Chapter 1

The day the mission was declared a failure, Lucas Frost crushed the dragonscale amulet I had forged with my own hands, right in front of every warrior across the Nine Realms.

He held Claire Rivers' hand and looked at me with nothing but disgust. "Evelyn, Claire is my fated one. You keep throwing yourself at me, and it's pathetic.

"Get out of my sight. Go to Niflheim, and don't you dare set foot outside without my command. Not now, not ever."

A cold, mechanical voice cut through my mind. "Mission failed. Punishment initiated. All memories and perception of love will be stripped from the host."

I knelt and pressed my forehead to the ground in silence, then rose and walked into the howling snow.

Later, Lucas came looking for me. He knelt in Niflheim for seven days and seven nights, clutching the hem of my cloak and begging me to smile, just once.

I pulled my cloak free and drew my blade to his throat. "Stranger, trespassers in Niflheim are killed on sight."

*****

At the gates of Niflheim, Lucas' chief herald looked down at me with undisguised contempt. "Evelyn, the High One has spoken. If you kneel and beg Claire for forgiveness now, he might still let you die in one piece."

He held a glowing comm-crystal in his hand. Lucas' voice cut through it, cold and merciless.

Lucas said, "Tell her she can crawl out of Niflheim when she's learned to stop being jealous of Claire. And if she refuses to learn, let the beasts in there tear her apart until there's nothing left."

The wind and snow slashed across my cheeks like blades.

I didn't look at the herald.

Inside my mind, the System's flat, mechanical voice had already begun its countdown.

"Punishment protocol initiated. Detaching the host's emotional bonds. Erasing all emotional memory associated with 'Lucas.' Ten, nine, eight—"

When I didn't answer, the herald let out a sharp laugh. "You still think you're someone important, Evelyn?

"You still think you're the hero who once took a bolt of cosmic lightning for the High One? Claire is the one he treasures. You were never anything more than a shameless stand-in.

"The High One threw you into this wasteland where ancient beasts are caged. He sealed your powers and stripped you of your blade.

"Do you really think you'll live to see tomorrow's sun?"

The system kept counting down. "Three, two, one. Detachment complete."

As the System's final chime faded, something deep inside my brain peeled away with a faint, wet sound, like a stone crusted with blood and flesh had been carved out of me for good.

Seven hundred years of chasing Lucas had left behind a trail of joy, pain, heartbreak, and bitter resentment. But in that single moment, all of it turned to ash.

My body felt lighter than it ever had before.

The wind and snow still cut to the bone, but the dull ache in my chest was gone.

I raised my head and looked at the herald standing in front of me. My eyes were calm and still, like stagnant water.

The herald flinched under my gaze. He took half a step back on instinct. "What are you looking at? I've delivered the High One's message. If you know what's good for you—"

I cut him off. "This is Niflheim."

My voice was hoarse and completely flat. "By the laws of the Nine Realms, Niflheim is restricted ground. No one enters without the Warden's permission."

The herald froze. He hadn't expected that kind of response from me. "Have you lost your mind? The High One sealed your powers. You're weaker than a mortal right now, and you're gonna stand here and lecture me about laws?"

He stepped forward and reached for my shoulder. "I'm going to teach you a lesson on behalf of The High One."

His hand never touched me.

I reached back and pulled a broken sword from the snowbank beside me.

It was nothing but scrap metal left behind by the last Warden, and the blade was chipped and eaten through with rust.

But the moment my fingers closed around the hilt, muscle memory took over.

I didn't hesitate. I swung the blade and severed his outstretched hand in one clean stroke.

Blood sprayed across the white snow.

The envoy let out a piercing scream. He clutched his severed wrist and stared at me, eyes wide with disbelief. "How dare you?"

I ignored him. I was doing my job, staying in character as the exiled Warden they had banished to this frozen wasteland.

I dragged the blade through the snow to wipe it clean, then looked up at him.

"Trespasser. Anyone who enters Niflheim without clearance dies on sight. Consider yourself lucky it's your first offense. I'm letting you keep your life." I paused. "Now get out."

The envoy was shaking so hard he could barely stand. He scrambled to his feet and half-crawled, half-stumbled away from the entrance to Niflheim, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

He had dropped the comm-crystal in the snow.

Lucas' voice still crackled through it, broken and distorted. "Evelyn? What kind of stunt are you pulling now? You think playing dead is gonna make me go soft?"

I walked over and crushed the crystal under my boot.

The voice cut off, and the world finally went quiet.

I turned around, stepped into the driving snow, and walked deeper into the heart of Niflheim.

The system issued a new directive inside my mind. "Host has lost emotional perception. Current primary objective is survive."

I tightened my grip on the broken sword. "Copy that."

The blizzard swallowed my footprints within seconds, and a massive frost wolf lunged from the shadows. It opened its jaws wide and hurled itself at me.

I felt nothing. No fear, no hesitation. I calculated the arc of its bite.

Then I raised the sword and drove it home.

Warm blood splattered across my face.

I pulled the blade free without expression and kept walking.

My assignment as Niflheim's sentinel had officially begun.