Seeress: Book Three (Runes Series) (27 page)

“Attaboy. I knew there was a brain behind those pretty eyes.” Echo glanced at Torin, oblivious to the fact that Blaine wanted to rip into him. “They’ve probably used
Ogham
to create a magical circle. We’ll need to find all the symbols to see how wide their circle is. It might cover the whole town or just Raine’s neighborhood to contain her within the circle.”

I shivered.

“There could be several messages hidden in the symbols, too,” Blaine said. “One using
Ogham
and another using the Celtic symbols. We should decipher both.”

“Good. Let’s do that. Whatever my father is planning is not going to work,” Torin vowed. “Not in this town. We’re going to check every roof, until we find all the symbols. Then we’ll replace them with bind runes to protect the city and block runes to stop them from entering it. If they come into town, they’ll be forced to camp outside the residential areas. I’m talking about the forests and farmlands. Use your phones to take pictures of the symbols and the house. Andris, can you monitor which houses we’ve marked?”

Andris got out his tablet and showed off his Holy Grail of software, an interactive map with satellite imaging. Once he explained how it worked, he handed it to Cora.

“You don’t have an artavus, so make yourself useful,” he said.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that,” Echo warned.

“Easy, big guy,” Cora said, patting Echo’s arm. “You don’t fight my battles.” Then she glanced at Andris and cocked an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll help you with your dad’s blog.”

Cora grinned. “Really?”

“Throw the garlic bread in the oven before we get home and we have a deal.”

“Deal. I’ve been wracking my brain about what to do with the blog.”

We took off, leaving Cora in the house with the tablet. The guys zipped from street to street and scampered up roofs like monkeys on sugar rushes. Now I understood why Andris hadn’t wanted to be tied to his tablet. They were having way too much fun. Who was the fastest? How many houses and building could they mark? It wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t brag.

***

It was dark by the time we finished. The guys were still on runic energy rushes.

“Who won?” Echo asked when they got back to the mansion.

“Dude, you shouldn’t even be asking that,” Andris said. “You were eating my dust most of the time.”

“Andy, you didn’t stand a chance. Did I win?” Echo tried to see the tablet.

“Was I supposed to keep a tally? Oops.” Cora turned off the tablet. “Hungry anyone? The garlic bread is ready and your housekeeper is an amazing cook.” She went to the oven and removed the bread.

Everyone crowded around the food. I just wanted to go home and figure out what to do about Eirik. Alone. After a long shower. All that running had left me tired. Maybe I should contact the Norns. They reluctantly answered my questions whenever I asked, and I needed some answers now. I shrugged off Torin’s jacket. He’d let me borrow it when it got cold.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I said to the room and gave Torin his jacket. I saw the question in his eyes. “I’m just tired.”

“But dinner…” He pointed at the tray the others were attacking.

“I’m not hungry.”

Wrong thing to say, because he got that look on his face. The one that said he wouldn’t stop until he fixed whatever problem was bothering me. He couldn’t fix everything, but try telling him that.

He walked me out of the kitchen into the wide hallway connecting the foyer and the two downstairs bedrooms. My eyes found the door to the room that used to be Eirik’s.

“Is anyone using Eirik’s old room?”

“No.” Torin studied my face then glanced at the door. As though he could read my mind, he added, “Do you want to see it?”

I nodded. He didn’t ask why I wanted to see the room and I didn’t explain. I wouldn’t know where to start. Sure I was taking the coward’s way out by not telling him about my visions of Eirik, but I would once I figured out why I was having them and how. He still felt threatened by my relationship with Eirik. He tried to hide it though.

Eirik’s room was so far from the main part of the house it might have been meant for a housekeeper. Or maybe it was once part of the pool house and the original owners decided to connect it to the main house. Might explain why the kitchen’s back door opened into a hallway instead of the pool deck.

Funny I hadn’t really thought about all that until now. But then again, Eirik had spent most of his time at my house, so we rarely hanged out here for me to notice or care.

Torin and I didn’t speak again until I was inside Eirik’s room. Nothing had changed; even his bed was unmade. “Looks like someone slept in here.”

Torin’s eyes narrowed. “We told Mrs. Willow not to disturb this room.”

“Where does Blaine sleep?”

“Next door, but his room is smaller. I don’t think he’d sneak in here. That’s just not his style.”

Eirik’s cameras were on the table, and I found myself counting them. One was missing. Had he taken it with him to Asgard? He didn’t have a camera when he’d come back and helped us fight Grimnirs. Maybe he’d taken it to Hel. I’d been too distraught to notice anything that day. He might have come back in here and taken it before leaving.

I studied the pictures on the walls. Most of them were of nature, but he had quite a few of me and Cora.

“You miss him,” Torin said in a subdued voice.

“Yes.” I glanced at him, and for the first time I didn’t see the flicker of annoyance. “But I worry about him more. I can’t help it. He was a part of my life for so long.”
Tell him about the visions
, urged a voice at the back of my mind. I ignored it and studied the room, noticing things that didn’t make sense.

What to tell him and what to ignore?

Should I find a way to contact Eirik first? If he was the one working with Torin’s father, he might need help. When his dark side took over, reasoning went out the window. On the other hand, look at what hiding my visions about Torin’s father brought us. Nothing. Instead, I had doubted Torin and he’d spent days searching for his mother and hoping she was an Immortal.

Torin took my arms and turned me around. His eyes were shadowed as he lifted my chin and stroked my face. “Today has been rough on you, hasn’t it?”

Just like that, everything was clear. This was Torin. The man I was madly, truly, and insanely in love with. Keeping secrets from him was beyond stupid. I tried to swallow, but my throat was tight with guilt and anger at myself.

“Eirik is back,” I said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Torin glanced around the room and smiled. “Because of the unmade bed?”

“That’s part of it. I saw him in my visions, Torin. He’s working with your father.”

Torin frowned. “But the visions were fake.”

“Some were, but others were real.” I sighed. “It’s hard to explain. Trust me. Eirik is back and this just confirms it. His closet door is open and there are clothes on the floor.
 
Unless someone slept in here, his room shouldn’t be this messy. His mother—the Immortal who raised him was a neat freak. She couldn’t have left his room like this. And a camera is missing. A Nikon. It was his favorite.”

Torin walked to the closet and looked around. He picked up a shirt from the floor, sniffed it, and then dropped it. He pivoted on his feet and entered the bathroom. When he reappeared, he was holding a towel.

“It’s wet. How could he have been here without me knowing?” he asked.

Of course he shouldered all the blame. I was sure there was a name for people like him, but someone needed to tell him he wasn’t a god.

“You don’t live here, Torin, so of course you missed him. You’ve also been busy chasing your father.”

He dropped the towel and closed the gap between us. “And missed something right under my nose. You’re really not helping.”

“Ego check, Valkyrie. Eirik could have come in and out during the day while you and the others are at school or in the middle of the night while they slept and you are at your place. This house is huge and his rooms is way over here.”

“Mrs. Willow would know if he’s been here. Come on.” He caught my wrist.

I dug in my heels. “You can’t go to her place now.”

“Why not? We need answers.” He tugged at my arm.

“Quit manhandling me, you Neanderthal. People just don’t fall in line and do your bidding because you demand it.”

He smirked. “Actually, they do.”

“Not this time. One, it’s late to be paying Mrs. Willow a visit. Second, it’s her home and I’m sure she values her privacy. Third, you don’t need proof. You already have my word that I saw him in my visions.” His eyes narrowed. “He might also be the one making messes in the kitchen.”

Torin let go of my arm, his eyebrows disappearing under the curly mass of hair on his forehead. “Explain.”

“You really need a haircut.” I reached up to touch his hair.

He trapped my hand and growled. “Are you deliberately trying to drive me insane?”

I grinned. The fatigue I’d felt earlier was gone. Fighting with him often energized me. “Ingrid told me someone’s been making messes in the kitchen with leftovers and the others deny they did it. I also heard weird noises in the kitchen the other day, but when Ingrid checked, there was no one there. Eirik is here.” I bet he was the one watching me before I used the portal.

Torin made a face. “No one tells me anything.”

“That’s because you intimidate people. Especially poor Ingrid.”

“What’s your excuse? Why didn’t you tell me about Eirik when we talked earlier? It’s obvious he’s the one feeding my father information about you. The traitor.”

“Eirik would never betray me.”

“Then why is he working with my father?”

“I don’t know. I just know he wouldn’t betray me.”

He made a derisive sound, somewhere between a chuckle and a snort. “Back to you keeping secrets. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I, uh… He looked different in my visions. Buff.”

“So he’s been bench pressing in Hel; that’s not an excuse.” He tilted his head to the side and studied me as though weighing my words. “What is really going on, Freckles?”

I started to shake my head then sighed. “I was hoping for proof first because I don’t trust my visions.”

“So far you’ve been spot on,” he said. He cupped the back of my head and pressed his forehead against mine. “Okay. It’s been a long day and I’m sure you’re exhausted. I know I am. So let’s do this the right way. Whatever is going on, we can deal with it together. I promise not to get mad.”

“I was making out with Eirik.”

Torin’s eyebrows flattened. I expected a vow to snap Eirik’s neck. Instead he laughed, his breath fanning my face.

“You and Eirik? Not going to happen.”

I frowned. “I saw it, Torin. Three times. One time he was in the shower asking me to join him.”

Torin stopped smiling and lifted his head from mine. “That’s impossible. Someone is messing with your head.”

He was so arrogant he believed he knew everything. “Listen, Einstein. I know what I saw, and it bugs me. If you’re not going to believe me, I’m going home.” I walked away.

“Whoa. Stop.”

I glanced back. “Why?”

“When I found out you were a Seeress, I talked to Lavania to find out about Seeresses, to learn what you can and can’t do. I figured I couldn’t help you if I didn’t know what you’re facing.”

He really was the best boyfriend ever. I walked back and took his arm. “Thank you.”

He flashed his I-know-I’m-awesome grin. “Lavania told me over and over again that Seeresses can’t see their own futures. It’s just the way things are. Someone planted those scenes in your head, Raine. A witch. Told you—”

I covered his mouth. “Don’t say it. One more mention about how right you were will get you kneed hard.”

“I wasn’t going to. Do you remember the first time you saw Eirik?”

“At the shop. The witches were crowding me. Some wanted to shake my hand while others just wanted to touch me.”

“And you didn’t see Eirik among them?”

I wrinkled my nose. “No. You think Eirik is doing this? He’s not a witch.”

“It’s in his blood. Both Odin and Frigga practice Seidr. And Loki is just like them, too. All bloody witches.” He placed his arm around my shoulder and led me out of Eirik’s room. We could hear the others arguing in the kitchen as we approached. The hallway portal was to the left of the kitchen.

“Told you so… told you so…” Torin sang softly.

“Shut up.” I bumped him with my shoulder.

The portal responded to us and opened into my living room. Voices reached us first, but a familiar laugh had me looking at Torin with wide eyes. I ran into the kitchen.

 
“MOM!”

She turned, pitch-black curtain of hair flowing down her back. Her green eyes grew shiny with tears. “Sweetheart.”

Fighting tears, I ran to her and would have knocked her over if she weren’t so tall and fit, and, of course, a Valkyrie.

She threw her arms around me. “I’ve missed you.”

I squeezed her back. I’d missed her and worried about her and even gotten a little angry with her. Just a little because I’d tried to understand. “I heard the gods were deliberately delaying your return.”

She leaned back and studied my face “Where did you hear such nonsense?”

“Norns.”

“She can hear them by wishing it,” Torin said.

“Really?” I couldn’t tell whether she was pleased or not. She planted a kiss on each of my cheeks, leaned back, and studied my face. “I’m back now, honey. We’ll deal with them together.”

Just hearing her say that made me feel better. Did that mean she was officially back as a Valkyrie? Before I could ask, her gaze shifted to Torin.

“Come here, you wonderful man.” She enveloped him in a hug. “Thank you for watching over them while I was gone.”

Mom mothered everyone. Flamboyant. Generous. She had a big heart and an even bigger personality. Looking at her, you’d think she was a throwback from Woodstock instead of a powerful Valkyrie with Norn abilities.

Torin wore a weird expression on his face, like he was surprised and wasn’t sure what to do. For nine centuries he hadn’t had a family, except Andris as a companion and annoying younger brother, and had closed himself to love. Mom was welcoming him into ours, and he didn’t know how to deal.

I crossed my arms and mouthed, “Hug her back.”

He did, but tentatively as though he expected Mom to push him away. If only he knew. She was a hugger. A rock-sideways-squeeze-tighter hugger. A spasm crossed Torin’s face as his arms wrapped around her.

Smiling, I turned and hugged Lavania. “I’m so happy you’re back.”

She chuckled. “When I left you were getting tired of learning about runes.”

I’d been eager to see visions. If only I’d known. “That was before the witches and the mayhem.”

“That bad?”

“Oh yes.”

“Then we’d better start working tomorrow.” Like Mom, she liked long flowing dresses, although she could rock some high-end designers. Unlike Mom, she looked about twenty-two despite being several centuries older than Torin.

Mom was still thanking Torin when I turned around.

“FYI, Mom. I took care of myself with very little help from him,” I teased, joining them.

Mom arched her eyebrows. “I know you did, honey. Come here. I want to hear everything.” I took her hand. It was nice to have her home. She had a way of making big things appear insignificant.

Lavania joined us, and we told them everything that had happened since they’d left. When we stopped, Mom was staring at Lavania with lips pressed into a pinched line.

“Tell them, Lavania,” she said.

My eyes volleyed between them. Confusion flickered in Torin’s eyes. Femi nursed her cup of tea as though she wasn’t listening, but I was sure she didn’t miss a thing.

“Tell us what?” Torin asked.

“Is this about Eirik?” I asked, a little scared of what they might say.

Mom frowned. “No, honey. We don’t know why he would side with that odious man.” She glanced at Torin. “Sorry, dear. But I’m sure he didn’t do it willingly. Eirik would never hurt or betray you. Something else is going on here. Come on, Lavania.”

Lavania uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. Reaching up, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ears as though nervous, but her eyes were direct when they met Torin’s. “This concerns your father, or the man I only knew as the Earl. I prayed this day would never come, Torin. I’m so sorry. What do you know about him?”

“He was the illegitimate son of an Anglo-Saxon nobleman,” Torin said in a tone that made it clear he didn’t want to discuss his father. This conversation was going to reopen deeper wounds.

“That was his way of re-inventing himself. Femi can tell you how often and industrious Immortals have to be every few decades.”

Torin’s jaw flexed. “Did you turn him?”

“No. My mentor did, and she’s the one he contacted when you and your brother went to war. He wanted both of you turned, but your brother chose death.” She chugged water from a bottle before continuing. “William was an Immortal way before he met your mother, Torin. He was born in Hellenistic Greece and fought in more wars than I can name.” She smiled. “He had quite a reputation even among Valkyries. Tough. Unstoppable. A force of nature other Immortals revered and—”

Mom cleared her throat and gave Lavania a piercing glance. It was obvious Lavania might have had a thing for the Earl.

“I’m regressing,” she said, her cheeks pink. “When he met your mother, William needed to become a new man and enter the British society. Marrying your mother made that possible. The Normans had defeated the Anglo-Saxons and were revitalizing England, building monuments and pouring in money. Not that your father needed that. He’d accumulated enough wealth over the centuries, but as an Immortal, that was not the kind of thing you advertised. He had his group of Immortal friends, some of the clergymen, but they continued to help Valkyries whenever their services were needed. When your father ‘died’ in the fire and left no heirs, the king gave the title ‘Earl of Worthington’ and all the earldom to your uncle, your mother’s only brother. Most of your relatives you see now are from your mother’s side of the family.”

No wonder none of the Earls of Worthington looked like Torin or his father. I glanced at Torin, but I doubted he was making that connection. Rage brewed in the depth of his eyes.

“So marrying my mother, a Norman, was the perfect cover,” Torin said.

“Not just any Norman. A Norman
noblewoman
, King Richard’s third or fourth cousin twice removed. Your noble blood comes from your mother’s side, not your father’s.”

Torin leaned forward, his voice harsh. “I don’t care about my noble blood. Why did he kill her? Another cover?”

Hearing the pain in his voice, I got up from my seat on the other side of Mom, walked around to the armchair of his seat, and reached for his hand. At first, he didn’t respond, but soon he was gripping my hand so tight it hurt. I engaged pain runes, but my insides knotted with anxiety and I felt his emotional pain as though it was mine.

“No, it wasn’t,” Lavania said. “William is an ambitious man, but we didn’t know how far he was willing to go until he killed her. All the years he fought and defended humanity, he believed, had earned him the right to be a Valkyrie, to meet and live in the halls of the gods. It became an obsession.”

“He doesn’t have the temperament to become a Valkyrie,” Femi added.

I stared at her with wide eyes. A quick glance at Torin showed him staring at Femi with narrowed eyes. I could just imagine his thoughts. He should have vetted her thoroughly.

“You’ve met him?” I asked.

“Our paths crossed,” Femi said. “You don’t live as long as we have without our paths crossing.”

Did that mean William de Clare had deliberately stayed out of Torin’s radius? The tension in Torin’s jaw and the increased grip on my hand said he had reached that same conclusion.

“The Valkyrie Council decided he must remain an Immortal and protect humanity, but the Earl thought he’d found a way to leave this realm and get close to the gods. He believed he needed a new soul to escort to Asgard and then he’d be able to access the Bifrost.”

The implication hit me hard, and I sucked in air. That bastard had killed his own wife to get a soul. The silence that followed was heavy, but I felt Torin’s pain in every breath he took and every pound of his racing heart. I wasn’t sure how much he could take. I looked at Mom and begged her with my eyes to make Lavania stop, but she shook her head.

 
“About a century ago, he started talking to other Immortals who felt they had the right to move through the realms like the Valkyries. He has acquired quite a following.”

“Where’s her soul?” Torin asked in a low voice.

“Torin, please don’t—”

“Stop lying to me,” he spoke so calmly, which was worse than if he’d yelled. “I can forgive all the crap about who my father is and the fact that he’s an Immortal, but you refused to let me escort my mother’s soul to Asgard or say my goodbye, Lavania. Why? There are no laws that say you can’t escort a family member. You made that up and I need to know now.”

What the hell? I’d assumed his mother and brother were both in Asgard. Lavania stared at her hands, and Mom couldn’t meet my gaze. As for Torin, I thought I had seen him furious. Not like this. Runes appeared on his skin. So many of them I couldn’t tell what kind they were.

“Mom?” I begged.

“Sweetheart, there are some things—”

“Just tell him. Where is she?”

“He used a spell to bind her to him.”

My ears started ringing as blood drained from my head. Torin jumped up and stormed off. I ran after him, engaging my runes. When he took off, I was right behind him. He cut through the residential area like a hurricane, so angry, so out of control nothing in his way stayed standing. His bellow of rage filled me with anguish.

When I caught up with him, he was headed north. It was too dark for him to run through the damn forest, glowing runes or not. He could fall and seriously hurt himself. Even a Valkyrie wouldn’t recover from a mashed-up brain.

“Stop, Torin.”

He glanced back as though surprised, then plunged into the forest like some wood-chopping machine, flattening everything in his path. The sound of trees snapping and crashing echoed in the dark.

 
I stopped and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, tears blocking my throat. So scared I wanted to scream, I stomped my feet. “TORIN!”

The ground shook. Did I do that? I looked up and down the street. No cars. Raising my foot, I brought it down. A tremor radiated from where I stood.

Okay, that wasn’t a good thing to do. I peered into the trees, debating whether to go after him. Of course I had to. From the looks of things, this must be his place for releasing steam. I just didn’t remember seeing any fallen trees during our previous runs.

Carefully, I made my way past the rocks and trench bordering the road and studied the fallen trees. Torin was gone, his glow hidden by the thick forest despite the line of fallen trees.

Tomorrow the rangers would have a theory for this. Trees being uprooted from the ground without a trace of tires weren’t common. If Torin left footprints, and I was sure he did, another alien story would surface in
Kayville Daily
. Cora’s father, a sci-fi writer, had already started an alien invasion book series after the Grimnirs destroyed a vineyard. That had baffled local and state reporters. Then there were the people going crazy and turning on each other at The Hub and an indoor playground because of Eirik. Kayville was starting to turn into a little town of horrors.

The poor fallen trees. I touched one uprooted root, wishing we didn’t leave so much supernatural evidence behind every time a soul reaper threw a hissy fit and vented.

A movement came from my left, and I jumped back. It came from the fallen tree on my left. The leaves rustled and moved as though something was crawling from under the tree. A black bear was my first thought. Torin had crashed the tree on top of a freaking sleeping bear.

The tree lifted.

It wasn’t just any black bear. It was huge enough to lift the tree. My heart hurtling to my throat, I stepped back, not realizing how close I was to the manmade slope bordering the road. I lost my footing and fell backwards.

Rocks and sticks dug into my skin as I rolled toward the road. I tried to break my fall, tendrils of panic coiling around me. I scrambled to my feet at the edge of the road, expecting the bear to come lumbering after me. Instead, the tree that had fallen was now upright. And there was no bear under it.

No, it couldn’t be. Echo had said people of the Old Religion like the Druids could control elements. Did I cause the tree to lift up and replant itself by reattaching its root?

Blood pounding past my ears, I stood there undecided. Where was Torin? I needed him. I peered past the now standing tree, but there was no glowing being anywhere. Mastering some courage, I pulled myself back up to the fallen trees and touched another root. As it moved and struggled to lift itself, the roots sank into the ground.

Laughing, I touched the next root and another. Then I splayed my hands like some all-powerful witch and yelled, “Stand and let your roots sink into the earth. Live and be the giver of life and shelter.”

Okay, so I got carried away, but it seemed to be working. The trees rose, creaks and rustles filling the air, the earth shaking as roots disappeared into the ground. Where was Torin? He should see this. It was really awesome.

Pleased with myself, I ran down to the middle of the road, spun around at a super speed with my hand held up, and woo-hooed. This could be the start of a trend. A pissed off Torin hell bent on destroying everything in his path and me following him and cleaning up his mess.