Seeress: Book Three (Runes Series) (21 page)

“No. Let’s finish here.”

Andris rolled his eyes. “Seriously? The Seeresses will not wait and most of them are not in our sector. We need to go question them before they die.” The hovering servers gasped. He smirked at them.

“She’s coming with us.” Torin reached for my hand.

I practically leaped from the chair. He chuckled and shot Echo a glance. “The bill is taken care of so we’re good.”

“You paid my half?” Echo asked, sounding insulted.

“Tip them, Echo. It’s no big deal. Oh, and rune everyone. We were never here. They can remember this was a private party but that’s it.” He headed for the restrooms and mirrors.

One of the servers was leaving the restroom and gave us a strange look. I could just imagine his thoughts. A girl entering the men’s room with a guy. Two guys since Andris led the way. My face warmed.

Torin gave the man a folded note and touched his lips. “We don’t want to be interrupted.”

He was horrible. I couldn’t think up something snarky. Then I saw the way the guy checked them out. He shot me an envious look and a wink. I laughed.

“What?” Torin asked.

“Thanks for turning me into a freak.”

He kissed me. “As long as you are my freak.”

I groaned. “That’s twisted.”

“I know. Listen, this is your first time reaping with us, so watch and learn. Engage your invisibility runes and follow Andris. I’ll take the rear. We’ll start with the furthest Seeress. Brisbane.”

***

The portal opened into a bathroom several floors up. It was eerily quiet, and that weird sterile scent hospitals had lingered in the air. Kind of reminded me of the week I’d spent in the hospital after my surgery.

“Raine?”

I closed my eyes and felt the magic. It was faint, but we were on the right floor. I pointed. “That way.”

We walked past the nurses’ station. They didn’t even look up, but a chill spread across my skin. “Are there souls here?” I asked.

“A few,” Torin said. “You still can’t see them?”

I shook my head, hating that I still couldn’t. How the heck was I going to reap what I couldn’t see? Damn the Norns. Seeress or not, I was going to be a Valkyrie.

Andris stopped outside a door and pulled out his artavus. I shivered. A telltale chill crawled its way up my spine. This time, it was stronger and familiar. I caught Andris’ hand before he could create a portal.

“She’s not alone,” I whispered.

Torin scowled. “How do you know?”

Andris already created a portal through the door and peered inside. He stepped back. “There are three nurses with her.”

Torin pulled me away from the door. “How did you know she wasn’t alone, Raine?”

“Those are Norns with her.”

He grimaced. “That’s our sign to scat. Let’s go to the next one and come back once they heal her.”

“No. I don’t think they’re here to heal her.”

Torin and Andris gawked. I saw the question in their eyes.

I shrugged. “I can’t explain it. They’re too happy. I want to talk to them.”

“No, Raine. The last people—”

“I have to, Torin. My own Norns deserted me after I refused to listen to them. The ones in there are not in charge of my destiny. We need answers.”

“Raine—”

“I need to do this, Torin.”

“Then we’re going in with you,” he said. He crossed his arms and tried to intimidate me into submission. Was he serious? I wasn’t the girl he’d met last year.

I lifted my chin and glared right back at him. “No, you’re not,” I snapped.

“You piss off Norns every time you open your mouth,” he said.

Meanie. “And you piss them off by just being in the same room.”

He smirked. “It’s a gift.”

“It’s not funny. You remind them you are the reason I’ll never be one of them.” The smile disappeared. Blue flames leaped in the depth of his eyes. Oh, so that was the problem. “I’m going to
talk
to them, Torin. Not join them. Eavesdrop on our conversation if you want, but I’m going in.”

“I don’t like it,” he said.

“Just go,” Andris snapped. “I swear you two are like a toothache.”

I moved closer to Torin, propped myself against his arm, and leaned in to kiss his chin. “Well, I happen to love this particular toothache.”

He growled, cupped my face again, and kissed me. He pressed his forehead against mine. “You drive me crazy.”

I grinned, turned, and walked to the door. Andris and Torin stared at me with worried expressions. I gave them thumbs up and pushed open the door.

Three nurses looked up. One ginger-haired with freckles, another exotic Hawaiian, and the third had pitch-black hair and porcelain skin. Nice disguises, but they were Norns all right. Just not my Norns.

“What are you doing here, Lorraine Cooper?” the ginger-haired one asked.

How did she know my name? “Checking on the Seeress. How is she doing?” I stayed by the door and peered at the woman on the bed. She was so still.

“She will be okay,” Ginger said again. She must be the spokesperson of the trio. “Should you be here, considering what’s going on?”

Of course they knew what was happening to me. Probably chuckled over it during dinner at Norns’ Hall. “Who’s after me?”

“You know we can’t tell you that,” Ginger said again.

“Maybe I should let them take me.”

They stared at me in shock, and I knew they didn’t want this to happen.

I grinned. “Why don’t you stop them?”

“You chose to follow a path we hadn’t set for you, Lorraine. Dealing with him is the consequence of that choice. If you let him win, you’ll lose everything.” Ginger glanced at the other two. Silent communication followed, but I didn’t bother to listen to it. “Leave now, Lorraine. We’ve said more than enough. All the Seeresses will be fine. We made sure of that.”

I frowned as things clicked into place. “You knew this man was going to come after me, and you stopped Valkyries from reaping to save them.”

“Leave!” Ginger ordered.

I didn’t move. “Admit it. You knew. You set events in motion to save them.”

“We took precautions, set paths,” Ms. Hawaii said. “Whether they followed it or not depended on them. These Seeresses proved they were worthy when they risked death to save you.”

“Worthy of what?”

Silence.

“Worthy to become one of you?” Ms. Porcelain’s eyes gave them away. The Seeresses were being recruited to become Norns. “So why save them and not me?”

“They faced him. Why shouldn’t you?” Ms. Hawaii asked. I didn’t like her tone.

“So if I face him and win, I become one of you? And if I don’t, I lose everything?”

Ginger lifted her hand and pointed at me. “Go!”

The door flew open behind me and something pushed me out of the room. The door slammed shut with a bang.

Old farts! I wished I could get in their heads and know all their stupid secrets.

Silly girl, she doesn’t stand a chance this time.
I recognized Ginger’s voice.

I could hear her. Cool. Torin appeared by my side, his mouth opening and closing, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. My mind was linked with the Norns. Next second, I was floating away. I think. It felt that way.

She’s not silly,
Ms. Hawaii said.
She’s smart and annoyingly stubborn. No matter what path they set for her, she always takes one that leads to that Valkyrie.

That’s because she’s more powerful than us and she loves him.
I didn’t recognize that voice. Must be Ms. Porcelain, the third Norn.

She is a child,
snapped Ms. Hawaii.
We can still force her to see things our way.

Force me? Okay. It was official. I hated Ms. Hawaii.

We’ll keep creating new paths until she gives up and joins us,
Ginger vowed.

Ginger just joined my most hated Norn list, too.

Why can’t we just leave her alone? She’s made her choice.
Ms.
Porcelain was nice. She reminded me of Jeanette, my nice Norn.

Don’t ever say that,
Ginger snapped
.

I’m not the only one who feels this way,
Ms. Porcelain shot back.
Quite a number of us believe we should leave her alone. She might refuse to offer us shelter during Ragnarok for doing this to her and those she loves.

Shelter? How the heck was I going to do that? I thought I was going to predict when Ragnarok was to start.

It is a chance we have to take to ensure our kind survives,
Ginger said.
Until her choice is official, she is a fair game. Even the gods protecting her know that. That’s why they’re using her mother. We have the boy. We will not fail this time. His need to protect her will drive her straight to us.

Don’t underestimate them,
Ms.
Porcelain said.
Together they’re unstoppable.

That’s why we’re doing things differently this time,
Ginger said.
Let’s finish here and move on to the next target.

Silence followed, and I became aware of two things: The floating sensation had stopped, and I was lying on my back. Torin’s face appeared in my periphery. Tension shot from him. He was worried. Or maybe pissed. How were the Norns using him?

“How long has she been like this?” I heard Femi ask.

“Since the meeting with the Norns. I should not have let her talk to them.”

I was home? The floating sensation must have been Torin carrying me to the portal. I’d eavesdropped on the Norns through space. How had I done that?

“We have to go,” I said, sitting up.

“No. You’re not going anywhere,” Torin said. He nudged me back until I rested against the pillows.

His need to protect her will drive her straight to us.

I slapped his hand. “Stop it.” I pushed his hand out of the way and sat up. “The Seeresses are being recruited to become Norns. That’s why they didn’t let you reap. They were waiting to save them. We have to get to at least one of them before they take them all. They wanted to finish before someone arrived.” I scooted to the edge of my bed and looked around for my shoes.

The heels I’d worn to dinner were nowhere to be seen. I reached for the ballet flats I’d left by my bed. “I had a feeling they were talking about the people after us. They know about the man after me but won’t do anything about him. If I face him and lose, I will lose everything. If I win, I kind of become a Norn. I think.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at me with different expressions. Torin looked pissed. His eyebrows were flat lines above his smoldering eyes. Andris and Femi watched me like I’d just told them I was dying.

“They told you all this?” Torin asked

“About recruiting, but I overheard the rest here.” I tapped my head.

“You linked with them telepathically,” Femi whispered.

“Is that good?” Andris asked, looking at Femi.

Femi shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What is this about winning and becoming a Norn?” Torin asked, his voice a low growl.

“Something that we will never let happen,” I said. “We need to get at least one Seeress who can ID the people after us.”

Torin’s lips pulled back. “I don’t care. You’re not going out there.”

“I do and I am. They are using you. I heard them. They’re using you to push me to their side. Something about you being overprotective.”

He stared at me in disbelief, his eyes a stormy pool of emotions. I could just imagine what he was feeling. Not protecting me went against his nature. He’d already started training me to be strong and fast.

“You’re making that up—”

“No, I’m not,” I said.

He thrust his hand through his messy hair. From the looks of it, it wasn’t the first time he’d done it. “I want to know everything they said. But right now, I need you to find the Seeresses.”

***

We appeared in the hospital hallway we’d visited earlier. I couldn’t feel the Norns, just remnants of their energy. “They’re gone.”

“On to the next one,” Andris said, turning to re-enter the nurses’ bathroom.

“No. Just a second.” Torin switched off his runes and sauntered over to the nurse’s desk. The nurse behind the desk looked up, and her eyes glazed over before he even opened his mouth.

“Hey, luv. I’m looking for my aunt who’s been in a coma the last couple of days.” He gave her the name, his seductive smile at full throttle. The flustered woman hunched over her computer in a matter of seconds.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “She died a few minutes ago. They just took her body to the morgue. Are you the next of kin?”

“No. A distant cousin. Thank you. You’ve been most helpful.” He moved so fast, beyond the perception of human eyes, and etched runes on her cheeks. Then he engaged his runes.

“She can’t be dead,” I protested as we moved away from the desk.