Then a thought occurred to me. “What about Eirik?”
Echo frowned. “He wants to visit his parents. He sent the other Grimnirs with a message after Andris finished off Maliina. He is going home.”
I frowned. “That is not good.”
“It is brilliant. He realized his mother would never leave him, you, or Raine alone until she had him, so he decided to make himself available. You can’t kidnap someone who willingly walks right to your door and demands entrance. And since he’s not dead, he can just waltz right out of Hel. The gates of Hel cannot hold him in.”
This was a new development, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
“I don’t know if he’ll want to leave,” I said slowly. “He was so angry and bitter when we spoke. He even said he wasn’t interested in love because he’s been burned twice. That maybe he wasn’t meant to find love, like his mother. He might decide to stay there.”
“Then it will be his choice. He has issues to work through, Cora, and he’s chosen to work through them in Hel, not here or in Asgard. His friend is going with us.”
“With you?”
“Eirik told the Grimnirs that he’d already agreed to leave with me. He also told them Maliina was responsible for the deaths of the other Grimnirs, which ties the loose ends rather nicely.” Echo chuckled. “My Grimnir brothers were terrified of him. They were convinced he might tell Hel they were working with Maliina, so they’ll do and say whatever he tells them. I might not like the fact that he’s in love with you, but I have to give it to him. He’s Odin’s grandson. Wise and smart for his age. He’ll be okay, so stop worrying.”
He nipped my shoulder, and I trembled. Smirking at my reaction, he soothed it with his tongue. For a moment, we were lost in each other. He pulled me onto his chest and settled against the pillows. “He wants to see you.”
Echo didn’t seem ready to let me go yet. I didn’t mind. I loved cuddling with him. “Okay.” The clock on the side table said it was two in the afternoon. “When do you leave?”
“We were waiting for you to wake up.” He rolled and pinned me to the bed, his leg between my legs. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here waiting. Always.”
His eyes caressed my face, and he smiled. “You have no idea how happy you make me. There’s so much I want to share with you, show you…”
A knock rattled the door.
“Go away,” Echo said.
Eirik walked into the room. Seeing us together was still painful for him, and it showed in his eyes. He walked to the window and gave us his back.
“We’ll need to leave soon,” he said firmly and with authority. He’d definitely changed.
Echo sat up.
“I’ll leave you two alone, but if you make her cry, it won’t matter that you are the goddess’s son. You will have to deal with me.” He touched my cheek, his fingers lingering. Then he shifted to super speed and left the room.
I caught my reflection in the mirror when I swung my legs to the edge of the bed and sat up. Funny I hadn’t thought about it until now, but before they brought me here, I’d been lying face down in my own blood. I still wore the same clothes, yet there was not a spec of caked blood on me. They must have used runes to clean me up.
Eirik didn’t turn from the window. “You know that was an empty threat.”
He was allowed to brag. After all, he’d saved the day and was still hurting because of me. “I know. You are Odin’s grandson and you have a special flail like Thor’s hammer.”
Eirik looked at the metal handle peeking out from the sheath hanging on his waist. “That’s not it. I know the truth about what happened here. I know he and Torin killed the Grimnirs. One word from me and I could condemn both of them.”
My stomach dropped. He wouldn’t dare. I stared at his broad back. Dressed in black with that belt around his waist, he looked distant. I wanted to get angry at him, but I knew he was lashing out.
“What’s stopping you?” I asked.
“I love Raine and would never do anything to hurt her. Taking Torin from her would do that.” He turned. His face was expressionless, and when he smiled, his eyes remained flat. “And I love you, Cora. It might not be close to what Echo feels for you, but I’ve always loved you, always wanted you to look at me the way Raine did.”
“She adored you.”
“Like a brother. We didn’t see it. All I knew was I could do no wrong in her eyes, but everything I did and said made you angry.”
“I wanted you to want and love me. Only me. I always came second. You might not want to hear this, but you were my first crush and it hurt when you chose her.”
Eirik sighed, pulled up a chair, and sat. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, beautiful amber eyes fixed on me. A lock of his hair had fallen over his forehead. I remembered how I used to want to run my fingers through his hair. He was so beautiful, and one day, he’d meet someone who deserved him.
“I blew it, didn’t I?” he said, speaking slowly.
I shook my head. Echo was my soul mate. I’d like to think we would have found each other no matter what. “Sometimes we can’t fight destiny.”
“I don’t believe that. I think you choose your path and shape your own destiny. If I hadn’t put Raine first, we would have had a chance.”
“That’s true.” I reached out and pushed the hair back from his forehead. He inhaled sharply but shifted so I wouldn’t touch him. I let my hand fall to my lap. “Sorry. I’ll always love you in my own way, Eirik. Please, believe that.”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. I don’t want you to think that I’m going to Hel just to save your men. I want to meet my parents, get to know them. I told Raine the same thing and she’s not happy with my decision, but it’s my decision.”
I reached for his hands and held on when he tried to pull away. “Promise me one thing.”
“I don’t owe you—”
“Please, Eirik. Just listen.” He glared, but I didn’t back down. “Don’t stay there too long. Come back. The sooner the better.”
“Come back to what?”
I was sure there was someone out there for him. It didn’t matter whether she was human, Immortal, Valkyrie, or Grimnir. “Come back to Earth, or Asgard if you like, because you need to find that path and shape your destiny.”
The smile that touched his lips was bitter, but he didn’t blow me off. He wiggled his hands free from mine and stood. “I have to go. Maybe someday our paths will cross, Cora. Who knows?”
No hug. No kiss. No goodbye. I stood and watched him leave the room, feeling terrible and helpless. Echo entered the room seconds later. Well, swaggered into the room was more like it. He wore his duster with the hood up, gloves, and the Gothic rings with weird etchings. He looked like he did the first day we met. Maybe hotter since I knew him better. I walked into his arms for a hug and a kiss.
“Watch Eirik’s back while you are down there,” I whispered.
Echo rolled his eyes. “Raine demanded the same thing. The guy is a freaking god and can take care of—”
“Please,” I added.
Echo sighed. “How can I refuse you anything?”
I smiled and kissed him. “Thank you. Come back soon.”
“To you? Always.” He touched my cheek and left.
THE END
A MESSAGE TO MY READERS
First, I want to thank you for your amazing support: the shout-outs on social media, the endless e-mails, reviews (good and bad), word-of-mouth PR, and posts about Runes series. The response to this series has been amazing and the support heartwarming. You, my loyal fans, have made this series successful. Because of you, Torin was nominated for the YA Crush Tourney a month after the release of Runes and did amazingly well for a new book crush. I sincerely hope you enjoyed meeting Echo in Grimnirs.
The things I have planned for this series are big and exciting, and I can't wait to share them with you. SEERS, (book #3-Rai
ne and Torin’s story), will be out in spring of 2014. In between the next installments in Raine and Torin’s saga, I will write a book focusing on a secondary character. I call them my guilty pleasures. These will be full-length romance novels like Grimnirs, Cora’s story. Just like Echo, there’s so much about these guys we don’t know about (I’m serious. They only reveal things to me when I write about them). I still have Blaine, Eirik, Viggo, Ingrid, and Andris stories to write, so stop by my discussion group on Goodreads and let’s discuss whose story is next and why.
I love you, guys.
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukah, and Happy New Year.
Ednah Walters
BIOGRAPHY
Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, was released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN.
Ednah also writes New Adult paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. IMMORTALS (book 2) was released three months later. GRIMNIRS (book 2.5) is the bridge between book 2 and 3. Ednah is presently working on book 3, tentatively titled SEERS.
Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published five more books in this series. She's presently working on book seven.
You can visit her online at www.ednahwalters.com or www.runestheseries.com. She’s also on Facebook, twitter, Google-plus, and blogger.
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