“I don’t know where it is located, but they call it Serenity House. She’s reached out to me, Aunt Genevieve, and I don’t know if she’s serious about making amends. She said she wants to talk to you and Dad, too. We had yogurt on Saturday, and she came here and brought me breakfast the next day. I just don’t know if I should trust her.”
Aunt Genevieve scrunched her lips. “It’s nice you want to give her a chance, but be careful. She’d have episodes, you know. Days when she was normal and nice, then she’d become mean and cruel. I think I went into nursing because of her. I needed to understand what made her tick. And now she helps children like her.” She smiled. “Leave everything to me. I work in the health profession and should be able to locate this Serenity House. When I do, I’ll talk to her and let you know what I think. It would be nice to have her back.” She looked at her watch and clicked her tongue. “I better head home. Your uncle and I have a special date tonight.” She pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Next time your young man comes to visit, bring him to the house for dinner. I want to meet him without his hands all over you.”
My face grew warm. “He’s not like that all the time.”
She laughed. “I understand young love, so he gets a free pass. I’ll let you know once I locate Marguerite’s whereabouts.”
Once she left, I got busy working on my packets and demolishing the second apple. Eirik didn’t appear. I was beginning to worry. Dad tried to have a conversation while we served ourselves lasagna, but gave up after my monosyllable responses. Bedtime arrived, still no Eirik. Annoyance crept in.
All it took was a few minutes to walk to the portal to reach me. What was he doing that was so important? When I started rereading sentences, I put down the English lit book I’d been reading and reached for my sketchpad.
Drawing calmed me down.
When there was a rush of cold hair and energy into my room, I didn’t even bother to look up. “You know what I hate? Worrying. When you disappear without a word, and I don’t hear a peep from you, I imagine all sorts of nasty things have happened to you and I worry, so please don’t do it again.”
I expected him to move closer and maybe run his knuckles up my neck, but all I heard was silence. Annoyed, I turned my swivel chair.
“What happened to…?” My jaw dropped. Holy crap!
“Good evening, dýrr mín.” The goddess removed her gloves and handed them to Echo. She gave him a slight nod, and he bowed.
“I’ll wait in the living room,” he said.
She nodded. “Where’s Syn?”
“Outside with Daiku and Ranger.”
I found my voice. “My dad is home. He, uh, he doesn’t, uh, know you, Echo.” The reaper gave me a brief smile.
“Then I’ll introduce myself.” He disappeared into the hallway and closed the door softly behind him, leaving me with the goddess, who continued to stand in the middle of my room. The hood of her cloak was up, so her face stayed in the shadows.
“What are you doing here?” Yikes, that sounded rude. Worse, she was standing while I was seated. I scrambled to my feet. “Uh, please have a seat. Is Eirik okay? Is that why you are here?”
CHAPTER 15. AN UNDERSTANDING
EIRIK
“She did what?” My voice rose, and the gathered reapers glanced my way.
“Shut down the hall,” Rhys said. “No one is allowed to leave, not even us.”
“Why?”
Nara shrugged. “We don’t know. We were told to assemble in the throne room and await orders.”
Could this have something to do with Einmyria? Mother was going to be devastated to hear the lies Granny had fed Einmyria. “Has this ever happened before?”
“A few times when we had a runaway soul. The last time was when Maliina escaped.”
“How’s the search going?”
“Not well, but we’ve located Dev. Hopefully he’ll help us find her.”
Nara scoffed at the thought. “You really believe that? Is that why he’s hiding in some girl’s cell phone?”
“You need to get over your prejudices and petty jealousy, Nara.”
“Guys.” I snapped my fingers to draw their attention. They bickered like siblings. “Did you find out about Serenity House?”
“Serenity is nestled in a beautiful valley in Utah,” Rhys said. “We’ve reaped around the valley, so we’ve seen it from afar. It is protected and secluded. There’s a lot of land surrounding it.”
“Is it one of a kind?”
“No, there are similar facilities around the country,” Nara said. “Temperance, Sapience, Providence, Destiny, and… what’s the one outside Rochester?”
“Sagacity,” Rhys said. “Half of those are retirement homes for Immortals.”
“Thanks.” I continued through the gathered Grimnirs and searched for Daiku and Ranger, but I couldn’t see them in the sea of faces. I wanted to know how Celestia was doing. Maybe they were still with her. It might explain their absences. I missed her. I should have stopped by her school when I had the chance, instead of keeping my distance. This mess with Einmyria was screwing with my head.
Halfway across the hall, my father walked to the throne without my mother and the buzz in the hall disappeared as everyone focused on him.
“Grimnirs and guards, we have a situation. A vicious, evil soul is loose in the hall. Last night, she attacked Einmyria. Unlike most of you, my daughter doesn’t have healing runes. The Grimnir who lost the soul must come and see me. Do not make me put the corps through a senseless interrogation. I want a wide sweep of the halls until this soul is found. She is vicious, so be very careful. Go.”
The hall emptied fast. I waited for my father to step down from the throne and joined him. “A soul did it?”
“That’s your mother’s belief.” His expression said something bothered him.
“But?”
“I think there’s more. I’ve never seen her so furious. When you came back to us, she gave me her word that she’d never enter your head to get information she can get by just talking to you. She kept her word. I made sure she swore the same oath when you found Einmyria. Thoughts are meant to be private. Yet she went inside Einmyria’s head and broke her oath.” His voice rose.
Crap! She might have done it to please me. “Sometimes we have to bend rules to get answers, Father. We needed to know what happened to Einmyria in order to help her,” I said in Mom’s defense.
Father glared at me. “Do not believe for one second that it’s okay to break oaths just because you sit on a throne. Oath breakers end up at the lowest bowel of Corpse Strand. The gods in Asgard, from your grandfather to your uncles, used trickery to get their ways and left a trail of enemies throughout the realms. You will be a just leader, a shining example for others to follow. When you give your word, you will keep it or die trying because your word will be your bond. Do you understand?” he barked.
“Yes, sir.”
He gripped my shoulder as we walked toward the family quarters. “I’m sorry I’m being hard on you, but there are certain things I never want you to take for granted. In fact, we’ll resume court lessons from where we stopped weeks ago. As for your sister, she needs time.” He stopped. “Do not go to her room or pressure her into talking to you. You wait until she comes to you. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “I’ll definitely wait, sir.”
“Good.” He turned and marched away, leaving me staring after him. I’d never seen him so angry. Finding Einmyria was supposed to make us complete, yet we seemed to be unraveling. “Dad?”
He turned and looked back. “Yes, Son.”
“I went to see Angrboda.”
He paled, but he turned and walked back. “Why?”
“To find out what she said to Einmyria to turn her against me and Mother.”
“What are you talking about, Son?”
I told him everything. From the way Einmyria had beaten Celestia and the revelations from my grandmother.
“This is awful. Does your mot
her know about this?”
“About Einmyria hating me and hurting Celestia to get back at me, yes. She asked Celestia what happened in Svartalfheim, and she couldn’t lie.”
“Of course. That is one of the things I love about that girl of yours, her honesty.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Even from Corpse Strand, she manages to disrupt our lives. This revelation will break your mother’s heart. She’d tried hard to reach Einmyria with little results.” His expression grew pensive. “Leave this to me. I’ll find a way to break it to her gently.” He patted my shoulder. “Thank you for bringing this to me first, Son.” He stood and chuckled. “I cannot believe you went to the hole. Is it as horrific as they say? The screams? The venomous snakes?”
I stood and fell in step with him. “I didn’t go to where the other souls are kept, but I heard them. She is being kept in isolation.”
“Which is what she deserves. Be careful visiting the island.”
“I was. How long is the shutdown?”
“Depends on your mother. She wants whoever hurt Einmyria found.”
And whatever Mother wanted, she got. I wasn’t leaving the realm. I swung by the kitchen. It was strange seeing the Grimnirs Hall empty. The kitchen was busy as usual.
“Well? You were gone a long time, Rising Star,” Maera asked. “Did you get answers?”
“Plenty, then I went for a long flight to clear my head.” I’d gone closer to the Nornsgard crystal hall again, but I hadn’t approached it. Now that I knew that not all Norns were mean, there was no point trying to piss them off.
“That bad?”
I smiled. “Very and now I’m starving. Can I get some food?”
“Of course. Then you are going to join the search party? Even my Trudy is out there searching.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll join the search.”
~*~
CELESTIA
Seconds ticked by while the goddess studied my room. I was trying to wrap my head around her presence. She was actually in my bedroom. My desk was a mess, and my room, as usual, had clothes on the floor. I picked them up and dumped them in the bathroom and closed the door.
“You have beautiful taste,” she said.
Seriously? “Thanks.”
“Did I interrupt your dinner?” Her eyes were on the leftover lasagna. An apple core was by the plate. I wanted to cover the plate, but I’d have to climb over her. I sat on the bed and smiled.
“No, I was done.” Having a goddess in my room was making me antsy. Unlike Trudy, she spoke without an accent. “Is Eirik okay?”
“He’s fine. He went to see my mother for answers, so I did what I had to do with Einmyria to get my own answers.” She got up and paced, her cloak flowing behind her, She left the hood down to show her black and white hair, black runes zipping on half of her face and hands. “She’s not my daughter,” she whispered. “That girl in the hall is not my child.”
About time. “What happened?”
She stopped. “She hurt herself then claimed Eirik did it. When I search her memories, I saw what happened. Her wounds were self-inflicted. She clawed her arms and legs with her nails and then she blamed him. Who does that to her brother?”
Damn. I was hoping she had tangible proof Einmyria wasn’t her daughter, so I could stop keeping secrets from Eirik.
“A girl that’s mentally not there.” I tapped my temple.
She came back to the chair. “What do you mean?”
“Here on Earth, we have people who hurt themselves.”
The runes on her body moved faster. “This is why I came to you with this. I knew you would have answers.”
“What about Eirik? Doesn’t he know?”
“I didn’t ask him. He worked hard to bring the girl to the hall and would be devastated to learn she’s not who she claims to be. It explains everything. Why I couldn’t bond with her. Why she couldn’t show me her runes. Now about people who hurt themselves. Tell me more.”
“I read somewhere that people cut themselves to deal with a deeper emotional pain.” When she stared at me in confusion, I sighed. “Actually, I know someone who can explain it better. My Aunt Genevieve. She is a nurse.”
The goddess stood. “Take me to her.”
Was she kidding?
“I can’t. She’s at dinner with her husband in a crowded restaurant.” The expression on the goddess said she didn’t understand why I was procrastinating. “I’ll call her.” I pulled my cell and dialed her number. It was picked up after two rings. I turned on the speaker.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Aunt Genevieve said. In the background, I could hear voices as though she was still at the restaurant. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no. I’m sorry to bother you, Aunt Genevieve, but do you have a moment to answer a question?”
“Your uncle and I just finished dinner. He went to get the car. Just a second.” More voices, then silence. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“Can you explain to me why some people cut themselves?”
“Oh no. Who is hurting themselves?”
“A friend.” The goddess’ eyes volleyed between my face and the phone. Had she ever seen a cell phone before? “I just need an overview of why they cut and how to help such a person.”
“Which hospital are you in?”
“I’m at home, Aunt Genevieve.”
“Then I’m on my way.”
“No, she’s not here.” The goddess indicated that I give her the phone. “But you can talk to her, uh, guardian.” I passed the phone to the goddess. She brought the phone to her mouth the way I had done.
“Genevieve, we haven’t met, but I believe you know my son, Eirik.” She definitely didn’t waste the moment with pleasantries.
There was silence on the line, then, “Your Highness, of course I know Eirik. Such a wonderful young man.” I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t know you were in town,” Aunt Genevieve continued. “How can I help you?”
“I have a girl under my care that needs help. She only recently joined my hall, but I would like to help her.”
I grabbed the plate with the partially eaten lasagna and the apple core and left the room. I could hear the goddess’ voice behind me, but mens’ deeper baritones soon replaced hers as I left the hallway and entered the living room. Echo and my father were chuckling about something in the kitchen.
Dad stood when he saw me. “What’s going on? Is she done?”
“No, Dad. She’s talking to Aunt Genevieve.” I threw the leftovers in the compactor and placed the plate in the sink. When I turned around, Dad was scratching his head in confusion.
“She needs medical advice,” I explained without going into details.
“Something magic can’t heal?” Dad asked, walking to the coffee machine.
“Yes, Dad. It is not unheard of.” I glanced at Echo. “How are things with you? I haven’t seen you since Svartalfheim.”
“I’m keeping busy. I’m training new reapers.”
“I’ll leave you two kids alone,” Dad said and chuckled as though enjoying a private joke. “I guess I better I get used to meeting more of your kind.”
“If you prefer, we could always stay out of sight.”
Dad’s eyes went to the window even though it was too dark to see the Grimnirs who were outside. “No. I’d rather know when I have people in or outside my home.” The look he gave me said he knew Eirik was often around when he wasn’t supposed to be. “Besides, talking to one of you is better than watching The History Channel. I’ll be in the den if you need me, sweetheart.”
Left with Echo, I asked him if he needed a refill, which he accepted. It was after eight, and I still had more homework to tackle before bed.
“How is Cora?” I asked as I made myself hot chocolate.
A smile softened his lips. “Busy with school and helping souls.”
“Will you ever take her to the hall?”
“I don’t think so. Immortals are not allowed in the other realms.”
�
��Eirik is changing things, and if my father and my cousin can visit, I don’t see why not Immortals. Hayden visited and she’s Immortal.”
He frowned. “There’s a difference between guests of the son of the goddess and our guests. Besides, if she visited, all the others would want their Immortal girlfriends to visit too. The goddess would never allow that.”
“Ask her and see what she says.” The look that crossed Echo’s face said that would never happen. “Or ask Eirik to invite them. She won’t say no.”
A thoughtful expression entered his eyes. I’d given him something to think about. I knew Trudy would love to make more friends and the goddess has changed so much she might just allow Grimnirs to bring home their wives and girlfriends. According to Eirik, the ones married to non-reapers kept their wives on Earth.
I left Echo in the kitchen and went to check on the goddess. She was studying my sketchpad, my cell phone turned off.
“Your aunt was very useful,” she said without turning. “Are these the sketches for the rooms?”
“Yes. I found this program online where you can actually create a virtual house.” She cocked her eyebrow, so I got my laptop and showed her. Luckily, he’d left his camera and memory card with nature pictures at my place, so I’d added them to the collage of possible murals or framed pictures. We picked some good ones.
“Bring the machine to Vali and show him. He’ll like seeing the results.” She studied me intently. “Thank you for today. Please, do not tell Eirik what we discussed.”
I nodded, wishing I could tell her what I knew. “What are you going to do about Einmyria?”
“I haven’t decided yet, but she is a sick girl. I’ll give her a chance to tell me the truth. Your aunt said I shouldn’t pressure her or she’ll snap again. So regardless of when she decides to talk, I now know that my daughter is out there, and I will do whatever it takes to find her.” She touched my cheek. “I hope she’s a fighter like you, Celestia.” The goddess turned and started for the door. I followed. “Come home this weekend. We have work to do. Maybe she’ll open to you.”
“When do we tell Eirik?”
“Not yet.” She stopped so suddenly I stepped on her cloak and lost my balance when she moved it. She steadied me, her arms going around me. “You okay?”
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