makes the day tolerable, but not much more."

"So is that a yes or a no?"

"Coffee would be great. Just black, sweetener if you have it," he said.

"I do. I prefer the taste."

He raised an eyebrow. "To real sugar?"

I shrugged. "Weird, I know, so many people think I"m strange because of it."

"I didn"t say you were strange," he said quickly.

"You implied it." I set his coffee down on the kitchen counter.

"Thanks." He ran a hand through his bed-messed blond hair, only making it stick up more. It suited him and made him look as if he"d spent the entire day, which I supposed wasn"t too far off considering he"d just gotten up.

"The snow has finally stopped," I said. "But I think the overnight drifts are still going to make it too difficult to get down the mountain."

He sighed. "I should have expected as much. I should never have agreed to go to the party."

"Mmm." I turned to the fridge and started pulling out the ingredients to make cheese toasties. Maybe not the best breakfast, but it was perfect for the weather, and I had limited ingredients in.

"Why do I feel like you have thoughts about my attendance at the party?" Erik took a sip of his coffee as he studied me.

"You"re not lactose or gluten intolerant, are you?" I asked without answering.

"No."

"Good, because most of what I have in is bread and cheese." I spread butter over the outside of the bread before loading the inside with cheese.

"Wait, what are you doing?" he asked. "You don"t put butter on the outside."

"You do when it"s toasties. What do you need it on the inside for?" I put both the sandwiches in the toastie machine and pressed down the lid. "And how else do you expect them to get nice and golden?"

"I can"t say I"ve ever given much thought to how toasties are made," he admitted, draining the rest of his coffee and setting the cup down on the side. "That was good."

"And probably what you needed after a night in a strange bed."

"I slept well, actually. It"s a comfortable bed."

"It is."

"You"ve slept in it?"

A bush rose to my cheeks at his insinuation. "Not that bed, but I have the same one in my room."

"Ah, that makes much more sense."

"Anyway, I have to go and check on Lofn after breakfast, so make yourself comfortable."

"I thought you said it was too dangerous to get down the mountain?"

"It is, but the cabin isn"t very far from here, I can walk."

He glanced at the window. "Walk? You can"t possibly want to walk in this."

"I like the snow." The timer went for the toasties and I lifted the lid of the machine to plate them up. "And it"s not a risk to me."

"Let"s guess, magic?"

I laughed. "And a lot of experience."

"Ah, yes, centuries."

"Mmhmm, something like seven or eight of them, it"s hard to keep track." I put his toastie down in front of him and pulled out one of the stools at the kitchen island so I could eat my own.

"I thought it was rude to ask your age," he murmured as he joined me.

"You didn"t ask, I offered," I pointed out.

"You"re really seven or eight hundred years old?"

"Something like that." I picked up half of my toastie only to nearly drop it as the hot bread burned my fingers.

"But the only mortals that old are vampires, and you said you"re not a vampire."

I raised an eyebrow. "I"m not a vampire," I confirmed. "I also never once said I was mortal."

"So you"re a goddess?"

"I prefer calling myself a j?tunn."

"You don"t look much like a giant," he said.

"And you don"t look much like an alv," I pointed out. "Or an elf for that matter."

He touched his ears, making me feel a little bad about that. "I was a j?tunn before I became immortal, so that"s what I feel like I have the most affinity with," I explained, partly to change the subject. "Hence why I"m good at all the snow stuff."

Horror rushed over his face, and for one horrible second, I thought it was because he was now suddenly scared of me, even though I"d done nothing to make him feel that way. "You must think I"m an idiot."

I frowned and swallowed the bite of my toastie I"d been eating. "Why?"

"Because if you"re a former j?tunn..."

"I"m still a j?tunn," I corrected. "Just an immortal one."

"Oh." He paused as if collecting his thoughts. "So you"re a j?tunn, and you"re affiliated with snow while living on a mountain. Which I guess makes you a snow goddess?"

"Among other things." I shrugged and ate some more of my toastie.

"You"re Skadi."

"Last I checked."

He groaned. "I was talking to you about yourself at Lofn"s party."

"You were. Don"t let your toastie go cold."

"Or you"ll smite me?"

"Pfft, I don"t have the power to do that. The most I could do is push you out into the snow and leave you to freeze."

He studied me intently as if trying to work out whether I was being serious or not.

I sighed. "I"m not going to do that," I assured him. "It would be far too messy to clean up and I"d have to explain it, and then there"s the insurance..."

"So not because you don"t want to hurt someone," he half-joked.

"Would you believe me if I said that was the only reason?"

The expression on his face told me everything I needed to know about his thoughts. He wouldn"t believe me, and I didn"t blame him for that either.

"Don"t worry," I assured him quickly. "I know the reputation of the gods. Ruined by a few for the rest of us. But for what it"s worth, I"m not interested in hurting anyone. Other than Loki, but I don"t think that really needs an explanation."

A small smile tugged at his lips and he finally managed to pick up his toastie to take a bite. "So everything about Loki is true?"

"I wouldn"t say everything, he"s nowhere near as charming as everyone thinks."

Erik let out a laugh, almost choking on his toastie in the process.

I got to my feet and grabbed him a glass of water, setting it down on the table in front of him.

"Thanks."

"No worries. And for what it"s worth, I had no idea that you weren"t aware I was a goddess. At least once you were here. I knew you didn"t figure out who I was at Lofn"s party, but I guess I was just trying to see how long it would take you to figure it out, and I wasn"t exactly planning on seeing you again."

"Evidently." His voice was rough from the choking.

"Anyway, that"s why I"ll be fine heading up the cabin." I cleared my plate away and fired up the coffee machine for a second cup. "And you really should make yourself comfortable."

He nodded, but I could tell from his expression that his thoughts were still racing. I hoped I hadn"t scared him too much, that definitely hadn"t been my intention.

"There are some Norse mythology books in the library if you want," I said.

Surprise flashed over his face. "You want me to read about you?"

I shrugged. "Some people find it puts them at ease to know who they"re dealing with."

"It feels like a weird invasion of privacy. I already feel like I know too much about your life just from the stories I remember."

"Believe me, you barely know me." I pulled my mug from the coffee machine. I was going to need all the caffeine I could get if I was going to make the journey through the snow. It had been so long since I"d had to go without coffee that I found it difficult to remember how I"d done all of this before it had been an option.

"I see."

"I"m sure you do. All right, I"m going to get going, I"ll be back in a bit. But feel free to help yourself to coffee or anything else while I"m gone. I shouldn"t be too long." I hoped. There was a chance I was going to find a disaster at Lofn"s cabin, but I didn"t think so. And hopefully, the power on the mountain would be restored before too long.

Because as much as I didn"t mind being by myself, I liked the creature comforts the modern world could bring, and I didn"t want to go without for too long. No doubt my accidental house guest felt the same.