Free Thor's Serpents by K.L. Armstrong, M.A. Marr Page A

about undermining my confidence when I need it most.
    “You… you should stay here. Look after Mom and Dad.”
    Jake shook his head. “Not today. Today I’m going to be a real big brother. I’m going to look after
you
.”

SEVEN

LAURIE
“SPILLING NOT-SO-SECRETS”
    L aurie wasn’t sure how she felt about being back in Blackwell. Mostly, it just felt wrong, or maybe it was just the idea of being here without Fen that felt wrong. She trusted Matt’s instincts, and if he thought he needed to see his family, he did. That didn’t mean she really wanted to see hers. The side of her family that knew what was really going on was the enemy. The Brekkes knew why the sky was dark now. They knew Ragnarök was coming. Her mother… well, she probably just thought Laurie was being stupid, following Fen and getting into trouble.
    She wasn’t actually wrong. That was the worst part. Laurie
had
followed her cousin, and they had gotten into abunch of trouble, but it was for a good reason. She knew her mother could never understand that, though.
    With Baldwin and Owen at her sides, Laurie walked through Blackwell. There were a few lights on in some houses, but people were being cautious. She realized that was the Thorsens’ doing. The mayor, despite being insane enough to want the world to end, had at least found some way of explaining to the town that they had to be cautious with their resources.
    “Creepy, but not as bad as Rapid City,” Baldwin said.
    “Yeah,” she agreed in a low voice. “But this town is also run by the leader of the enemies, so… there’s that.”
    “Okay. I take it back: Blackwell is just as creepy as Rapid, but in a different way.”
    Owen stayed silent. His ravens had appeared when the kids entered Blackwell and were now perched on his shoulders. They didn’t disturb her as they had initially, but she still wasn’t a fan of the birds. Sharp beaks and wicked talons didn’t invite cuddling in her book.
    She hoped that if the birds had no news, Owen could see where Fen was. That was how his seeing worked: he couldn’t foresee things when he was involved, but Fen was away from them now. Surely that should mean that Owen could see something that could be useful. The others didn’t seem to get how it worked, and Laurie thought that they respected his silence and listened to him a little more when he didspeak because they thought he could still see things—or maybe he
did
still see things that helped him to know.
    “I want to know if you see anything about Fen,” Laurie told him. It wasn’t quite an
order
, but it wasn’t a question, either.
    Owen simply nodded once… which could either mean that he heard her or that he was agreeing with her. His two ravens chattered into his ears, speaking to him in words no one else understood.
    Laurie took her bow in hand and turned her attention to the potential threats in Blackwell. With the mayor being the head of the enemy side, there were plenty of reasons to suspect that there would be wolves in town. Maybe he wouldn’t have trolls or mara or anything so obviously monstrous, but a few wolves wouldn’t be noticed.
    And that’s why we need to see our families
, Laurie thought.
I need to warn Mom.
    “So my mother doesn’t know about any of this,” Laurie told Baldwin and Owen. “My dad’s the… umm, wolf. He’s a Brekke, and my mom’s just normal or whatever.”
    “My parents both seem normal.” Baldwin frowned. “Not that
we
aren’t normal. We’re just kids, so that’s normal. Superpowers and all aren’t really common, though. Just us. Okay, and the enemy has superpowers.… Oh! I wonder if there are other people with god- or monster-powers, but we don’t know them.”
    Laurie smiled at the babbling that had become as familiar to her as Fen’s bad attitude and Matt’s optimism. She looked at Baldwin and told him, “I missed you when you were dead.”
    “Oh, I know. Fen said…” Baldwin’s words quickly faded.