I removed the wards, opened the door, and we entered the apartment. Thankfully not too embarrassing—I hadn’t hand a reason to clean the place since Léontine’s last visit. But I’d kept up on dishes, and the only real issue was the laundry. And near the top of that pile were the bloody, dirty clothes from last night.
I needed to rethink some things.
“Go get dressed for bed,” Brynja said. “I’ll start a fire.”
I went into my bedroom, changed into some comfortable, loose pajamas, and cleaned up a bit in the bathroom. When I came out, the fire was crackling, and genuine warmth had begun to creep into the room.
“I’m going to go now,” she said. “Steinn will check on you tomorrow.”
“Thanks again. And tell Úlfarinn thanks, too. He puts up with a lot from us.”
“Not from me,” she said. “I’ll let myself out. Get some rest.”
She closed the door behind her, and suddenly, I was very, very tired. I put up the wards and shuffled into the bedroom. The warmth of the fire felt good, but my bed felt even better.