“Do that next time. Friends should laugh and fight together. Why do the evil Norns want your dagger?”
“I have no idea. All I know is they are scared of it, the good and the evil Norns. And since they want it, I’m keeping it.” She sat up. “I need to talk to Eirik about that. He told Onyx to hide it in case they got inside my head and learned where I hid it.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Hmm, during my wedding. Stop glaring at me. I feel guilty about that already.”
I dismissed it with a wave. “Did you know Eirik has a girlfriend? Celestia.”
Raine sat up. “Really? No, I didn’t. How do you know?”
“Ha! I know something you don’t.”
She made a face. “Hardy har har. Have you met her?”
“No, but I met her best friend, Hayden Ferrand. Golden-brown skin, blond highlights, drop-dead gorgeous. Ring a bell?”
Raine frowned. “No.”
“Hmm, she looks familiar. Even her name is familiar. Her perfume. I know we’ve met. Just don’t know where. Okay, I’m ready.”
“Why were you meeting with her?” Raine asked as the mirror responded to her runes and turned into a portal.
“Echo wanted me to.” I felt bad lying to her, but I couldn’t explain Hayden without mentioning my parents being Immortals. “I guess he’s been working with Eirik.”
“Yeah, Eirik’s been busy. He’s been working with Witches around the world. Some from New Orleans helped me stop the plane from crashing in the stadium yesterday.”
I grabbed my phone, half listening to her. Could Hayden’s mother have gone to help Raine? I needed to be in the loop on what was going on. I started to follow her when she stopped suddenly.
“Your parents.” Raine glanced at the door and then me. “Do they—?”
“Know that I’m heading to the mansion to hang out or that I can open portals and run like The Flash without becoming a human torch because runes protect me? Yes. Let’s talk later.”
She frowned. “Do you want me to talk to them? Or Mom could. She’s at the mansion.”
“Not yet.” I followed her to the foyer at the mansion, using one of the hallway mirror portals. We followed laughter to the pool room where the women—Svana, Raine’s mother, and her best friend, Femi, along with Ingrid and Lavania—lounged on chairs and sipped on cocktails while Dev entertained them from Lavania’s phone.
“Come here, Cora,” Svana said. I wondered whether she’d always known about me. I hugged her and bit my tongue. “I’m so sorry, hun, but I’m happy you finally know everything now.”
And there was my answer. I had questions. Lots of them. Like how many more knew? My eyes met Femi’s. She blew me a kiss.
“Hey, doll,” Femi said. She called everyone doll. Just how many Immortals were in town?
For the next several hours, I listened to the discussion about Mystic Academy and who would teach what. Lavania was already sending out invitations. They still refused to tell us the location. I drifted away, hearing them without listening.
“What is it?” Raine asked, bumping me on the shoulder.
“I’ll race you. We’ll start with backstroke.”
She laughed. “That’s your best stroke.”
“I know. I need to feel good, and winning does that.” I didn’t give her a chance to argue. I left the hot tub and dove into the pool. I won backstroke, but she trounced me at breaststroke. When we pulled out, the others were standing in a group and Dev was out of Lavania’s phone. The expression on his face was one I’d never seen before. Pure terror. I engaged my speed runes and was beside them in a beat.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Mom?” Raine asked at the same time. She’d raced with me.
“Idun-Grimnirs are outside the house,” Svana said and shivered.
“What do they want?”
“Idun-Grimnirs don’t just train future Grimnirs,” Svana explained. “Goddess Hel often sends them to find souls where her reapers fail. They could be after Dev.”
He should have been reaped centuries ago. “They can’t have him.”
Dev nodded.
I engaged my medium runes. “Blend with me now.”
No one spoke as he floated and meshed with my body. The cold and the suffocating feeling didn’t last long.
“I’ll see what they want,” Svana said. “Lie down and keep him trapped.”
I moved to the nearest lounge while Svana and Lavania hurried out of the room. Raine pulled on a robe and dragged a chair closer to me. Her eyes didn’t leave my face.
“Quit worrying,” I told her. “I’m fine. After the initial icky feeling, it’s not so bad.” I shivered, the cold coming from within. She grabbed an extra robe and covered me.
“He will come out when it’s time, right?” she asked, frowning.
“Yes. He’s been helping coma patients the last week and has become very good at disengaging. Why do they want him?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to find Echo? He could tell them to get lost.”
“No, it’s okay. You and I need to talk.” I glanced at Ingrid and Femi. They were near the door to the pool room as though keeping guard. They were too far to hear us.
“You don’t have to say anything. Conserve your energy. In fact, I’ll go get Twizzlers for later.”
I grabbed her wrist. “I need to talk so I can stop thinking about Dev prowling around inside me like a caged animal. Dev, calm the hell down. No one is taking you anywhere. If I have to follow you to Helheim, I will. Get it?”
Aye, love.
“Good. Raine, do not interrupt, okay?”
She nodded.
I glanced at the other two women before saying, “My parents have lied to me all my life about who they are. They are Immortals, Raine.”
Her jaw dropped, eyes widening. “What? How?”
“Oh, thank God you weren’t in on it. I swear if I’d found out you knew, I would have disowned your sorry ass. Mom’s been acting strange since the night of the prom. A few times I came home to find her with red eyes. Finally, I insisted on answers.” I told Raine everything, and when I was done, she just sat there. Then she hugged me until I said, “Your mother knew.”
Raine leaned back. “Really? Do you think that’s why they’ve always pushed our friendship? You, me, and… Eirik?”
I followed her eyes to see Eirik enter the pool. He was dressed like an Asgardian in skin-tight pants made of some weird material, knee-length boots, arm braces, and even a cloak. The boy I’d known before was gone. Instead, there was a buff guy with an angular face and muscles. The pants and the vest hugged every inch of his body. Despite the outfit or the change in his physique, I didn’t have that innate need to get his approval or get his attention like I used to. Whatever hang-ups I’d had about him had long since disappeared.
Raine jumped up to hug him, but he studied me over her shoulder with a weird expression. Eirik planted a kiss on Raine’s temple, and the two walked toward me.
“Get out of her, Dev,” he ordered. Even his voice had changed. I wasn’t surprised when Dev obeyed. He disappeared fast. “The reapers are gone, and they weren’t after you.”
The relief of not having a soul hitching a ride inside me was sweet. I disengaged my runes and sat up. Dizziness washed over me, but I knew it would pass. Standing was out of the question. I would fall flat on my face.
“Am I getting a hug, Blondie?” Eirik asked.
I wrinkled my nose. “You know I hate that name.”
Raine laughed. “I’ll get you some Twizzlers. She needs the sugar after a possession,” she added for Eirik’s benefit and walked away.
Eirik sat on the lounge beside me and placed an arm around my shoulder. “I thought your runes helped with possession.”
“They make it less traumatic. What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
“Me?”
“Don’t sound surprised. Could we go somewhere private and talk?”
“Something I need to discuss with you.” His eyes were on Raine, who’d returned to the pool deck with a jar of the stringy sweets. Since I did most of my after school closure in the mansion, they had a whole cupboard of them. “Alone,” Eirik added in a low voice.
A year ago, I would have been thrilled at the idea. He had paid Raine more attention while treating me like his bratty younger sister. Now I was just irritated. I had enough on my plate without adding him.
“What is this about, Eirik?” I asked, not hiding my irritation.
“No need to be snippy, Blondie. Eat your Twizzlers first. Then we’ll talk. And if you want Echo to hold your hand while we do it, text him. Actually, it might be nice to have him there. I’m going to eat something in the kitchen.” He jumped up and walked away, grinning.
I glared after him.
“What’s going on?” Raine asked.
“I’d forgotten how easily he pushes my buttons.”
She frowned. “Really? Even now?”
“More so now because he’s so damn bossy.” I took the jar from her and grabbed two of the Twizzlers. “I can’t explain it.”
“Me neither.” She sat beside me and grabbed a couple of Twizzlers too. “I thought he did that before because you were into him.”
“I thought so too, but that’s not it. He’s just so… Eirik. Always having the last word. Where are the others?”
“Kitchen. Talking. When I walked in, they clammed up, but I’d heard them. I told them I knew about your parents and they didn’t need to pretend anymore. You should have seen their faces. I told them they should be ashamed of themselves even though it wasn’t their place to tell you the truth. I can’t believe Mom knew all these years. On the other hand, she had hidden stuff from me, too.” She stood and pulled me up. “Can you walk on your own if I let go?”
“No. Carry me.” I gave her a lost puppy expression.
“In your dreams.”
“I wonder how many people we know are Immortals.” I picked up my phone and looked around. “Dev?”
“He’s gone. Let’s go hear what other secrets they’ve been keeping from us.”
“Actually, Eirik wants to talk to me, so I won’t stay. But you can eat lunch with me tomorrow.”
I left her with the other women in the kitchen and opened a portal to the cottage. Eirik followed and looked around with interest. “This is not your farm.”
“Echo bought it for me. Do you want something to drink?” I headed to the kitchen, and he followed, frowning. “Oh, I heard about Celestia. Where have you been hiding her? And when do we meet her?”
“Anytime. You and Echo are playing house already?”
I bristled at the censure in his voice. “I’m eighteen, smarty-pants. I can play house with the guy I love. Not that it’s any of your business.”
He raised his hands. “I’m not complaining.” He grabbed a stool and watched me open the fridge. “I’ll have whatever you’re having. Is that leftover pizza?”
I piled the slices on a plate and warmed them in the microwave. I gave him a can of iced tea, which he gulped while eyeing the microwave. It was amazing how much he’d changed, yet stayed the same. I waited as he demolished the slices and chugged iced tea.
“Don’t they feed you in Hel’s Hall?”
He chuckled. “Maera would be insulted to hear that.”
“Who is Maera?”
“The cook and housekeeper at Eljudnir. She loves to ply us with heaps of food and gets insulted when we don’t finish. I never disappoint her. In fact, I’m her favorite.” He pushed the empty plate aside and checked his watch. “What’s taking Echo so long?”
“He’s not coming. You said you wanted to talk to me, so talk.”
He scratched his forehead and chuckled. “Easier said than done. Celestia is better at these things. I should have brought her.”
“Why are you hiding her from us?”
He grinned. “No one hides Celestia. By the time I finish explaining, you’ll understand why. You’ll like her.”
I rolled my eyes. It was obvious he was in love, and I was happy for him. “Is she the reason you want to talk? Because I’d rather just meet her and get to know her on my own without you being in the equation.”
“Ah, but I’m part of the equation. I’m her other half.” He blew out air. “Okay, I’ll start with me. A little over eighteen years ago, my parents had me. My grandmother was living with them at the time.” He stopped and scowled. “No, I’ll start with Crazy Granny. What do you know about Goddess Hel?”
“Is that a trick question? She is your mother, so I can’t say anything mean.”
Eirik grinned. “Hit me with all you’ve heard.”
“Really?”
“Yep.” He nodded.
“She is mean as hell, cold as her realm, hard as nails, uncompromising, half-mummified, and has morose-looking servants who follow her around, doing her bidding.” By the time I finished, Eirik was laughing hard. Only he would find what I’d said funny. It was part of his charm, I supposed. He found humor even in insults. “I also learned yesterday that she’s none of the above.”
Laughter disappeared from his face. “Echo talked?”
“Hayden.”
He blinked. “You talked to Hayden?”
“I needed to talk to one of the orphans from the other realms after I learned that my parents are Immortals and I was adopted. Echo took me to her.” Eirik didn’t react to my announcement. “You know about me and my parents?”
He nodded. “What did Hayden tell you?”
“That they moved around a lot and I was better off here in Kayville shielded from the evil Immortals.” I ran a finger around the edge of my unopened can of iced tea. “We didn’t talk much about anything else. Oh, and she mentioned visiting Hel’s Hall when Celestia was sick or hurt or something along those lines and how your mother was nice. I wanted to know how you and Celestia met, but she wouldn’t tell me.”
He smiled, visibly relaxing.
“What did you think she told me?”
“About Mom, she is the daughter of Loki and a Jötun woman, Angrboda. Grandma Angrboda is crazy, vengeful, and mean. In fact, everything you’ve heard about Mom could be applied to Crazy Granny. Mom just hides her sweetness behind a cold exterior. Because Odin took Mom and her brothers away, Crazy Granny hates all Asgardians. So when I was born, she saw me as a weapon to use against Asgard.”
“How?”
“She is a shifter, like Onyx, Raine’s mouthy pet. Yeah, we’ve met,” he added when I laughed. Raine’s cat didn’t like me for reasons I couldn’t explain. “Quite a number of Jötuns are shifters. Wolves. Serpents. Ravens. Cats. Dragons. Granny is a dragon shifter, which is rare. When I was born with the same ability, she thought she had a weapon to destroy Asgard.” Eirik grinned. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Dragon shifter? You?”
His grin turned cocky. “Yep. That’s why I eat a lot and have the big guns.” He raised his arms and flexed his biceps. “Shifting back and forth does that to you.”
“Holy crap. It explains a lot. Does Raine know?”
He shook his head. “No, you are the first to know. I’ll show you later. Anyway, Granny wanted to use me to destroy Asgard. Dad and Mom found out, and booted her out of Eljudnir. She became obsessed with hurting them. Fearing for my safety, Dad talked to the Norns and handed me over to them for safekeeping. They brought me to Earth. He didn’t tell Mom he’d colluded with the Norns to keep me safe from Crazy Granny. She thought the Norns did this to her out of spite.”
“Jeez, what is it with people keeping secrets? Don’t they get that secrets hurt? I swear if Echo ever pulled that shit on me, I’d kill him.”
“That’s my attitude, too. Celestia and I swore to never try to shield each other that way. If I did, she would kill me, bring me back to life, and do it again. She’s amazin
g.”
Wow, she sounded powerful. “Can she really do that?”
“Oh, yes. She can manipulate her life force, but we are digressing. Mom had Grimnirs searching for me. She even sent her Idun-Grimnirs with little results. The Immortals in this town are very good at hiding. Meanwhile, Dad got weekly reports on how I was doing from two loyal Grimnirs, Rhys and Nara.”
“Those two?”
“I guess you’ve met them. They are very loyal to my family. After I was taken, they decided to have a second child. They had a girl. This time, Mom made sure she etched locator runes on her in case she was taken. After a few days, she was told the child had died and was given a body to bury.”
“Oh man. That must have been tough on her.”
“Very. On top of losing me, she’d also lost her baby girl. She shut everyone out, including Dad. Losing my sister and me did something to her. It turned her mean, uncompromising, and cold. Then Maliina saw me and told her.”
“She must have been happy to see you,” I said, feeling sorry for the woman. Betrayed by her husband and the Norns, then losing her second child. No one should have to go through something like that. I couldn’t even imagine her pain.
“She was and she wasn’t, but we worked out our issues. There’s more. Can I have another drink?”
I got him a third can of iced tea and waited as he chugged it. This time I was sure he was deliberately procrastinating. “What is it, Eirik?”
“My sister didn’t die.”
“What happened to her?”
“Crazy Granny happened. She grabbed Einmyria, hoping she had the dragon strain too. When she learned that the baby didn’t, Granny left her in Jötunheim. The Norns found her and brought her to Earth with the other orphans. Dad found out the truth, and started searching for her without telling Mom.”
“I know he’s your father, but he has a lot to learn about relationships,” I said.
“I know, and he has learned. Their relationship was so unusual he was never sure how Mom would react to anything. She’s very unpredictable. But the one thing he knew was her temper. He knew she would have started a war if she’d found out Einmyria was alive.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. She would have come to Earth herself to find her and probably would have jumpstarted Ragnarok because the Asgardians would have come down to defend the people. So he kept it a secret and kept searching for my sister relentlessly. Finding my sister was the first task he gave me when I arrived in Eljudnir.” Eirik drained his drink and shot me a furtive glance. He was acting weird. “It took me weeks of searching among the orphans here on Earth before I finally found her. Having Celestia helped.”
Goddess: A Runes Book Page 7