5. The Staff
Andris and I made it inside the American Express Stadium Club restaurant before the players and their parents. The view from the window was spectacular. It gave one the illusion of floating above the stadium. Two guys were staring at the field, boxes of pizza, drinks, paper plates and cups piled on a table behind them. Andris paid them and shooed them out.
I looked around, loving the blend of redwood tables with green chairs and booths. Even the sconces over the counter were green.
“Come on. Help me arrange these chairs.”
I didn’t contain my shock. “You?”
“Amazing, aren’t I?” He carried the boxes to the gleaming counter. “Since I’m not running up and down the field with the pimply-faced players, this is my contribution.” He engaged his runes and grabbed two chairs as one would plates and moved them to the other end of the counter, turning one upside down on top of the other.
I looked around to confirm we were alone, and then let the spark in my core grow and spread to my limbs. I pointed at the nearest chair, lifted it off the floor and directed it to the end of the counter. I focused on the second one, turned it upside down, and placed it on top of the first one. Getting bolder, I went for two at a time. Grinning, I lifted the rest. I was getting cocky, but by the time I was done, the chairs were grouped at the other end of the counter.
“Damn,” Andris said.
“Thank you,” I said, bowing. My skin still tingled with the effect of magic.
“Your eyes are glowing.”
Dang it! I’d completely forgotten about that effect. I squeezed my eyes tight, pushed the magic away, which was something I was still learning, and opened them again. “Now?”
“Still glowing.”
“I need to hide them before the players get here.”
Andris shook his head. “Why do you care about what Mortals think? They’ll just assume you’re wearing color-changing contacts.”
“If such things exist.”
“Or is it Torin you’re worried about? He hates what you’re becoming.”
“No, he doesn’t.” He did, but he was adjusting. A couple of weeks ago, he would have freaked out when I mimicked him. “I just don’t like people thinking I’m a freak.”
He laughed. “There you go again, worrying too much about Mortals. And FYI, you are a freak.”
“What does that make you?”
“Master of all freaks. Here.” He plucked his sunglasses from where he’d pushed them in his hair and slid them across the counter. “Chicken.”
“Douche.” I walked around the counter to join him and frowned. He was right. I was being ridiculous. These people didn’t know me and wouldn’t care about my eye color. “You’re right. I don’t need them.” I tugged the brim of my baseball cap low. “I’m fine.”
Andris chuckled. “Our little girl is growing.”
“Oh, shut up.” I swatted his arm.
We lined up the pizza boxes according to toppings, placed the plastic plates and napkins on one side of the counter and the plastic cups and drinks on the other. I was in charge of the drinks. Andris grabbed a plastic cup and pulled a bottle from the rack of spirits behind the counter. I didn’t even bother to reprimand him. He lived by his own rules. He poured a generous amount and took a swig.
“Hmm, nice. Want some?”
“No, thanks.” I got high enough on magic. Even now, I still felt the buzz.
By the time the coaches, the players, and their parents arrived, everything was ready. Torin’s eyes found me when he entered the room with a boy who seemed younger than fifteen. The other kids elbowed each other and looked around with excitement. They’d probably never been inside the club either.
Somehow, they calmed down, lined up and picked up slices, then stopped by my end of the counter for their drink of choice. Andris removed empty boxes and flipped open new ones. Torin came around the counter.
“You used your powers,” he whispered, his hand massaged my neck.
“My eyes are still glowing?”
“No. The other thing.” He stole a kiss, but instead of leaning back, he angled his head and brought his lips closer to my ears. “Damn.”
“It was just a little magic.”
“Still packs quite a punch. Thanks for helping out,” he whispered.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s something. I’ll get us out of here as quickly as I can.” He touched the corner of my mouth again as though he couldn’t help himself, grabbed several slices of pizza, and bumped fists with Andris. “Thanks for taking care of this, bro.”
Conscious of the stares from both players and parents, I poured myself a drink and gulped some down. Torin took the cup from me and winked. Sure my face was red, I shot him a glare. I was sure he was aware of the interest his every move generated.
“You two have a secret language now?” Andris asked.
“Hmm?” I asked, but my focus was on Torin. Several mothers tried to get his attention. Even the assistant coaches seated with some of the students waved him over, but he glanced around and headed to the table where a lone boy sat. It was the same boy who was with him when he’d entered the room. That boy was going to die. Torin never singled out someone unless death was coming for them.
I poured myself another drink and moved closer to Andris, who was demolishing a slice like a starved convict. I took a slice from his plate. “So are we going to join the others?”
“Nope. I have no interest in interacting with Mortals.” I followed his eyes to Torin and the boy.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Jace Taylor,” he said.
“Coach Taylor’s son?”
Andris nodded.
“Not very popular, is he?”
“Nope.” He didn’t elaborate.
I sighed. “Because you guys replaced his father?”
Andris shrugged. “We did what had to be done to put us here.”
I think sometimes he said things to get a reaction. I tried to focus on eating, but I couldn’t. “He looks too young to be playing with the others and now he’s going to die.”
“Is he?” Andris said mysteriously.
“Of course he is. Torin is palsy-walsy with him. There’s only one reason for that.” Watching the animated way the boy talked to Torin only made me feel worse. “How can he befriend those whose souls he plans to reap?”
“Why don’t you ask him? He’s taken a personal interest in the boy. And do you know who I blame for that?” He shot me a pointed glance.
“Me? Why?”
“You crushed the steel wall he’d erected around his heart and changed him. For centuries he got close to would-be souls, gained their trust, and reaped them without losing sleep. Our area of expertise is catastrophe, and he knew how to herd them without losing a soul,”—he grinned—“and I mean that literally. Why? Because they trusted him. Then he met you. For the first time, he’s letting one get too close and not in a good way. They bonded over losing their mothers.”
Now I was intrigued. “The boy’s mother died recently too?”
“Last month after a long struggle with metastasized lung cancer. His father is up to his neck in debt.” Andris sighed dramatically. “So first, we got his old man promoted so the man can take care of the little runt and we could replace him as the coach. Then an anonymous donor helped pay the huge hospital bill the mother left behind.”
“Torin?”
Andris gave me a what-do-you-think glance. “I used one of his dummy corporations to make it happen. I’ve seen him give money to the people left behind, never to those about to die. He even promised Taylor he’d keep the boy on the team despite the fact that he’s asthmatic and most of his pimply-faced teammates and their parents didn’t want him playing. They only tolerated his presence because his father volunteered to coach.”
The mothers were furtively watching Torin and Jace, probably envious their sons weren’t getting the coach’s attention. “Is the boy the reason you
guys are here?”
Andris smirked. “No. I told you. We reap when a catastrophe hits. That’s our specialty, not individual reaps. I don’t know what’s coming, but it will involve this team of kids. Jace is just a distraction.” Andris frowned. “He’s a talented player even though he becomes winded fast. The others are actually jealous of him.”
My eyes went to Torin. He was smiling at something Jace was saying. “How do you know so much about him? You barely started reaping after the death freeze the Norns put in place, and you guys only started coaching yesterday.”
“We started last week while waiting for the Earl to show up in Kayville. Scouting. Getting the feel of the place. If we’d hung out here a little longer, they would have tagged us as pervs, so we decided we needed to be more involved. It only takes minutes to alter records and set up a fake background.”
Something else occurred to me. Since Jace’s mother had cancer, she’d gone to Hel’s Hall. And asthmatic Jace would also… Crap!
“Jace is not going to Asgard with you guys, is he?”
“Nope.”
Now I was beginning to understand what Andris meant by Torin changing. He only befriended those he reaped. “Could you guys sneak him in?”
Andris laughed, drawing attention to us. “No, we can’t. The boy is too frail and will stand out.”
My father was too frail too. Did that mean Mom wouldn’t reap him? “Remind me again how you know exactly who is about to die.”
“We don’t. They tell us where to go and what team to scout, and we do it. Your man does his thing while I wait on the sideline. We never, ever mess with Hel’s souls. Like I said,”—he shot me a pointed look—“this is your fault. You’ve made him soft.”
I ignored him. Was Torin really changing because of me? I knew he wasn’t the uncaring Valkyrie I’d met months ago. That didn’t mean I was responsible. The incident with his parents could have changed him. As for messing with Hel’s souls, I did that last night.
I turned to say something to Andris and caught him winking at one of the mothers. He’d been playing eye tag with the short brunette since she arrived and it wouldn’t surprise me if he did something about it. No woman was safe from him.
More boys came back for second helpings, then thirds. Andris cracked jokes with some of the boys. Across the room, Torin got up to do his rounds, moving from table to table, talking to the players, then the parents, who hung on his words. Jace reached the serving table and got more slices. He was such a timid boy. He even blushed when our eyes met.
“Did you ace the test?” Andris asked him.
Jace nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.”
My jaw dropped. The fraud. “I see through you, you know,” I whispered after Jace went back to his table. “Torin is not the only one changing.”
“Please. I helped him with his homework while we waited for his father to pick him up. I had no choice. Torin was talking to his evil sire. It’s not going to happen again.”
Somehow I doubted him. Something about this boy had touched both of them. “The master of freaks is changing too.”
He scoffed at the idea. “That’s absurd. Have you any idea how many souls we reap and how pointless it is to care? I’m enabling Torin. I guess I owe him.”
I kissed his cheek and caught Torin’s eyes on us. He raised an eyebrow. I just grinned. Maybe they might not be too hard on me when I changed a few destinies, starting with Jace. I didn’t care if the Norns were watching. This boy’s future was worth altering.
“Where are we going?” Andris asked when I grabbed his arm.
“To talk to Jace.”
~*~
I couldn’t get a reading from Jace, which didn’t make sense. If Andris noticed how often I patted the boy’s hand, he didn’t say it. He was busy playing eye-tag with the same brunette. Torin, however, hadn’t missed a thing.
“Were you trying to get a reading from Jace?” Torin asked as soon as everyone left. The three of us were piling up pizza boxes in garbage cans.
“No,” I fibbed.
Andris laughed, which earned him a kick. He dodged my foot and created a portal to the mansion. He turned once he was safe in the foyer and said, “He thought she was hitting on him. Now he’s worried about what the coach will do.”
I cringed. “Quit making things up. You didn’t even talk to him.”
He smirked. “You were too busy touching him you didn’t see his face. I gotta go. Got a hot date with a smoking hot cougar.”
“She’s married,” I called after him as the portal started to close.
“Divorced,” he shot back before the portal disappeared. Torin was staring at me with a hard to read expression.
“Are you mad?” I asked.
“Would it make any difference?”
I started to nod, thought about it, and shook my head. “No. I want to—”
He covered his ears. “I don’t want to hear it. You do what you have to do. Just leave me out of it.”
Color me shocked. Was this the same man who’d yelled at me for going to the boy’s locker room and putting my life in danger for helping people? He grinned at my expression.
“Come on, help me clean up.”
Andris was right. Torin was changing, and for some reason, he wanted Jace’s life spared. Did that extend to the other boys on the team too?
We finished cleaning up and opened a portal home. “I need to take care of something this evening, but I’ll stop by later.”
“Tell Jace I’m sorry for scaring him.”
“Will do.” Then he chuckled when he realized what he’d revealed. “Don’t sneak into guys’ bedrooms while I’m gone.”
“Promise.” His expression said he didn’t believe me.
~*~
My cat was asleep on the window seat, despite the nice bed desk I’d bought for her and placed next to my computer.
I headed downstairs, following the sounds to the kitchen where Femi was cooking while watching TV. “I had pizza with Torin’s soccer team,” I told her.
“I know, doll. You texted me.” She tasted whatever was in the pot and sighed blissfully. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
I made a face and hoped she didn’t notice.
“Hmm, too bad.” She laughed. We both knew I hated fish stew. I liked my fish fried or baked, and smothered with herbs. “Is Mom home?”
“She’s with your father.”
My parents were playing chess when I peeked in. It was nice to see Dad up and about. He seemed stronger, his color a lot less zombie-gray. Having Mom around seemed to be good for him, but then again, she had that effect on most people. Or maybe she was using unique runes to manage his pain. To use Mortal terms, he looked like a man whose cancer was in remission.
“Hi, sweetie,” she patted my hand when I kissed her cheek.
“Who’s winning?” I asked, looking over Dad’s shoulder.
“Your mother.” But his eyes sparkled. “Where did you disappear to?”
“California.”
He shook his head. “Florida. California. Where next? Paris?”
“Maybe,” I teased. We traded grins. I was still getting used to the ease with which I could move from one place to another without using transportation. I liked it, but at the same time, it made me uneasy. It reinforced the fact that I was no longer a normal person.
Last week, after the battle with the Immortals, we’d gone to Florida for a few days. Most parents would have worried about plane tickets or the drive. We’d rented a beach home for the weekend and used a portal to access it. We could have slept in our beds if we wanted to, but none of us had wanted to be in Kayville after dealing with evil Immortals.
“What’s happening in California?” Dad asked, his focus on me.
That was something I’d missed the last few months while he’d been bedridden. The way he’d make what I did, however small, seem so important.
Grinning, I walked around and sat on the arm of his chair. “To
rin is coaching the Galaxy Academy U-16 soccer team. He also subs as a math teacher at the boys’ school. Caesar Chavez High.”
“Poor kids,” Mom mumbled.
“What am I missing?” Dad asked, his eyes volleying between Mom and me.
Mom glanced at me. “Do you want to tell him?”
Explain the logistics of reaping to my dying father? I didn’t think so. I was still trying to get used to his imminent death. I shook my head.
“Torin and Andris are in California to reap the boys’ souls,” Mom explained.
Dad frowned. “Oh.”
Mom and I exchanged a glance. Was he thinking of his situation?
“I guess I should have figured that out,” he said, speaking slowly as though adjusting his perception. “He became close to the swim team here before the pool accident and joined the football team before the accident. Do you know who will die in Seattle, Svana?”
He sounded more curious than sad, but Mom’s eyes welled with tears. Time to leave before I joined her. I was a sympathetic crier, but I refused to mourn my father while he was still alive.
“I have homework, so I’ll see you two later.” I kissed Dad’s cheek and walked around the table to Mom, who was trying hard to control herself. Between us, I was usually the levelheaded one, like Dad. My flamboyant mother’s emotions were more volatile.
I hugged her and whispered, “He looks great, Mom. Because of you. Because you’re here, so please don’t cry.”
She hugged me tight and hung on. She was a hugger, but this time, I think she was giving herself time to calm down. She leaned back and smiled. Her tears were no longer threatening to fall. “Thank you. Now go. Your homework will not do itself.”
“Why can’t I quit school like Torin and Andris? It’s not like I’m going to need a high school diploma in the future.” I couldn’t tell who was more shocked—Mom or Dad. “Just kidding. I plan to go to college and study something. You know, contribute to the world.” They looked at each other and then at me. I threw up my hands. “Forget it.”
I let myself out of the room. Femi looked up when I started upstairs. She and Mom used portals to go to and from upstairs, but I still insisted on doing a few things like a normal person.
Witches (Runes series Book 6) Page 9
