Read Icing the Puck (New York Empires Book 2) Online
Authors: Isabo Kelly,Stacey Agdern,Kenzie MacLir
Tags: #New York Empires Book 2
“What? Really? That doesn’t sound like him. OK, what happened?”
She recounted the events of the last hour, leaving nothing out. Paying the cabbie, she climbed out and trekked inside her building and up the stairs to her apartment.
“Oh, holy mother of fucking god! Of all the gods, for that matter!” Astrid exclaimed.
“What, Astrid?” The fact that Astrid was freaking out more than she was told Emma more than anything that whatever was going on was bigger than she thought.
“When I went home a couple of summers ago, I was helping my parents clean out their office. I found a file with Reiner’s name on it. I thought it was like mine, you know, school papers, awards, things like that. I opened it, not thinking twice. Instead of finding a bunch of old schoolwork, I found the adoption paperwork and a letter stating he was never to know.”
“Oh, shit,” Emma muttered. “So when I told him to call your parents or grandma…”
“Pretty much. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but the impression I got from the letter was it would be bad for him to know his birth family.”
Emma headed straight for her bed, flopping down on it. Running her hand across her eyes, she moaned, “You should have seen his face when he walked out after talking to your grandma. He looked like his world had just ended.”
The silence on the other side of the call spoke volumes.
“I’ll call him and see how he’s doing. I know my brother, though, and I have a feeling that once he’s adjusted to this, he’ll come looking for you. Oh, shit, that’s Mom calling me now. Em, I have to go. I’ll call you back when I can.”
Astrid hung up before Emma could say goodbye, and Emma stayed in her bed with her hand over her eyes, her mind reeling with everything. She wanted to be there for Reiner; gods, how she wanted to be there for him. He didn’t want her there though. And even with Astrid’s reassurance she was sure he would come looking for her, what they had was too new.
That didn’t mean she couldn’t be there for him though. She just needed to figure how.
But first she needed a shower and wine. Lots of wine.
Thank God tomorrow was Saturday, and she didn’t have to work. Because she was fairly certain she was going to have a hangover and be unable to concentrate on anything but Reiner and what he was going through.
Tossing her phone on the bed she rolled off it and stripped down to her bare skin, ignoring the sexy underwear she’d put on for Reiner. She walked into her bathroom and turned the shower on to blistering hot. She was cold inside and out. Gathering her hair, she piled it on top of her head and stepped into the steaming water.
Thirty minutes later Emma was curled up on her couch, a glass of wine next to her as she contemplated her binge watching choices.
True Blood, Game of Thrones
, or
Thor
. All three had hot Scandinavian men, and yes, she was fully aware that Chris Hemsworth wasn’t actually Norwegian, but he played the Norse god Thor so he counted.
She was hoping that watching them would give her inspiration for how to undo the mess she’d made with Reiner.
Before she could choose, her front door opened, and Kevin walked in. He took in the shows up on her TV for her to choose from, the wine, and joined her on the couch.
“What happened?”
Bursting into tears she told him everything.
By the time she was done, she was emotionally wrung out. It hadn’t hurt this much when she’d talked to Astrid.
“Have you tried calling him?”
“No. He said he wanted to be alone.”
Kevin patted her knee. “Honey, that’s what all men say when they’ve taken an emotional hit. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to hear from you.”
“You sure?”
His left eyebrow lifted into his hair. “Yes I’m sure. Now call him.”
She wasn’t convinced this was the right decision, but as Kevin and Ray were the only men she was friends with…no, they weren’t friends, they were family, and she was going to do what he said.
Emma picked up her phone and scrolled through her messages until she found his number and pressed call. She held her breath while she waited for him to pick up. After the fifth ring it went straight to voicemail.
“Reiner, this is Emma. I…” She trailed off. She wasn’t sure what to say. Kevin nodded encouragingly at her, so she continued, “I’m sorry about tonight. Call me please.”
“Good, now let’s watch
Thor
.”
“No
Game of Thrones
?”
Ray hated the show, so the only time Kevin got to watch it was with her. They were binge-watching Season Four, and Season Five would be loaded up in her instant queue by the time they were done.
“As much as I want to know what’s going on with Jon Snow, you’re in no condition to watch it with me.”
He was right, but she couldn’t resist teasing him, “You know if you read the books you’d know what was going on with him.”
He threw the remote at her, “I’ve still not forgiven you for not telling me about the Red Wedding.”
She caught it and turned on
Thor
.
Hopefully by the end of the movie Reiner would call her back.
Reiner was speechless. His mom was crying, his dad was trying to console her, and Reiner felt like an ass. Apparently his parents
had
found him on their doorstep. He’d been tucked into a basket, like some damn cliché, with a note saying he was the son of Ull and that he needed a stable and loving home. His parents had always told him that he was a gift from the gods. He’d thought it was just his folks’ way of saying they were proud of him. But if he could believe them now, he was literally a gift from the gods.
His father was a god, and his mother had been a human woman who didn’t know how to care for a demigod. She’d kept in contact with his parents until she died, but she was afraid for both Reiner and herself. She didn’t want the gods to harm him, so she’d found his grandmother, a woman renowned for honoring the old traditions. His grandmother had helped hide him with a mortal family. Her own.
Reiner couldn’t have asked for a better family, but damn it, this was something he’d had a right to know about! Was this why he’d gotten a vision? He was part god?
This was crazy. He knew shit like this didn’t exist. Yet, he couldn’t discount that vision. Or his abilities. More than never having been sick, or never having gotten injured, Reiner had a connection to the ice. When he took the ice, his skates became one with the ice.
He
became one with the ice. He was fast. Faster than any other player. So, what, his dad was the god of hockey? This was bullshit.
He started pacing again. He had to get his head on straight before the game tomorrow. Finding out his whole life was a lie, and he was only good at hockey because he was a god, was not OK with him. This sort of thing only happened in the movies. He was a normal guy; he was a hockey player. He wasn’t the bastard son of a god. Because that shit wasn’t real.
It couldn’t be.
The phone ringing shook him out of his thoughts, but when he saw who it was, he didn’t pick up. Emma. After sending her to voicemail, it rang again. And again. And again. Finally, he picked up and snarled into the phone, “What?”
“
Hei, bror
. What kind of greeting is that for your sister?”
“Astrid.”
“
Ja
.”
“I thought you were Emma.”
“Well, that’s a horrible way to greet Emma.”
“You don’t know what my day’s been like.”
“Actually, I think I do. And I’d like to talk to you about it.”
“Not tonight, Astrid.”
“Yes. Tonight. I know you’re pissed, and you have every right to be.”
“Jesus, does everyone know but me? What the hell, Astrid. Who else knows?”
“No one! I swear! I wasn’t even supposed to know. I found out by accident!”
“And what, decided I didn’t need to know?”
“Reiner, please.”
“I gotta go, Astrid. I’ve got a game tomorrow.”
“No, don’t hang up…”
But he did.
The urge to throw his phone across the room was immense, but that’d only mean he’d have to hit a phone store in the morning before skate time. Something he didn’t have the time nor inclination to do.
Instead he grabbed the bottle of pure Russian vodka one of his teammates had left at his place and poured himself a drink. Maybe he could find oblivion at the bottom of the bottle.
After a sleepless night full of restless thoughts, Reiner took to the ice no closer to sorting his life out than he had been the night before. He missed Emma. But he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her yet. It was too soon, and this was all too new. It hadn’t helped he’d had the family skate that morning with everyone bringing their significant others and various other family members. He’d always liked the event, but not today. Not when everywhere he’d looked he’d seen Emma. He had a game to play. The Empires needed this win, and he’d do his part to make sure they got it.
Knock, knock
. Alexei was tapping on his helmet.
“Cut it out,” Reiner snarled. They were sitting on the benches, waiting for the line change. The game was going well. The team they were playing was good. But so were they. And now was the time to prove it.
“OK, OK.” Alexei held his hands up in surrender. “We’re cool. But where were you? You weren’t in the game, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Reiner didn’t want to talk about it. Not now, that’s for sure. Maybe not ever.
“Change it up,” Coach’s voice sounded.
“We’re up.”
Alexei stared at him, knowing Reiner was blowing him off, and knowing he couldn’t do anything about it. Reiner mentally shrugged him off. It was time to play. For the next two hours he was determined to not think about the past couple of days, and to do what he did best. Play hockey.
Climbing over the boards, his skates hit the ice, and Reiner was home. He let the rest melt away, keeping his eye on the other team’s offense. They had a good lineup, and Reiner knew they were going to play it man on man, so he watched the guy he was on and skated after him.
The next thirty minutes passed in a blur, until he was sitting back on the benches pounding water, wiping sweat out of his eyes. His eyes cleared, and he looked toward the action and swore long and low.
The new kid was stuck against the boards with a big guy from the other team. Reiner had gone up against him several times in the past, as had the rest of his teammates. This wasn’t going to end well. The guy had a reputation in the league of being beyond brutal on the newbies. When the hit came, and Max started to fall toward the ice, Reiner hoped it cushioned him much like it had when he’d taken the hit the day before.
He glanced around the rink; his teammates were furious. The fans were screaming obscenities at the player. When the refs didn’t call for a penalty, he, along with all of this teammates, voiced their anger.
His eyes found Brody, their enforcer, on the ice, who was staring at the player who’d started it all. He knew that look.
The entire team was on their feet in an instant, shouting at the ref, at the other team, at anyone within earshot. Max was flat on the ice, and the medical team was bringing out a stretcher. Once the ice was cleared, and no penalty was called, the guys lined up for a new play.
The second the puck hit the ice, their enforcer was on him. Brody was pounding the other player. It had been a dirty hit, and Brody showed his displeasure by rearranging the opposing guy’s face, which got him thrown off the ice and out of the game. His muttered, “Worth it,” earned him a couple pats on the back, but really it meant they were down another good player right when it counted.
Coach threw Reiner and Kyle in, double shifting them, and they jumped over the boards. Reiner’s skates never hit the ice, though. One minute he was in the game, the next he was standing in the middle of a blizzard.
Putting his hand up to shield his eyes from the stinging wind and snow, he squinted against the blinding white snowscape. And then it was gone. Calm descended, and Reiner dropped his hand to his side, looking around. There was nothing but ice and snow. What the fuck? Gone was his gear, and in its place was the suit the he’d worn the night he’d met Emma.
“Hello, Reiner.”
He spun around and gaped. The man standing before him looked exactly like he did. At least the parts of him he could see.
“Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?”
“You know who I am. As for where you are, you are near my home, your home. Look?” He pointed behind him. Reiner turned and squinted. There in the distance he could see the E6 train. He looked around him again, recognizing the area. He was near his grandparents’ farm.
“How did I get here?” More importantly, how could he get back?
“I brought you here, and don’t worry I’ll have you back in the game, before the medics are done with your teammate.”
That made about as much sense as anything had in the past day. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Because you were told about your adoption. If you’d never been told, what’s about to happen never would.”
“What’s about to happen?”
“You, my son, are going to come into your powers.”
His what?
“You want to run that past me again.”
“If you’d never found out about who you really were, you’d would have gone through life as a mortal with a little extra to him. Now that you know, however, while you’re still mortal, you’ll have powers.”
“I thought I already had my powers. The whole bonding with ice and hockey thing.” Just thinking about the fact his hockey skills weren’t because of his talent and hard work still pissed him off. It felt his daddy had paid off all the coaches to get him on every team he’d ever played on instead of earning his spot.
“No, those aren’t your powers, at least not completely. If you’d been born to two mortals, you’d still have those for the most part. Some people are like that. Think about some of the great athletes in the world, it was all them. Just like your talent on the ice is all you. Yes, being my son helps a little, but what you’ve achieved on the ice is solely you.”