Souls (Runes series)

by Ednah Walters

  I reached up and kissed him. “Be careful.”

  He grinned. “Always.”

  He left to get his coat and gloves from the car. I stared after him and frowned. Something he’d said had bothered me, yet I couldn’t put my finger on it. I went over our conversation, and my stomach dipped.

  Her? He’d said he would deal with her—the dark soul that had attacked me—when he came back. That could only mean one woman, the only one who hated me enough to want to hurt me.

  Maliina.

  I shouldn’t call her a woman. She was an evil Norn wannabe, a bitter, angry soul without a conscience, and she was back to steal my body. Again.

  16. THE TRUTH

  My mind was still on Maliina as I watched Echo and Andris leave with Raine’s father. The whole thing was kind of anti-climactic. I’d expected thunder and lightning à la Thor. Maybe the rainbow bridge Raine talked about.

  Instead, Echo created a portal as usual, except it led to nothingness. An endless white wall of ice and floor of snow. A few flakes accompanied the frigid air that blew into the room. It was a different kind of cold. Biting. Piercing the skin to the bone. No wonder Echo often returned frozen. We all stood there with arms crossed and stared at them.

  Mr. Cooper only wore his gray suit, but the cold didn’t seem to bother him. I wondered if Svana had dressed his body in that suit or whether he could choose what to wear by just thinking it. When I’d gone into the study to see his body, only his face had been visible.

  Echo turned, and our eyes met. My insides melted. I blew him a kiss and mouthed, “Love you. Be careful.”

  He spread his arms as though to say, “I’m in my realm. What could possible go wrong?”

  Arrogant man. He didn’t even button-up his duster while Andris was dressed like an Eskimo. I’d bet he was regretting going. Mr. Cooper turned and stared at us. Her mother pressed her hands to her heart. He imitated her gesture. Raine started to cry again.

  Ooh, dang it. Tears rushed to my eyes.

  No one spoke or seemed interested in leaving after the portal closed. They went back to their seats and drinks. I wanted to be here for Raine, who sobbed silently in Torin’s arms, but I didn’t really think she needed me. She had Torin, her mother, Femi, and Lavania. Actually, all the Immortals and Valkyries were here for her.

  I wondered if they cared about the dead bodies or had funerals and viewings. From my experience at the nursing home, a funeral home picked up the body once the hospice nurse confirmed death. Femi was a hospice nurse. So far, no ambulance had come blazing into their cul-de-sac.

  I rubbed Raine’s arm and she gave me a weak smile. “Do you want me to stay?”

  She nodded, pulled away from Torin, and hugged me. For a moment, we held on to each other and cried. When she went back to Torin’s arms, she continued to grip my hand.

  “No, sweetheart,” her mother said. “Cora has school tomorrow and needs to go home.”

  Raine glared at her mother, and everyone held their breath. I was sure she was going to say something mean. But Torin whispered in her ear and she looked away.

  “Fine, mother.” The smile she gave me was weak, but her eyes still blazed.

  Whoa. She was pissed. The silence that followed was uncomfortable.

  “Before you leave, Cora, I wanted to thank your friend for the part he played tonight,” Raine’s mother said. “Maybe one day we’ll get to meet him.”

  “I wish I could have done more, Mrs. Cooper,” Dev said from my cell phone. His beautiful accent was back. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “What’s your name?” Raine’s mother asked.

  “Dev, son of Graenen.”

  “Thank you, Dev,” Raine’s mother said.

  “How long have you been around, Dev?” Lavania asked.

  “A couple of millennia. I am a Druid. We don’t lose our identity, even in death, because our souls live on.”

  He had everyone’s attention. Even Raine stared at my cell phone. Maybe Dev’s crazy sense of humor was what we needed to cheer people up.

  “Did you know Echo before you died?” Blaine asked.

  “We grew up together.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “We—Echo, Rhys, Nara, and I—were inseparable.”

  “Rhys?” Ingrid asked.

  “Great guy. A bit anal.” He chuckled. “No, a lot anal.”

  “Why are Rhys and Nara after you now?” Torin asked.

  “For the same reason Echo hasn’t spoken to me since he killed me.”

  I winced. He made Echo sound so bad. “Dev,” I said.

  “I know. I deserved it. He did me a favor, the first of many. He let my soul go because he knew what was waiting for me on Corpse Strand. Over the years, our paths have crossed, and he always looked the other way.” He chuckled. “That’s one thing about the guy. He can be a real pain in the ass, but he’s loyal to those he loves. He will not admit it, but he loves me. Like a brother. ”

  You didn’t kill those you loved either. He’d piqued everyone’s interest before. Now he had them hanging on his every word. Me included.

  I placed my cell phone on the coffee table and everyone inched closer. Blaine and Ingrid even left their stools at the wet bar and came to sit by us. Even Raine stopped crying.

  “When Echo defied Valkyrie laws and turned our people into Immortals, I was the first one he turned. I betrayed my people and many people died. I brought dishonor to my family and my friends. I would have been excommunicated by my people. To a Druid, that’s a fate worse than death. I couldn’t do that to my family. No one talked or associated with an impious criminal, but I knew my parents and sisters would not have believed the charges. They would’ve defied the laws and visited me, and they would’ve ended up sharing my fate. My death was the only option.”

  The silence that followed was deafening. I’d bet they were wondering why I was helping someone they probably believed should be on Corpse Strand. But they hadn’t talked to Dev. They didn’t know him like I did.

  “But there’s more to that story, right?” I said.

  Silence. Gah, stubborn Druid. Now was not the time to play mute. The others shot me sympathetic glances. I didn’t need their pity. Dev was not guilty. He wouldn’t want to talk to Echo if he was.

  “He didn’t betray his people,” I added, daring him to deny it.

  “Then who did?” Raine’s mother asked.

  “I don’t know. I just know he’s innocent. Otherwise he wouldn’t have come to me to help him reconnect with Echo. Echo is the one he wants to talk to, not us.”

  Dev sighed. “I’m so not liking you right now, Cora Jemison,” he said, sounding so much like an American teenager.

  “That’s okay. I like you enough for both of us. I trust you, and I refuse to believe you are evil or that you betrayed your people. How can you be when you saved my life? A dark soul tried to possess me, but he fought her off,” I added when the others looked at me curiously.

  Dev sighed. “She’s right. I meant to tell Echo everything first, but since she’s making me feel like I walk on water… You’re good, Cora.”

  I grinned. “Thanks.”

  “The woman I loved betrayed them.”

  Just one sentence and it packed quite a punch. I sighed with relief.

  “I didn’t know that at the time. Teléia was living with the sympathetic non-Druid Gaulish family I’d found for her. I paid her a visit whenever I could and shared information about what we were doing, where various groups were hiding, or where we were headed. Whenever I visited, she’d send me to a nearby Roman prison with a care package for the son of the family she was staying with. A lot of sons of non-Druids had joined the army. ” He sighed. “The first time I delivered the baskets, one of our hiding places was attacked in the dead of the night.” His voice changed as he continued, becoming raw with pain. “Innocent children, women, and the elderly were slaughtered. Not once but three times. We knew we had an informant and questioned everyone. No Druid could betray his or her people,
we kept saying. We were wrong.” His breathing was heavy, and if a soul could cry, he was. “Family comes first. Those we love come first. She was passing the information I’d shared with her to the Romans to secure the release of her two younger brothers from the dungeons.”

  Silence followed and I thought he was done talking.

  “Unfortunately, the prisoners saw me give the guards the basket, saw them find and read the scrolls hidden under the food.”

  This time, the silence was longer, but no one spoke.

  “I thought her brothers had died. With my people on the move and split into groups, it was hard to keep up with who was alive and who was dead. We thought the Romans didn’t keep Druid prisoners. We’d heard them say over and over how it was a waste of good food. It was a lie. They were keeping Druid prisoners and using them to secure information from their relatives.”

  He stopped again. He would make a good narrator, especially for a tragic story.

  “Although some of our people were being hidden by the non-Druids, the majority preferred to stay together as we journeyed to a safer place,” Dev continued. “I noticed the patterns of the attack, the way they happened the nights after my visits,” Dev continued. “I couldn’t tell Echo or my fellow Immortals my suspicions. I didn’t want to believe she could betray us, or that she’d used me, so I decided to confirm it. I gave her false information, which she passed on to the Romans. As usual, they rode to the forest, expecting to find defenseless Druids in hiding. But a group of us—Mortals and Immortal Druids—were waiting for them. None of the soldiers survived. Next, we mounted a rescue operation and got our people from the Roman dungeons. When we reached safety, they recounted what they’d seen—me passing the Romans a basket with hidden messages and betraying our people.”

  I didn’t need to hear the rest to know how it had ended. Poor Dev. Of course, the betrayer was Teléia, the girl all the Druid boys seemed to have fallen in love with. Funny I’d been jealous of her and even felt sorry for her. Now, I wasn’t sure what to think. She had betrayed her people to save her family. If my parents were being tortured by ruthless soldiers, I would do whatever I could to rescue them. The decision couldn’t have been easy for her.

  “I couldn’t tell them what she’d done,” Dev continued. “She would have been excommunicated, and I couldn’t do that to her. Before I could confront her, the soldiers retaliated. They’d always known about the Druid sympathizers and looked the other way. Not this time. The raid was brutal. None of them survived, including Teléia and her host family. I keep telling myself I would have saved her. If only I hadn’t been so angry with her and confronted her right away…”

  Would she have confessed? From Dev’s words, being excommunicated was a fate worse than death to a Druid. On the other hand, they might have understood her dilemma. Family should come before community or tribe.

  “What a terrible tragedy,” Lavania said, and I remembered she was Roman too, originally a Vestal Virgin. I’d been reading about Druids and knew she had already been an Immortal, possibly a Valkyrie, when the Romans slaughtered the Druids.

  “Now I understand,” Raine’s mother said mysteriously. “I hope Echo reaped all those soldiers.”

  “He did, ma’am. He waited until the Valkyrie Council handed down their sentence, and he and his Druid brothers and sisters were banished to Hel.”

  “Banished?” Ingrid asked, and I wondered if she was thinking about Rhys.

  “Echo and his group of Druid Valkyries turned so many of us into Immortals, even though they knew it was against the law. Once they were assigned to serve Goddess Hel, they went back for the souls of the soldiers. Even those bound for Asgard ended up in Hel.”

  “No wonder he has a reputation for stealing souls bound for Asgard,” Torin said.

  “He’s made it his mission to reap souls of dictators or war-mongering leaders and their tin soldiers regardless of where they are from,” I said. “Whenever innocent blood is spilled, the people responsible are his.”

  Raine studied me with narrowed eyes. I knew that look. She wasn’t going to let me forget I’d kept Echo’s past a secret. I’d figured that his past belonged in the past. Unfortunately, it was catching up with us.

  “Did the brothers of the woman you loved make it to safety, Dev?” Raine asked.

  “Yes. I personally escorted them to the Island of Mona in Wales where most Druids were headed. It was our remaining stronghold and a refuge. Not only for us, but also for British rebels fighting the Romans.”

  “Unfortunately, Governor Gaius Paulinus,” Lavania said, speaking slowly, “the most hated Roman leader of our time, decided to level it.” We all stared at her. “He built boats to cross the strait and destroyed every building and altar, every man, woman, and child. I was a Valkyrie by then, but I’ve never forgotten the sight. The Immortals fought back, but it wasn’t enough.”

  No wonder Echo couldn’t stand Andris, a Roman. He had told me how the Romans had massacred Druids on the Island of Anglesey as it was now called, and how the Immortals fought alongside the resistance led by a Celtic queen.

  “So you’ve never told anyone your side of the story?” Raine’s mother asked.

  “No, ma’am. The Druid Grimnirs, all former Valkyries, are not interested in explanations. According to them, I belong with the damned souls in Hel. However, they’ll have to catch me first. It’s been two millennia and I’m still around.”

  There were chuckles. Lavania glanced at me. “Is this why you’re helping him?”

  I nodded. “If Echo listens to his story, the others will too.”

  Lavania nodded. “Well, I do hope they get to hear this. Dev’s only guilty of being in love. He was not responsible for her actions.”

  “She died because of me,” Dev insisted.

  “The poor girl died because she tried to save her brothers and brought the wrath of the Roman army on her head,” Lavania said in a hard voice. “You want to blame someone, blame the Norns for letting this happen. They’re in charge of fate. Do you think you can stick around and talk to us about medium runes?”

  “I’d love to, but it all depends on Echo and Cora.”

  Everyone looked at me. I had no answers. My job was already done. “After he talks to Echo, we’ll see what to do next.” I looked at my watch and saw the time. It was almost eleven. “I have to go home before my parents find me missing and call the police. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I added, looking at Raine. She nodded. I picked up my cell phone, said goodnight to everyone, and headed for the portal.

  Once the portal closed behind me, I angled my head and listened for movements in the house. Nothing but silence.

  “The girl you were talking about is Teléia, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “How do you know about her?” Dev asked.

  “Echo told me. You were all in love with her at one time or another.”

  “But she chose me,” Dev bragged.

  “And she was your downfall,” I wanted to say, but that would be cruel. I unlocked my door and peered down the hallway. I realized what I was doing—searching for dark souls in the shadows—and grimaced. Until this mess with the dark souls was over, I’d keep looking over my shoulder.

  I could always lock my door, crawl in bed, and send Dev to patrol the farm, but my throat was dry and my mouth tasted funny. Served me right for almost finishing a bag of Twizzlers.

  “I agree with Lavania, Dev.”

  “About?”

  “Teléia.” I headed toward the stairs. Dad’s snoring greeted me before I reached the door to their bedroom. How the heck could Mom sleep through that ruckus?

  “You shouldn’t blame yourself for her death. She made her choice, tough as it was, and it had nothing to do with you.”

  “She doesn’t feel that way,” Dev muttered.

  Doesn’t? “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing,” Dev said quickly. Warning bells went off in my head, but I waited.

  Downstairs, I turned on all the lights so I could
see every corner of the room, got myself a cup of filtered water from the fridge, and hurried back upstairs. Dev hadn’t spoken, but his presence in my phone was reassuring.

  Who knew I’d feel that way about a dark soul?

  Back in my room, I closed the door, chugged my drink, and then went to brush my teeth. “Do you know Echo said you’d watch over me while he’s gone?” I asked, squeezing the paste onto my toothbrush.

  “In his usual colorful language with dire warnings.”

  I could only imagine. “That’s just his way of doing things. It’s harmless.”

  “He should take lessons from you. You disarm with praise while he vows to unleash mayhem if he’s not obeyed.”

  Yet his way was just as effective. Most of the time. “Echo is a product of what happened to your people. I’m not sweet when people lie to me either, so if you see a dark soul, tell me. Don’t try to be a hero again. Tomorrow, I volunteer at the nursing home. If you feel I shouldn’t go because a dark soul is lurking around, tell me. I’ll listen.”

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “Really, I will.”

  “And if I say I can handle them?”

  I chuckled. “I still would want to know. I have my iron rod and can help.”

  “Okay, doll-face.”

  “Don’t call me that.” I finished brushing my teeth and turned off the bathroom lights. I got my pjs, but hesitated. Just because he was in my phone didn’t mean I could change in front of him. “Now that we have an understanding, can you tell me what you meant by “she doesn’t feel that way”?”

  “I was hoping you didn’t catch that.”

  I grinned. “You’d be amazed by what I don’t miss. The truth please.”

  “Teléia was never reaped. She was scared of ending up in Hel with the souls of the Roman soldiers, so she ran. Over the centuries, her guilt turned into bitterness. She hates what she’s become, and she blames everyone, but herself.”

  “Typical. Well, after you tell Echo the truth, he’ll probably reap her and throw her poor soul on Corpse Strand.”

  “Or you could make him understand why she did it and spare her the torture. He listens to you.”