He didn’t just take off with my blade. If we didn’t need it, I would have ignored him. Pissed, I shot after him before the portal closed and found myself in the middle of a field. I recognized the quad at U-Dub, the university I planned to attend in the fall. It was only twenty minutes from my house.
Students hurried past while others were either studying under the cherry trees lining the park or playing Frisbee on the lawn. A few noticed my sudden appearance and stared at me. Damn it. I broke one of our family rules.
“You need to engage your invisibility runes, sheshen,” Syn called out, his voice condescending.
Forgetting the rules my parents had drilled into me, I cloaked in front of the Mortals. Not caring that a few students might have seen me disappear, I went after my tormentor. I added strength runes, wanting to body slam him so badly I could taste it. He laughed and opened another portal.
Once again, I dashed through it before it closed. I glanced around. We were on top of a hill outside a small town with vineyards. Mountains and forests surrounded it.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Kayville, Oregon.”
I shivered as a sudden chill crawled under my skin. My people had died in this place. Uncle Jessy. I could still hear his hearty laugh. I never quite warmed to Aunt Shay, but she’d been nice to my brother and me when the Longhorns had brought us home. Both were now gone. Killed here.
“Get me out of here,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You are a prickly one, aren’t you? I was planning to introduce you to a few ladies who can explain why we need all Immortals registered.”
“I don’t care. Take me back to school. Mrs. Francis is going to open the principal’s office and find us gone. I won’t be able to explain how we disappeared.”
“Why do you need to tell her anything? Slip her forgetful runes, so she doesn’t remember you were ever there.”
“I don’t break the rules like that,” I protested.
“You need to loosen up a little,” Syn said.
“You don’t know anything about me, Grimnir.”
“I know a lot more than I did a minute ago. Case in point, you don’t know how to have fun. You are wound too tight, and you look down your nose at me. That hurts. I’m an awesome guy.” He etched more air runes, his movements so fast his hand blurred. “Catch me if you can.”
Jackass. Cold air blasted me before I could follow him through the portal, and I stopped. Snow covered every inch of the land where he stood. I hated cold weather with a passion, while the grin on his face said he loved it. Shouldn’t he be reaping instead of causing me grief?
Since I didn’t want to get stuck in Kayville with no means of getting back home, I stepped through the portal and immediately lost my footing. He caught me and broke my fall, lifting me clear off the ground. His arms wrapped around my waist, my chest pressing against his. Goose bumps raced across the surface of my skin, and they weren’t from the cold. What a time to react to a man. I should be kicking him for putting me through this shit, not reacting to his body.
I’d bet he had a dominant yellow aura. Yellowed-aura people were annoyingly playful and nosy. They were brilliant, too, and thought they had all the answers.
“Isn’t this much more fun than being bored to death in a classroom?” he asked, his breath fanning my face.
“No, it’s not. I happen to have the perfect attendance record.” I wiggled. “Put me down.”
“Say please first,” he said.
“Screw you,” I shot back.
He laughed. “I knew you couldn’t be Miss Goody Two-shoes. You have fire in you. You’re just hiding it behind this”—he indicated my face—“breathtaking, calm exterior.”
He thought my face was breathtaking? I wore zero makeup. What was I doing? It didn’t matter what he thought. I looked into his eyes and wished I hadn’t. This close, I could see the gold specks in the green. His eyelids lowered, and I had the crazy thought that he wanted to kiss me. Exchange of bodily fluids was something I’d never dared to try. My sweat caused enough havoc as it was.
I regretted my sudden outburst and tried to figure a way to get out of this mess. I’d barely met this reaper, and he was already making me forget my number one rule—no touching. The longer I stayed in his presence, the more likely the duct tape holding me together would snap to reveal the cracks I’d spent the last eight years hiding.
“Put me down, Syn.”
“Nope. Don’t want you falling flat on your face. You know what I think? You are wound tight because you haven’t found the right partner to cause mayhem with,” he said.
“Oh, and you think that’s you?” I asked.
“If you’re nice to me, yes. Now hold on to me when I put you down so I can give you my coat.”
“I don’t want your duster. Just get me out of here,” I insisted, but I might as well have been talking to a boulder.
Syn lowered me down, and I took a step back to put some distance between us. Despite my sweater, jacket, tights, and gloves the cold was already crawling under my skin. I shivered.
He shrugged his duster and dropped it around my shoulders. I grabbed the lapels and pulled it closer. It was warm and smelled of leather and a pleasant musky scent.
Angry that I liked the way he smelled, I tried to reach for the blade, but he raised it out of my reach, and I almost lost my footing again. I grabbed onto the nearest thing. Him. Or I should say his T-shirt, bunching it for a better grip and baring his stomach again. This time, I noticed the thin line of hair disappearing under the waistband of his pants. How tall was he? I was five-seven, and I barely reached his chin.
I tilted my head to look at him. “Give me my artavus, Syn.”
“Only if you listen to what I have to say about the registry.”
“Here? I can barely feel my toes.” I was shivering despite his trench coat.
“Zermatt can be chilly in May, but it’s nothing compared to Helheim.” From his expression, the temperature didn’t bother him.
“I hate snow,” I said through clenched teeth. “If you won’t give me the blade, then open the damn portal.”
His eyes roamed my face. “You look flushed, but there is a spark in your eyes. Admit you’re having fun.”
My heartbeat was elevated, and my senses were on full alert, but that didn’t mean I was having fun. “I mean it, Syn. Open the damn portal.”
“You’re bossy,” he said.
“And you are an ass.”
He laughed and created a portal to a beach. I stepped through, and a blissful sigh escaped me. I lifted my face to the sun and sighed. The warmth was heavenly.
A chuckle brought my attention to Syn. He was watching me and grinning.
“You are a sun baby,” he said.
Yes, I worshiped the sun. My favorite family vacations were when our parents whisked us off to some beach at the spur of the moment. Sometimes we’d go to a public beach, but most often we’d escape to an exotic, isolated locale so I wouldn’t worry about other people. I looked around and frowned. This beach was empty, and a sprawling house sat directly ahead.
“Where are we?” I was more curious than annoyed this time.
“A private island. You want ice cream or maybe something hot to warm you up while we talk?”
“You can’t drag me all over the world just because I refused to speak to you, Syn. I want to go back to civilization.”
“Now I’m insulted. My home has electricity, indoor plumbing, and the internet.”
Who are these soul reapers? From the stories I’d heard, they lived with the gods in the other realms. They didn’t own homes on private islands. They were also mean, not playful.
“I want to go home. Now. Please.”
Something on my face, or maybe it was in my voice, must have convinced him I was close to losing it because he opened a portal back to the principal’s office. I gave him his duster and stepped through ahead of him. Luckily, the room was still empty. He indicated a chair and took the second one
, his expression serious. This time, I sat and crossed my arms.
For a moment he didn’t speak, and I had a feeling he was rearranging his thoughts. He didn’t strike me as the kind of person who chose his words carefully. He seemed impulsive. A rebel. A rule breaker. Everything I wasn’t. And as though someone threw a switch, I could see his aura.
Dominant yellow. I had nailed it. The tinge of orange along the edges said he had stamina and courage, or it could be red blending with his yellow. Warmth crept up my cheeks when I remembered what clear red meant. Passionate. Sensual. I realized he was speaking and forced myself to focus.
“I’m looking for your parents, Lana,” he said.
I had no idea what he’d said earlier, but my parents seemed like a safe subject. I wanted to know where they were, too. They’d disappeared weeks ago.
“They’re gone,” I said.
“Where?”
“I don’t know. They’re bounty hunters and could be anywhere,” I said.
Syn frowned. “They work with law enforcement agencies?”
“Yes and bail bondsmen. They should be home in a week or so.”
His eyebrows shot up. “A week? What are they hunting? Bigfoot? It takes seconds to locate and nab a Mortal criminal.”
I shouldn’t have said a week, but I wanted this reaper gone. “There was a recent prison break, and a dozen or more prisoners escaped. They often take a day or two to bring in a criminal so no one can suspect they use portals. Check back in a week.” I stood, and he caught my wrist, his fingers touching the bare skin where the gloves ended.
“Don’t.” I wrenched my hand away from his and shoved it in my pocket.
He raised his hands, a frown between his eyebrows. “Sorry. I didn’t know my touch was repulsive.”
“It’s nothing personal. I don’t like to be touched.”
“Why? Are you lethal?”
“Something like that.”
He grinned. “I’m an Immortal, so it shouldn’t affect me.”
No one was immune to my touch. “Are you done?”
He sighed. “No. We need all Immortals registered. Name, address, birth certificate or adoption papers. I could even swing by your place with the forms if you’d like so you can give them to your parents when they return.”
Hell no. I shook my head. “Isn’t it up to the parents to decide whether to register their children or not?”
“Not when it comes to this. There’s a special school opening in the fall, and every Immortal from the ages ten to twenty will receive admission. They’re thinking of making it mandatory. It’s a cool idea, but the administrators can’t send letters of admission if they don’t know who and where you are.”
A special school? After all the institutions I’d attended as a child, the last place I wanted to be was in another one.
“Thank you, but my family is not interested in an Immortal school. Goodbye, Grimnir Syn.”
“You’ll be seeing me again, Immortal Lana,” he said, amusement in his words.
“No, I won’t. Come back in a week and talk to my parents.” I ignored his scowl and left the office. Before the door closed, Echo entered the room.
“How did it go with your blue lotus?” I overheard him ask.
“She looked me straight in the eye and lied,” Syn answered.
Damn! How had I given myself away? I hurried out of the office and pulled out my phone. I made sure they weren’t following me before I slipped into a bathroom.
“SOS. First-floor bathroom. East wing,” I texted and hit send.
“Coming,” Wes responded less than a minute later. Talia didn’t.
It wasn’t long before someone rattled on the door: three rapid knocks, followed by one, then three. I opened it, and my brother walked in.
Chapter 3
“What’s going on?” Wes asked.
“Let’s wait for Talia.”
He pushed back locks of brown hair from his forehead, a frown furrowing his brow, but I felt the tag.
“Stay out of my head, Wes,” I warned.
He grinned. “Something terrible happened. What is it?”
He had zero patience, which often landed him in trouble. Wes and I had been through a lot together and were closer than most biological siblings. We’d braved institutions, group homes, and foster parents from hell, and made it with dents and missing chinks. But those little imperfections had drawn us together and forged a tight bond, so he knew me.
I had been twelve and Wes eleven when we became Longhorns. Beth and Joshua Longhorn had been honest with us from day one, telling us the truth about our gifts and what we were. Not even our parents had known what to make of us. Wes had been labeled a schizo way before his single mother dumped him at a psych ward and disappeared. Sometimes I wondered if he ever thought about her. As for me, I’d been labeled so many names and diagnosed with many mental issues before age ten I lost count. Our gifts made us unique, not freaks. The Longhorns had told us. Honesty from people was something we had never known until we’d met them.
“Talk to me, Sis,” he said.
“You need a haircut.”
“No, I don’t.” He ran his fingers through his long silky curls. “Girls dig it.”
Dig it? Sometimes he talked like Dad, who was stuck in the sixties and still loved to say “Right on” whenever he liked an idea. I shook my head and texted Talia again.
“What is keeping her?” I mumbled.
“She’s probably in some moron’s arms in the janitor’s room instead of class. I’ll find her.” He extended his hand, and I gave him the artavus. He was fast at creating a portal on the mirror, but he was nothing like Syn.
Damn, I didn’t just do that. I should never compare my brother to that arrogant reaper. Wes had his faults, but he was loving and loyal. He’d watched my back for years, kicking ass and taking no prisoners. Sometimes I wondered how I would have made it through group homes without him.
The portal opened, and sure enough, Talia’s hands were all over some guy, their tongues dueling. She had to be going through some weird teenage stage not yet discovered, because I couldn’t recall acting like her two years ago when I was sixteen. Her boy-craziness was bordering on obsession.
Wes engaged strength runes and lifted the guy by the collar of his varsity jacket. It was Doug, the star quarterback. The senior had a girlfriend, a fact that Talia knew.
“Dude, what are you…?” Doug looked down and saw how high Wes was lifting him. “How can you do that?”
“Wrestling, jackass,” Wes snarled. “Or do you think I’m superhuman? Stay away from my sister.”
“Don’t hurt him, Wes,” Talia said. “He’s an amazing kisser.”
“Don’t you have a girlfriend, Doug?” Wes asked, ignoring Talia.
“Yes, but she’s nothing like Talia.”
Wes slammed Doug’s back against the wall. “Are you saying my sister is easy?”
“No, no, dude. It’s nothing like that. She doesn’t put out, but she’s amazing. I think I’m in love with her.”
I groaned. Not another one. Talia needed to stop using her gifts on people. One look into someone’s eyes and she could manipulate them. Wes might listen to thoughts, but Talia could make anyone do anything. Suggest things and make them think it was their idea. Some called it a glamour and others said she had the power of persuasion. Between the three of us, we could cause havoc if we chose to. Instead, we used our gifts to help our new parents.
“Wes,” I warned and shook my head. Doug couldn’t see me because I was still in the bathroom and Mortals couldn’t see portals.
Wes dropped Doug. “Fix him, Talia.”
“I’m so sorry my brother is being rough with you.” Talia adjusted Doug’s varsity jacket. “He tends to be overly protective.”
“I don’t care. I love you,” Doug said, and Wes and I exchanged a look.
“I know you do,” Talia told the idiot and then extended her hand toward Wes.
“You don’t need an artav
us,” he said.
“And you know the family rule about runing Mortals,” I added.
“Yes, I do, Lana,” Talia retorted. “But my gift has been wonky lately. So I either rune the guy, or he follows me around like an idiot.”
Wes handed her the artavus, but he glanced at me. I knew what he was thinking. It wasn’t the first time Talia had complained about her abilities. She wasn’t the only one. I hadn’t told them about my ebbing difficulties with reading auras. Like earlier when I couldn’t see Syn’s. My touch was one gift I couldn’t afford to test.
“What’s that?” Doug asked, pointing at the glowing artavus.
“Just a special pen. I’m marking you as mine, Doug. I own you now.” She etched forgetful runes on Doug’s forehead. “Too bad you’ll never know it. You would have made an excellent lapdog.” She stepped back and grinned. The poor guy wore a dazed expression. “Go back to class and forget you made out with me.”
She waited until Doug left before she followed Wes into the bathroom. As usual, she went to check her reflection, wiping the corners of her lips and smiling smugly.
“What are you up to now?” I asked.
Talia gave me a slow smile. She was sixteen going on Playmate. With her porcelain skin and pitch-black hair, Talia looked delicate and fragile, and guys tended to trip all over themselves to please her. If only they knew how powerful she was. She could make grown men bark and act like idiots if she wanted, so I was relieved she only messed with guys our age.
“I’m conducting an experiment,” she said.
“To see how far down a guy’s throat your tongue can reach?” I asked.
She laughed and glanced at Wes. “Ha, she’s acquired a sense of humor.”
“Rude,” Wes said.
Talia made a face, our gazes meeting through the mirror. “Lana knows I don’t mean it. She’s funny. She just hides it so well behind her big-sister exterior.” She turned and faced us. “Doug’s girlfriend called me a bitch after I accidentally bumped into her earlier, so I decided I wanted to see how fast I could break them up, which is better than making her strip in front of the school and run around naked.” She showed us selfies of she and Doug kissing. She must have held down the camera button because there were so many of them. “We’ll see who has the last laugh.”
[Mystic Academy 01.0] Fated Page 2