I bumped him with my shoulder. “So you decided to be my guardian angel?”
“Part-time guardian angel. Cora will take over after third period.”
I laughed, but was touched. My friends rocked. “You two are crazy.”
“Has anyone said anything to you yet?”
“No. They just gawk. Nothing I can’t handle. They’ll lose interest in a day or two.”
“I hope so, or I’m going to break someone’s nose. If anyone does or says anything, tell me.” From his expression, he would defend me, which was big. Eirik was the most non-confrontational guy I knew. He had a temper, but tended to withdraw before he snapped and threw things around. I’d seen him vent countless times. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
“That’s nice, but I can take care of myself. Besides, I don’t want you going against your pacifist beliefs.”
“Whoever said I was a pacifist is an idiot,” he retorted.
“That would be… you.” I eased my arm from his hand. “See you at lunch.”
He reached down to kiss me. I wasn’t sure whether he meant to kiss me on the lips or not, but I turned my head and gave him my cheek just as Torin appeared at the end of the hallway. He stared at us curiously. He’d always hated it when Eirik and I kissed. Would a kiss jog his memories? Even as the thought crossed my head, I knew I couldn’t do it. I was done using my friend as a crutch. Besides, kissing Eirik would mess up things between him and Cora.
“Go, I’ll be okay.” I nudged him and hurried toward my next class.
***
I was wrong. I wasn’t okay. I could barely contain my anger in history as we waited for class to start. A group of girls sat behind me and didn’t even bother to lower their voices as they talked about me.
“She conjured lightning then stood in the middle of the damn pool, and it didn’t hit her once,” a girl said, and the memories of that horrifying event came rushing back. I cringed, wishing I could tell them to shut up.
Why didn’t anyone remember I’d warned Doc, our coach, and begged him to clear the pool? Where was the gratitude for those I’d saved?
“They said she started talking to herself,” another girl whispered.
“No, she was chanting an incantation,” the first one who spoke cut in.
I slid lower on my chair, trying hard to tune them out. I never wondered how I must have appeared to everyone when I’d talked to the three Norns or my mother by the pool. They’d been covered in runes and completely invisible to Mortal eyes. No wonder everyone thought I was a witch.
“They said she levitated out of the room then disappeared.”
This was worse than I’d thought. Mom must have carried me and taken me through a portal on the wall. Since she’d been invisible, I must have appeared to float. I had to say something in my defense. But what? Would anyone believe me?
I turned to say something, and my eyes met Torin’s. He shook his head as though warning me. When did he get here? Was he creating portals through walls again? Maybe stalking me? I hope so. It meant he was intrigued by what I’d said this morning. On the other hand, this was our debate-loving Mr. Finney’s history class, and from what I recalled, Torin had enjoyed sparring with him. Having lived through every world event in the last eight centuries, he knew history first-hand.
Ignoring him, I focused on the girls gossiping about me and opened my mouth to blast them, but Mr. Finney spoke. “Lorraine Cooper.”
I turned. “Yes?”
“See me after class.”
For the rest of the morning, I overheard crazy theories about what I was. To some, I’d gone crazy and had spent the last two weeks in a psych ward. I wasn’t sure which one I preferred. A witch, I guess. It came with a fear factor. As for the teachers, they didn’t say anything, although I saw curiosity in their eyes.
“She knew her father hadn’t died in the plane crash,” a girl whispered behind me before last period, bringing back a rush of painful memories from last summer, the endless months of waiting for news from the airline and worrying about Dad.
“But the airline didn’t declare him dead,” one of her friends said.
“Not officially. They couldn’t find his body. I went to their website and read how they stopped searching for survivors after twenty-four hours.”
Cora was right. If the students wanted to make me a witch, I might as well be a badass one. I turned, and five pairs of eyes turned to watch me warily.
“Don’t you guys know it’s rude to talk about a witch when she can hear you? I might get angry, and you don’t want me angry.” I narrowed my eyes. “Bad things happen when I’m angry.”
No one spoke. They slid behind their desks.
“Okay, what do you want to know? Hmm, yeah my father. I didn’t just know he was alive. I had a vision of his exact location. Before that, I knew his plane was going to go down before it happened, but I couldn’t stop it. Just like I couldn’t stop the deaths of my team-mates. I tried though.”
More silence.
I studied their faces. “What else do you guys want to know? Do I fly on a broom? Use potions?”
They shook their heads. Olivia Dunn, cheerleader and overall annoying bitch, gave me a daring glance. “How far ahead can you see?”
“How far do you want me to go?” I gave her a saucy smile while hoping she wouldn’t ask me to foretell her future.
“A year from now.”
I closed my eyes, my mind racing. This was the problem with not thinking things through. I lifted my eyelids and said calmly, “What do you want to know?”
“Will I get into my mother’s alma mater? Cheer in college? Marry uh…?”
“Jake,” one of her friends whispered. Jake Guthrie, two-time sectional wrestling champion, was her boyfriend.
Olivia made a face. “Will I marry a rich, dreamy guy?”
Inspiration hit while they giggled. “Five-hundred dollars. Bring it tomorrow or no deal.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “Five hundred?”
“Not enough? How about eight? Yep, eight is a good number. My head hurts when I search through all the possible futures.”
The girls scooted closer.
“What do you mean by possible futures?” one of them asked.
“You know, the choices you make now or tomorrow change the future,” I said.
They looked at each other. Olivia studied me as though she could tell I was a fake. Grinning, I turned and found Mr. Quibble, my AP English teacher, studying me with disapproval.
***
Why the Cheshire cat grin?” Cora asked when I joined her at the end of the class.
“I’ve decided I’m tired of being treated like crap. I’m going to start charging for premonitions.”
“No way. How much?”
“Eight hundred bucks,” I said.
Cora’s jaw dropped. “No one can afford that, Raine.”
That was the whole point. “Tough.”
“Oh, you’re terrible. No, you are awesome. Can I be your accountant?”
We were still laughing when we reached the cafeteria. The salad line was shorter as usual. I got my lunch and headed to our table while Cora still flirted with some band guys in the pizza line. That was Cora. Not above using guys to skip a line.
As soon as I sat, three girls entered the room. A shiver shot up my spine, and it wasn’t the good kind. It was cold. Creepy. I recognized the feeling only too well. Norns. Their hairstyles, skin tone, and height might have changed, but they were the same crones in charge of my destiny. Once again, they looked like teenagers.
Was I the only one seeing them again? I glanced around to see if anyone was staring at them. I couldn’t tell, but there was no way I would make the same mistake and talk to them in front of people just in case they were invisible.
I recognized Marj first. Just because she looked like some Thai flight attendant didn’t fool me one little bit. Her perpetual disapproving expression was the same. Jeanette, now looking like a typical Ginger, red hair and freck
les, saw me first and whispered something to Marj. Marj nudged Catie, the peacemaker and nicest of the trio. Catie now had riotous curly hair and walnut-brown skin.
They all turned to look at me and panic rolled through me. Swallowing, I stared right back.
3. HE NEEDS YOU
“I don’t understand why the pizza line is always so dang long,” Cora said, sliding into the seat across from me with a slice of pizza on her plate.
“Oh, please. You charmed Sim and Rand into letting you jump the line.”
She giggled. “It’s not my fault guys are so easy. Eew, that looks awful.” She pointed at my salad.
“Tastes worse.” I poked at the limp lettuce, half listening to her and keeping an eye on Marj and her friends.
“Who’s pissed you off?” Cora glanced over her shoulder.
“Nobody.” I ignored the three girls and focused on Cora. “How bad were things after I left?”
“Morbid. It was funeral after funeral after funeral. Several on the same day. Half the team quit.” She touched her chest. “Yours truly included. Everyone kept saying the team was jinxed or something.” She took a bite of her pizza.
I glanced at the entrance. Marj and her girls were now conferring, probably plotting how to further screw up my life. “Did Eirik quit?”
Cora made a face. “He’s too stubborn to quit anything. You know him. Besides, he thinks superstitions are lame. Some swimmers returned last week, but the team’s not the same. I watch them sometimes. Part of me misses the camaraderie, the dinners, hanging out in Doc’s class.” She reached for her bottled water and twisted the lid.
“Do you think you’ll rejoin the team?” I asked.
“Not if you paid me.” Cora’s arm jerked suddenly just when she was about to sip her water. Water sloshed and spilled down the front of her shirt and pants.
“GAH! That’s cold.” She jumped up and slammed the bottle on the table. Hunching her shoulders, she lifted the wet T-shirt from her chest. Across the room, Jeanette grinned, her hand returning to her side. She’d done this. “I’m going to the restroom,” Cora added.
“Do you want my help?”
“Do your new powers include drying wet things?” She glanced at the lines of students waiting to get their food. “Besides, Eirik will wonder where we’ve disappeared.”
I watched her go before turning my attention to the Norns. They started for my table, and I sat up straighter. They had better not be coming to talk to me. With the mood I was in, I’d scratch their eyes out.
Even as the thought crossed my mind, I knew I couldn’t cause a scene. Being labeled a witch was enough. No need to give the students a reason to believe I was crazy, too. Besides, I still wasn’t sure whether anyone else could see them.
“It’s nice to have you back, Raine,” Catie said, sitting across from me. The others flanked her.
I ignored them, forked a piece of lettuce, and placed it in my mouth. I waved to Eirik. He was now at the front of the pizza line. He stared pointedly at the three Norns. Then he did what he always did. He lifted his camera, aimed it at us, and clicked.
Okay, I wasn’t the only one seeing them.
“You care about him, don’t you?” Catie asked, glancing at Eirik.
I glared at her. “Leave him alone.”
“I’m happy you care about him because he needs you,” Catie added, her voice gentle as though she hated to be the bearer of bad news.
“Excuse me?”
She reached out to touch my hand, but I cringed, forcing her to retreat. She was always the nicer and quieter one, but today she appeared to be the trio’s chosen spokesperson.
“Eirik needs you more than the Valkyrie does,” she said.
“His name is Torin, not the Valkyrie,” I snapped.
Catie sighed. “I’ll remember that. Eirik really needs your help, Raine. You can protect him better as a Norn than as a Mortal.”
“Protect him from what?”
The three girls looked at each other.
“I told you she didn’t know,” Catie said.
“This is no place to discuss these matters,” Jeanette said impatiently.
Marj nodded. “I agree, but we don’t have time to hang around here and educate her. We have other charges and can’t keep playing favorites.” She glared at Catie and stood.
“What don’t I know?” I asked, getting irritated.
“Who Eirik is,” Catie said in a gentle voice. “Ask your mother. Once you know his story, you’ll understand why he needs you and why you should be there for him.”
“Must be there for him,” Jeanette corrected.
“Why me?” My eyes swung from face to face.
“Because you owe him,” Marj said impatiently.
I cocked my brow. “What?”
“He’s the reason we saved your life,” Jeanette added.
Catie sighed and glared at her friends. “Girls, couldn’t you at least try to be subtle?”
“No, she needs to understand how dire the situation is. We’ll need an answer soon, Lorraine.” Marj glanced at the others and added, “Let’s go.”
I stared after them, shock and anger zipping through me. All I wanted was Torin, not another round with these crones. But how could I ignore them when they’d said Eirik needed me? I was still staring at the exit when he sat across from me.
“Who were those three?” he asked, placing his camera and plate on the table.
“They’re not important.” What did the Norns mean by he was the reason I was alive? And why did he need to be protected? “Are things okay with your parents?”
“Same as usual.” Instead of eating, he picked up his camera and fiddled with it. “You’re really going to blow me off again?”
His angry tone blindside me, and I blinked. “What?”
He turned his camera and showed me the image displayed on the LCD screen. It was the picture he’d taken of me and the three Norns. Instead of their teenage disguises, the camera had captured their true images. Just like the night I’d seen them at the hospital, their hair was long and stringy, skin wrinkled, eyes piercing and eerie. Beside them, I looked like a helpless lamb, or a puppet.
“Those are the three Norns you’ve been dealing with.”
I stared at Eirik with wide eyes. “You know?”
“Of course I do.”
“How… When…” I sputtered.
“My parents told me everything the day he appeared.” He pointed across the room.
Torin, Andris, and a group of cheerleaders had just entered the cafeteria. One clung to Torin’s arm and seemed to be the lead groupie. Pain, fierce and relentless, stabbed my heart. Was he going to put me through this with Mortals, too? Seeing him with Lavania was already too much.
Torin glanced at our table, and our eyes met. He was the first one to look away. I swallowed the pain, turned my attention to Eirik, and found him studying me with an annoyed expression.
“I know a lot has happened since he got here, so I don’t know if you remember that night,” he said, frowning.
“I do. You missed swim practice, didn’t return my texts or calls, and when you finally came over to my house, you were angry with your parents. They’d come back from one of their many trips and told you about moving back home.”
“Except home wasn’t Earth.” His expression furious, he took a big bite of his pizza.
“What do you mean,” I glanced around then leaned forward and whispered, “‘home wasn’t Earth’? Are you saying you are from there, too?” I whispered.
He nodded.
I stared. “That’s… Wow, that’s huge. Mom told me your parents were, but I just assumed you couldn’t be. I mean, you were born and raised here.”
He shook his head. “Raised, not born. I asked them why, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. The more I push for answers the more they clam up. It’s all so stupid,” he ground out. “I mean, what’s the big deal? Why the secrecy?”
“The Norns said you were in danger.”
A snicker escaped him. “From what?”
“They didn’t say.”
“Screw them. They’re messing with your head again, Raine.” He twisted the lid off his water bottle and chugged. “I wish they’d spoken to me. I would’ve told them to eff off.” He put his water on the table, his grip tightening around the plastic bottle.
Wishing I could reach out and touch him, maybe reassure him, I studied his angry expression and chewed on a piece of limp lettuce. “What’s happening to us, Eirik?”
He scowled. “What do you mean?”
“We never used to keep secrets from each other. Why didn’t you tell me what your parents said that night?”
“They said I couldn’t because, you know, you’re Mortal and I’m… whatever I am.” He took another bite as though the pizza was his enemy and chewed, his eyes staring into space though he was having an internal argument with himself.
“Did they at least tell you who your real parents are?”
“No.” He glowered. “But Mom said I’m special. Yeah, whatever that means. I told her I wasn’t going anywhere until I got some answers. Guess what? It’s been six weeks since we talked and I’m still here.” He demolished the rest of the slice in two bites, guzzled his drink, and started on his second slice. “I should not have listened to them. If I’d told you everything, you would’ve told me about the Norns when they first appeared. They almost killed you.”
I shook my head. “You can’t blame yourself. And these three Norns weren’t the ones who hurt me. They have their own agenda. Evil Norns caused the lightning.”
“These Norns are good? They looked mean.”
“They can be. Could we promise not to keep secrets from each other anymore?”
He grinned and gave me a thumbs up. Then the smile disappeared from his face. “Why didn’t he protect you?”
I winced at his tone and followed the direction of his gaze to Torin, who was now seated at a table with his entourage. “He tried. Norns are too powerful. It was hopeless.”
He wore a skeptical look. “Then what’s his problem?”
Immortals (Runes book 2) Page 3
