“Hayden?” he asked, completely ignoring me and smiling at her.
She glanced at me then him, utter confusion on her face.
“I’m Celestia’s friend, and I know all this.” He indicated the store with a wave of his hand. Hayden shot me another look. I wasn’t vouching for him, but neither was I asking her to turn him down. The decision was hers.
“Okay. We are running low on anointing oils and herbs,” she said. “We have boxes of bottles and corks in the cupboards in the séance room. Right on the left when you enter the room. Bring the boxes out here. You and Zack can fill them.”
Wes had moved closer, his eyes on Eirik, who was headed toward the séance room like he worked in the store. I saw the question in Wes’ eyes, but I couldn’t answer him. A line was already forming in front of my register.
For the next several hours, we tried to reduce the number of customers, but more kept coming in. Every time I looked up, I’d find Eirik’s eyes on me while Wes’ volleyed between us. Having them around made me tense.
A uniformed driver opened the door to TC, and Giselle Mouton and her mother sailed into the store. The attack on Witches must have scared the crap out of Mrs. Mouton if she actually lowered her standards and came to shop at TC. Her family often went to Madam Gabaros in New Orleans.
They ignored the customers and walked straight to my side of the counter.
“I hear you are the one who saw the deaths of the Seeresses,” Mrs. Mouton said, her voice carrying. Browsers stopped whatever they were doing and turned to listen. The ones too far shuffled closer and angled their heads so they wouldn’t miss the exchange.
“Yes, Mrs. Mouton.” I continued to ring up the goods of the customer at the front of the line. I hated taking credit for my insider information, but I couldn’t tell her a reaper had told me the news.
“And you saw yesterday’s attacks?”
“No.”
“Then how did your father know about it? He called me before I knew about Lucie Waterman’s attack. Do you need to touch someone to get a reading?” She grabbed my wrist before I could answer and stopped me from handing the customer his bags.
“No, I don’t have to do that,” I said, trying to break free, but her fingers tightened. I couldn’t stand this woman. Grams couldn’t either. Mrs. Mouton was the representative of the Witches Guild in the county, but she always favored her coven.
“Are you coming to the meeting?”
“What meeting?” She was hurting me. I tried to wrestle my hand free, but her nails dug into my wrist. Her behavior explained the customers’ behavior. Whenever I handed them their bags, they kept touching my fingers and watching my face. Even the ones Hayden had served had picked up another item and come to me to ring it up.
“The Guild is having a meeting in the auditorium at the school this evening. The covens across the country were notified days ago, and you’d have known about it if you belonged to one. I expect you there at seven sharp. Where’s your mother?” she asked, glancing at Hayden.
“Let her go,” Eirik’s voice whipped across the room before Hayden could answer, and all eyes went to him. He stood at the far end of the counter, yet he commanded the attention of the entire store. His tattoo seemed to move as he crossed his arms.
Mrs. Mouton straightened her bony shoulders and tried to stare him down. “Young man—”
“Drop. Her. Hand.” His voice changed and his eyes slitted before they returned to normal. It happened so fast I wondered if anyone else noticed. Mrs. Mouton definitely did because she dropped my hand as though prodded and moved back.
“You see all these customers?” Eirik pointed at the line of people waiting to check out. “They were here before you. That means they get to receive services first. If you want to buy something, get it, and wait in line for your turn. If you want to talk to Celestia, wait until she’s not busy. Right now, she is.”
The woman stared at him, harrumphed, and turned, her head held high. The Moutons were at the door when the mother snapped at her driver and swept out of the store. Giselle ran after her mother. The customers cheered. I wanted to cheer too, but I realized the driver was still inside the store. He picked up a magazine from a rack and walked to the end of the line. Giselle’s mother had deserved the talk down. The woman was snooty. When her driver reached the counter, he bought the magazine, gave me pamphlets about tonight’s meeting to hand out to our customers, and left.
“I heard about the meeting two days ago,” a customer said, glancing at the pamphlet she’d just picked up. “That’s why I’m in town.”
The others in line grabbed theirs and flipped through them.
“Our coven met last night about it.”
“My sister in L.A. and her friends are flying in today.”
“Doctor B is going to be there,” another customer said, flipping through the program.
My eyes met Hayden’s, and her eyebrows shot up questioningly. I shrugged. I was going to need a better explanation about who Eirik was and why she’d never seen him before. A Witch from Europe and a member of the Guild would not cut it with her, not when Queen Bitch Mouton didn’t know him.
A couple more hours passed before the crowd trickled down. Either the ones who’d shopped told their friends I couldn’t get visions from touching them or Eirik had scared them. With fewer customers around, there was no reason for Wes or Eirik to stay.
Wes came to my desk. “You never called.”
Damn it. I meant to on Sunday, but worrying about Eirik and his sister had gotten in the way. “I know. I was so busy I completely forgot.”
“Are you going to the meeting at seven?”
“Yes.”
“I could pick you up.”
“You’ll be going out of your way, Wes.”
“I don’t mind.” He touched my hand, and a growl came from my left. My head whipped toward it. Eirik’s eyes were slitted, and his nails elongated into claws. Was he really jealous of Wes? I shook my head.
“I can pick you up, so we can have that drink afterward,” Wes added, completely oblivious to Eirik.
“Sure.” It was time I told him that there was no chance of anything happening between us.
“Awesome. I’ll be there at a quarter to seven.” He glanced at Eirik and smiled triumphantly, and I knew he’d been aware of Eirik watching us all along. Zack walked him to his car while Eirik put the last bottles of herbs on the shelf.
“I’m starving, guys,” I said. “I have to eat something or I’m going to faint.”
“You should have eaten the breakfast I cooked this morning,” Eirik said.
“Do you mean your attempt to impress my father? He is not easily—” Oh crap! Cringing, I turned and caught Hayden’s eyes on me. She switched the sign on the door to “Closed.”
“He cooked breakfast to impress your father?” she asked.
“Why don’t I get us pizza and you can tell Hayden why I made breakfast for your family?” Eirik interrupted. “Tell her the truth, Dimples. All of it.”
“Really?”
“How else can they visit us without knowing everything?”
I gawked at him. Did he just say “us”? Had I missed something earlier when he was talking before I’d parked?
“It’s you,” came from the entrance, and we turned around. My cousin had just entered the store, and his eyes were on Eirik. “You’re the dude from the sketch Celestia did after she went to that cold castle and almost died. I wondered why you looked familiar. I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember where I’d seen you. She nailed the description.” Zack stopped smiling. “Down to the arrogant way you act and talk.”
“You saw the sketch?” I asked lamely, worried about how I was going to get out of this.
“Uncle Richard showed it to me and told me what you said. He thought I might recognize him.” Zack walked toward Eirik. “She did it. She actually rescued your entitled ass.”
“Yes, she did.” Eirik smirked. “But I take exception to my ass bei
ng entitled.”
My face flamed. He was joking while my cousin looked ready to deck him.
“And then she went back a second time and came back bloodied up.” Something in Zack’s voice set off warning bells in my head.
“Zack!” Hayden and I cried out at the same time.
“No, this is long overdue.” My cousin slugged Eirik on his jaw.
Eirik could have defended himself, but didn’t. He even staggered, the reaction so fake I was surprised Zack didn’t realize it.
“That’s for what my cousin went through for you and whatever crap your family is into. And this is for not bothering to visit and check on how she was doin—”
He didn’t finish the sentence because I waved my hand and pushed him aside. He crashed into a display, and I immediately regretted my actions. Hayden reached Zack first since I was too mortified by what I’d done. I’d hurt my cousin to protect Eirik, an Immortal that self-healed. I couldn’t even lie and say I’d been thinking about Zack getting hurt.
“Sorry, Zack,” I said, feeling worse by the minute.
“He deserves to have his face rearranged,” Zack snarled, getting up and straightening his jacket. He moved toward Eirik while Hayden tried to restrain him.
“He visited her, Zack,” Hayden said.
“Like hell he did. I don’t recall seeing him at the hospital or the house.”
“He did.” Hayden blocked Zack. “I saw him.”
“Where and when?” he shot back.
“Zack, stop,” I said.
“He came the night Celestia regained consciousness and stayed by her bedside the entire night. I was there and talked to his friend. The guy with purple eyes who was here earlier.” The look she threw Eirik dared him to deny it. “Believe me, I didn’t want them there either and told his friend.” Her eyes locked with mine. “I didn’t like the way they’d snuck in to see you before you regained consciousness or the way they’d refused to talk to me. He was outside your house the day the chief brought you home and at school a couple of times.”
She was making this up. I glanced at Eirik, and for once, he wasn’t smirking. The way he glared at Hayden said she wasn’t lying. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know he’d visited me. And all this time I was hurt and angry that he hadn’t.
“Okay, now that we are on the same page, who wants pizza? Dimples, you come with me. Zack”—Eirik touched his jaw and flexed it—“nice hook. Hayden. Very observant. Or maybe I was careless.” He started for the door. The other two stared after him. He opened the door and stared at me. “Come on, Kewpie. I’m starving.”
I hated that nickname. “You are an arrogant ass.”
“No, you got that mixed up. Mine is entitled.”
“Stop talking.” I reached for my bag from behind the counter and glanced at my cousin, who was obviously re-evaluating his position. Hayden looked unapologetic. Why hadn’t she said anything about Eirik, especially after I’d told her and Tammy that I couldn’t remember anything? Things didn’t add up.
Eirik and I headed north. The nearest pizza place to TC was Fredrico’s. We walked in silence. A quick glance at Eirik found him staring ahead, oblivious to the attention he received from the people we passed. Men like him would always draw attention from women. It wasn’t just the body, the black T-shirt hugging his arms, and the badass tattoo of his mace. There was something in the way he carried himself that set him apart. Then there was that face. He wasn’t Baldur’s son for nothing.
“Why did you come to see me?” I asked.
“I was worried about you.”
I shook my head. “I told you to stay away from me that night, Eirik. I was mean.”
“You were in pain. You got hurt on my watch and had every right to push me away. I respected that, but at the same time, I just couldn’t stay away.”
“So you came anyway but made sure I couldn’t see you. I wish you hadn’t cloaked.” I stopped, and he did too.
How much had he seen? His face didn’t say. I’d cried a lot those first weeks, especially at night. A few times at school, I’d had meltdowns because of something someone had said. I couldn’t even remember what was said, but I’d gone back to being the weak and pathetic girl I’d been in middle school. Always looking over my shoulders and scared of shadows. This time, I’d been worried I might be soul-napped by another powerful Witch.
“Don’t,” Eirik whispered, cupping my face. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying.” I blinked rapidly until I had my tears under control again.
“Talk to me.”
I didn’t want to discuss the past. Not anymore. I had the present to worry about.
“Let’s just get the pizza,” I whispered.
“Not yet.” He took my arm and pulled me into a portico of a store. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For everything.”
I shook my head. “But you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who was wrong that night. In my pain and fear, I associated you with everything that had gone wrong in Hel. Zack shouldn’t have punched you.” I reached up and touched Eirik’s cheek. The bruise was darkening. “Why aren’t you healing?”
He covered my hand with his. “And miss this?”
Heat crawled up my face.
“Besides, girls dig guys with a shiner,” he said.
As if he needed a bruise to attract females. “Heal it, please.”
“You sure? The line at Fredrico’s is usually long and there’s a certain waitress there who likes me.”
Show-off. “So you’ve been around here before?”
“Once or twice.”
“So basically you’ve been stalking me.”
“Exactly.”
He had no shame, and I was touched when I shouldn’t have been. I couldn’t believe I’d been hurt because he hadn’t come to see me. The need to come clean washed over me.
“Everything changed after that week in Hel,” I said. “My life sort of crumbled. I was scared all the time. Seeing Grams and hearing that she knew about my mother’s premonitions turned me off practicing magic, and without magic I’m nothing.”
“Don’t ever say that. Magic doesn’t define you.” He covered my hand, making me realize I was stroking his bruised cheek.
I smiled. “Yes, it does. Without magic, I’d be a nobody. Uninteresting. Just your average teenager doing average things.”
Eirik growled, and my eyes widened. I pulled my hand from underneath his.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to shift. Don’t ever say that you are a nobody,” he ground out. “You are kind and generous and fierce. You defended me against your cousin when he could have killed me.”
I laughed. “Right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
He took my arm, and we continued toward Frederico’s. “I need to hear this. I promise I’ll behave.”
“Coming to your realm changed me, and I didn’t know what to do or who to tell how I felt. I would have liked to talk to someone. Part of me wishes you’d shown yourself, but another part knows I would not have wanted to see you or talk to you. Sounds crazy.”
“Sounds conflicted.”
“I was a walking mass of contradictions those few weeks.” We stopped outside the pizza place. “Still, I’m sorry I told you to stay away.”
“Don’t be. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I hoped so. I might keep telling myself he was from a different world, but I wanted him. He would make the perfect boyfriend. We entered the pizza place and the face of the blonde behind the counter lit up when she saw him.
“Hey, stranger. We haven’t seen you around in weeks.”
“I’ve been busy.” Eirik glanced at me as though I was the one who’d kept him busy. The girl sized me up, her gaze lingering like she was trying to place me. I was at the pizza place at least once a week and she wanted to feign ignorance? She dismissed me and flashed Eirik a smile.
“So what can I get you today?”
Eirik looked down at me, reached out, and caressed my cheek. His touch was light and intimate, and when he spoke, his voice stroked my senses.
“What do you want to eat, stjärna mín?”
I didn’t care about pizza anymore or that he’d told me to date someone else. I didn’t even care about his grandmother and the damned dragon kiss. I wanted a real kiss.
CHAPTER 13. BITTEN AND ORPHANED
EIRIK
My attempt to show the lady behind the counter that my love interest was right beside me just got interesting when I reached out and touched Celestia’s cheek. She shivered and her breath caught. Her luminous eyes drew me in, and the urge to kiss her grew until it was all I could think about. I lowered my head, and her lips parted in invitation.
“What will it be, Eirik?”
Celestia turned her head away, her face turning pink. I wanted to take her away from annoying Mortals and show her how much I wanted her.
“We’ll have a deep pan veggie, a meat lovers, and a Hawaiian with extra pineapple,” she said in an unsteady voice, eyes glued to the menu board. She glanced at me. “Do you want to add something?”
From her expression, she was determined to be sensible. I hated when she was sensible. Deciding not to push, I faced the blonde who’d interrupted us. My annoyance must have shown because she blushed. She’d flirted with me before, but I’d never reciprocated.
“My usual,” I said.
“So another deep pan meat lovers, fried calamari, onion rings, and hot wings.”
“Make that two orders of hot wings.” I pulled out my credit card.
“I’m paying for part of that,” Celestia insisted.
“No.” I didn’t explain, and I was happy she didn’t argue. In the mood I was in, I would have kissed her to shut her up.
We carried our lunch back, the silence between us stretching. Focusing on my obsession to kiss her only messed with my head, so I went over the things she’d confessed, the pain in her eyes as she’d talked about what she’d gone through after leaving Hel. If I had pushed, we would be together now.
Heroes (Eirik Book 2) Page 21