The Collector's Curse

【25】A Proper Cleanse

In the end, it was a taxi that drove me to the airport. Ulrik had offered a few more times to be the one taking me there, but I couldn't bear the idea of being stuck in the small confines of a car with him for two hours. It would have been above my strength.

So, I'd finished packing up my things under Reggie's watchful eye, hugged Yuko, and climbed into the car that had come to fetch me at the Westergaard estate. The entire time, I'd felt Ulrik's eyes on me, watching over my every move as I forced myself to set some distance between us. How had everything taken such an unexpected turn? How could any of this be real?

During the few hours of my journey back home, I went over every single interaction I could remember. It was as though the truth glared at me now, and I questioned the genuineness of all the words we'd exchanged. How could he have lied to me so convincingly? But then, he'd had over eleven centuries to practice.

Even the chatty old woman seated next to me on the plane wasn't enough to distract me away from him. I was apathetic, barely responsive to her chatter. I forced a smile when she explained she was flying to London to meet her grandson for the first time, and then smiled some more when she insisted on showing me a few pictures of the newborn.

How many children has Ulrik had throughout his life? How many grandkids, great-grandkids, and so on? Had they all lived an overly long life, like Agnes? No, I supposed Ulrik's genes had slowly been watered down by more and more mortal genes, and every generation had been less godly than its predecessor.

Halfway into the flight, I realized I hadn't texted Gigi about my unexpected return. I'd been so absorbed by everything, so eager to get home, that I'd forgotten. But maybe it was better that way because she would have insisted on coming with her car, and I wasn't ready to face her yet.

As soon as the plane landed, though, I switched off the airplane mode to correct my mistake. I was busy taking my carry-on out of the overhead bin when a few notifications came in. My chest tightened a little more with every buzzing of my phone, aware that at least one of those had to be Ulrik. It had been five hours since I'd left him, and I couldn't imagine the state he was in.

Because I refused to break down so close to being home, I left it in my back pocket until I reached the baggage claim area. Nothing was on the carousels yet, so I mustered my courage and pulled my phone out.

There was indeed a message from Ulrik, as well as one from Yuko. Because it would hurt less, I opened the latter's first. It was a sweet note wishing me safe travels and apologizing again for causing all this.

Ulrik's message was a lot longer, and all I could manage were the first three words. My darling Mila. That was enough to discourage me from reading the block of text below, so I tremblingly shoved my phone back into my pocket.

By the time I was ready to take it out again, I was on the train, making my way toward downtown London. At this point, I might as well have made my return a surprise to explain why I hadn't warned her earlier. Maybe that would earn me a few more moments before I had to explain to Gigi what had happened with Ulrik. Because honestly, what could I even tell her?

That he'd lied to me and was an immortal being? The actual son of Odin? An eleven centuries old man born in the times of Vikings and longships? She'd forcefully commit me to the closest mental institution. I could barely believe it myself despite all the evidence.

I kept a distracted hand over my suitcase during the entire ride, trying to come up with an excuse for my hasty return. It was only when I reached my building's door that I accepted that it being a surprise truly was my only choice. All I had to do was to manage to keep it all in for about an hour, and then Gigi would leave for her evening shift at the restaurant, and I'd be left alone to ruminate my thoughts.