Seeress: Book Three (Runes Series) (29 page)

“I didn’t tell you? We won, honey. I’m back,” she squealed.

Wincing, I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed on the speaker button. “That’s great news. I’m happy for you.”

“Happy for
us
. I can keep an eye on you and Torin for as long as I want.”

Scary thought. “I gotta go, Mom. Bye.” I glanced at Torin. “Don’t say a word. I caved and I’m already regretting it. I’ll be the one wearing flowers in my hair.”

“
The Great Gatsby
was set in the twenties.” He grabbed our backpacks, and we started for the building. His expression said he was remembering being there. “Aah, the jazz age. The music was amazing, the women dazzling.”

I hated it when he went all nostalgic on me. “If you’re trying to make me jealous, it’s not working.”
Liar.
I wished I’d been with him.

He smirked and put an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, luv. You have the next several centuries to dazzle me. Maybe I’ll stop being a douche and you’ll give up everything for me.”

Did that really bother him? “But I love your douchebaggedness. It defines who you are.”

My words appeared to please him. “Love your pain-in-the-ass-ness, too. You’d be boring otherwise.”

We were joined by his friends and conversation became less private. As usual, he tucked me to his side and shielded me from their roughhousing.

Just before we entered the building, a prickly feeling had me looking back and searching the parking lot and the students crossing the street. Someone was watching us. I didn’t see Gina, Rita, Bash, or his sidekicks, but the feeling persisted.

***

The prickly feeling returned during lunch. I paused in the process of shoving my books in my locker and glanced around. Rita and Gina were trying to catch my attention. I gave them a tiny smile that I hoped said “leave me alone.”

My attention drifted from them.

Students were everywhere putting their books away before heading to lunch, the buzz of their conversation in the air. It didn’t distract from the feeling of being watched. And it wasn’t the two witches. Bash and his boys perhaps? They always gave weird vibes.

A flash of light and movement at the end of the left hallway made my Valkyrie radar go off. I squinted and searched. A broad shoulder and long Chex Mix hair disappeared around the corner. My pulsed kicked up. No, not a Valkyrie. A certain god. I took off after him, determined to confirm it. He was going toward the front of the school.

The dirty blond hair was unmistakably Eirik’s. I careened around the corner, almost bumping into two girls walking backwards.

“Who’s he?” one said.

“I don’t know, but he’s hot.”

“Why are there so many new students at the end of the school year?”

“I know. Totally weird.”

Totally normal in my world. I picked up speed, but the hallway split. The right headed toward the cafeteria and had a serious traffic jam. I engaged sight runes and scanned heads. No male dirty blonds. Too many female ones, most of them fake. Eirik’s hair was natural.

The left hallway was empty, but chances were he’d taken it. I took off in that direction and hit the front hall running, attracting the attention of students from first lunch, who were hanging around waiting for the bell, and the second lunch students leaving. Eirik wasn’t there. I went to the window and scanned the front entrance of the school and the parking lot across from it.

He was gone. Dang it! I wanted to talk. Maybe slap some sense into him.

I turned to go to the cafeteria, and another flash appeared in the corner of my eyes. He was still in the building. Why was he screwing with me? I shivered as I felt a strong supernatural energy.

“Hey, Raine,” Sebastian said.

Of course, the annoying witches. The twins looked like they didn’t want to be anywhere near me. That made three of us. I ignored them and hurried away.

The hallway was nearly empty, and I was aware of the three witches talking in low tones behind me. Still, I kept an eye out for Eirik. I knew I’d seen him. I couldn’t have been mistaken.

I entered the cafeteria and froze, the air getting trapped in my lungs.

Eirik was waiting in line for food as though he had never left. No one appeared to be staring or pointing at him. His gaming buddies and swim teammates should be flocking around him now and asking questions. He’d been gone for half the school year and most of the swim team members knew he’d moved away.

Dizziness washed over me, and I realized I was holding my breath. My eyes found our table. At least Cora had seen him. Sondra and Kicker didn’t seem to care. I found Torin. He was having a bro moment with Andris and Blaine, but he hadn’t seen Eirik yet either.

Instead of going to the line, I joined Cora. She made a face and jerked her head toward Eirik. “Why aren’t you rushing to give him a hug? He looked right through me and I really don’t blame him. I broke his heart,” she added.

“You broke whose heart?” Kicker asked, cutting a piece of her gravy-covered burrito with the side of her fork.

“No one,” Cora said.

“Look, Kicker. It’s the blond eye candy from our bio class.” Sondra nodded at Eirik’s broad back. “All the girls spent the hour staring at him and wondering who he was.”

I blinked. “You, uh, don’t recognize Eirik?”

“Oh, is that his name?” Kicker asked. “Eirik. It suits him.”

“Recognize him from where?” Sondra added.

My eyes met Cora’s. No way. The Norns couldn’t have. They most definitely could. As though aware of our scrutiny, he turned and stared at us with narrowed eyes. No smile. No expression.

“Oh, crap,” I whispered.

“What’s wrong with him? Did you know he was back?”

I got up without answering Cora, my heart pounding so hard it drowned out other voices. I went to stand in line, my eyes on Eirik’s back.

Hel must have one serious gym because he was ripped. The Eirik I’d known had the body of a swimmer—broad shoulders and narrow hips, but a bit on the skinny side. His hip-hugging jeans and chest-molding T-shirt said skinny was no longer in his vocabulary. He could pass for a surfer dude now. And I was so wrong about no one staring at him. The girls were. The two in front of me kept giggling and checking him out.

He got his pizza and started toward me. My entire body tensed, and a ringing started in my ear. Dang it, I wasn’t breathing again. I struggled to control my swirling emotions as he drew closer. He walked by without slowing down or making eye contact.

I stared after him along with every girl in line. The Norns must have erased his memories, too. That didn’t explain his sneaking into his bedroom at the mansion.

My eyes found Torin. He was staring at me and frowning. He had uncanny way of know when I was upset. In seconds, he was by my side. “What is it?”

“Eirik is here.”

He followed my gaze and went rigid. Blue flames leaped in his eyes. “He’s got some nerve.”

“Torin, don’t confront him.” He was already striding toward Eirik. Things were about to get ugly. I caught up with him and placed my hand on his chest. His heart was racing. “Not here.”

“He knows where my father is,” he hissed.

“We don’t know that. This could all be Norns’ tricks. They’ve hit the erase button again. No one remembers Eirik but us. Just now, he walked right past me without recognizing me. Same with Cora. The Norns might have erased his memory, too.”

Torin angled his body, his eyes going to Eirik. “He’s an Asgardian. Why would they do that?”

“Because they can.”

Andris and Blaine joined us. “While you two are pow-wowing, we’re taking Loki Jr. out for a little chat.”

His hand shot out and blocked Andris. “No. Not yet.”

I glanced over my shoulder and caught the blank look on Eirik’s face. He was staring at us without recognition. “Sit with us, guys,” I begged.

“Can’t I just tell him one thing? You know, about the mess in the kitchen and cleaning up after himself,” Andris said.

I shook my head. Only Andris would create a half-baked joke during a serious situation. We moved as a group to our table. Kicker and Sondra watched the guys with wide eyes, their food forgotten. It wasn’t often they all shared our table.

Across the room, Sabastian and the twins carried their trays and made a beeline for Eirik’s table. They knew him. Nausea hit me hard. When they started talking like best buddies, white-hot anger spiked through me and replaced the shock. Eirik and the witches were working with the Earl.

Torin placed a tray in front of me. He’d gone and gotten my lunch. How sweet. Too bad my palate didn’t appreciate it. The conversation at the table focused on anything but the identity of the four people across from us.

When they got up to leave, Eirik glanced over and, this time, he smirked. The smile was mocking. But what I saw in his eyes chilled me. He was enjoying this. The Norns hadn’t erased his memories. He knew exactly who we were. He said something, and the other three witches glanced at us and laughed.

I wanted to engage my runes and go invisible just so I could slug him. My hand balled and runes appeared on my arms. Torin reached out and gripped my arm.

“Easy, Freckles.”

From the runes on my arms, I must have started to fade. I focused on calming down. Trying to understand why. Remembering the old Eirik. He wasn’t evil. Not all of him. For some reason, his dark side had taken over. Probably Hel’s doing. I had to find a way to undo it.

I looked up and blinked. The guys were gone. “Where did they go?”

“After Eirik,” Cora said.

I jumped up and raced after them before Torin started World War III.

I found Torin, Blaine, and Andris at the front hall of the school. The frustration hung in the air and wreathed their faces. I didn’t need to ask to know that Eirik was gone.

“Did he say anything?” I asked.

“He didn’t stick around to say much.” Torin pushed his fingers through his hair, his body coiled tight. “The three guys with him are the witches who were giving you a hard time?”

I nodded reluctantly, shooting him a nervous glance. “Yes.”

“They were also the shitheads at the club,” Andris mumbled, and I wanted to deck him. Torin was close to his boiling point and Andris just amped up the heat.

Torin spun around, eyes fierce as they volleyed between me and Andris. “Are they?” His voice had gone low, lethal.

“You don’t want to go there, Torin. Bash’s father is powerful. He came to the store
before
I met Rita and Gina, which means he knew who I was. The entire family must be working with your father.”

“Good.” The smile that accompanied that single word sent a chill down my spine. “We can take them out after they give us my father’s location.”

“And Eirik?” Andris asked.

I shot him a mean look. “I don’t believe he’s doing it willingly. Something made him switch from good to bad. His dark side’s taken over. You three stay away from him until I talk to him.” They stared at me as though I’d told them I was marrying Eirik. “I mean it. Back off.”

“
We
talk to him together,” Torin said. His expression said he wasn’t compromising. I opened my mouth to argue and his eyebrows flattened. He could be so intimidating, but that didn’t bother me. I backed down though. This was about his parents, a very touchy and personal thing.

“Okay,” I said.

But catching up with Eirik proved easier said than done. He disappeared. He wasn’t at school.

“Mr. Eirik just left,” Mrs. Willow said, confirming he’d been around.

For the next two days, we watched Sebastian and the twins. Blaine and Andris took turns sleeping in Eirik’s room. As though he knew they were waiting for him, he didn’t come home at night. When we went on our runs, I had a feeling we were being watched.

On Thursday during band performance, I thought I saw him in the audience, but by the time we finished our pieces and the lights were turned on, he was gone. By Friday, I knew exactly what to do. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell Torin.

He was a ticking bomb.

I chose history for my plan. Mr. Finney was my favorite teacher, but he was also too lenient with students. He accepted my lame excuse and sent me to the nurse’s office. Hopefully, Torin would make him forget.

I headed to the band room. Band was my last class of the day, so I knew the room was empty the hour before. I locked the door, put my books on my desk, and let the need to connect with the Norns fill me.

Here goes nothing.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Catie! Marj! Jeannette! I need to talk to you.” I opened one eye and glanced around. No one was there. “CATIE! MARJ! JEANNETTE!”

Still no response.

Please, I need help.

A chill filled the room, and a voice said from behind me, “A little humility goes a long way, Lorraine Cooper.”

For once, I was actually happy to hear Marj’s grating voice. I glanced over my shoulder and shock sent my jaw tumbling down.

Marjorie “Marj” LeBlanc was
Bash
?

Sebastian Reyes grinned. My mouth turned into the Sahara Desert, and when I tried to swallow, it was all sand. No wonder I’d hated him on sight. On the other hand, I’d danced with him at the club and he’d tried to hit on me.

Ew, wrong thing to think about. How low were these three willing to sink?

Beside Sebastian stood the twins, or should I say Catie Vivanco and Jeannette Wilkes. Never in a million years would I have guessed the three witches were my Norns. They stood inside the door, and they didn’t look too happy.

“Or would you prefer me looking like this?” Marj said.

I shoved my hands in the pockets of my hoodie and braced myself, expecting them to assume their true form. Hags with translucent skins. Eyes of infinite wisdom. Hair so gray they looked like rivets of smoke. After my dealings with the witches at the Mirage, I’d reached my quota of wizened people.

Blood rushed back to my head as their faces, bodies, and clothes became normal. Normal meant Marj had her smooth brown complexion and curly hair wrapped up in a bun. She still wore a disapproving look.

The blond, Jeannette, had perfected the condescending attitude. I could tell that my school was the last place she wanted to be and I didn’t blame her. I’d thwarted their plans to lure me to eternal Norn servitude right here when I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Catie, brunette, curvaceous, the last of the trio, was my favorite. She was the kindest, nicest Norn ever.

“What have you three done to Eirik?” I asked in a voice that wasn’t so steady. I hated that. They’d blindside me, dang it. Again.

 
“We’re trying to save him,” Marj snapped. “You failed to do so when you let him go to his mother.”

I shrugged. “Eirik’s not a child. He, not I, decided he was going to visit his parents.”

“Don’t you mean he covered for you and your friends after you killed a few Grimnirs?” Jeannette said, a derision curling her lips.

Crap, they knew. Of course they knew. Anxiety churned my insides. Somehow, I had to bullshit my way out of this. “You mean the ones who attacked us with Maliina so we had to defend ourselves? If you hadn’t recruited Maliina to do your dirty work, she wouldn’t have made a deal with the goddess and come after us, prompting Eirik to come to our defense. The way I see it, you owe us for getting rid of that little piece of work. She was your mistake, and we covered for you.”

Marj’s eyes narrowed menacingly and my stomach dipped. Maybe I’d gone too far. Jeannette shook her head while Catie’s lips twitched as though she was trying hard not to smile.

“And I’m here to collect,” I added. “Where is Torin’s father?”

“Are you trying to blackmail us?” Marj asked, her voice rising.

I shook my head. These three made my skin tight with goose bumps and my blood boil—a real bad combo when a girl wanted to keep her cool. I could feel sweat dripping down my back. “No, just saying we helped you out and now you can help us out. We want to know where the Earl is hiding.”

“We don’t make deals with renegade Norns,” Marj snapped. “We…”

“Control fates of Mortals and gods, I know. But you have no problem using us to recruit new Norns.”

“How do we do that?” Marj asked.

“By using Torin’s father. And FYI, I’m not a Norn.”

Marj chuckled darkly. “Really? Considering the number of destinies you’ve changed in the last couple of days alone, I think you’re in denial. You are a Norn whether you like it or not.”

“I can use my powers as a Seeress to help people without being slapped with that title.” I sat on a desk and crossed my arms. They stayed standing. In fact, they spread out as though trying to surround me. I’d watched enough TV to recognize a pattern of attack. Surround the victim; then grab her.

My stomach churning, I stood and moved toward the back of the class. They followed. I really didn’t like the way they were stalking me. At the club, they’d also tried to make me leave with them. They weren’t thinking of kidnapping me, were they?

My back touched the wall, and I wished I was closer to the door. Much easier to open it and join the students in the hallway than etch runes on a wall. I hated wall portals. But I hated feeling vulnerable more. Like now.

“Back to Torin’s father,” I said, faking a bravado I didn’t have. “First, you knew what he was going to do before he started targeting Seeresses. Instead of stopping him, you decided to put death on hold. Not all deaths. Just those bound for Asgard, so you can cherry pick future Norns from the Seeresses he willingly sacrificed.”

How does she know these things?
Jeanette asked.

Marj smirked.
She’s guessing
.

I was. Every freaking time I was in their presence, my gray matter zipped from ordinary to super genius. Ideas just popped into my head and connections I hadn’t thought of appeared. I had no idea how I did it, but I was always spot on. My confidence returned.

“What was the plan? Let him continue until he attacked me too, so you can replace me with a dead body and let my mother bury her entire family?” This time they didn’t mask their surprise. “That is cold and heartless even for you,” I continued, finally finding my footing. “What I don’t understand is why. Why is Eirik working with him? Why are you allowing it? Why is the Earl after me?”

 
“Why don’t you tell us? You seem to have all the answers,” Jeannette said, and Marj chuckled.

Catie cut them a side-glance. “Stop toying with her.”

“You always were soft when dealing with her,” Marj said.

“I am compassionate when dealing with
all
our charges,” Catie corrected her. “Haven’t we learned anything from our dealings with this one? Being combatant gets us nowhere. We also know that no matter how often we try,
we
cannot shape her destiny. She’s one of us and will choose her own. Now…” She pinned me down with serious, gray eyes. “What do you want to know?”

“Why is Torin’s father after me?”

“He wants to go to Asgard, and he sees you as the means to accomplish that.”

That confirmed Lavania’s story, but… “Why me? I can’t even see souls?”

“Of course you can,” Catie said, smiling. “All you have to do is will it, but you don’t need to be bothered with the dead, not when you can talk directly to us. Somehow the word is out about you, Lorraine. The supernatural world knows you can change destinies, cross realms without being a Valkyrie, and visit Asgard or Hel without escorting a soul. They didn’t know
who
you were until you summoned the witches to Kayville to defend you.”

Cross realms? So Echo was right. Then the last thing she said registered.

“I did not summon anyone.” They glanced at each other and started their telepathic communication. I let my need to listen in fill me until I heard them. So they didn’t know who called the witches either, but their main suspect was Eirik.

“Why would Eirik make the Call?” I asked.

Catie shot me a disapproving glance. “You should not listen to private conversations, Lorraine. It is rude.”

My cheeks warmed. She sounded so much like Mom. Except she wasn’t Mom. “And you should not go around stalking me and interfering in my life. Why would Eirik send the witches here if he’s working with Torin’s father?”

“Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe the witches are not here to help you?” Marj finally spoke and she did it with some serious glee. “Maybe they’re part of the Earl’s army.”

My stomach dropped. The protection runes in the town covered all homes. Could we be protecting the very people out to get me? “You’ve infiltrated them, so why haven’t you found out anything. At least you must know why Eirik is with the Earl.”

“We don’t,” Catie said. “We thought he was with his parents in Hel’s Hall. We are trying to find out what’s going on and, if possible, help him find his way.”

“Then get rid of Torin’s father. You’re powerful. Change his destiny. Kill him. Create an accident and chop off his head.”

“We’re not in the business of killing people,” Marj retorted.

Yeah, yours is to screw up people’s lives.
“What can we do to help Eirik? His dark side has taken over. and if we don’t do something, people are going to get hurt.”

“We?” Marj asked.

“Yes, Marj. We. Eirik means a lot to us. To me, my mother, my father.” My eyes watered. “I will not let him disappear into a black hole if I can help it. And if you try to use him to get to me again—”

“Eirik is just as important as you are to Ragnarok, Lorraine,” Catie said.

Marj and Jeannette exchanged a horrified look. Marj shook her head. “She doesn’t need to know all that now, Catie.”

Catie smiled. “Actually, Marj, she does. It’s time to stop this senseless cat and mouse game and work with her. I’m taking the lead from now on.”

Whoa. I’d never heard her sound so badass. The others blinked and nodded. Way to go, Catie. She just kicked Marj to the curb and hijacked leadership. I loved it.

“Good. Let’s get comfortable.” She waited until they sat before she took the seat in front of me and smiled. “What do you know about Ragnarok?”

Seriously? “You want to discuss that now?”

“Yes, dear. Your next class is in,” she checked her watch, “fifteen minutes. You have enough time to understand a few useful but painful facts. Now tell us about Ragnarok.”

“It is the battle between the forces of good and evil and the end of this world,” I said and almost rolled my eyes when they nodded. This was stupid.

“Go on,” Catie said calmly.

“There will be signs of course: three years of nonstop war, chaos, and lawlessness followed by snow covering the entire world and blizzards. Finally darkness will be everywhere, as the sun, the moon, and the stars will be swallowed by the wolves. Scientifically, that doesn’t make sense unless the earth goes off tangent instead of following its orbit and ends up floating in space where there are no stars, until it finds a new star to revolve around.”

Catie chuckled. “Nice theory, but you forget that your science doesn’t explain everything. Go on.”

“But that’s where theories come in.”

She sighed. “Focus on Ragnarok, Lorraine. You can regale me with your theories later.”

I could work with her. She was nice. “Three roosters will crow and call people to war. One will call the gods, another will call the giants, and the third will wake up the dead,” I said.

They all groaned.

“What? I Googled it.”

Catie jumped up and paced. “Why are you reading half-truths we left behind to placate Mortals? What is the name of your teacher?”

Did she have to ask it like Lavania was the village idiot? “She is very good, but she’s been gone for a while. You know because of Mom’s hearing. Maybe if you guys hadn’t fought so hard to make Mom a Norn when it was obvious she wanted to be a Valkyrie, I would have gotten info from my tutor instead of Wikipedia.”

“Who is this Wikipedia?” Marj demanded.

“She is right,” Jeannette said at the same time, her animosity down several notches. “At least tell us you know what happens after Ragnarok.”

“Some gods and goddesses survive. I’m hoping Eirik takes over for Odin, of course. There are perks to having your best friend as the main god.” If Torin didn’t kill him first for betraying me. Then there was the kiss he and I would share. Probably a planted vision by these three hags.

Catie shot me a pointed look, and I realize I’d stopped talking.