Witches (Runes series Book 6)

by Ednah Walters

  ~*~

  When I left the band room, Beau and his friends were outside his classroom. He winked at me, but I just shook my head.

  “Dude, that’s St. James’ girl,” one of his friends said.

  “So what?” was his cocky response. “I don’t see his name tattooed on her ass.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “You’d tap that?” another asked.

  I didn’t hear his answer, but the laughter that followed said it was outrageous. He and I were going to have a talk about that. If we were going to sneak around for these tutoring sessions, he should come up with a better reason than hitting on me.

  I stepped outside the school and shivered. The weather had nothing to do with it. The sun was up and spring flowers were blooming in the flowerbeds lining the entrance.

  I felt the telltale prickly feeling on the back of my neck. Someone was watching me. Not the Norns. I could always sense them. This was different.

  I glanced around furtively, but nothing seemed out of place. Students hurried to the school buses parked at the curb, while others headed to their cars or bikes. For Oregonians it was already warm enough for biking.

  McKenzie and two of her friends were talking and laughing as they hurried to her car. They were rocking their crazy hair colors with renewed confidence. I hadn’t seen Ellie and Amber since English. Not that I needed to see them to confirm what I already knew. I was a good witch, which meant my hex probably had no effect.

  Still, none of my observations gave me a clue as to who was watching me. The feeling grew stronger the closer I got to my car. Then I noticed the fresh runes.

  My car had permanent protective runes, courtesy of my ever-vigilant boyfriend. Torin added more every other month, same with the ones on the doors and walls of my school, and the trees to and from my house. I now recognized his slanted runic writings. The new ones on my car weren’t written by him. Even worse, I didn’t know what they meant. Refusing to panic, I removed my phone from my backpack and took a picture.

  “New runes?” Cora asked from behind me and I turned.

  “Yep.”

  “What do they do?”

  “I have no idea. They weren’t here this morning.” And Torin had hitched a ride with me and used a portal to go to California. I searched the parking lot for Blaine. He should be able to know what they meant. He was an Immortal, possibly as old as Andris.

  “I can give you a ride home if you don’t want to drive it,” Cora offered.

  “Nah, I’m good. I’m going to the store first.” I had to tell Hawk about the burial grounds the Draugar had disturbed in Carson. I touched the runes, but I couldn’t get a reading. “I can’t run scared every time someone runes my things. It’s probably Torin. You know how overprotective he gets,” I lied.

  “Yeah. I know,” Cora said, but she sounded worried.

  I should have kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t lie worth a damn, and we both knew it. Determined to prove that the runes didn’t bother me, I got behind the wheel and took off. I noticed Cora kept watching. She followed me in her car to the first traffic light. I appreciated her vigilance. We’d been through way too much to take chances.

  She stayed behind me all the way to my store. As usual, the only available parking was behind the building. I removed my phone and texted Cora after I parked.

  “U didn’t have to, but thx,” I said.

  “Idk what u r talking about,” she responded.

  I sent her an emoji with hearts. Cora might act like she only cared about Echo, but she was a loving, loyal, and dependable friend.

  The feeling of being watched returned again. I glanced up and down the back parking lot and shivered. Maybe I was imagining it.

  The bell dinged when I pushed the back door open. Hawk looked up, surprise flickering in the depth of his dark eyes. He was still in charge of the store even though Mom was back. Full time reapers didn’t run businesses.

  “Have you come back to work, Ms. Lorraine?” Hawk asked.

  He was just teasing. As an Immortal, he was very much a part of my life and knew everything that had happened in Kayville the last several months. He’d even rescued me from the Witches right here in the store.

  “I wish,” I said. “Between lessons with Lavania and school, I’m way too busy.” I glanced around, but didn’t see Jared, our other employee. Not that I considered Hawk an employee. Immortals might offer support to Valkyries, but they were based on earth and had opportunities that went with it. Like investing money and buying properties. Chances were Hawk was secretly a gazillionaire. He was the kind of guy that didn’t welcome personal questions. I didn’t even know whether he lived in Kayville or some mansion in the middle of nowhere.

  He stepped from behind the counter and locked his hands behind him as he approached me. He always treated me with respect even though he was probably born a couple of millennia ago. He never cracked a smile or wore anything but black. His hair was tied in the back with a leather thong and at first glance, he could pass for a forty-something year old. But in the right setting and clothes, war paint and feathered hat, I could easily see him as a spiritual leader to his tribesmen.

  “What can I do for you, Ms. Lorraine?” he asked.

  I glanced around again. “Can we talk alone?”

  “Of course.” He disappeared into the room where he worked on frames. The Mirage did custom framing, but our most popular commodity was portals, mirrors with runes etched on their frames.

  Hawk came back with Jared, who’d been our employee for years.

  “Miss Raine, are you coming back to work? I told Celine the crazy customers probably scared you away.”

  His wife was a sweet woman who’d decided I needed mothering after Mom had disappeared for months. Being Mortals, they didn’t know she’d been facing the Valkyrie Council in Asgard to get her position back.

  “No one scares me away, Jared. I’ve just been busy with school and helping Mom take care of Dad.” Taking care of Dad was a good enough explanation for Mom’s absence these days. “Tell Celine that I’m fine.”

  “I will. She’ll be happy to hear that.”

  I disappeared into Hawk’s office. He closed the door and indicated a chair, then waited until I was seated before sitting. Now that I was here, I didn’t know where to begin.

  “It’s okay,” Hawk said reassuringly, reading me. “Is this about money?”

  The last time I came to see him, I’d wanted money to buy a prom dress. Then Mom returned and took complete control over my prom preparations. The way she talked on and on she must think I have zero fashion sense.

  “No. Last night, I fought Draugar in Carson, California, with the Valkyries.”

  He leaned forward. “Wendigos?”

  I’d watched enough of the TV series Supernatural to know what a Wendigo was—a creature controlled by an evil spirit. “So Draugar and Wendigo is the same thing?”

  “Draugr is one, Draugar means more than one. And yes, they’re the same thing.” He leaned closer, a strange light in his eyes. “Every culture has its own version of an evil spirit that devours humans, but it’s the same thing, an evil soul possessing a dead body. They even possess living people and make them go insane or corrupt their souls, so when the people die, they run from reapers and possess others too. It’s a vicious cycle To Mortals, these creatures have superhuman strength, speed, and are impossible to kill. It’s our job to hunt them down, and then hand over the souls to the reapers. I’ve worked with a few Grimnirs and Valkyries over the years and taken down quite a few. When and where did this happen? How many escaped?”

  By the time I finished telling him, he was on my side of the desk. He looked visibly disappointed when I told him how I’d helped get rid of them.

  “These Draugar sound like they were part Golem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Creatures made of pure clay. I would have loved to see them. It takes powerful magic wielded by a powerful soul to use bones and clay to create a body. M
ost just find the nearest grave and crawl back into the fleshiest body they can find. I saw a pure Golem once, centuries ago. A rabbi created it using a different kind of power. It was completely under his control, doing his every wish.” He walked back to his side of the desk and sat, then leaned forward and steepled his fingers. “I’m happy you shared this with me, Ms. Lorraine. It seems like your team took care of them.”

  “According to Torin, a couple of the souls were from the Immortals we defeated last week.”

  Hawk straightened, his brow furrowing. “I see. So more will be coming?”

  “No. I mean, I don’t know.” I couldn’t repeat what Torin’s father had told him about angry souls without revealing the source. “But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

  “No, it doesn’t. But between the Immortals and the Valkyries around here, we should be okay.”

  “But that’s not the only reason I came to see you. The souls didn’t use bones from a nearby cemetery. They found some under the basketball court at the school. I think it is an ancient burial ground.”

  “My people?” he asked, his features taut.

  I explained what I’d seen.

  He stood. “Show me.”

  A bunch of guys were shooting hoops when we opened a portal. Staying inside the office while using the portal as a window, Hawk studied the surrounding area. After a few minutes, he closed the portal and faced me. Gratitude and something else was apparent in his eyes.

  “Thank you, Ms. Lorraine. My people are no longer as powerful as they used to be, but a group of us, Native American Immortals, have worked tirelessly with them over the years to preserve part of our culture in any way we can. We’ll take care of this.”

  My throat closed a bit listening to him. This was the most vulnerable I’d ever seen him, and the first time he’d mentioned anything personal. “What are you going to do?”

  “We can declare the site to be sacred. The school or the basketball court will be rebuilt elsewhere.” He bowed briefly. “Thank you, Ms. Lorraine.”

  “It’s Raine. All my friends call me that.”

  He smiled briefly. By the time I closed the door, he was on the phone. Jared was talking to a customer and didn’t see me leave. As soon as I stepped out of the building, the same telltale chill I’d felt earlier skidded down my spine and I knew I wasn’t alone. Then I saw him, the Earl of Worthington standing by my car. My stomach dropped.

  8. Tea with a Warlock

  My first instinct was to engage my speed runes, turn around, and run into the building for Hawk. I didn’t have my dagger, just the artavus I carried to school to create portals. I was sure it was completely useless against a powerful Immortal. Still my hand closed around it. There were lots of trees and bushes nearby, and the earth at my disposal should he try something.

  Tapping into my power, it burst and flooded me, bringing with it renewed confidence. I walked toward my car, my glowing eyes locked on him.

  “There’s no need to reach for your dagger, Miss Cooper,” he said in a voice that sounded too much like Torin for my liking. Although his was colder, more menacing. The smile on his lips was condescending.

  “I don’t carry my dagger,” I said, proud that I sounded calm. I wasn’t sure what to call him. He didn’t deserve the title of a Lord or the Earl of Worthington. “The world is my weapon.” A localized rumble rippled through the ground and shook nearby trees and shrubs.

  He glanced around, his smile not changing. “Impressive.”

  “What do you want?” I asked, wishing I could knock out his teeth and wipe that smirk off his face.

  “Just to talk. Can we go to a nearby café for coffee or tea?”

  Talk to him? I didn’t think so. I opened my mouth to tell him no, but the look in his eyes said he expected me to refuse him. I needed to prove to him that I wasn’t scared, even though I was.

  “Sure. Why not? My favorite Greek restaurant is just a few doors from our store. We should be able to talk there.” I was sure he could see the runes on the building and wouldn’t miss the ones inside Café Nikos. Torin tended to get carried away.

  This time, I threw him a challenging look before turning and going back to The Mirage. The door dinged when he followed. Jared was still with a customer, and Hawk was probably still talking to his contacts in the office. I might refuse to be intimidated by Torin’s father, but I wasn’t an idiot either. If he wanted to kidnap me, he could do it and disappear through a portal before my runes could alert the protective ones etched on the building.

  I went straight to the office, knocked, and pushed the door open. Hawk scowled, but his expression cleared when he saw me. “Could you come outside please?”

  Something in my voice, or maybe it was my expression, had him standing up quickly and without asking why. I opened the door wider. He followed me into the store.

  “I’d like you to meet the Earl of Worthington, Torin’s father,” I said, waving toward the evil Immortal.

  Hawk studied the Earl without offering his hand, but his eyes grew darker. Ignoring the guy, he glanced at me. “What’s going on, Ms. Lorraine?”

  “He was waiting for me when I left the store. He and I are going to Café Nikos for a drink, alone.”

  Hawk nodded, indicating he understood he wasn’t supposed to interfere. “Of course, Ms. Lorraine.” Then his focus shifted to the Earl. “Warlock. Do not do anything you’ll regret. The young Norn is under our protection.”

  The Earl chuckled. “I’m sure she is. Shall we?”

  There he goes again, sounding like Torin. I really, really wanted to wipe that smug smile off his face. My hand fisted, and I wasn’t surprised when the mirrors in the room rattled. Interesting. When angry, I used my powers without channeling it by words or thoughts. I would so like to do that when I practiced good magic too.

  I led the way out of the store and even slowed down so we walked side by side. “So what’s next, Warlock Worthington?”

  His lips tightened. I hoped he didn’t like being called a Warlock because that was his name from now on. Warlock Worthington or just the Warlock.

  “Let’s sit down before you start interrogating me, young lady.”

  The authoritative way he spoke had me clamming up and hating myself for doing it. Café Nikos was packed as usual. The owner, Nikolaus, saw us when we entered.

  “Raine! Koreetsi mou!” He came around the counter and clasped my hands. “How are you doing? How’s your father?”

  “I’m fine, and Dad is hanging in there.” He and Dad went way back to high school. His exuberance could sometimes be embarrassing. Like now. We had the attention of everyone in the room. “I’m here with a family friend who wants to try some of your famous pies.”

  Nikolaus glanced at Warlock Worthington. “Lord Worthington. I didn’t know the family you were visiting was the Coopers. Any friend of Tristan’s is a friend of Nikolaus.”

  Completely blindsided, I stared at the Warlock’s annoying smirk, but I recovered fast and exclaimed, “Uncle Warlock! You came here without me? You know how much I love Nikos’ baklava. Was it last month when you excused yourself after dinner?” I glanced at Nikolaus, praying he gave me answers.

  “No, no, it was last week in the afternoon with the twin boys from South…” His voice trailed off and I saw why. Warlock Worthington was glaring at him.

  Twins? There was only one set of twins in Kayville last week—Alejandro and Matias Torres. Except the Norns had resorted to trickery once again and mimicked the Torres Witches and their cousin Bash to trick me.

  “This way, Lord Worthington. Miss Raine.” His voice carried, and once again the customers looked up and stared at us. I didn’t care this time. Had Warlock Worthington met with the real twins or the Norns?

  Once we were seated, he ordered a large slice of baklava and coffee. Black. Just like Torin. I mentally pinched myself. Just because the man looked like an older version of the guy I was crazy about and talked like him didn’t mean they were alike. He was evil personifi
ed. Torin wasn’t. I didn’t want to eat anything, but I ordered custard pie anyway.

  “Is this together?” the waitress asked, deftly pouring water into two glasses.

  “Yes,” Warlock Worthington said.

  “No,” I said at the same time. “I’ll pay for mine.”

  The bastard chuckled as though my show of independence amused him. We had barely sat down and he was already pushing my buttons. Hopefully, my anger wouldn’t get the better of me. I was likely to create a vortex under his seat and suck him into oblivion.

  “You are a prickly little thing,” he said.

  I objected to being called a thing, but I let it go. He looked disappointed when I just shrugged.

  “You are also very powerful for one so young.”

  I objected to being praised by him too, but this time, I couldn’t help myself. “And you are such an evil Warlock for someone so old. I always thought wisdom came with age.”

  His lips pressed into a line. Score.

  “The last time someone called me a Warlock, they died a painful death,” he said so calmly a chill crawled up my spine.

  I tried to cover it with a chuckle and sipped some of my water. “The last person to call you a Warlock was Hawk and he’s very much alive.”

  “Ah! That’s the name. I knew our paths had crossed before. As for his fate, that can be changed.”

  I stopped smiling, anger coursing through me. With it came the power. The table started to lift. Dang it. I needed to calm down. Taking deep breaths, I pushed the magic back. “You touch him and I swear, I’ll forget you are Torin’s father.”

  The smirk was back on his face. “Be careful, young Völva. Once you cross that line, there’s no going back.” He smiled at the waitress. “Thank you, luv.”

  I nodded briefly at the waitress, and waited until she was gone before saying, “No, Warlock. I don’t kill. I change destinies. You touch Hawk or anyone I know, and I’ll change yours like that.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis and something flickered in the depth of his sapphire blue eyes. Anger? Surprise? Maybe fear? Wishful thinking. Somehow I doubted the man was afraid of anything or anyone.