“Taran saw it in me, too,” Coral added.
I immediately looked at Arun and he shrugged, then nodded, his expression full of apology. I opened my mouth to demand why he hadn’t told me, then snapped it closed. It didn’t matter. Because it couldn’t be true. “Come on! We all know Dru is kind of easy, but even she wouldn’t sleep with one of those things. I saw a group of them and they’re too scary. They don’t look human with that strange skin and those long pointy fingers. No way.”
“The one who claims to have fathered us said he used magic to change his appearance,” Coral said softly. “He found me in Florida. His name is Vrunlin.”
The lump returned to my throat, this time a nasty mixture of fear and dread. “Wait, you met him?”
She nodded. “The elves and the giants wanted us dead, but he wouldn’t hurt me. In fact, he went out of his way to keep me safe. His friends or family or whatever they were got pretty mad at him.”
Arun stepped close. I felt the heat of him against my back, through my clothes. He rested his hand on my shoulder. “One of the elves in the group we saw acted strange. He didn’t seem to want to kill Kat, but he tried to anyway.”
“Did he have short white hair?” Coral asked. “Because I’ll be surprised if it was Vrunlin. The others wanted him to kill us, and they kept arguing with him. But he refused.”
“You’re saying an elf is our father and he what? Loves us too much to kill us?” I barked out a laugh. “I’m sorry, but that’s a bunch of bunk. I went a round with one of them and he was morbid as hell.” I thought of his half grin as he fought my rune tempus when I’d painted that rune on his forehead.
“No, it’s not,” Coral insisted. “We’re not entirely human. You know how we stop time? That didn’t come from the norn.”
Raven held up her hand. “When we talked with Loki, he said that part of our power must have come from our father.”
Coral unclipped one of the feathers from her hair and ran her fingers along it. “Loki told me the opposite. So, we can’t believe anything he says. I did meet the elf claiming to be our father. He didn’t seem to have that power. But love had nothing to do with him not killing me. He was more like fascinated.”
Taran nodded. “He actually saved Coral from getting hurt, but she’s right. He seemed more curious than anything. I do know he went against the others’ wishes by not killing her.”
“The one that tried to kill me had long white hair so I don’t think it was him.” I shivered, thought about the way he’d looked at me, the way he’d argued with the others. “And Loki told you both something different because he doesn’t know jack shit.” I pointed outside. “One of the girls out there, Nanna, told me exactly where we got the rune tempus. It’s from our Arapaho side, a gift from this woman or legend or I don’t know. Her name is Whirlwind Woman. If our mother hadn’t dragged us away from her family, we would have grown up knowing what was happening. We would have been cherished and protected and the rune tempus wouldn’t have made us freaks. In her effort to protect us, she made everything worse. There’s no excuse. We could have understood so much more instead of living in tents and being in the damned dark all our lives!”
Everyone was silent when I was done with my rant. My voice had continued to rise as all the anger and resentment for Dru rose in me.
Arun wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me tight against him.
Raven lifted an eyebrow and looked at Coral, who stared at me in openmouthed amazement.
“What?” I snapped.
“We were waiting for you to punch him for touching you.”
“I don’t do that.”
Raven nodded slowly. “Yeah, you do.” She scrunched her short hair in her fist, turned and stared at the quiet Vanir behind her. “Have you heard of Whirlwind Woman? I know your family is a different tribe, but some of the stories bleed across, right?”
He nodded and tucked a strand of shoulder-length blond hair behind his ear. “I don’t believe she’s a strong part of Choctaw legend, but I’ve heard of her in a lot of others.” He smiled at Raven. “It’s pretty cool.”
I gave in and leaned against Arun. The strong beat of his heart against my back soothed me for some reason. “Nanna believes she gave us the ability to stop time to protect us while we write the messages.”
“Guess it kind of backfired,” Coral murmured. “You’re right. It would have been nice to have grown up knowing all this.”
I looked at my fingers—the ones that didn’t have fingerprints anymore because once I didn’t have anything to write with and had burned the runes. “Yeah, then maybe my She Leech would have been a bit nicer.” She made a sort of jabbing motion behind my ribs that made me gasp. Arun patted my stomach and I patted his hand. “I’m okay. She hates that nickname.”
Raven walked to the bunk and sat down so hard, it creaked. “So let me see if I got all this. This elf used magic to look human and he lured our mother to a gloaming grove. But my rune tempus said in violence conceived. Why use magic to change his appearance if he’s just going to force her?”
Coral dropped the feather and threaded her fingers with Taran’s. “He used a glamour to get her attention, to seduce her, and once in the grove, apparently he let it go. He took a lot of pleasure in telling me how horrified she was when she saw his real face. It’s possible he didn’t plan for it to be that way. It’s possible his magic didn’t work in the grove. It didn’t during my rune tempus.”
“I need a moment,” I mumbled before grabbing my coat and stalking out of the cabin. I slid it on as I moved away from everybody. I circled a couple of trees and didn’t stop until I thought they couldn’t hear me if I lost the battle to rip something apart with my bare hands. The fury twisting my insides erupted out of my mouth with a growl and I hauled my hand back to punch a tree.
Snow crunched behind me and someone grabbed my arm. “That’s really not the smartest idea.” Amusement laced Arun’s voice. “I know what you just heard is unbelievably bad, but don’t hurt yourself. If you have to hit something, hit something softer. Like me.” He tugged me back.
I slumped against him. “I know. I just can’t deal with...with—” I broke off. “It’s a lot to take in. Bet you’re a bit freaked to find out you’ve been making out with a dark elf.”
He turned me around, put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face. “I’ve been kissing you, Kat. I like you, so whatever made you can’t be all that bad.”
“You saw those things. They’re bad. Really, really bad.” I clutched his wrist. “What do you think it means? Do you think my sisters and I will start to look more like them? And why didn’t you tell me I looked pointy? When?”
“Hey,” he whispered before he leaned down and kissed me. This kiss was firm and nice and, for a second, I forgot that I was apparently not even human because what that kiss did to me felt very human.
I pulled back, sighed and stared up at him. “You’re trying to distract me.”
“Is it working?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Kind of.”
“Maybe I should try harder,” he whispered as he leaned down again.
“Thanks,” I said against his lips before he could mess with my head again with his mouth.
He straightened. “For what?”
I shrugged. “For kissing me anyway, I guess.”
He chuckled. “There is no anyway when it comes to me wanting to kiss you.”
I smiled and he shook his head. “What?” I asked.
“I thought I loved it when you scowl at me, but the smile is pretty damned nice.”
I scowled, but it held little heat. “Don’t get used to it.”
This time his laugh was louder. “Okay.”
He agreed way too easily, but I’d take that up with him later. I stepped away from him and leaned against the tree
I’d planned to smack. “So what do you think my rune tempus about dark blood without rival really meant then?”
“I still think it means that Loki is taking out gods before the final battle. He’s making the playing field uneven. We can’t let him get any more kids. The elves and the giants—the dark blood—have to have something to fight. What I’m more confused about is your part in all this.”
“It’s our part.” Raven had followed me, too. She took my hand. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you the rest of the message I got. It said in violence conceived, of dark blood born, the trickster is freed at first breath of the norn. That’s our part in this. Mom knew that by giving birth to us, she was setting the end of the world into motion. The elves wanted this to happen. I don’t know why they picked our mom.”
“Then why are they trying to take us out? Coral said even the giants seemed to be after her more than Taran.”
“That part I don’t know.” She suddenly frowned. “Vanir and I saw a giant in Oklahoma and she seemed scared of me. Coral said her rune tempus talked about the creatures spilling dark blood. I think they don’t want us to get to that lake.”
“Then we have to.”
“We’ll leave first thing in the morning,” Arun said. “I don’t think we should be traveling through the woods at night. I’ll go make sure all the snowmobiles have gas.”
“I’ll help.”
I jumped at the deep voice because I hadn’t realized Vanir had followed Raven. I should have. The guy seemed to be plastered to her side. Luckily, I could tell she wanted him there. We watched them start to walk away before Arun stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Will you guys go back to the crowd? I’ll feel better if you do.”
“At least he asked nicely,” Raven murmured.
“Your Vanir seems just as nice.”
“They all are.” She took my hand and we started back toward the bonfire. “Every one of the kids we’ve met has been special. Even Taran with his occasional, um, grouchy moments. Which are a lot like yours, and this amuses me to death because of the way you and Coral clash.” She stopped and her gray eyes—exactly the color of mine—looked black in the low light. And I still wasn’t used to her crazy-short hair. Though, it did suit her. She squeezed my fingers. “You know, one of us could still die. Coral told me that she nearly did when Taran faced Loki in Fort Walton Beach and I nearly did in Oklahoma.”
“I haven’t nearly done anything yet.”
She held my hand almost as tightly as Arun had earlier. “And that could mean you might be the one in the prophecy.” Her expression turned fierce. “I won’t let that happen.”
I hugged her and laughed when Coral was suddenly there with her arms wrapped around both of us.
“I heard,” she said as she buried her face in my hair. “I won’t let you die, either.”
I pulled back, looked at each of them, and lied through my teeth. “Look, I’ll give you my oath here and now. I won’t be dying.”
Maybe I should have told them. About the fire nightmares. I even opened my mouth, but before the words spilled out, my norn made a sort of violent jerking motion in my chest. I closed my eyes—it hurt like crazy. But I knew she didn’t want me to tell them, and I even thought I knew why. If they were too focused on keeping me alive, they wouldn’t pay enough attention to everything else going on.
So I couldn’t tell them that it was me.
All I could do was hope that whatever the three of us were supposed to do together happened before the fire got me.
Chapter Thirteen
There weren’t enough tents for everybody, so some had to bunk in the small cabin. It was probably ridiculously crowded in there—I wasn’t sure there was enough floor space, but I doubted they slept any more than I expected to. Hallur, Vanir’s older brother, limped in last. The cold was hard on his broken foot. Apparently, he’d fallen off a roof before the snow ever started. A shadow lurked near the front porch, and I held my breath until I saw the red of Gillian’s hair. She could not stop staring at Vanir’s brother and I didn’t blame her. He was only in his twenties and absolutely gorgeous with his broad shoulders and midnight-colored hair. Hopefully, her interest in him would help with her grief over Sky.
Arun and Tyrone had gone back to get Sky’s body. Alva had wrapped her in a blanket and placed her close to the cabin—which was why Gillian was hovering there. She was guarding her friend’s body more than watching Hallur. Thankfully, the snow had stopped a few hours before and the ravens had moved on, so all we heard over the gathered voices of our group was the occasional howl of a wolf.
“Is Vanir’s other brother that good-looking, too?” I asked Raven.
She nodded as she threw a sleeping bag into the tent we’d decided to share. There weren’t many hours left in the night, but we needed to try to sleep at least some.
Vanir and Taran had joined a few others in the first watch, and as I observed them talking quietly together on the outskirts of our camp, I could see why both my sisters had started caring for them so fast. Then I looked for Arun, spotted him watching me as he crouched in front of the tent he would be using. He smiled as if he’d just been waiting for that last connection before sleeping. Our gazes seemed to lock and I smiled. He nodded, then crawled into the tent.
“Wow, never thought I’d see you reacting to someone like you are Arun.” Raven smirked as she crouched by the tent opening.
“Like you have room to talk.” I curled my lip at her.
We’d decided to share with Coral, and Raven maneuvered so she was facing me as she backed in. “I feel bad for Vanir. He took first watch because he can’t sleep yet. He’s worried about his wolves. They ran after the helicopter a long ways.”
Taran suddenly let out a loud whoop. Coral, who’d been about to crawl into the tent turned toward him.
“Coral!” He waved her over, holding out his phone. “Guess who wants to talk to you?” His grin was so blinding, even from across the clearing, I couldn’t help but smile.
But Coral’s beat his as she mimicked his whoop, jumped to her feet and ran around the bonfire. “Josh? Is it Josh?” She did a little happy skip.
“He’s okay! Just pissed we didn’t bring him up here!” His voice grew quieter as Coral reached him and snatched the phone.
Raven, who’d stuck her head back out of the tent, nodded. “They were worried about him all the way here. Josh and Grim are Taran’s best friends—well, I get the feeling they’re more like brothers. Anyway, while my Vanir was hanging out with the pilot, Taran and Coral both were either calling or being called. Seems his friends have adopted Coral into the family.”
“Like you have room to talk. My Vanir? Plus, I saw Hallur hugging you good-night.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” she muttered as she crawled back into the tent.
I leaned over so I could try to see her inside, but it was too dark to read her expression. “Seriously, Raven. Are you like really attached to him? To the point you’ll...” I couldn’t even finish the sentence.
She reached out and snagged the hand I had gripping the opening to the tent. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll admit I gave thought to moving closer to him and I know it’s crazy-fast and all, but I really care about him, Kat. And it’s not my imagination that both you and Coral seem to have gained boyfriends, too.”
“Yeah, but Coral’s lives close to us.”
“And Arun?”
Not knowing how to answer that, I knelt to climb into the tent, glanced over to find Coral still on the phone. A massive shiver shook her body, and Taran wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face into the side of her neck. She patted one of his arms around her as she chattered into the phone. Taran wasn’t as big as Vanir or as tall as Arun, but he was strong, sturdy, and I bet all that restless energy pouring off him made him really warm. Like Arun warm.
&nb
sp; I suddenly wanted to be cuddling up to him tonight. Just having an idea of what we faced tomorrow had me too nervous to sleep.
“Kat?” Raven squeezed my hand. “What are you going to do about Arun?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I really don’t. But he no longer has a home. His so-called friend burned everything down.”
She tugged me into the tent, laughing when I lost my balance and fell on her.
“Hey, why’d you do that!” I wriggled, laughing when she made a pained “oomph” noise. “You did this, so I don’t want to hear any whining about bruises tomorrow.”
She suddenly hugged me fiercely. “I missed you and Coral so much.”
I hugged her back. “Same here.”
Raven pulled back. “You might not have to worry about Arun. Did you not see how Taran’s dad was looking at Alva?”
I went still, half balanced on her leg. She pushed me off and I fell into the back...or was it the side...of the tent. “Like looking-looking at her?”
“Big-time.”
“Did she look back?”
“Big-time.”
“That’s so weird.”
“Not if it gets his family to Florida.”
“I can’t see them leaving here. They own all that land up here, after all.” And I didn’t say it out loud, but I knew without a doubt Vanir’s entire family wouldn’t be moving to Florida. And all this speculation could end up being pointless. We were about to fight giants and elves. Giants and elves! “I can’t believe we’re wondering about the future right now,” I muttered.
“It’s a good thing.” Her voice quieted as she stretched out into the sleeping bags we’d zipped together. “Goals give us reasons to keep working, to keep fighting. To have hope.”
Coral appeared, shivering hard, and climbed inside. “I haven’t been able to get warm since I crawled out of the water under the Brooks Bridge.” She turned and wiggled, then yelped. “Gods, Raven, your hands are like icicles.”
“I hate all this snow,” Raven grumbled. “I keep telling myself that if Loki made all this happen somehow and we all find a way to stop it, the snow will end.”
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