Runes (A Runes Novel)

by Ednah Walters

CHAPTER 4. THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

  “Are you sure you’re up to this?” Cora asked for the hundredth time.

  I rolled my eyes. “Can you tell her that I’m fine, Eirik?”

  Eirik stared straight ahead. In fact, he’d been quiet and preoccupied since we left the park. “Eirik?”

  “Hmm?”

  I exchanged a glance with Cora. A naughty grin crossed her face. She leaned forward and whispered, “Do you want to make out with us when we get to Raine’s place?”

  “Sure,” he said. We laughed. He snapped out of it and frowned. “What?”

  Cora only laughed harder.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He pulled up outside my house and let the engine idle, his way of saying he wasn’t staying. Still scowling, he said, “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “You’ve been rather quiet since we left the park.” I hopped down from the Jeep. “So when are we leaving tonight?”

  “Eight,” Cora answered. “Eirik’s driving.” She tapped Eirik’s arm. “You’re driving me home, so don’t take off. Raine, come with me.” She gripped my arm and pushed me toward the house.

  Eirik didn’t complain about Cora’s bossiness, which was unlike him. He must have taken my orders to be nice to Cora seriously. He reached for his camera. He was always taking pictures, and I was usually his main subject. Even at the park when he wasn’t playing, he’d kept busy snapping pictures. I wondered if he’d captured the moment that girl kicked me. I paused to ask, but Cora kept tugging.

  “Move it, missy. I have two hours to transform you, but right now I want to know what I have to work with,” she said.

  “Transform me?” I unlocked the door and allowed her to push me upstairs.

  “Because your idea of dressing up is jeans, boots, and whatever top you have lying around in your closet. Your mom, on the other hand, has style. Your dad was a class act and… I mean, he is a class act.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Raine.”

  “Don’t be.” My chest tightened as I walked to the closet and opened it. For a moment, I stared at my clothes through blurry eyes.

  “Raine?”

  “I, uh, I have white jeans. Anything that glows under a disco light is fine, right?”

  “Usually, yes, but it’s your birthday and we’re going to the club. Damn it.” Cora hugged me from behind. “I’m so sorry I brought up your father. I don’t know how to deal with this.”

  “Me neither.” My voice shook. “Mom believes he survived the crash, but I’m losing hope. I don’t want to mourn him because… because…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “It’d mean he’s gone.” Cora’s arms tightened around me.

  I wiped the wetness from my cheeks and took a deep breath, then turned and faced her. She was crying, too. I tried to smile, but my tears started to flow again. “Can we promise not to mention him for the rest of the day?”

  “Night,” she corrected. “And the answer is yes. I’ll focus on prettying you up.” She nudged me aside.

  “Prettying me up? That’s insulting.”

  “Yeah, well, your understated style might work for school and the mall, but not the club. Not tonight,” she said as she flipped through my dresses and sighed. “Just like I thought. Nothing in here. You know what? I’ll come early with outfits, makeup, and hair stuff.”

  “Outfits?”

  “Dresses.”

  “I don’t like wearing dresses, and I have a perfectly decent blow drier, curling iron, and—”

  “Just wash your hair and leave everything to me. Be back in a few. Love you.” She sailed out the door and left me standing there slack jawed. Then I realized what she’d done. She’d deliberately distracted me from the issue with my dad, which meant she didn’t mean to make me wear a dress. Thank goodness.

  By the time I reached downstairs, Eirik’s Jeep was out of sight. Good. Now for the talk with a certain neighbor. I reached for the doorknob and froze.

  What was I doing? I’d vowed to stay away from Torin and his talk of magic. He had weird powers. I shouldn’t even be thinking of confronting him. What would I ask him? How would I start? What if he was evil? From the way he moved, I couldn’t outrun him.

  Swallowing, I paced and debated my next move.

  No, I refused to cower just because I was scared. If he were evil, he wouldn’t have healed me. He had healed me. I hadn’t imagined the pain.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened my door and slowly walked down our driveway. My heart pounded hard as I started down the sidewalk and headed for Torin’s front door. I paused before hopping onto the porch. Once again, I gave myself a pep talk before pressing the doorbell.

  No response. Okay, leave. You tried.

  But I couldn’t leave now that I’d made it this far. I pressed the doorbell again and angled my head to listen for movement from inside. Nothing. The garage door was open and I’d seen his Harley, so I knew he was home. Maybe he was asleep. Relieved, I turned to leave.

  He yanked the door open. “Can’t stay away from me, can you, Freckles?”

  “Don’t flatter…” My voice trailed off when I found myself staring at his bare chest. Not that I was complaining, but did he have something against shirts? “Yourself,” I finished weakly.

  He chuckled, drawing my attention upwards, past the water droplets on his chest to the wet hair caressing his shoulders. At least he had a legitimate reason for walking around shirtless this time. Still, you’d think he’d put on a shirt before answering his door.

  “Can we talk?” I said.

  His brow shot up. “About?”

  “The incident at the park.”

  He looped a towel I hadn’t noticed around his neck, crossed his arms, and leaned against the doorframe. His eyes narrowed. “What incident?”

  “You know, when that girl attacked me and—”

  “You tripped and landed on your lovely ass?”

  “Lovely…?” My face warmed. “That’s not what happened and you know it,” I protested.

  “That’s what I saw.”

  “Liar.”

  He straightened his body, the smile disappearing from his face. Aye, he was intimidating when he stopped smiling. Antagonizing him would get me nowhere.

  “Forget I said that. Can you, uh, finish getting dressed, so we can talk? Please?”

  He sighed and gave me a look that said he was humoring me. “Fine.”

  I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Since he’d left the door open when he disappeared somewhere inside the house, I peeked in and blinked at the emptiness. When Eirik’s family lived here, they’d decorated the large living room with rich, earthy colors—brown, tan, and dark green. Torin’s idea of décor was one leather couch and a table. There was nothing on the walls. No side tables. No TV. No pictures.

  “Nosey, aren’t you?” he said, appearing suddenly.

  I jumped back, my face flaming.

  “Uh, I, uh…” I couldn’t come up with a single excuse.

  He stepped on the porch, closed the door behind him, and lifted his arms. “Is this better?”

  “Much.” The plain, black T-shirt hugged his chest and arms. Whatever soap he’d used—or was it shampoo?—smelled nice. He walked across the porch and leaned against the top porch rail, his arms and legs crossed. He was barefoot. There was something extremely sexy about a barefoot guy in jeans.

  “Do you want me to wear shoes, too?” he asked, sounding annoyed.

  “No.” Once again, heat rushed to my face. I crossed my arms and hugged myself. Now that it was time for answers, I wasn’t sure where to begin. “What are you?”

  Torin chuckled. “What kind of a crazy question is that?”

  “The kind you ask someone without a medical degree, who saved your life in a matter of seconds,” I said. “You healed me today, Torin. I don’t know how, but I know you did.”

  He shook his head. “That’s an active imagination you have there, Freckles.” His eyes narrowed. “Or you must have
hit your head after all.”

  Frustration bubbled to the surface. “I didn’t imagine everything that happened to me at that park. The Dahl girl kicked me in the chest and broke my ribs. I remember the pain, not being able to breathe. I thought I was dying just before I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, the pain was gone. I don’t care how much you deny it. You healed me, Torin. So, uh, thank you.”

  He frowned as though he didn’t like my explanation or my gratitude. I couldn’t tell which. “Do you know how insane you sound?”

  “Insane is what I thought you were yesterday when you said you could use magic to fix the Peterson’s mailbox, yet you did, and my car and now my ribs. How did you do it?” A slight narrowing of his gorgeous eyes was the response I got. I swallowed and bit my lower lip. “Are you like them?”

  He straightened his body and shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Like who?”

  “Andris and the Dahl sisters. You move like her, the one who kicked me. Last night I noticed how fast you moved from your bedroom to the front door after you signaled Eirik, which reminds me. How did you know that signal?”

  Silence.

  Now he was staring at me as though I was a lunatic, which I wasn’t. I knew what I saw last night, and the pain I’d felt at the park had been real. He was stubborn, but so was I.

  “Okay. Forget about the signal for now, but you can’t deny that you’re different. That you can do things normal people can’t.”

  No response.

  Getting frustrated, I added, “I swear, I won’t tell anyone.”

  Another stretch of silence followed. I could hear the wheels turning in his head as though he was deciding how much to tell me. I’d almost given up hope that he’d respond when he shrugged.

  “Is that the best response you can give me? A shrug?”

  A smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Are you always this pushy?”

  “Answering a question with a question won’t work with me, and no, I’m not pushy. I’m the most easygoing person I know.”

  He snorted with derision. “Who told you that? Seville?”

  I ignored the dig. “Listen, I’m trying really hard not to freak out about this. Put yourself in my shoes and imagine how I feel. Please, just tell me how you did it and I’ll leave you alone.”

  He rolled his eyes as though to say he didn’t believe me. “It’s just magic, Freckles. Nothing special.”

  “What kind of magic?”

  “The good kind.”

  “Do you use tattoos, too?”

  He frowned. “Tattoos?”

  “They appeared on Andris.”

  Torin blinked. “You saw them?”

  “Yes. They were all over his body. They looked kind of, I don’t know, cool.”

  He swore under his breath.

  “What? Wasn’t I supposed to see them?”

  “No. They’re not tattoos. They’re runes, and Mortals aren’t supposed to see them.” He grimaced as though he’d revealed too much. He glanced at his watch. “Don’t you have a birthday party to go to?”

  “Mortals?”

  Torin’s blue eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

  “You said Mortals aren’t supposed to see them.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Yes, you did. What does that make you? Immortal?”

  “Is that true?” He pointed at my T-shirt.

  I looked down, and a wave of embarrassment washed over me. I still wore the T-shirt with Seventeen and Never Been Kissed written in Latin. I crossed my arms, blocking the words even though he’d read them. I lifted my chin, hating the fact that I was once again blushing. “No, it’s not true. About the Mortal and Immortal—”

  “Never been kissed? Really?” A wicked twinkle entered Torin’s eyes. “What’s wrong with Seville?”

  I bristled. “This is just a T-shirt I found at the bottom of my closet, and there’s nothing wrong with Eirik. We kiss all the time.”

  His grin turned into a chuckle. “Sure you do. Tell him to act quickly before someone snatches you from right under his nose.”

  I was beyond embarrassed now. Defending my relationship with Eirik wasn’t going to do me any good since Torin already saw through my lies. Bet his magical abilities had something to do with that.

  “You’re only using my T-shirt to get out of answering my questions.”

  His gaze moved to my lips. “I’m starting to see why Seville’s never kissed you. You talk too much.”

  I growled. “Ugh, you’re so annoying. Believe whatever you want.” I walked around him and hurried down the steps. How had our conversation moved from him to me?

  “Happy seventeenth birthday, Freckles.”

  I kept going, needing to put some distance between us. Whatever he was couldn’t be good if he had to hide, which meant no more talking to him or going to his house or letting him get under my skin.

  Inside my bedroom, I peeked out the window. He was back upstairs, seated on the window seat. Eirik’s old window seat. He blew me a kiss and grinned. Magical powers or not, he was still the most aggravating guy I’d ever met.

  I yanked the curtains, something I’d never done during the day, then removed the offending T-shirt and shoved it in the garbage. A shower didn’t make me feel any better. I needed to live a little, starting tonight.

  Being seventeen and never been kissed sucked.