Witches (Runes series Book 6) (37 page)

Still, I said, “Yes.”

“Then, listen,” he whispered and turned my head, so I could look at Lavania. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be listening to and only caught the tail end of her sentence.

“…start a new school,” Lavania said. “A special school to train Immortals and future Valkyries. We should be up and running by fall.”

I’d mentioned it jokingly when she and I had discussed this. “I didn’t think they’d go for it.”

“Why shouldn’t they? As soon as they learned that the idea came from you, they were happy to oblige.”

“Perfect place to send my Immortals too,” Torin whispered, his warm breath fanning my ear. I shivered and he chuckled. He was deliberately messing with me.

Lavania continued, “I’m still searching for the perfect location, but once I find it, I expect you three to be in my senior class.”

Ingrid liked the idea. Cora not so much. Me? I just wanted the meeting to end, so I could spend the evening with my husband.

“I think she needs our help,” Torin whispered.

“Sure, she does.” He was driving me crazy.

“She really does,” he added.

“Who? Lavania?”

“No. Cora.”

I studied Cora. She kept checking her phone, probably worried sick about Echo. She looked up and her eyes confirmed it. She was losing it. This business of dark souls and Maliina had her spooked. I sighed. My wedding night was going to have to wait.

I leaned against Torin and whispered, “For someone who’s so intuitive, you don’t know how to read your wife.”

“I don’t think a reading is what you have in mind tonight, Freckles,” he whispered.

True. I got up and followed Cora outside the kitchen. As soon as she mentioned going to look for Echo, I knew Torin was right. We couldn’t send her home alone. I gathered up the troops. Cora protested, but no one listened to her.

We used a portal to go to Echo’s place in Miami, but it was empty. Since her parents didn’t know what we were, we couldn’t just create a portal and appear at their home. We had to go there like Mortals.

We headed back to the mansion, piled into cars, and headed to her place. Cora’s family lived on a farm. Her parents were former school teachers, but her father wrote science fiction now, while her mother did organic farming. When we pulled up outside the farmhouse, her parents were at home. They didn’t appear surprised.

We stayed on the deck while her mother prepared dinner. Torin took the swing and pulled me down onto his lap. It was five, the sun still high in the sky. I tried not to think about what I could be doing instead of talking and listening to Ingrid’s dating stories. Cora was surprised by her stories. I wasn’t. The Ingrid I’d gotten to know these past weeks was not as sweet and innocent as she looked. She was fun and unpredictable.

When Echo finally arrived, I was ready to go home. Mrs. Jemison was an amazing cook, but I don’t remember what I ate. I couldn’t focus while the guy I was crazy about watched me as though every movement I made mesmerized him.

When we left the farm, we took the back seat of the SUV, and I slipped into his arms, our lips meeting like we were starved for each other. I know I was.

“Keep it PG-13 back there,” Andris called from the front seat. Blaine was driving for some reason.

“Leave them alone, Andris,” Ingrid said from the middle seat.

The two traded barbs. After a few seconds, I was lost in Torin and stopped hearing anything. His hands were everywhere, his mouth relentless. He lifted me so I straddled his hips. With both our runes glowing, he watched me as his hand left a heated trail up my back to unclasp my bra. Somehow, we managed to pull the straps through my sleeves.

On a normal day, I’d be self-conscious that we were making out with the others seated a few feet away. Not this time. I’d waited for this kiss since he’d pledged he would love me forever in front of my family and friends.

 
I shuddered as his touch became intimate. I expected him to smirk. He enjoyed the way I responded to his touch, but tonight, he was intense, blue flames leaping in the depths of his eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my face to his, nuzzled actually, loving the feel of his heated skin against mine. Our lips inches apart, we exchanged a breath as we stared into each other’s eyes. They say eyes are windows to the soul. They were right. I saw his and it was beautiful.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“Forever,” I finished it, and then kissed him, pouring my hopes and dreams into that single kiss. I wanted to touch him, feel his skin with my hands and lips. No, with my entire body. I wanted to drape myself all over him and let my skin soak him in. I had the right to now.

I yanked his shirt up and sighed blissfully when his stomach muscles contracted underneath my palm. He drew in a sharp breath and groaned. I crept up, loving the way his muscles trembled as though wanting to leap through his skin and blend with me.

A sudden cold draft filled the car and my first thought was Norns, but then I remembered they weren’t exactly cold. It was their essence that was cold and induced revulsion and shudders.

“Goddamn it! There’s no time for that now, you two.”

I recognized Echo’s voice and yanked my lips from Torin’s.

“Get lost, Grimnir,” Torin snarled.

“You want to hear this. I got a text from Cora. It’s about your father, Raine.”

My senses dulled by passion, I was slow in processing the information. When it finally hit me, I got off Torin’s lap and looked at Echo. “What?”

“Your father’s gone,” he added, voice softer.

Tears welled in my eyes. I knew he’d been dying slowly for days. This morning, or this afternoon in England, I’d seen it in his eyes after he’d given me away. Felt it in his body as he’d placed my hand in Torin’s. Still…

Torin opened a portal, the first time I’d seen him do that from a moving car. He picked me up and hopped into our living room, not missing a step. Echo followed before the portal closed. We raced to the den. Dad’s body was still on his bed, but I couldn’t see his soul.

Had Mom reaped him already?

Cora stood in the middle of the room covered with dark runes. On someone else, they’d look ugly. On her, the contrast between her skin and the inking was striking. I didn’t even know why my mind went there. My father’s soul was missing. If the Norns had taken him…

Snippets of the conversation between Echo and Cora reached me. They were discussing the medium runes etched on her by Ingrid’s evil sister. The same dark runes inking her body now.

“Where’s my father?” I asked in a voice I didn’t recognize. Torin’s arms tightened around me.

“He’s inside her,” a voice said from Cora’s phone as she moved closer to us.

“Who is that?” Ingrid asked from behind me, but I already knew. Dev, the soul Cora was trying to help.

“Dev, the dark soul, who will be in trouble if he doesn’t shut up,” Cora warned. Her voice softened as she added, “Your father bonded with me, Raine. He wants to talk to you, Torin, and your mother.”

Hel’s Mist! “Mom, I have to tell her,” I whispered.

“Lavania went to get her,” Femi said. The entire group was inside the room, but one by one they left. Dev explained to Cora what to do. As a soul who’d possessed others, he had firsthand knowledge what the effect was. Now he possessed electronics.

Echo left with the phone, leaving us alone with Cora. She didn’t hesitate before she started to speak, but her voice was no longer hers. It was Dad’s. He sounded weak.

“I love you, pumpkin, and I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become. You are loving, fiercely loyal, and a fighter. But then again, from the moment I held your frail body in my arms and the doctors said you needed me to survive, I knew you would be. You were determined to live and you did.”

Dad’s voice grew stronger as he reminisced about my childhood, the little things I’d forgotten, yet he remembered with such clarity. “I remember when you were five and insisted on climbing the tree near your bedroom window, fell, and scraped you knees. You looked me straight in the eyes and said, “No, Daddy, it doesn’t hurt. I’m okay. I’m going to do it today.”
 
Tears raced down your face, but you’d made up your mind. I stood under that tree and my heart swelled with pride with every step you took. You were a fighter then and you are a fighter now.”

I cried harder and somewhere along the way, Cora started to cry too. I left the protection of Torin’s arms and hugged her.

“Today, you made my dreams come true and I will cherish those memories forever,” he finished, sounding more like the man I’d known growing up. “Torin, I expect a lot from you. I know you love my daughter, so live up to all your vows. Eirik reassured me that he’d keep me informed on what’s happening, so I’ll know if my princess is not happy.” There was a pause and I thought he was done. Cora was sweating, and she looked drowsy. “I expect you to be a good father to my grandchildren. If possible, I hope you’ll bring them to see…”

Mom must have come in while Dad was still talking to Torin. His voice stayed strong as he talked to her, but Cora looked terrible. Her eyes were glazed and sweat dotted her forehead. I didn’t know what happened next. One minute Dad was still talking and then next he had left Cora. Her legs gave away.

Torin reached for her, but the door flew open and Echo was by her side. He caught her and lifted her in his arms. Echo threw us an unreadable glance. “She’ll be okay. Dev said she shouldn’t have done it for so long.”

“You can take her upstairs to my bedroom. I’ll find her some Twizzlers.” After a possession, Cora usually needed sweets to rejuvenate. Twizzlers was her candy of choice.

Echo left the room with Cora in his arms.

“Do you want to join the others or stay here and talk to your father?” Torin asked.

“Let’s stay here.” New souls were like newborn kids, able to hear, but not talk. The difference was they understood what was said to them. They were also confused about what was happening to them. Not Dad though.

It took nearly two hours for Cora to recover and Echo refused to leave her side. I took her some Twizzlers then went downstairs to wait when I overheard Mom say, “Echo will find him the best resting place in the hall.”

I entered the room, my eyes locked on her. “What did you say?”

Mom got up and walked around the bed to where I stood. “Sweetheart…”

I pushed her arm away. “What do you mean? Echo is reaping Dad? You went back to being a Valkyrie so you could reap him. You said so yourself, Mom.” Torin was by my side in seconds. “Tell her. She promised. I… She was away at that stupid Council hearing so she could be reinstated as a Valkyrie just for him.”

“I tried, honey,” Mom whispered.

“No. Dad is not going to Hel,” I whispered. He gave me a pained look and my heart broke. He didn’t understand. Hel’s Hall was cold and miserable, and the Goddess Hel was just like the place.

“Freckles,” Torin said.

“No. They did this, Torin. The Norns are behind this.” I was going to make them pay. Tears flowed again. I had thought I didn’t have any left.

“No, they’re not.” Torin wiped my tears and added gently, “They didn’t do this, luv.”

“You don’t know them like I do. I’m going to make them wish they’d never crossed me. They’re not doing this to my father. Not
my
father. I won’t let them. I won’t…” My voice ended in a wail.

Torin hauled me into his arms and held me tight as sobs rose and shook my body. He murmured words, but I didn’t hear them. Those conniving hags had crossed the line this time.

I wasn’t sure how long I cried, but Torin’s shirt was drenched when I pulled back, and my eyes landed on Mom crying a few feet away. Dad was trying to console her although his hand didn’t exactly make contact with her. When our eyes met, he smiled reassuringly and realization hit me.

“You knew?” I asked Dad.

He nodded.

I looked at Torin. “You too?”

“Yes. Do you remember where and when I found your father after the plane crash? Echo was going to reap him, and I talked him out of it. He is meant to reap your father. It didn’t matter how much time passed. But he and I talked, and he promised to find him the best resting place by the gods. He’ll be surrounded by memories of his life. He could recreate this morning and relive it over and over again, or the day you were born, or when he met your mother. The gods’ wing has private rooms so his world will not be corrupted by another soul.”

I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t think beyond Hel. In Asgard, he could see my mother often, eat, sleep, run, and talk to others. In Hel, he’d be alone with nothing but his memories to keep him company. What was the point of having powers and knowledge when I couldn’t secure my father a place in Valhalla? I didn’t care what Torin said. The Norns engineered this.

Torin lifted my chin and wiped the tears from my cheeks. He was hurting for me. I saw it in his eyes and the way a muscle ticked on his jaw. Tonight was supposed to be our night. Our wedding night. Instead we had death and Hel.

Someone was going to pay for this.

The rest of the evening was a blur. I said goodbye to my father’s soul, and watched as Echo and Andris escorted him away. Echo might be part of our group now, but my father was too important to trust him to do the right thing. Andris volunteered to go with them. Each step they took was like a dagger through my heart. I kept imagining Dad, not his soul, in Hel. Alone. Miserable.

My tears ran unchecked.

Once he was gone, I just wanted to crawl into Torin’s arms and make him take my pain away. The moment Cora left he whisked me away to my room, lowered me on a chair, and said, “Don’t move.”

I watched him shove a few of my belongings in a bag—panties, tops, and pants—and didn’t bother asking him what he was doing. He disappeared in the bathroom to get more stuff. Then there was silence. He must have opened a portal to his place. I closed my eyes, wishing I were in bed. I wanted to shut out the world for a long time.

My father was in Hel. Tears threatened to fall again. Onyx hopped onto my lap and purred. I couldn’t remember hearing her purr. I stroked her fur.

So sorry for what happened tonight.

“They’ll get what’s coming to them.”

I was sure she’d repeat the same thing everyone kept telling me, that the Norns weren’t responsible. She didn’t. Instead she said,
your friend Cora is not so bad after all.

I didn’t respond.

I had no idea she could do what she did. And her Grimnir… We’ll see.

I really didn’t care what Onyx thought of my friends. My father was in Hel. Torin reappeared without the bag, runes blazing. Onyx hopped down to the floor.

“Come on, luv. We’re going home.” He scooped me up and engaged his runes. My bedroom portal responded, but I couldn’t see where we were going.
 
One second we were in my room, the next at a front door. The sun was up. I realized where we were—the castle where we’d gotten married this morning, or yesterday afternoon UK time.

We could have teleported straight into the bedroom, but my wonderful husband was doing the traditional thing and carrying me across the threshold. Tears rushed to my eyes again.

A man opened the door. “Welcome home, Sire. Madam.”

“Thanks, Donovan. Don’t mind the cat. Her name is Onyx, and she belongs to my wife. We’re not to be disturbed for the next twenty-four hours.”

The grandfather clock in the foyer chimed. It was a quarter after eight.

There was no indication there had been a wedding feast. The flower petals were gone. Sounds from our left let me know that there was more than just Donovan living in the house.

Torin didn’t slow down until he reached the bedroom I’d used to get ready for our wedding. My bag was on the bed, pajamas already laid out. The curtains were drawn, so little light came inside. Lamps covered with golden shades cast a warm glow over the room.

Torin lowered me to the floor and smiled. “Welcome home, Raine St. James. This wasn’t how I’d planned the day to end, but I promise you that once we lay your father to rest, I’ll give you a honeymoon to last centuries. Right now, I just want to hold you and make—”

I attacked him. It was the only way to describe it. I threw my arms around his neck and shut him up the only way I knew how. With a kiss. I broke the contact and whispered, “I don’t want to sleep. I don’t want you to hold me. I don’t want to wait. I want you to love me. Make the pain go away.”

He forgot I was new to all this because his primal instinct to claim, own, and brand took over. His mouth covered mine as he scooped me up. The bag and my pjs flew off the bed, but I think I might have used magic to do that. Or the burbling energy unfurling in my core had flowed into him and given him some of my magic.

He lowered me on the bed, reached over his shoulder with one hand, and pulled off his T-shirt, his eyes not leaving mine.

Shirtless, he tugged mine over my head, and then removed the chain necklace with my rings on it. One by one, he slipped them onto my finger. He raised my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on the rings, then my palm. He grinned, joined our hands, and lowered his body until our chests touched.

The feeling of his skin against mine was heavenly. Maybe it was the runes or my magic, but every touch was heightened, every kiss toe-curling, and every nip erotic.

“Thank you for saying that,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning my skin and teasing my senses. “I was trying to be noble, but…” He paused and kissed me, the moment endless. He lifted his head, his breathing as harsh as mine. “I want you. I need you.” He ran the tips of his fingers along my collarbone. “I will take your pain away.
Our
pain away, because when you hurt, I hurt.” His hands moved lower and stroked my chest, focusing on sensitive areas. His mouth followed.

He trailed kisses all over my bare skin. From my lips to my belly button, he lingered in some places, nipped with his teeth and soothed with his tongue in others.

I arched into him, the sensation so overwhelming I cried out. He went into hyper-speed, removing everything so our skins could breathe each other in, feel, and memorize the textures of each other. He paused for a moment and studied me, from my face to my feet.

“Perfect,” he whispered.

Something flashed in my head. A memory, but it disappeared so fast I thought I imagined it. Stroking my calf, he started the slow torture of awakening my senses. New ones and old ones.

I had no idea what he could do with his hands and tongue and mouth until tonight. His touch was so intimate, I begged him to stop, when I never actually wanted him to. I bucked as though to push him off, yet held him tighter. Fought hard to breathe in oxygen, when all I needed to breathe was him, his scent and his essence. And yet my mind continued to tease me with images of moments like this when this was our first.

When he looked me in the eye with love and anguish, and then whispered, “I never want to hurt you. Not ever, yet I must,” similar words echoed in my head.

“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “I’m ready.”

He hesitated, fighting demons that I understood, yet didn’t. I urged him with kisses and gentle caresses, reassured him in every way, yet he still agonized.

“Please,” I whispered, hating that everything seemed like a replay when I wanted to cherish this first moment.

He kissed me and whispered, “I belong to you, Raine St. James. My heart. My soul. My body.” Then we were one.

There was no pain, just memories crushing, overwhelming my senses. We’d done this before and the old hags must have wiped our memories. Why? Tears rushed to my eyes, until I met Torin’s.

There was confusion in his sapphire blue depths and I read the questions. Had I been with another before him? When?

Then he jerked as though prodded and his eyes widened, and I realized I’d sent him the images. A growl escaped him when he realized what had happened. Rage washed across his face and he roared with it, but I refused to let them spoil our moment. They will not win. Not with us.

I pulled him down and kissed him, until passion and love once again ruled his head. With every movement, the memories receded. With every sigh and whispered love, we created new ones.

They could steal them as often as they wanted, but we’d always create new ones. Better ones. With our runes blending, my magic flowing into Torin, my senses exploded and I cried out his name.

Curled in his arms, I listened to his heart pound and slowly return to normal. His kisses became languid. He wasn’t done. His, “I’m just starting,” came out near my chest as he caressed me again.

“Don’t you want to talk—?”

“No.
They
don’t belong in our bedroom.” He turned me around and continued to kiss his way down my back to my waist. I squealed when he nipped my butt. He chuckled and laved the spot with his tongue.

“Scoot back, luv,” he whispered seductively.

He was relentless. Unstoppable. It was as though he planned to replace all the memories the Norns had stolen in one night. When I couldn’t take it anymore, he amped up things until I thought I would die from sensations. This time, I think I blanked out.

When I came to, he was watching me, head resting on the heel of his hand.

“How long have you been watching me?”

He smirked. “Not long enough.”

“That’s creepy,” I said.

He twirled a lock of my hair, spread the strands on the pillow, then leaned back and grinned. “I often wondered what you’d look like with it spread out like this.”

I stroked his arm. “And?”

“You’re breathtaking.” He kissed my knuckles. “You want to try something different?”

Like I said, he was determined to create new memories and I was his willing accomplice. “Yes.”

“You are going to engage speed runes when you’re ready.” He settled on the pillows with his arms behind his head and said, “You’re in charge. You set the pace. You’re allowed to make me beg. Just once, or I’m taking over.”

To actually make him beg? I loved the idea.

By the time we finished, I learned something new about myself. I was bossy and a tease, and I loved watching him beg. But more than that, I loved giving him whatever he wanted.

~*~

We didn’t venture out of the room until six in the evening, which was ten in the morning in Kayville, Oregon. We showered, changed, and headed downstairs.

Onyx was being spoiled by Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, the elderly Immortal couple who’d lived in the castle since Torin had bought it in the sixteen hundreds. I didn’t remember meeting either of them during my wedding, but Torin insisted they’d been around. Mrs. Donovan was preparing our lunch, but she’d already baked fresh scones.

“I’ll show Raine around before lunch,” Torin explained and we left the kitchen, Onyx on our heels. “I’ve made renovations over the centuries,” he explained as he showed me around. Us, I should say since Onyx came along and had something to say.

This is my new home. Plenty of places to hide your dagger.

I chuckled and explained to Torin.

“Why do they want—” He shook his head. “No, we’re not talking about those hags. Not today. Let me show you something amazing.”

He grabbed my hand and we headed upstairs to a hallway with a ceiling shaped like an upside down boat. It was beautiful. We moved from room to room. The paneling showed how beautifully he’d blended wood and rocks when fixing the place. Gilded mirrors and picture frames complemented the furniture and each room represented an era down to the area rug. We were in the drawing room, whatever that meant. I’d already seen the living room and it was cozy with fluffy chairs.

I pretended to faint on a lounge, which Torin insisted was called a fainting lounge. It had only one arm. Like most of the furniture in the room, it was Victorian with ivory legs and gold accents. I noticed he favored that era when decorating bedrooms.

“I always thought these were uncomfortable,” I said, resting my head on the arm of the lounge and resting my feet. They weren’t.

“Try this one,” Torin said, dropping on a chaise lounge. I joined him and he pulled me onto his lap. For the next thirty minutes, we forgot about the tour. Onyx made herself scarce.

Sounds came from outside and I jumped up and raced to the window. Mrs. Donovan was cutting flowers from the flower beds. I could see a pond and a garden. “I want to go outside.”

“Not until I finish showing you around Castle Windhaven,” he said and grabbed my hand.

“Are you going to be one of those bossy husbands?” I shot back.

“Oh yes. Putting you in charge is detrimental to my health, as I found out last night.”

I laughed. He’d loved it. “What is a drawing room?”

“It’s where you receive guests. That’s why it’s close to the main entrance. We also withdraw there after dinner. Or the ladies did while the men smoked their cigars.”

So happy I wasn’t living during those times. My feet were beginning to hurt when we finished. The castle had twelve bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a large ballroom and a smaller one in the main tower, which he called a banquet room, a dining room, a modernized kitchen with an old fireplace, and a library. The wine cellar was huge and fully stocked.

When we finally made it outside, I was happy to explore. I’d seen a town from the tower, but it wasn’t visible from the grounds. The castle sat on two hundred acres of land, Torin had explained. It had landscaped gardens, an orchard, a green house, and an ornamental lake, stone fountains and even stables. I could spend the rest of my life here and never care. There were three staff houses, the biggest one occupied by the Donovans. The other two were empty, but fully furnished.

After lunch, which was dinner for the Donovans, I disappeared into the bedroom while Torin talked to the two Immortals. When he joined me, we found ways to pass the next several hours. Once again, he helped me forget my worries about Dad and Hel.

We were resting when a portal opened and Ingrid yelled, “Is it safe to come in?”

“No,” Torin yelled back.

I yanked the sheets to my chin then called back. “Yes.”