Daughters (Nordic Fairies, #4) by Saga Berg Page B

beautiful girl I’ve ever met,” Viggo said.
    Freja grimaced again, and the tears streamed down her face. Judging from her swollen eyes, she’d been crying already before she came over. Svala and Viggo exchanged a worried gaze.
    “Freja, did something happen?” Viggo asked.
    She covered her face in her hands and her silent tears escalated into panicked gasps. Viggo reached out again and placed his hand on her arm. “Freja, you have to tell us?”
    She struggled against him at first, then glanced at him through a crack between her fingers and accepted his open arms. She clung to him and sobbed against his shoulder, her body shaking uncontrollably. Viggo met Svala’s gaze over Freja’s shoulder with a helpless expression. “Hey, calm down,” he whispered and stroked her hair. “It’s okay.”
    Svala approached them and reached out for her daughter. “Freja, tell us what happened?”
    Freja’s shoulder’s tensed and her grip around Viggo tightened. Svala retrieved her hand, a painful lump in her throat.
    “Freja?” Viggo’s voice broke.
    Her strained breathing prevented her from speaking. Viggo gently pried her out of his embrace and clasped her face in both hands, forcing her to look at him. “Did someone hurt you?”
    She nodded, and closed her eyes tight along with a pained grimace. Svala’s stomach dropped, and the color drained from Viggo’s face. He took a deep strained breath, as if to gather the strength to ask. “Was it Brian?”
    She nodded again, eyes still closed.
    Nausea washed over Svala at the implication. She covered her mouth with one hand but couldn’t prevent the tears from surfacing. The muscles in Viggo’s face twitched. He pulled Freja into his arms again, his gaze hard and distant.
    Trym leaned against the door frame with a blank expression. He lifted his hands to rub his face as Freja’s sobbing echoed in the silent kitchen.
    “We have to go to the police. You have to report him,” Viggo said.
    She shook her head and her sobs subsided into short strained breaths.
    “You can’t let him get away with this.”
    She shook her head again, determined. “No, it was my own fault.”
    “ What ?” Viggo eased back. “What are you saying?”
    “It was. I told him I wanted to and then, when we were in the backseat of the limo, I changed my mind. I didn’t want to do it there and...” She closed her eyes, and the tears streamed again. “He said I’d already agreed and that I couldn’t back out. He said it wasn’t honest of me to lead him on like that and then take it back, so I went along with it. I didn’t struggle. I can’t report him if I didn’t struggle.”
    Viggo’s blue eyes darkened in anger and when Freja opened hers, she flinched. Svala placed a hand on his arm, in an attempt to calm him, and Freja’s turned to her, her swollen eyes narrowed in disgust. “It’s your fault,” she said.
    Svala’s throat tightened.
    “You knew he liked me. I’ve seen the looks you’ve given him when he’s been nice to me. You lied and told me he was gay, because you didn’t want the competition,” she continued.
    “No, Freja, it’s not like that at all.” Svala reached for her again, but Freja snatched back. “Don’t touch me!” she hissed.
    “Freja, please, just listen.”
    “No! I never want to talk to you for as long as I live. You’re selfish and mean, and I hate you!”
    Viggo’s face filled with concern. “Freja, you don’t mean that,” he said.
    “I do. I hate her.” She turned to him. “I told her I liked you, and she used that information to sabotage our chances to be together so she could keep you to herself. I know you like me, I feel it. That’s why you told me not to go with Brian last night, isn’t it? If she hadn’t lied to us, you would have taken me to the prom instead of her and none of this would have happened.”
    “Freja, it’s not like that. You got it all wrong,” he said.
    Her brows drew together. “What do you mean? You don’t