“Beautiful.” He picked up his fork and went back to eating the pie. “All they do is party and train. There’s an occasional threat from the evil giants and monsters, but it’s nothing like Hollywood movies depict.”
“And Hel?”
A weird look crossed his face. “Complicated. Demanding. Mean and unforgiving as the realm itself. Can we talk about something else?”
So he and his mother still had issues. Onyx had said that he’d chosen her. “Why haven’t you gone back to Asgard?”
“Who says I haven’t?”
“My cat. Onyx.”
He chuckled. “She’s a crazy one. I swear I was sure she’d scratch out my eyes when I appeared in your room. She doesn’t like me. Do you remember how cats and dogs would go crazy whenever we went to the animal shelter? Now I know why.”
I didn’t care about Onyx’s hatred for my friends or the past. Eirik had neatly avoided answering my question about returning to Asgard. “Did they kick you out of Asgard? Force you to choose a side?”
He licked the fork. “This is really good.” He checked the box and saw the logo. “Of course, it’s from Cora’s mother. She makes the best pies. Can I have whipped cream or ice cream with it?”
“Get it yourself.”
He stood and pointed his fork at me. “You’re forgetting again that I’m a god.”
“Who happens to know his way around this house and doesn’t need me waiting on him. Get over yourself.”
He laughed and planted a kiss on my forehead. “I’ve missed you.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. It was Cora. She was going to be surprised to hear Eirik was back. “Hey!”
“If you don’t hear from me in five minutes, find me,” Cora said.
“Cora, what’s going on?”
“I’m dealing with an unusual soul. Make it two minutes.” Then the line went dead.
“Cora! I cannot believe that girl.”
Eirik came back to the table with a can of whipped cream. “What’s wrong?”
“She said she’s dealing with an unusual soul, and if I don’t hear from her in two minutes, I should call her. I hope she’s not doing something she’ll regret.”
“Are she and Echo still together?”
There was no anger or animosity in his voice, just mild curiosity, but I wasn’t an idiot. His refusal to answer my questions only made me more determined to find out what was going on. Why would a god spend so much time in this realm unless he couldn’t go home?
“They’re still together, but I’m sure you already know that. I swear if Asgardians made you choose between your mother and them…”
He chuckled. “You sound like you’re ready to kick some serious ass. Whose side are you on?” He sobered up. “Have you thought about it? Where you want to live? Both sides have different things to offer. In Asgard, you’ll probably have a hall with servants and your every need met. In Nornsgard, you’ll be treated like their exulted leader despite being the youngest. In Hel… well, it’s the same.”
Material things. Who needs them? “I have, if you must know. Not that it’s any of your business.” He continued to watch me. “If they were to ask me now, I’d choose us.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Us?”
“Earth, or Midgard. Humans. Mortals and Immortals. I’d rather warn them before I announce the beginning of the battle. Fight with them to make sure some survived, not just a select few.”
Eirik smothered the pie with whipped cream. “Okay. Sounds like you know what you want.”
“You’re not going to lecture me about how humans are not important in the final battle? Or what the prophecy says?”
“Nope.” He stuffed his face with pie while I played with my food. I dumped it in the garbage and put the leftovers away. Cora called just as promised, which was a relief. I hadn’t felt like leaving to help her out while Eirik was around, which made me feel kind of bad. “Which side are you on?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I’m just enjoying watching them squirm.”
I shook my head. “You’d better be on my side when the battle begins.”
He laughed. “The Norns want their dagger back,” he said.
“Yeah, about that. Why did they come to you?”
“Because the last time they saw it, I had it pressed to your throat. They didn’t see me give it to you, so they came to me and demanded I hand it over. I told them I’d lost it.”
He’d slipped the dagger in my pocket the night we battled the Earl. “So you came to my room in the dead of the night to warn me? What happened to stopping by during the day? Texting? Calling? Returning the next day?”
He grinned. “Cell phone reception in Hel sucks, so I dumped mine, and your cat went feral on me that night and became a giant cat. Don’t give the dagger back, Raine.”
“Why do they want it so badly?”
“I don’t know, but the fact they do means it’s important to them, so screw them.”
His sudden show of hatred surprised me. “Have they been messing with you too?”
Pink crept onto his cheeks and his eyes grew fierce. “They’ve been messing with me all my life. They tried to probe my mind to find it, but I surround myself with Witches, some nearly as powerful as you. Anyway, expect them to probe your head.”
I remembered the incident at the stadium when they’d visited me. I’d felt a thick impenetrable shield messing with my ability to link with them. “They might already have.”
“But you still have it?”
“Yes. Onyx is very good at hiding it.”
He chuckled and rubbed his stomach. “Thanks for the food. Let me check something with your father, then I need to hear all about you and Torin.” He picked up his mace, propped his elbow on the table, and said, “Bond.”
The weapon wrapped around his arm. Runes blazing. When they dimmed, his tattoo was back. It looked awesome. He stood and started toward Dad’s room. I was right behind him.
“So how long are you staying?” I asked, dodging his steps.
“A few minutes.”
“A few minutes?” I screeched.
“With your dad. Dial it down a notch there, owl. I’m going to be around.” He knocked on Dad’s door and turned the handle, but I was right behind him. “I need to talk to him alone.”
“And I need your cell phone number and how to contact you before I let you leave my sight. I’m not buying that cell phone reception crap.”
“I’d forgotten how stubborn you are. I wasn’t lying about my cell phone. Got rid of it a long time ago.” A thoughtful expression settled on his face. “Or was it taken from me? The memories keep merging.” He chuckled, his mood changing so fast I was struggling to keep up. “If you need me, send Onyx. She might not like me, but she knows how to find me. Now can I go?” He didn’t wait for my response, just pushed the door open. Mom, Dad, and Femi were all in the room watching something on TV. But as soon as we appeared, Mom and Femi got up and came to join me.
“You guys were here all this time?” I asked, closing the door slowly, watching Eirik to make sure he was actually sitting down and not disappearing again.
“Let them talk,” Mom said, prying the handle from my hand. She closed the door, took my arm, and pulled me away. “We figured you two would want to catch up without us hanging around.”
~*~
“So did you two cover everything?” Mom asked.
“Some,” I mumbled absentmindedly. I still had questions and so much to discuss with Eirik. That part about his cell phone being taken from him bugged me. Taken by whom? Asgardians or Goddess Hel?
“Like what?” Mom asked. “Did he tell you where he’s living now?”
I stared at her and wanted to smack myself. That should have been my first question. “He mentioned traveling all over the globe, which any of us can do in an hour.”
“Did he say what he’s been doing?”
Another question I should have asked him. The last thing I wanted was Mom gril
ling me and making me feel worse. “I thought you guys talked. Didn’t you ask him?”
She exchanged a glance with Femi, and then she nodded. “Oh yes, we did, but he was more interested in what we were doing.” Mom glanced at Femi. “Isn’t that right?”
Femi nodded. “He wanted to know about the Valkyrie Council, who was in it, and how long it took them to reach a decision on Svana’s case. Then he asked about my life and Hawk’s and how often I got together with other Immortals. Whether there was an organization of Immortals to keep in touch with the others. He said Witches were very organized.”
“Then he wanted to know if the Norns are bothering you again,” Mom added.
Sounded like he was gathering information, but why? I stared at the den. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap… Mom covered my hand. I’d been tapping on the table. I got up and paced.
“That’s it,” Mom said. “Go to Torin’s.”
I shook my head. “I want to be here when Eirik comes out.”
“We’ll call you when he does. I can’t stand listening to you tap and watch you pace anymore. Go.”
“Mom,” I whined.
“I’ll keep him here, even if I have to sit on him,” she reassured me. “Now, go.”
“Fine. But if he leaves…” I opened a portal to Torin’s. The lights were on and there was something cooking on the stove, but he wasn’t in the kitchen. “Torin?”
An air portal opened from his bedroom and he appeared. “You two done catching up?”
“Getting information out of him is like trying to rob Fort Knox. Frustrating.”
He went back to his cooking. “Talk to me.”
I filled him in on what I’d learned from Eirik. “I have no idea where he lives or what he does, whether he’s going to school or not. How often he visits his mother or Asgard. Or even whose side he is on. He’s so vague.” I looked out the window at my house. Mom and Femi were still in the kitchen. Torin turned off the stove and served the food on two plates. “How come you don’t just eat with the others at the mansion? The housekeeper’s cooking is great.”
“Yeah, the same dishes every week gets boring fast.” He handed me a plate. “I like variety in my diet.”
“Let’s eat at my place,” I suggested.
“Why?”
“I want to be there when Eirik finishes with Dad.”
Torin leaned against the counter, obviously reluctant to go with me. “You think he’ll take off again?”
“Oh yes. He dances circles around Mom and despite changing physically, he’s the same Eirik. Stuffing his face and drinking juice from the bottle.”
Torin chuckled. “Go. I need to see Blaine about something. I’ll join you as soon as I’m done.”
I gripped his hand and pulled him toward the hallway mirror. Unlike him, I didn’t walk around with an artavus, creating air portals wherever and whenever. We stopped by the mirror and I studied his expression. Then something else registered. His chuckle had seemed forced.
“You’re not jealous of him, are you?”
He made a face. “Of Eirik? That show off who appears when we don’t need him, plays the hero, then disappears, making all of us indebted to him when we don’t need to be?”
It was hard to tell whether he was serious or not. “You know, a wise guy once told me only puny minded people are insecure and jealous,” I said.
He ran his knuckles down my cheek. “He’s an idiot.”
Now I knew he was goofing around. “Later, idiot. We’ll talk about the plane crash and Jace later.” I shuddered. “Hopefully that’s the last time I see that particular vision. I got everything I need to… I mean, I have all the info you need.” I went on my toes and pressed a kiss on his lips.
Femi was in the kitchen alone when I entered. “Where’s Mom?”
“She joined Eirik and your father.”
I sat and ate the food I’d picked up from Torin’s, my eyes on the door.
“So our food is no longer good enough for you?” Femi teased.
“It was too early to eat, and Eirik eats enough for five people. I hope there’s some left for everyone else.”
She laughed. “We’ll make do.”
“How long has she been in there?” I asked.
“About five minutes.”
A bad feeling washed over me. I engaged my speed runes and was at the door to the den in seconds. I knocked and opened the door without waiting for an answer. Just as I’d suspected, Eirik was gone.
17. The Ultimatum
I was so sure Eirik would be back, but no such luck. I sent Onyx to find him, but the cat came back pissed because she couldn’t.
“He’ll appear when he thinks you need him,” Torin said, and received a glare for his efforts.
He took me shopping on Sunday to get my mind off Eirik. He knew exactly where to go, which shops and restaurants were open.
I got several leather jackets, gloves, and a nice Gothic spiked choker and wristband. I found a present for Torin too and paid for it without him seeing it.
Sunday night after we came back, I knocked on the door to the den and Mom opened it. Instead of letting me go inside and say goodnight to Dad, she stepped outside. I pulled out a scarf I’d bought her and draped it around her neck. She rubbed it against her cheek and smiled. It was pure silk.
“Thank you, honey. Come on. I’m making tea.”
“Is Dad okay?” I asked, peering into the room before she closed the door.
“He’s resting now.” She took my arm, but I refused to move.
“I want to see him, Mom. I bought him something.”
She sighed, nodded, and opened the door. Dad was propped against a pillow. He looked tired. “Hey,” I said.
He patted the edge of the bed and took my hand after I sat. His hands felt warm and dry, his skin paper-thin. “I’m okay,” he said answering my unspoken question.
I studied his face. “You sure?”
He nodded. “Where did you go?”
“New York. We did a little shopping.” I reached inside the bag, pulled out a robe, and shook it. It was fluffy and monogrammed just for him. It was also his favorite color, green like Mom’s eyes. “I thought you’d like this. Oh, and we watched Les Miz. You would have loved that too.”
He chuckled. “I’m happy you get a chance to do things like that. Your mother and I travelled a lot in our days, but we flew.”
I rolled my eyes. His mistrust of the supernatural world started way before I was born. “I wish…” My voice trailed off. “Nah, never mind.”
“No, say it.”
I was going to sound stupid and childish.
Dad leaned forward and tilted my chin toward him. “Out with it.”
“I wish we could visit places together. The four of us.”
“Maybe we will. You never know,” he said mysteriously.
“What about you, Dad? If you were to get one wish,”—I couldn’t bring myself to add before you die—“what would it be?”
“That’s easy. To walk you down the aisle and officially hand you over to someone who will love, cherish you, and fill your life with laughter and joy. Someone who will willingly spend sleepless nights worrying about you and get a few gray hairs.” He chuckled. “That would be my greatest wish.”
My throat closed. I’d assumed Torin would propose when I turned eighteen, but that was four months away. Was Dad going to be around then?
“Maybe it will come true. On the other hand, I’m insulted by the ‘hand me over’ part. You raised me to be independent.”
“I know and it’s going to take a special man to appreciate that in you.” He patted my hand and added, “Get your mother for me. I need to rest now.”
I kissed his forehead and left the room. Mom was making tea in the kitchen. “Do you want a cup?”
I shook my head. “He wants you. He looks tired.”
“He’s been pushing himself too hard this past week. He’ll bounce back.”
Somehow, I doubted it. I kissed Mo
m goodnight and headed back upstairs to run a bath. I had barely sunk into the frothy bubbles when Torin appeared. His hair was wet and he’d changed into his sweatpants and T-shirt. Dad had mentioned graying, but we both knew Torin would never gray, unless he ditched his runes.
I started to sit up, remembered the bubbles wouldn’t cover all of me, and sank back under. He’d seen me naked, yet I couldn’t bring myself to be indifferent to my nudity.
He settled on the edge of the tub. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think Dad is going to make it to my birthday. He sounded sad and nostalgic.”
Torin took the bath sponge from the edge of the tub, dunked it, and gently washed my shoulder. “What did he say?”
He was distracting me. I struggled to focus on my thoughts and words. “He wants to walk me down the aisle and hand me over to someone else so they can lose sleep worrying about me. Can you believe that? Oh, and whoever I marry will go gray with worry. I guess that means you’re not a candidate.”
He chuckled, not bothered by my words. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
~*~
Torin and I arrived at the school parking lot Monday morning to see Cora talking to the two Grimnirs from the nursing home. Andris stood a few cars away with some girl, but he kept glancing at Cora.
“What’s going on?” Torin asked when he realized I was distracted.
“Those are the two Grimnirs I met at Beau’s. I wonder what they want with Cora. I saw her with them at the nursing home.”
Torin hoisted my backpack to his shoulder. “She’s dating a Grimnir, so technically they’re her people now.”
“Does that make Valkyries my people?”
“No, you are mine. Two different rules. One day, you will be Mrs. St. James or Lady Worthington.” Despite his blasé attitude, he didn’t move away from the bike and was busy sizing up the two Grimnirs. “I don’t like that girl’s body language.”
Cora turned as though to walk away, when all of the sudden the female Grimnir grabbed her by the neck. The male Grimnir clasped her hands together.
“They’re kidnapping her!” I exclaimed.
One second Torin was beside me, the next he was gone. My reflexes weren’t as fast. I looked around to see if anyone was watching, ducked behind the Harley, and engaged my speed runes before following him. Torin yanked the male Grimnir away from Cora while Andris went after the female. Sometimes Torin and Andris forgot that we were still getting used to their world. The force with which they attacked the two Grimnirs had knocked Cora sideways. I caught her before she landed on her ass.
Witches (Runes series Book 6) Page 27
