The ground shook. Did I do that? I looked up and down the street. No cars. Raising my foot, I brought it down. A tremor radiated from where I stood.
Okay, that wasn’t a good thing to do. I peered into the trees, debating whether to go after him. Of course I had to. From the looks of things, this must be his place for releasing steam. I just didn’t remember seeing any fallen trees during our previous runs.
Carefully, I made my way past the rocks and trench bordering the road and studied the fallen trees. Torin was gone, his glow hidden by the thick forest despite the line of fallen trees.
Tomorrow the rangers would have a theory for this. Trees being uprooted from the ground without a trace of tires weren’t common. If Torin left footprints, and I was sure he did, another alien story would surface in Kayville Daily. Cora’s father, a sci-fi writer, had already started an alien invasion book series after the Grimnirs destroyed a vineyard. That had baffled local and state reporters. Then there were the people going crazy and turning on each other at The Hub and an indoor playground because of Eirik. Kayville was starting to turn into a little town of horrors.
The poor fallen trees. I touched one uprooted root, wishing we didn’t leave so much supernatural evidence behind every time a soul reaper threw a hissy fit and vented.
A movement came from my left, and I jumped back. It came from the fallen tree on my left. The leaves rustled and moved as though something was crawling from under the tree. A black bear was my first thought. Torin had crashed the tree on top of a freaking sleeping bear.
The tree lifted.
It wasn’t just any black bear. It was huge enough to lift the tree. My heart hurtling to my throat, I stepped back, not realizing how close I was to the manmade slope bordering the road. I lost my footing and fell backwards.
Rocks and sticks dug into my skin as I rolled toward the road. I tried to break my fall, tendrils of panic coiling around me. I scrambled to my feet at the edge of the road, expecting the bear to come lumbering after me. Instead, the tree that had fallen was now upright. And there was no bear under it.
No, it couldn’t be. Echo had said people of the Old Religion like the Druids could control elements. Did I cause the tree to lift up and replant itself by reattaching its root?
Blood pounding past my ears, I stood there undecided. Where was Torin? I needed him. I peered past the now standing tree, but there was no glowing being anywhere. Mastering some courage, I pulled myself back up to the fallen trees and touched another root. As it moved and struggled to lift itself, the roots sank into the ground.
Laughing, I touched the next root and another. Then I splayed my hands like some all-powerful witch and yelled, “Stand and let your roots sink into the earth. Live and be the giver of life and shelter.”
Okay, so I got carried away, but it seemed to be working. The trees rose, creaks and rustles filling the air, the earth shaking as roots disappeared into the ground. Where was Torin? He should see this. It was really awesome.
Pleased with myself, I ran down to the middle of the road, spun around at a super speed with my hand held up, and woo-hooed. This could be the start of a trend. A pissed off Torin hell bent on destroying everything in his path and me following him and cleaning up his mess.
Nah, that sounded exactly like what Norns did. Cleaned up after Valkyries.
This was different. He was hurting deep inside. Somewhere even I couldn’t reach. His father was the devil incarnate. To do something so despicable to his own wife took a special kind of evil.
A flash of light came from deep inside the trees and pulled me to the present. It was so bright the glow kissed the treetops. Within seconds, Torin screeched to a stop beside me. His eyes burned under the glowing runes.
“What are you doing?” His voice whipped through the night, and I winced.
“Trying to get your attention,” I said. “See, I fixed all the trees you destroyed. Cool, right?”
“You do not want to be around me right now, Freckles.”
“I disagree. I plan to be around you when you are happy, sad, pissed off, hurting, acting like a jackass, goofing off, or showing off. Whatever and whenever. You and I are a package deal, pal. Equal partners and all that jazz.” I pointed at a nearby tree and moved my finger left and right. The tree swayed. “Any time you want to destroy nature, get me first.”
He leaned in until we were eye level. “Go home, Raine.” His voice was mean.
“Only if you come with me. You want to stay out here, then I’m staying, too. You want pull a Flash move and sprint to Portland and back, then I’ll either run with you or wait out here until you come back. But I’m not going anywhere without you, Torin St. James.”
My words only seemed to infuriate him. He stepped back and thrust his fingers through his hair. “You know I don’t take crap from little girls.”
“I know, but that’s so six months ago. You didn’t scare me then and you don’t scare me now.” I walked to the edge of the road and sat. He remained standing. “Did you hear Ingrid’s news? She’s going to intern for some fashion editor at a fancy magazine in New York.”
“And I care about this why?” he snarled.
“She’s your ward or Immortal companion to your little brother. Do you think Andris will go ballistic?” A car was coming and he was still standing in the middle of the road. Anxiety twisted my insides, but I engaged my speed runes just in case I had to snatch him out of the way. “Or maybe he’ll realize how much he loves her and go after her. Carry her out of the newsroom and bring her home. That would be so romantic.” Dang it. He wasn’t moving. “Ouch! That hurt. I think a snake bit me.”
He was by my side in a fraction of a second. “Where?”
The car drove passed. “It’s nothing. Just a stick. Can we go home now?”
He sat without saying a word. Usually he’d make a scathing comment about how I’d manipulated him. He rested his elbows on his knees and bowed his head. “She’s been attached to him for over nine hundred years, Raine. Nine centuries of watching that bastard do all sorts of despicable things.”
“I know.” I rubbed his back. His muscles were tight, but the sparks caused by the runes on both of us seemed to relax him.
“I’m going to kill him.”
He spoke so calmly a chill shot up my spine. I swallowed and tried to act nonchalant. I pushed my fingers through his hair and massaged his scalp. “I know.”
“It’s what he deserves. His head severed clean. Heart ripped out of his chest. I would not have been a Valkyrie if it weren’t for him.”
I almost reminded him that Lavania had given him a choice and he’d chosen Immortality. His brother hadn’t. “Do you see James often?”
“Once in a while. Valhalla is huge, and they’re always busy.” He sighed. “We’d assumed Mom went to Hel’s Hall. When Andris and I were assigned to Goddess Hel, I searched for her, but the place is even bigger than Asgard.”
The cold was slipping under my pants despite the runes, but it must be worse for him. Unlike my long-sleeved shirt, he’d left his jacket at the mansion and only wore a T-shirt. I rested my head on his back and tried to warm him.
What was he going to do with his mother’s soul? Take her to Asgard? I didn’t get a chance to ask Mom if she’d been granted Valkyrie status. The thought of Dad going to Hel instead of Asgard filled me with dread. It wasn’t that the place was bad. According to Echo, the Halls had plenty of rooms. The worst place was Corpus Strand, the island for the criminals.
A few more cars zipped past us, definitely speeding. I watched their taillights disappear toward town and wondered how long it would be before my ass went completely numb. Someone should come up with warmth runes for moments like this.
“I wonder if she’s the reason he’s never tried to find me,” Torin said. “He knows I’m a Valkyrie and might see her.”
“And don’t forget. He wants to be you.” That was it. I’d reached my limit. I stood and pulled him up. Or he allowed me to pull him up. “We
are going home. I’m going to make us hot chocolate. Then you’re going to hold me until we fall asleep, because tomorrow we have to come up with a plan.”
“What plan?”
“How to go after the original Earl of Worthington so I can decapitate him.”
Torin frowned. “I would never allow you to take a life.”
“I would to save you or any one of our basketball-team children.”
He laughed. The sound started deep in his chest and built up until he doubled over. Then he reached down, wrapped his arms around my thighs, and lifted me up. “You say the craziest things.”
“But you love me anyway.”
He studied my face. “I don’t know. Let me think about it.”
“Jackass.” I thumped his head with the heel of my palm, then pushed his hair out of the way and kissed the spot. His eyes glowed. “Let’s go home.”
“As long as we agree on one thing. You are a healer, not a killer. Even the trees whispered it tonight as they lifted themselves from the ground. It was beautiful to watch and humbling that you did it.”
“I guess I’m kind of awesome,” I said.
“You’ve always been.” He lowered me down and planted one on my lips. With our runes engaged, I could swear I felt every feeling flowing through him. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
***
I woke up with a smile on my face and was still grinning when I left the shower. Mom was home and a cup of coffee waited on my bedside table. I picked it up and walked to the window.
A shirtless Torin raised his mug. For the first time in months, I’d slept and woken up in his arms. My life was a total mess, but little things like that made it bearable.
I lifted my coffee and saluted Torin. Then I went to my closet to find something to wear. Ten minutes later, I hummed and skipped my way downstairs.
Mom was in the kitchen with Femi. I got another tight hug I couldn’t escape. Didn’t want to. I’d missed her hugs. “Morning, sweetheart. Happy you’re still leaving your door open.”
“I follow house rules whether you are here or not,” I lied and slipped out of her arms.
“Happy to hear that.” Then she and Femi exchanged a glance and chuckles.
My face grew warm. I’d broken it a few times. “Going to check on Dad. See you after school.”
“I don’t think you should work at the store anymore, honey. Lavania is back, and you two should get back to your studies.”
Until the incident with the witches, I’d actually enjoyed working at the shop. “I’ll talk to her today and see if we can work out a schedule or something. I mean, I don’t mind helping at the store a couple times a week, Mom.”
She shook her head. “Not a good idea. I don’t like that the witches know where to find you. Torin can take care of the ones at school because he knows them. The ones out there are too many and we don’t know who they are. Some of them could be working with Torin’s father.”
Home one day and already changing the rules. Great. I sighed. “Fine.”
“Then we’ll talk about your prom and what you’re going to wear.” Her voice rose with excitement.
I groaned. She was going to butt in and force me to wear something she liked and I absolutely loathed. “I already know what I’m going to wear, Mom. Saw it online.” I caught a flash of sadness in her eyes. “Don’t worry, you’ll like it.”
“Is that for the junior or senior prom?”
“Senior.” I kissed her cheek. “Bye. Later, Femi.”
“Can I choose your junior one?” Mom asked.
“No.” What I wore was the one thing I had control over. I slipped inside the den. Dad looked much better and was actually sitting up. “Morning, Daddy.”
“Why are you giving your mother such a hard time, pumpkin?”
Here comes the guilt trip. “If I let her help, she’ll take over.”
“You’ve grown up fast, and she misses helping you choose clothes.”
I’d had no say on what I wore growing up. “Nice try, Daddy.” I kissed his temple. “Not even you can convince me to work with her. Love you. Gotta run.”
She was outside the door with a tray and a longsuffering look. The “why is my daughter being so difficult when all I want to do is help?” look. She’d perfected it over the years, but I was an expert at pretending not to notice.
I planted a kiss on her cheek. “Love you.”
I grabbed my stuff and headed to my car. Torin was already waiting. “What’s wrong?”
I turned the key and started whining. “She’s back one day and she’s already micromanaging my life. I can’t work at the shop because of the witches, have to start studying with Lavania, and she wants to choose my prom dress. Can you believe it? Maybe we should just forget it.”
“Wow, slow down,” Torin warned.
I frowned. I’d left the cul-de-sac without even realizing it. “I was enjoying working at the store.”
“But after last night, don’t you think you should work on your witchy powers?”
I shot death rays his way with my eyes. “Don’t you dare take her side. Besides, all Lavania and I worked on before we left were bind runes and we weren’t done.” I stopped at the stoplight. I peered out the windscreen and studied one of the trees lining the road. I pointed at it and tried to make it move like last night. Nothing.
“Green means go, not try to control trees,” Torin said.
“I lost my mojo already,” I said in my saddest voice ever.
“No, you haven’t. You need to focus. Just like you do with your visions. Last night you were pissed. Anger takes a lot of energy. You directed all that energy into causing mini quakes. Bad witchy stuff. Then you became a tree hugger because I knocked down a few. You made them reconnect with Mother Earth. Good witchy stuff. Tell Lavania you want to focus on harnessing that. Not the bad stuff.”
I refused to let him bait me, found a parking spot, and switched off the engine. For a moment, I stared at the students hurrying past us with unseeing eyes.
I just treated Mom like crap. It didn’t matter that she started running my life in less than twenty-four hours after she returned. She was home after months of uncertainties and scares.
“Freckles?”
I glanced at Torin. “I’m a bad daughter.” His brow shot up. I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead on the steering wheel. “Worst. Daughter. Ever.”
“No, you’re not.” He cupped the base of my neck and massaged it. His hand was so warm, and his fingers brushing behind my ears made me want to purr.
“I think I’m still angry with her. You know, for not telling me Dad was sick for so long. For not telling me she was a Valkyrie. For being gone the past two months. On some subliminal level, I’m really furious with her.” Whoa, that sounded so grown-up for me. Hanging with Valkyries must be good for my gray matter. “Echo told Cora the Norns might have made Dad ill to punish Mom, so I think I might also be blaming her—”
“Whoa, stop. Echo is a moron, and Cora needs to shut her mouth instead of repeating stupid things like that,” Torin snapped.
He was probably right. I sighed.
He tilted my head, so he could look into my eyes. “It is not your mother’s fault your father is ill. You can be angry with her for other things, but not that. I’ve seen your parents together and what they have is amazing. Sets the bar for the rest of us.” His eyebrows shot up. “Would you give up everything for me?”
“Sure.” He was the reason I wanted to be a Valkyrie. I might be a Seeress, but I refused to let it define me or determine how I lived my life. Wow, another grown-up insight. “On the day you stop being a douche.”
He chuckled. That sexy sound would never get old. I grinned.
I pulled out my phone when we got out of the car and made the call. Mom picked it up after a few rings. “Let’s make a deal, Mom. You choose my junior prom dress and that’s it. You don’t do my makeup or hair.”
“Ooh, I’m going to start looking right now. That includes s
hoes and accessories, right?”
I give her an inch, and she wants a mile. “Yes. Just don’t make me look like a sixties love child. You rock that look. I don’t.”
She laughed. “Promise, but you’ve just given me an idea. The Great Gatsby outfits would look fabulous on you.”
“The Great Gatsby?” I couldn’t get through the book and I hadn’t watched the movie. I had to before she turned me into the laughing stock of Kayville High. “Okay. Um, in the all the excitement of last night and this morning, I completely forgot to ask about the verdict.” I tensed.
“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.
Seeress: Book Three (Runes Series) Page 28
