Eirik chuckled, tucking her against his side. “She talks a lot, but eventually she’ll get to the point. What she’s trying to say is she spent the whole day treating the sick. Went back the next day to treat more. If I hadn’t dragged her away, she would still be there, but she’s done the impossible. She made the southern clans sit and talk without trying to kill each other. Now she wants to open a clinic in Chief Skevnir’s town and Eastern Gjöll Pass.” Eirik kissed her.
“The healers must agree first, Eirik,” Celestia said.
The entire time they talked, I kept staring at her, trying to remember when I’d seen her. Her voice, face, and those dimples were all familiar.
“We’ve met,” I said.
The smile disappeared from her face.
“Don’t deny it, please. Either I’m going crazy or the Norns erased my memories. At first, your name sounded familiar. Hayden’s too. Then I had flashes of memories of the two of you at my school, yet I don’t remember anything beyond that. Oh, and there was a third girl. A redhead.”
Celestia looked at Eirik and then Echo. “You two are not saying anything?”
“Celestia,” Eirik said.
“No, Eirik. She needs to know. You”—Celestia pointed at him—“are telling her the truth.” A frown skidded across her face. “Echo, do not leave. You know what happened, too.”
“Celestia,” Eirik growled.
“If the Norns still want to flex their muscles, they’ll have to go through you, right?” She grabbed his sleeve, pulled him down, and planted a kiss on his lips. “Love you, my dragon.” Then she turned to me. “Echo said someone stole something from your room. Do you still want to know who did it?”
I nodded, but I was thoroughly confused. What did the images I was seeing have to do with Eirik and Echo? I shot them a questioning glance. Echo was grinning while Eirik shot Celestia a look that said he was resigned to doing whatever she’d asked.
“Come on, Cora. Let’s find out who dared to mess with you. Have they met Echo? He’s going to rip them apart.”
“Wow, you’re the first girl to make Eirik shut up,” I said. “You just barreled right through him. I wish Raine had seen that.”
“He’s used to getting his way, so whenever I get the upper hand, I milk it. We argued about you on our way here. You are his sister, so there’s no need for him to worry about the Norns messing with you. Between him, Echo, and the goddess, those hags wouldn’t stand a chance.”
My parents were in the living room and watched us head upstairs without batting an eyelid. It was nice to be able to have my friends over without worrying about one of them doing or saying something and giving themselves away.
“I’m looking forward to meeting Raine,” Celestia said. “I hope we’ll get together and get to know each other once her honeymoon is over.” She glanced over her shoulder at me, and she faded. Another image of her flashed right before my eyes then disappeared.
“I just saw another memory of you comforting me,” I said.
She stopped and turned. “Everything will all come back once Eirik explains. He wanted the two of you to be together, and typical of him, he made it happen. It’s one of the things I love about him. Nothing stops him.” She glanced behind me. “You will explain everything. Won’t you, guys?”
Echo and Eirik had caught up with us. They nodded. Celestia might be pint-sized, as Echo had called her, but she had a way of commanding attention. And she talked a lot.
“If Raine were here, she’d hear the story, too,” she added and gave Eirik a toothy grin.
“It’s almost midnight in England, Dimples,” Eirik said. “I’m not waking them up.”
“Oh. Too bad.” She continued to lead the way, then stopped outside my bedroom.
“How do you know that’s my bedroom?” I asked.
“We came here the day of your prom, but you were asleep up here after a possession. Eirik wanted to show your parents how your locator runes responded to his.” She stepped aside to let me enter first, but I shook my head.
“No, after you,” I insisted. “I don’t want to mess with your mojo.”
She entered the room and looked around. “I love your room. Are you attending Mystic Academy next year?”
“Yep. Are you?”
“I haven’t decided yet. I’m supposed to be graduating in a few weeks, but I don’t see that happening. I’d love to learn how to control my astral projection better.” She looked around and rubbed her arms. “There’s a very strong energy here. It’s familiar, but it’s not yours, your parents’, or Echo’s.”
I exchanged a glance with Echo. He moved toward me, but I moved away. Annoyance flashed in his eyes. He couldn’t possibly be getting angry with me now. He was the one who wanted us to pretend not to be a couple.
“Maybe it’s Dev’s,” I said from the other side of the bed.
“I recognized his already. It’s concentrated on your electronics. This is different yet familiar.” She frowned.
“You know Dev?”
“We met once.” She glanced at Eirik again and sighed. “It will make sense once they explain.” She walked to the window, then walked around the room. “The energy is all over the room, like the person moved around, touching things. I’ve encountered it before. I just don’t know where.” She went to stand in front of the mirror. “I was sure it would be concentrated here, but it’s not. The person didn’t use the mirror.”
“Air portal?” I asked.
“Most likely.” Celestia’s frown deepened. “May I use your bed?”
“Sure. Are you going to astral project?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, and follow the energy. Most of the time it happens when I least expect it, but at times, I get lucky. That’s how Eirik and I met.” She glanced at him and grinned.
“She thought I was a lamb shifter,” he said, walking to her side as she settled against the pillows. “Showed you, didn’t I?”
“Show-off. When he’s in his dragon form, he acts like he owns the freaking world.” She closed her eyes. Eirik’s gaze didn’t leave her face. “Stop worrying. I can feel it pouring out of you.”
“No, you can’t. I’m the dragon, the all seer, smeller, and hearer of things, not you. And I can scent when you are lying. You know who stole her blanket, don’t you?”
Celestia sighed. “I’m trying to concentrate, Eirik.”
“You do know.” His voice was accusatory.
Her eyelids lifted, and I inched closer. “No, I don’t, but I have a theory.”
“Care to share it before you float away?”
“No.” She reached for his hand, gripped it, and closed her eyes again. My frustrations with Echo shot up as I watched them. His concerns made no sense. If Goddess Hel was okay with her only son being with Celestia, I didn’t see why she would object to me being with Echo.
My jaw dropped when Celestia’s astral self separated from her body. Laughing, she saluted us and disappeared into the ceiling.
Eirik shook his head. “She treats going to AP like it’s nothing, while I think of all things that could possibly go wrong. It’s one thing when she helps her father catch criminals and quite another when dealing with the supernatural world. She doesn’t get it.”
He sounded like Echo. “How long has she known she is a Witch?”
“Since she was a child.” His eyes volleyed between Echo and me. “What’s wrong with you two?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“He’s over there, and you are over here. I’m getting bad vibes.” He angled his head. “Your heartbeat just spiked, and Echo reeks of frustration. You two fought?”
“No,” I said while Echo stayed quiet. “We have a new understanding, which I think will work great for us. You can hear heartbeats?”
“Yes, and scents, which change with moods, and I can see from far. What did you do, reaper?”
Echo growled something then left the room. I stared at the door, wishing I could yell at him or somet
hing.
“What’s going on?” Eirik asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle. You once told Raine you were a seer.”
“Because I can see from far.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seers, Einstein, are what Celestia and Raine are.” What I might be. “They see into the past or the future, not things from miles away. It’s not the same.”
He shrugged indifferently, his focus on Celestia.
I sat on the other side of the bed and studied her charm bracelets, the layered necklace, and matching earrings. She wore a beautiful ornate ring on her finger. It had runes on the band and a big clear stone in the middle. It looked like a wedding ring. “Raine and I tried to imagine what she looked like. She’s beautiful.”
“Breathtaking.” He stroked Celestia’s cheek. “She is feisty, stubborn, and talks a lot.”
“I noticed. She bullies you around.”
“I allow her to bully me around. Not the same thing. Asgard officially accepted her as my mate, and Mom is planning our wedding. Trudy, Maera, Hayden, and Jessica are helping and trying to keep it a secret from her, but I have a feeling Celestia already knows.”
“So that’s not a wedding ring she’s wearing?”
Eirik chuckled. “It is and it’s not. Our grandmother Frigg gave it to me, and I gave it to Celestia as a symbol of our commitment to each other. To my parents and grandparents, we’ve chosen each other, and she is my consort. But her father expects a wedding, and I want her to have one.”
“Where will it take place?”
“Eljudnir. I hope you and your parents can come. What happened between you and Echo?” Voices outside the door caught his attention and saved me from lying again.
Raine peered inside the room. She was wearing a robe over her pajamas. Torin had on a T-shirt, sweatpants, and loafers.
“What are you guys doing here?” I went to hug her.
“Echo said you needed me,” she said. “I didn’t hear the rest of what he told Torin, except a stolen baby blanket.”
My eyes locked with Echo’s. If this was his way of apologizing, it might buy him a few points, but not enough to make me see things his way.
“It doesn’t make sense, though. Why would she not want me to have it? Was it to stop me from proving I’m the goddess’ daughter? The funny thing is I don’t need the blanket to prove anything anymore.”
“She?”
“Or he,” I improvised. I wasn’t ready to tell them about what I’d seen.
“Or they,” Raine added. “Maybe it was Norns. Is that Celestia?” Raine’s eyes were on the bed.
“Yep.” We moved closer. “She can find energies and astral project at will.”
“Lucky, girl. I’m still working on mine. She’s gorgeous,” she whispered.
I grinned. “She orders Eirik around. It’s so cute how she has him wrapped around her finger.”
“I heard that,” Eirik said. He, Echo, and Torin were talking in low voices by the door, but he kept glancing at Celestia.
“I’ve met her before, Raine,” I whispered. “I keep having these flashbacks that don’t make sense. She’s in them and so is her best friend, Hayden, and a redhead.” I glanced at the guys. “Celestia insisted Eirik tell me everything, and she suggested you should be here. I hope Echo didn’t drag you out of bed.”
“We weren’t ready for bed yet, so I don’t mind. Besides, he said you needed me. He’s never said that before, so I knew it was something he couldn’t handle.”
Or the fact that I wasn’t talking to his sorry ass. A knock on the door, and Mom peered inside my room. “Anyone want a drink or pie?”
There was a chorus of “yes.” Mom’s pies were a favorite among my friends. She came back with a tray full of slices of apple pie and one cherry, utensils, and forks. Dad followed her with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses.
I took the pitcher from Dad and served drinks while Mom handed out pies. Eirik grabbed two slices and went to sit by Celestia. I only had two chairs in my room, and Torin grabbed one for him and Raine, while Echo brought me the other one and stayed close. I gave him kudos for trying to be his usual attentive self, but that wasn’t what I needed. He was either with me one hundred percent or he was not. I went to sit on the bed opposite Eirik. He studied me with narrowed eyes.
“How’s she doing?” Mom asked from behind me.
Eirik studied Celestia’s face. “Good. I’ll know when she’s in trouble. Her heartbeat will shoot up and fear will sour her scent.”
“Dragon senses,” I explained to Raine.
“We were in the audience the night you spoke to the Immortals,” Mom said. “We infiltrated the club and reported to the other parents here. That’s how we kept the orphans in Kayville and Portland area safe. You did a good thing that evening.”
Eirik shrugged. “It didn’t stop them from coming here.”
“But some of their members chickened out, so when they arrived here, there were a lot fewer. They lost because of you.” Dad swept the room with a glance. “All of you and your friends. No matter what happens, you should all know we feel a lot safer because you dismantled Lord Worthington’s movement.”
I glanced at Torin. He was listening without speaking, but I knew he heard every word. This could not be a fun conversation for him. Even Eirik kept glancing at him. My parents continued to talk, completely clueless about the connection between Lord Worthington and Torin.
“We’ll continue to keep a close eye on them.” Eirik touched Celestia’s cheek and frowned. “What’s going on, Dimples? Come back now. Can you hear me?”
“Is she okay?” I asked, moving closer. The others flocked around the bed, too.
“Her heartbeat spiked. She’s panicking. Come on, Dimples. Come back.”
The words barely left his mouth when she whooshed into the room so fast she was a blur and rejoined her body. She sat up and launched herself into Eirik’s arms.
“It’s okay, Dimples. I got you. I got you.” He hugged her and rubbed her back. Our eyes met. “She’s shaking.” He leaned back and studied her face. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I was coming back when I felt a menacing energy. They chased me back.”
“They?”
“I don’t know how many there were, but there was more than one. I didn’t look back, but I heard snickering and felt them.”
“Do you need a pen and a paper? Did you see anything?” He looked at me. “She sketches whatever she sees in the AP.”
“No, there’s no need. I saw a woman wearing a cloak, but before I could see her face, she used an air portal and disappeared with the blanket. I don’t think she means any harm.”
My eyes went to Echo. I was sure we were thinking the same thing. She’d seen exactly what I’d described. Should I tell them now or wait? Maybe the vision was a fluke and I’d look stupid claiming clairvoyance.
“So she wasn’t a soul?” Raine asked.
Celestia shook her head. “No. Flesh and blood. I think she was attracted to the runes on the blanket. I followed her to other places around Kayville.”
“Was she at my school?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes.”
The goddess. It had to be. I wondered why she’d taken my blanket. Why she was stalking me. Did Celestia know?
“Okay, forget about her,” I said.
Raine didn’t mask her surprise and traded glances with Torin. Echo wore an unreadable expression. Celestia was busy whispering something to Eirik. Then she rested her head against Eirik’s chest while he rubbed his cheek against the side of her head. They looked so cute together the green monster reared its ugly head again inside me. That had been Echo and me a week ago.
“I want to know how I met you, Hayden, and the redhead. So someone needs to start talking,” I said.
“The redhead is Trudy,” Celestia said.
“Wait? You know who took your blanket, don’t you? Both of you.” Raine pointed at me, then Celestia. Smart girl. I could never hide anything from her.
“No, I don’t,” Celestia said quickly and shook her head. “The energy is familiar, but I couldn’t see anything under the cloak.”
Oh, she knew. I bet she’d recognized the goddess. Probably known all along. I wondered why she didn’t want to admit it. I followed her lead.
“I don’t, but I’m not going to stress about it,” I said. “Blanket or no blanket, I believe everything Eirik told me. If the person hopes to stop me from going to Helheim, they are in for a huge surprise because I plan to go.” Raine still looked suspicious, but I was done worrying about the goddess’ motives. “Okay, Eirik. Talk.”
“It started with Torin,” Eirik said, and Raine who was getting comfortable in her man’s arms turned her head and looked at him. “I stopped by his place and found him in a shitty mood because he had to surprise Raine with a wedding and Cora couldn’t be there,” Eirik continued. “He knew Raine would not go for it and would always feel guilty if her best friend didn’t stand by her side.”
I hadn’t expected this. From Raine’s expression, she hadn’t either.
“Torin suggested Cora should attend the wedding then hide in Helheim with Echo until the Norns learned Raine was bonded with Torin and beyond their reach. Mother would have known the second she appeared in the realm.”
Celestia nudged him and whispered, “The story.”
“I’m getting there, love,” he whispered back before adding in a louder voice, “So I went to Celestia and suggested that she, Hayden, and Trudy get dressed, stop by Kayville High to pick up Cora, and take her to the wedding.”
“What?” I asked, my eyes flying from Eirik to Celestia to Raine, who was also sitting up in shock.
Eirik grinned at our reaction. “Look at their faces. Man, I wish I had brought my camera. Priceless. Celestia was at school, but since she’s such a sweetheart and crazy about me”—she rolled her eyes—“she agreed to help. She and Hayden left school, picked up Trudy, who was already at her house, and opened a portal to a certain Kayville High bathroom. Hayden and Trudy are amazing at mind control, so…” He kissed Celestia’s temple. “Your turn.”
Goddess: A Runes Book Page 11