Seeress: Book Three (Runes Series) (32 page)

The air behind him shimmered like heat rising from heated cement.

“Civilization after civilization, we’ve watched them begin one senseless war after another, killing each other and destroying everything only to rebuild it again.”

The mirage took the shape of a woman in a long, flowing white dress with long, wide sleeves that were fitted around her wrists. The collar and the sleeves of the dress were beautifully embroidered, and she wore a cloak held
in place by a cord and
a belt around her waist. At first I thought she had ash-blond hair like Ingrid, until I realized her hair was covered by a white, silk scarf that flowed to her back.

“It is time we were rewarded, recognized, and given our dues,” the Earl continued. “Time we sat at the table with our fallen brothers and sisters, shook hands with the gods, and drank ale served by beautiful Valkyries.”

“YEAH!” the crowd yelled.

“It is our right as Immortals, our destiny…”

More screams came from his followers, more rhetoric from him about winning Ragnarok and becoming gods and goddesses. Lofty dreams, pal. Good luck with that.

The soul was now clearer, but I could still see through her. Cora had told me they looked like regular people. Maybe I was only meant to see them this way. Translucent. Apparitions of themselves. She was beautiful, her skin flawless, but her eyes… They were lifeless. Like a doll’s. Totally spooky.

Did all souls look like that?

“This young Seeress will lead us to the Bifrost. We’ll cross it and enter Valhalla like the heroes we are. The witches, wizards, and shamans are welcomed to join us. Your young leader has proven himself.”

What? My eyes shifted from Torin’s mother to Eirik. Eirik was the leader of the witches? Did that mean he’d made the Call and led the Earl to us?

“Now, Lorraine Cooper,” the Earl said. “We are ready. Show us the way to the gods. Open the portal to the Bifrost.”

Seriously? Did he really think it would be that simple? “No. No one is going anywhere until you release her.” I pointed at the soul.

The Earl looked behind him and scowled. “Release who?”

“The poor soul you’ve been dragging around for centuries. Your wife. Let her go.”

He laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s no one there.”

“Then you better look harder. You’ve kept her around for so long she has withered to nothing.” The soul looked at me with such hope my heart ached for her. “But I can see her. Yes, Lady Adelaide, I can see you. Please, show yourself. Let them see what he’s done to you.”

She was struggling to maintain her human form, but she was too weak. I could see it in her eyes and the way her body dimmed. Centuries of hanging around her husband had probably drained her energy.

The Earl’s eyes grew fierce. “Focus on why we came here, my friends,” he yelled. “The girl is trying to confuse you. There’s nothing here, nothing holding us back. She promised to lead us to Asgard.”

Promised who? Eirik? Where did he go? “No, I will not,” I called out.

“Look here, you silly girl,” the Earl snarled. “The only reason I didn’t storm into your puny town and reduce it to rubble was because Eirik said you were willing to help us. That you’ve wanted to go to Asgard, too, but the Norns refused you. This is a chance to show them they don’t control you or your future.”

“They already know that, just like they know I’d never associate with Immortals like you and her.” I indicated his companion, Madam Bosvilles.

“Listen here, you brat. If you refuse, your little town will be nothing but a ghost town.”

I stared at him, but my mind was on Torin’s mother and freeing her. “Go ahead and torch it, and see who becomes a ghost. Lady Adelaide?” I called out. She looked up, her eyes widening. She had pale blue eyes like the present Earl of Worthington.

The Earl reached out to grab my arm, but something weird happened. The vine from a nearby tree whipped out, wrapped around his wrist, and pulled.

People moved back with gasps. Some pointed.

“Which one of you witches is doing this?” the Earl yelled, struggling. He engaged his runes. But the more he struggled, the tighter and higher the vine pulled his arm. The Immortals looked at the witches, and I knew if the Earl gave the order, they’d turn on them.

“I did it,” I yelled. “Touch me again and they’ll go for your neck,” I threatened. “Now promise to behave until I finish here.”

He tried to grab me with his other hand, but another vine shot down and snatched it. Idiot. He just had to try to prove he was Mr. Tough Guy, didn’t he? Mother Nature is a witch with a capital B when it fought back.

I focused on Adelaide, who was staring at the Earl. “Focus on me, Lady Adelaide. I know who you are. You were Lady Adelaide from Normandy. You had two sons, Torin and James.”

Her face crumbled. Could a soul cry?

“They loved you very much. James is waiting for you in Asgard.” Torin had better escort her there. “Torin will be here shortly to take you to him. Please, fight and show yourself. Don’t you want to see your children?”

Tears filled my eyes as I watched her struggle. She seemed to grow stronger. Finally, she came into existence. The witches and the Immortals were staring at her, not the Earl.

I shot the Earl a triumphant look. A few of his men must have tried to help him because they were wrapped up like mummies by the grass. Only their eyes blinked at me from thatches of green. The others, his girlfriend included, had distanced themselves from him.

“You’ve tortured your wife’s soul for centuries, William de Clare. Release her soul now, and then we can talk about Asgard.”

He sneered. “I will not be dictated to by a child.”

“Yet you come to me for help?” I asked, raising my voice. A few snickers followed.

He glanced around, so sure of his place as the leader of these people. “Do you care that my wife chose to stay with me, so she and I could go to Asgard together?”

“NO!”

“We do,” one lone voice rang out. A familiar female voice.

Femi? I craned my neck to find her, but the witches were pointing their staffs at us while murmuring something. Their voices rose, each speaking in a different language. But the loudest one was Femi’s. Blaine was also yelling.

Then I realized what they were doing. They were chanting a spell.
My eyes met Eirik’s. He was chanting, too. And smiling. He winked and patted his side. I shook my head, not understanding. He pointed to his side. I patted my side and felt it. The dagger he’d been holding was in the pocket of my hoodie. He must have slipped it there while we were walking to the clearing.

Was this his plan all along? Bringing me here to help release Lady Adelaide and save the town? What was in the note he’d left with Andris? He had some serious explaining to do after this.

Gina and Rita grinned at me at the front of the line. Blaine and Femi moved to the ends of the group, flanking them in case the Immortals attacked. Even the old witch with the crooked staff flash his stained teeth as he nodded at me, his staff pointed at the Earl.

By the third chant, I had picked up parts of it and joined in.

“We ask the Gods to break this bond

That binds Lady Adelaide to the Earl of Worthington.

He holds her soul from time gone by

Though no longer in his arms does she lie.

Gods of Old Religion release her soul.

This spell is cast and the Earl has no more hold.”

The look on the Earl’s face was priceless. He bellowed something, but the witches drowned him. I knew the moment the spell was broken.

A portal appeared right by Adelaide, and Torin arrived, his runes glowing. The others followed—Andris, Echo, Lavania, Ingrid, and Hawk. Even Mom was there.

His mother’s soul stared at them and moved back as though afraid. Didn’t she recognize Torin? “It is Torin, Lady Adelaide,” I said. “Your son.”

Her eyes volleyed between Torin and me as though not sure of herself. She moved toward me. Somehow, she’d decided I could be trusted.

“Take her to the mansion, Raine,” Torin growled in a voice raw with emotions. Gratitude simmered in the depth of his eyes, which quickly turned to rage when he saw his father.

I didn’t want to leave. What if they needed me? The Immortals outnumbered them five to one, and that was assuming all the witches were on our side.

“Go, Raine,” Torin yelled. “Take her to safety.”

“Follow me, Lady Adelaide. You will be safe with me.” I started to lead her through the portal, but the Earl bellowed.

“No, she stays.”

“Untie him, Raine,” Torin ordered in a voice that said he couldn’t wait to kick his father’s old butt from here to Asgard and back.

I waited until Lady Adelaide was by my side and pointed at the vine. It started to unravel. This link I had with Mother Earth was surreal, but then again, everything about my life was way out there.

I disappeared through the portal with the soul of Lady Adelaide right behind me. The portal closed as soon as we stepped into the foyer. She looked around. I wasn’t sure what to tell her. Truth be told, I wanted to go back to the forest, but I was stuck babysitting her.

Souls didn’t exactly communicate with people verbally, but according to Torin, they understood things. “Do you remember Torin, Lady Adelaide?”

She stared at me as though I was speaking a foreign language. Maybe she didn’t understand English. She spoke French when she was alive, and I didn’t speak French.

She nodded.

I grinned. “Was that a yes?”

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Okay, Torin was not a good subject. “Please, don’t cry, okay? He’s okay. He’s a loving and amazing guy, and you should be totally proud of him. He’s a Valkyrie. That means he escorts souls to Asgard.”

She nodded again.

Then inspiration hit. Cora. She could help big time here. “Lady Adelaide, I’m about to introduce you to my friend Cora. She helps souls communicate with the living. I think Torin will need her services.” I pulled out my cell phone, and she watched me curiously as I texted Cora. “She can also watch you while I…”

Panic flashed in Lady Adelaide’s eyes.

“No, don’t be afraid. I’m going to help Torin.” I peered at her. On a good day, I’d be freaking out talking to a soul. Today, anything was possible. “You want me to help Torin defeat the Earl, don’t you? They need me back there in the woods because the forest listens to me.” She still looked doubtful. “Please. I’d take you with me, but Torin won’t be happy. He has a temper and can be quite melodramatic.” She smiled and nodded. I sighed with relief. “Thank you. Cora’s nice. She’s a friend of mine and Torin’s. She helps souls.”

“At home going crazy. What’s going on?” Cora texted.

“I’m opening the portal,” I texted back, engaged my runes, and watched the portal form.

Cora practically raced into the room. She was a hot mess, her hair rolled up at the back of her head and eyes red as though she’d been crying. “What do you mean you want me to watch over a soul? Are they okay? Echo refused to let me go with him.”

“I don’t know if they’re okay. I need to find out, and you can’t come with me. Echo would focus on keeping you safe and not teaching the Immortals a lesson.”

“Torin would, too…” Her voice trailed off when she saw Lady Adelaide. “Is that the soul I’m supposed to help? Who is she?”

“Cora, Lady Adelaide, Torin’s mother. Lady Adelaide, Cora Jemison, my best friend. Explain to her what you do, Cora. I have to go.” I created a portal into the forest just like Torin had taught me the last few days.

The scene was worse than I’d imagined. I almost twisted my ankle in the huge cracks criss-crossing the ground. Immortals littered the forest floor, their heads twisted at weird angles. Some witches with bruises were still fighting, but a few had joined the Immortals, including the poor old man with a crooked staff. I had seen the vision of his death, so I was happy I’d missed that.

But the trees… So many of them were on the ground. After this, I was going to have my work cut out for me. I engaged my runes, going for strength, speed, and endurance. The healing and pain runes dotted my skin automatically whenever I was in danger.

Torin was easy to spot, with his brilliant runes and his gravity-defying moves. He matched his father’s moves. The body slams. The slugging. Their clothes were in tatters, their faces bloody and muddy, and their hair tangled with leaves and twigs.

“Come on, old man,” Torin bellowed. “Is that all you got?”

His father dragged himself from the ground, his face red with rage. “You would not be a Valkyrie if it weren’t for me,
boy
.”