Witches (Runes series Book 6)

by Ednah Walters

  Fur-ball stretched and eyed me as I pulled out textbooks from my backpack.

  “Miss me?” I asked.

  Why? You don’t do anything remotely interesting or exciting. No potions or spells. Elemental magic is so boring. She rested her head on her front paws, closed her eyes, and sighed.

  “How come you speak English so perfectly?”

  Her eyelids parted and she studied me as though deciding whether to respond. I’ve watched every movie ever made in the last hundred years. I speak most of the world languages fluently.

  “Hundred? How old are you?”

  A lady never tells her age.

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re a cat, Fur-ball, not a person.”

  Don’t call me that stupid name. I’m older and wiser than you. Didn’t your Valkyrie mama ever teach you to respect your elders?

  “Oh yeah, cat years.”

  Mortal years, Norn.

  “Don’t call me that.” I settled down to do homework, but I could feel her eyes on me. After I read a line twice without understanding it, I sighed and glanced at her. She was sitting up. “What?”

  When are we going to do something interesting around here?

  “I do plenty of interesting things.” She jumped up on the table and stared at my book. “Let me guess. You can read most languages too.”

  No. Never learned to read or write. What are you doing?

  I sighed. “Math. I need to do this or my grade will slip.”

  She sat in the middle of my textbook and stared defiantly at me. The goddess risked a lot to bring me here. You should be working on your magic and thinking up ways to stop the Norns from messing with you, not work on meaningless Mortal stuff.

  I’d stopped listening after her first sentence. “What did she risk? Why did she want to help me? You said she had a reason.”

  The cat shrugged, or at least it looked like a shrug. What god or goddess does something without a reason? They only care about themselves. Most of them anyway. And just because I’m feline doesn’t mean I don’t see or hear things.

  “Like what?”

  She stretched out on top of my book. Why do you need to go to school? Don’t you ever do anything fun? And when I say fun, I mean magical. And why do you live in such a small house? There’s nowhere to go and explore.

  I leaned forward until we were nose-to-nose. “First, I’m fun. Second, my house is perfect the way it is. And third, I’ll only share if you share.”

  She bumped me with her nose. You can’t blackmail me.

  “I just did. Start talking or get off my book.”

  Her eyes closed briefly. She met with Goddess Frigga, and your name was mentioned. Several times. They talk a lot about you up there, but this was different. The two are not really friends. After their meeting, Goddess Freya decided to bring me down here.

  “What did they say?”

  I don’t know, but I could help you find out. Your turn.

  Being blackmailed by a cat. How low I’d sunk. I sighed. “I went to watch a soccer practice and met a nice young man.”

  You ditched your Valkyrie for a Mortal? That’s stupid.

  “I didn’t ditch anyone, Fur-ball. The boy is on Torin’s soccer team, which means he and his friends will be dying soon.”

  The cat stood and tilted her head to the side, emerald green eyes not leaving mine. Are we going to help them? Maybe stop them from dying?

  “I don’t know. Maybe. I couldn’t get a reading from the boy.”

  Then try again.

  I remembered the way Torin watched out for Jace and knew I couldn’t walk away. “I will.”

  Now.

  “No, I’m not going to his house.”

  I want to meet him. Maybe I can keep an eye on him until you know for sure. That’s what I’m here for. To be your eyes and ears when you’re not around. I’ll know if he’s in danger and alert you.

  I shook my head. “This boy lives in California, not here.”

  So? It doesn’t matter whether he’s in Moscow or Timbuktu. I know how to access a portal to anyplace. Probably better than you.

  “Timbuktu, ha! You don’t have a tag. You don’t even have a name.” I lifted her off my book and put her back on the window seat. “I’ll think about it.”

  I don’t need a tag. I’ll always come back to you. But I need a name because I hate Fur-ball. She rolled on her back. I want to meet this boy. Our first case.

  I sighed. “Your first case. I already helped two people, Bastet. That’s a good name for a cat.”

  Not Bastet. How could you go on a mission without me? What kind of a partner are you?

  “That was yesterday before you were dropped off here, Artemis.”

  No! You can’t have helped anyone because I’ve been watching you since they said one of us would be your, uh…

  “Familiar. Watching me? You mean you’ve been spying on me, Venus?”

  Enough with forgotten goddesses already. And no, not familiar. Muse. I’m here to make sure you grow as a Völva. And I wouldn’t call it spying. Keeping an eye on you. Making sure you are all right.

  “Funny I don’t recall getting help from you when I battled Immortals and Norns. Some guardian cat you are. I should call you, El Diablo.” I grinned when she hissed. “Celestia?”

  She sighed and lay down again. That’s my middle sister’s name and there’s nothing angelic or celestial about her. She’s self-centered and vain, and she’s the goddess’ favorite. You should have seen her face when she wasn’t chosen to work with you.

  Okay, too much sibling rivalry. “Princess?”

  My oldest sister’s name. Be creative.

  “Jade? Your eyes—”

  No.

  “Emerald? Moss? Mint? Pear? Chartreuse?”

  She rolled onto her side and covered her eyes with her paw. You totally lack imagination.

  “Amber might suit you. I know a girl at school called Amber and she’s a PITA.” The cat peered at me. I expected her to hiss. Instead, I could swear she smiled. “Yeah, I should call you PITA?”

  You’d name me after bread? Really?

  I grinned. “Pain in the ass.”

  She laughed and rolled onto her back. Slowly, she wiggled as though scratching her back. Keep them coming.

  “Ebony. Jet. Slate. Obsidian. Onyx.”

  Pathetic. She rolled back on all fours, hopped down, created a portal small enough for her to walk through. I’m going to find something to eat.

  “Onyx is perfect,” I called after her. I couldn’t believe I’d once begged for a cat.

  I got busy finishing my homework. An occasional glance out of the window told me Torin wasn’t back. Was he still at Jace’s? When I finished, I debated whether to go to Cora’s and see what she was doing. She volunteered at a nursing home and her hours were odd. I texted her anyway, then booted my laptop.

  Checking for new releases at book sites was something I hadn’t done in a while. Between school, lessons with Lavania, and doing things with Torin, I never seemed to have time for leisure reading anymore. Reading to Dad didn’t count.

  I ordered a couple of books, all sequels to series I’d started last year, then started my rounds on social websites. Five minutes in and I lost interest. Selfies, movies and music seemed to dominate the lives of people I knew from school. My life was so complicated that their issues seemed petty by comparison.

  Onyx sauntered back inside my room and hopped onto my desk like she owned it. Let’s go see the boy now. I know you can get a reading if you focus hard enough.

  Would Torin still be there? “It’s not a question of focusing. My visions are unpredictable.”

  They shouldn’t be. Not for you, the most powerful Völva of this generation. Onyx walked behind my laptop and pushed it shut. Her eyes glowed briefly. Try it again.

  Glaring ensued. “Ass-kissing will get you nowhere with me.”

  Her whiskers twitched as though she was fighting a smile. I wanted to try it again. I changed into black pants and
pulled on my leather jacket.

  Where’s your staff?

  “I don’t own a staff.”

  No one can be this ignorant. Of course you own one. She padded to my bedside chest of drawers and pawed on the lowest knob. She managed to open it. What’s that?

  I peered inside. “Oh, that. That’s a dagger the Norns gave me months ago.”

  That’s it. Pick it up. Whoa, watch where you point that thing, she added and leaped out of the way when I picked it up. She crouched behind my desk and peered at me.

  “What are you doing?”

  Hiding in case you use it. That’s a Norn’s staff.

  “Norn’s what? Whoa…” Something was happening. The magic deep in my core stirred and blinked into existence without my help. I didn’t even have to focus on channeling it. It swelled and shot to my arm, gunning for the dagger.

  The dagger responded, the runes on its blade and handle glowing. I tried to drop it, but it was as though my hand was fused to the handle. Panic surged through me and my stomach hollowed out. But the freak show wasn’t over. The wooden part elongated while the iron blade coiled into a weird-looking knot the size of a baseball. Its core looked like a blue crystal. Or maybe the runes gave that illusion. The shaft hit the floor with a thud and stopped stretching, but the blue core continued to glow.

  Onyx said something I didn’t catch, but my mind was slow processing everything. The Norns had given me the dagger months ago to use it on my best friend Eirik. Eirik was Hel’s son, raised with me on earth so he wouldn’t turn evil. They’d thought he was turning evil, but I’d refused to use it on him. Eirik was many things—confused, growing, dark, trying to find himself. But evil? No. However, the hags had known about my powers. They’d always known. What the hell was I to do with a staff anyway? I was a modern Völva. I couldn’t walk around with a staff.

  I remembered something Cora had told me. Echo’s scythe was the size of my dagger, until he held it and engaged certain runes. Then it shifted and grew into a full length, scary-looking reaper’s weapon. He didn’t just use it to create portals. The light from the blade could disperse a soul. I’d never seen it happen, but Cora swore by it.

  I lifted the staff and pointed it at my dresser.

  Not inside the house, Onyx screamed inside my head. I studied her. She still crouched behind my desk. Turn it off.

  How? I wanted to ask her, but she already thought I was a complete idiot. No point giving her more ammunition. I focused on reversing what had happened. I pulled back the energy linking to the blade, and pushed it away as though rejecting it.

  And what do you know? It receded back to my core.

  The crystal core at the tip of the staff dimmed and disappeared as though sucked into the staff. The wooden part shrunk and the tip uncoiled, until once more, I was holding the dagger. It now looked like any ordinary weapon without my magic.

  So the Norns had known about the dagger. Was their intention to make me use my magic to hurt Eirik when I didn’t even know I had it in me? Why? That was obvious. So they could control me.

  I opened the drawer, threw the dagger inside, and closed it. I was never touching that thing again. Shaken, I sat on my bed, then lay on top of the covers and stared into space.

  Onyx joined me, curling up a few inches from my head. For once she kept her thoughts to herself. Just stared at me without saying a word as though she knew just how shaken I was.

  Their presence at the StubHub might be another attempt to control me. Maybe to stop me from helping those kids. I sat up.

  “Come on, Onyx. We are visiting Jace.”

  6. Draugar

  I could see part of Jace’s bedroom while we were still in my bedroom. Pinpointing people’s whereabouts by thinking about them as the portal formed was becoming easier now. Previously, I’d only focused on familiar places—the mansion, Torin’s place, our shop, or the school. Now I created air or wall portals anywhere. I bet I could find Torin if I wanted to stalk him while he was out reaping.

  Air portals were tricky because it meant literally etching runes on invisible air particles. Runes had to hang in the air before they dissipated, and since they were made of light, you had to be fast. Torin and Andris made it seem so effortless. Me? It was a hit or miss. I preferred mirrors and walls.

  A shirtless Jace was at the other end of the room, head bowed low as he did something on his desktop computer.

  The room was filled with soccer paraphernalia—flags, posters of soccer players, teams, and trophies. He was a serious LA Galaxy fan. Among the posters was a corkboard with pinned school events and pictures. He must have been playing since he was young. He looked about five in some of the team pictures. There were also scattered pictures of a red head. She was smiling in almost all of them. Must be his mother. None showed her when she was sick. In a few, there was also a man with her. Former coach? I didn’t see any of her with Jace.

  I touched the pictures, the board, even the soccer stuff and got nothing. Strange.

  What is he doing? Onyx asked, her voice startling me.

  “Shhh,” I said.

  Jace glanced over his shoulder and I froze, my grip tightening on Onyx. Had he heard us? I noticed something else. Bruises on his back like someone had hit him. There was no way they came from soccer. Could his father be abusive? Like Beau’s?

  Carefully, I skirted around the dirty pile of clothes, socks, and cleats on the floor. I was done touching dirty gym clothes to get visions. I stood behind his chair. No reading on the chair. He was on a popular social website.

  “Faced my bullies tonight. Got a black eye, but made sure they’ll never come after me again,” I read what he’d just posted on his timeline and my eyes flew to his face. He was pressing a bag of frozen peas on his left eye, but I could still see the split lip and the cut above his right eye. He also had bruises on his knuckles, which explained the online comment.

  He chuckled at a response to his post and clutched his side. He dropped the peas to respond, and I slapped my hand on my mouth to stop from gasping. His eye was almost swollen shut.

  Oh, poor kid, Onyx murmured. His eye is swollen.

  Thanks for stating the obvious, Onyx.

  Beiskaldi! Don’t call me Onyx.

  Runes could take care of his wounds. I could add just enough to lower the swelling without arousing suspicion. You use that word a lot, Onyx. It had better mean sweetheart or gorgeous.

  Onyx gave a gleeful chuckle that said it was none of the above.

  If I put you down, can you stay invisible? I’d forgotten to ask her before I scooped her up in my bedroom.

  Oh, I’m perfectly happy being carried around.

  I put her down. Self-serving Beiskaldi!

  Who are you calling a bitch? I’ll have you know—

  Stop yapping for one second. I need to think. Surprisingly, she clammed up. From the way she sat on her hind side and lifted her chin, she was pissed. Too bad. She had called me a bitch first. I pulled out my artavus.

  What are you going to do? Onyx asked.

  I should have known she wouldn’t stay quiet for long. Ignoring her, I engaged speed runes and etched on Jace’s back just enough to take care of severe damages. By tomorrow, his face wouldn’t look like his attackers had used him as a soccer ball.

  He turned suddenly and looked around, almost brushing against me. I stepped back, careful not to make any sounds. His eyes zeroed in on my position as though he felt my presence. Someone rattled the door and Onyx practically leapt into my arms. We backed away from Jace.

  He dove for his T-shirt and yanked it on before yelling, “Come in.”

  I was by the mirror, ready to create a portal when a man stuck his head inside the room. Taylor senior. His pictures had captured him perfectly, brown hair with a receding hairline, gray eyes, and a nicely trimmed moustache. The dark shadows under his eyes and the gauntness weren’t in the pictures though.

  “Mr. Worthington is leaving now,” Coach Taylor said. “Would you like to personally th
ank him?”

  What? Torin’s father was here? Unless there were two Worthingtons in L.A., the evil bastard was up to something. Could I sneak into their living room and confirm it?

  “I already did,” Jace mumbled.

  “He wants to know if you’re ok, son.”

  “He shouldn’t have interfered. It was none of his business. And he creeped me out by following me home.”

  His father sighed and stepped into the room. “He witnessed those boys attack you, Jace, and did what any decent man would do.”

  Decent my ass. I bet he knew of Torin’s interest in Jace and had been following Jace around. What did he want?

  “I intend to file charges against LA Galaxy, and Mr. Worthington said he’s willing to testify. All you have to do is tell us their names.”

  “No, Dad,” Jace said, standing up. “Please. You’ll only make things worse for me. Let it go.”

  His father moved closer. “Why are you protecting them? If they get away with it, they’ll do the same thing to someone else. That’s what bullies do until they’re forced to stop.” His father peered at him and frowned. “Hmm. The swelling on your face is down and the redness in your left eye is gone. Even your lip seems less swollen.” He stopped and straightened. “Jace, I need the names of the boys who did this to you.”

  Jace sighed. “I didn’t see them. It was too dark.”

  “Son…”

  “Dad, please. Just let it go.”

  His father sighed. “Fine. Here.” His father held out a locket on a gold chain. “He found this on the ground by the bus stop.”

  Jace took the necklace and stared at it, a weird expression crossing his face. “I didn’t know I’d lost it.” He opened the locket and his face crumpled. “If I’d lost this…”

  “I know.” His father patted his back. “Come on. Your mother raised you better than this.”

  Jace pocketed the locket and followed his father out of the room. Once again, Jace’s eyes swept the room as though he knew they weren’t alone. Then he followed his father. I wondered what was in the locket.