by HR Mason
“What about magic in our family?” Runa swallowed hard as she forced herself to speak the words.
“Magic? My rational, logical daughter is asking about magic?” Asta chuckled. “I’ve waited a long time for this day.”
“Tawney keeps telling me I have magic in my blood. What does she mean?”
“Celine was a staunch believer in all things rational. She was sort of like you in that respect. My mother believed anything mystical or magical was a fairy tale. I was always interested in the supernatural, and I saw my first aura when I was six. I had no idea what it meant, but before long, I was having dreams and visions frequently. I asked my mother about it, and she became angry, discouraging my curiosity.”
“You must have been really confused.”
“I was. It was around that age that Tawney and I met, and her family became a surrogate family to me. They were Norwegian as well, so they filled that need in me for a glimpse into my heritage.”
“Tawney to the rescue, even back then.” Runa laughed.
“Yes. That woman has been saving me for years,” Asta agreed. “Why the sudden interest in magic? Have you experienced something?”
Runa took a deep breath and tried to decide what to say. She had no plans to tell her mother everything, but she needed to tell her something.
“I’ve been having dreams, too.”
“What kind of dreams? Do they only happen at night?”
“No. I have them during the day, too. But I’m awake, so they’re more like visions, I suppose.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what they are. What do you see?”
“It’s always the same. I’m in a room, and I can’t escape. There’s a large mirror in the room, and I reach out to touch my reflection, but when I touch it, I realize it’s not a reflection. It’s me, but there are two of me.”
Runa watched as her mother’s face grew pale, every bit of color draining away. Asta cleared her throat and pushed her chair away from the table abruptly, the legs loudly scraping the hardwood floor.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Yes. I’ll be right back.”
Without another word, Asta left the room.
Runa puzzled over her mother’s strange reaction. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what.
Several minutes passed before Asta returned. When she did, she had a box in her hands.
“I have something for you.”
Asta placed the box on the table. “Don’t open it right now. I’ve been saving it.”
“What is it?”
“It belonged to your grandmother. I found it in her attic after she died. I never understood why she kept it, but I’m glad she did. I hope it gives you the answers you need.”
With trembling hands, Runa carried the box upstairs to her old room. It was inordinately heavy and felt warm to the touch. Her stomach clenched as she placed it on the bed and stepped away. She covered her ears to block out the sudden deafening roar that filled the room. Although they were miles away from the coast, she heard the undeniable sound of the ocean.
Thirty-Six
That night, long after Asta had fallen asleep, Runa lay in bed, a thousand conflicting thoughts playing like a movie reel in her brain. She couldn’t sleep. Worry, fear, and uncertainty warred inside. Everything that had happened added up to one simple conclusion—she was losing her mind.
Her inexplicable experiences at Everwine Manor, as well as the strange things happening to her body, had no reasonable explanation. She was worried for both her safety and her sanity. Worse yet, her marriage was crumbling, possibly past the point of reconciliation. She missed Chase so badly it felt like her heart was breaking in two.
To Chase, maybe she was just a look-alike replacement of his first wife, but she loved him. She wanted things to work between them. Closing her eyes, she pictured his face on their wedding day. She tried to remember the way he’d looked at her, needing to believe he’d seen her, not the ghost of Freya.
The buzzing of her cell phone startled her. Grabbing it quickly, she was shocked to see Chase was calling. She hadn’t heard from him all day, and she’d assumed he wanted nothing more to do with her.
“Hello, Chase,” she said quietly.
“I’m sorry, Runa. I’m so sorry for everything.”
At the sound of his voice, her pulse quickened and her eyes filled with tears.
“You’re sorry?”
“Of course I am. Darling, I’ve been a fool. My behavior is unforgivable. I’ve been swamped at work, and I’ve been taking that stress out on you. You don’t deserve that.”
“I know your job is stressful, Chase. I understand. But we need to be able to talk to each other. I feel like I can’t share my worries or concerns for fear of you becoming angry.”
“I know. I’ve been a terrible husband. When I came home tonight and realized you were gone, I knew I had to do whatever I could to get you back.”
“Chase—”
“Will you come home? Come back to me,” he begged.
“Chase—”
“We’ll go away together. We’ll take that honeymoon. That’s what we should have done to begin with. We need time together, to get to know each other. I’m sorry I didn’t give that to you.”
A thousand thoughts collided in Runa’s brain. Chase did love her. He loved her for herself, not because she looked like Freya. And yet there were so many unanswered questions. She wanted him to explain away all the things she’d seen at Everwine Manor, but she was afraid to broach the topic.
But then she thought back on the occurrences and began to doubt herself. Every single instance was so farfetched, so over the top, that they couldn’t have really happened. Was it possible she had imagined it all? Maybe it was all in her head. Maybe none of it was real. Chase had insisted that she should see a therapist to work through her stress. Was he right?
The only thing she knew for sure was that her husband, the man she loved with all her heart, was on the other end of the phone telling her he felt the same way. He was begging her to come back to him, back to the life they both wanted. In that moment, she couldn’t throw away her marriage because of a few events that didn’t make sense.
“Of course I’ll come home. I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“Oh, darling, you have no idea how happy that makes me. I love you so much,” he said, a catch in his voice. “I was afraid I’d lost you forever.”
“I love you, too, Chase. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Runa hung up the phone and dropped it on the bedside table. Chase had given her exactly what she wanted, and she wasn’t going to throw that away. The rest of it didn’t matter.
Too restless to sleep, she sat up in bed. Her eyes landed on the box in the corner. She’d been so caught up in Chase that she’d forgotten to open it.
She flipped on the light, grabbed the box, and sank onto the bed. Lifting the wooden lid, she gasped. Tucked inside was a small leather-bound book with an Ansuz rune symbol carved on the cover. Glancing at the ring on her finger, the one her mother had given her so long ago, she realized they were identical. Tentatively tracing her hands across the book, Runa felt a strange energy pulsing against her skin.
With trembling hands, she removed the book from the box. Flipping through it, she noticed different handwriting throughout the pages. She opened it to the front of the book, wanting to read it from the beginning. She blinked a few times, trying to decipher the words. They were written in a strange language, one she didn’t understand.
As Runa concentrated on the words, she wanted very much to understand them. She thought about how badly she wanted to read the book. She touched the pages, and as she did, the blue light flickered from her fingertips, brighter and more vibrant than it had ever been. Her body vibrated with energy. As she looked at the book, the words suddenly morphed into English, and she could read them.
The book was called Døtre av havet—Daughters of the Sea. The first page was a sort of introduction, explaining i
t was a svarteboken, or grimoire. It also served as a family history. She flipped through the pages, reading through spells, incantations, and recipes for creating simples, or medicinal herb potions.
Then she came to the family history section, and her breath caught in her throat. The book explained that the women of this particular line had been endowed with special gifts, placed within them to help others. It warned that people wouldn’t understand, therefore fearing their gifts, some doing unspeakable things to silence them.
Reading on, Runa learned about women who had visions, some who were healers, and others who could control elements. Each of them, all the way down the line, carried a connection to water. According to the book, the most special was the “generation of two,” who would possess all of the gifts simultaneously yet must sacrifice something in return for such power. Runa had no idea what any of it meant, but she was intrigued.
She saw a list of women’s names and began to read them aloud. As she did, the room hummed with energy.
Else, 1585
Bekka and Helga, 1600
Sofie, 1625
Nora, 1645
Ella, 1663
Maja, 1683
Thea, 1704
Leah, 1727
Amalie, 1748
Frida, 1767
Astrid, 1783
Tuva, 1803
Selma, 1825
Malin, 1843
Mille, 1861
Sigrid and Brynja, 1883
Ingrid, 1900
Mathilde, 1917
Ada, 1935
Celine, 1953
Asta, 1973
* * *
As she spotted her mother’s name, as well as her grandmother’s, something inside her began to shift into place and understanding dawned. These weren’t just random women. They were the women of her family line. They were women, like her, who had powers they couldn’t explain, a special gift. They were connected to the water, had visions, and could control elements.
Runa thought back to her own strange experiences and pondered the manifestation of her gift. What did it all mean? She also wondered why her name wasn’t written in the book. It seemed strange that Asta, who had such a proclivity for the supernatural, wouldn’t write her daughter’s name in a magical grimoire.
Maybe it was because of the circumstances surrounding Runa’s birth. After all, Asta had been a single mother at eighteen. She was trying to survive. She probably hadn’t had time to worry about recording her daughter’s name in a book, too focused on keeping them alive.
Runa closed the book and placed it back inside the box, suddenly exhausted. Moving the box to the pillow beside her head, she drifted off to sleep.
Thirty-Seven
Departure Cove, Oregon, 1904
“It’s a boy! Oh, my darling, you’ve given me a son. We’ll call him Hawthorne, after my grandfather.”
“Whatever you want, Lucas,” Brynja mumbled.
“Hawthorne Everwine—that has a nice ring to it.”
Lucas leaned down and kissed Brynja on the forehead.
Recoiling at his touch, she turned her head, murmuring, “I’m tired, Lucas. I need to sleep.”
“Of course you do. You’ve just given birth. I’ll take our son to the nurse.”
Refusing to meet his eyes, Brynja kept her head turned until Lucas left the room, their son in his arms. Once she was alone, she gave way to the sobs she’d been holding in, finally allowing the floodgates to open.
Guilt and despair gnawed her insides, each emotion vying for top position. Brynja was miserable. Her powers had all but left her. Although she secretly performed her rituals, it had been almost a year since she’d felt even the smallest flicker of magic.
She was married to a tyrant who cared about no one but himself. He took what he wanted from her, precisely the reason she’d just given birth. She’d certainly never given him her body willingly.
All Lucas cared about was an heir to carry on his name, to propagate his legacy. He’d needed an Everwine son to expand his wealth. Ingrid was female and not an Everwine by blood. Now that Lucas had a son, Ingrid would never inherit the home that was rightfully hers. Lucas had stolen it, even going so far as changing the name that Thomas had so lovingly chosen. It would forevermore be known as Everwine Manor, yet another thing to claim as his own.
Now that Brynja had given him what he craved, her only hope was that he would leave her alone. He had his son and her job was done. With that thought, the guilt deepened. She’d just given birth to a child, her own flesh and blood, yet she couldn’t bring herself to feel even an ounce of emotion for the infant. She hadn’t even held him. What kind of person did that make her? Lucas had destroyed everything good inside her.
The only reason she kept putting one foot in front of the other every day was Ingrid. She lived for the girl, and that kept her going. Ingrid was the one bright spot in her bleak, desolate world. If it weren’t for her daughter, Brynja would have no reason to live.
Lucas insisted that Ingrid would have everything she needed and wanted, and for that, Brynja was grateful. Strangely, he was kind and generous to the girl. In fact, he’d legally adopted her, making him her father in the eyes of the law.
Though in Brynja’s heart Ingrid would always belong to Thomas, for better or for worse they were all Everwines now.
Thirty-Eight
Locking the front door of the boutique, Runa waved goodbye to Emily and jumped into her car. She headed out of town and merged onto the winding road leading toward Everwine Manor. She’d been back home for a week, and things between her and Chase were better than they’d ever been. They hadn’t argued once and were even making plans to finally take their belated honeymoon.
In spite of the fact that everything was better, she still worried, always feeling as if she were walking on eggshells around Chase. She reminded herself that it was to be expected. The couple had been through a lot in a short amount of time, and they were both still learning how to live with each other.
In order to keep the peace, Runa hadn’t brought up her experiences or concerns about Everwine Manor. She also hadn’t told Chase about the book her mother gave her. She had a feeling he wouldn’t understand, and their truce was still too new for her to rock the boat.
She understood that marriage was compromise. When doubts and questions began to creep in, she pushed them away, telling herself that nothing good came without work. Chase wasn’t perfect, but no one was. In spite of it all, she loved him and was happy she’d made the choice to return to Departure Cove.
Pulling into the driveway, she turned off her car and headed inside. Hoping not to see anyone, she went directly upstairs to her bedroom suite as usual. Although she wanted to be married to Chase, she had nothing but disdain for his parents and did her best to avoid them.
Tossing her bag on the bed, Runa slipped out of her high heels and tucked them away in her closet. She was just unzipping her dress when her phone rang. She smiled when she saw it was Chase.
“Hello, darling,” he said as she picked up.
“Hey there,” she replied. “It sounds like you’re driving.”
“I am. I’ll be home in ten minutes. Are you ready to go?”
“Go? Where?”
“The fundraiser,” he answered.
“Fundraiser? Did I miss something?”
Runa grabbed her calendar from her purse and flipped through it quickly. Glancing at the date, she saw nothing written.
“We talked about it a few weeks ago. It’s the fundraiser for the hospital,” Chase explained.
Racking her brain for any recollection of the conversation, Runa came up empty.
“I’m sorry, Chase, but I don’t remember that at all.”
“No worries, darling. Just put on your fanciest dress. I’ll be there soon. We’ll ride with Mother and Father. Everyone expects us to arrive together.”
Pushing down the bile that rose in her throat at the mention of Easton and Camille, Runa thought quickly. She could come up
with a million things she’d rather do than attend a stuffy fundraiser with Chase’s parents. She could barely bring herself to look at them, let alone ride in a car with them and pretend to like them at a social event.
“Chase, I don’t think I can go tonight. I came home sick from work. I think I’m coming down with a stomach bug or something,” she lied.
“Really, darling? Are you sure you can’t pull it together for just a little while? This will be our first public event together since our wedding.”
“I’m sorry, Chase, but I feel terrible. I certainly wouldn’t be at my best. I need to stay home and sleep.”
“Then I’ll have my parents give our regrets. I’ll stay home and take care of you,” Chase replied.
Runa imagined how angry Easton and Camille would be if she didn’t go. They would be downright furious if Chase stayed home as well.
“No, Chase, you need to go with your parents. Everyone is expecting you. Besides, I’ll be horrible company. I plan to take a shower and sleep the night away,” she fibbed.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to go without you.”
“I’m very sure. In fact, I’m getting into the shower now and then going to bed for the night. Really, you should just go with your parents.”
“If you insist,” Chase agreed.
“I do,” Runa declared.
He sighed. “Then I’ll be home soon. I’ll change and go with them. But I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too. I really am sorry.”
“Not a problem, darling. I’ll cover for you,” he said amicably. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Chase.”
Runa hung up the phone and glanced outside. Tree branches scraped the windows, and the wind howled like a hungry wolf. It was a blustery, stormy night, and she was glad she didn’t have to get dressed up and attend a fundraiser. It was too bad she’d had to lie to her husband in order to get out of it.
