“Yeah, Eirik would rather slobber over a bunch of airheads than hang out with me. Can’t we just hang out the two of us?”
I loved falling asleep in Torin’s arms. “I guess so.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I could tell she was hurt. “Forget it.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to hang out. I do, but Torin sneaks into my room every night and holds me until I fall asleep.”
Cora’s jaw dropped. “That’s so romantic. Gah, now I’m neon green with envy. Oh, I want to hear everything.” Then her eyes widened. “Have you done it? Do you worry about getting busted by your parents?”
I laughed. “Yes, but he’s so worth it. And no, we haven’t done it, nosey.”
“What are you waiting for? If he were mine, I would have jumped his bones weeks ago. Okay, fine. You’re off the hook on sleepovers, but we’re hanging out tomorrow.” She glanced at Torin’s house. “Are you tutoring her tomorrow, too?”
I grimaced. “Until seven.”
She made a face again. “I hope she’s paying you well.”
Becoming an Immortal was priceless. “So we’re on for tomorrow after seven. We can have dinner. You know, order pizza or something.”
“Or eat out. We have to go shopping for Halloween outfits.”
I really didn’t want to go shopping. I’d planned to ask Torin if he wanted to go trick-or-treating with us, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. Cora, Eirik, and I often went together.
“There are a few people throwing Halloween parties on Saturday,” she said. “We could checkout one or two.”
“Drew already invited us to one.”
She grinned. “Let’s talk tomorrow.” She opened the door and paused before entering her car. “Have you seen Eirik?”
“I saw him before Torin and I left for lunch. Why?”
“He left the pool early. He had some weird red marks crisscrossing his back. Someone noticed them and asked him about them. He looked, I don’t know, scared and couldn’t wait to get out of there. He didn’t even tell Doc he was leaving.” She shook her head. “Totally weird. Anywho, see you tomorrow at school at, uh, lunchtime?”
I shook my head, still mulling over what she’d told me. “Torin hates school lunch.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course he does. Later then.”
As I walked back to Torin’s, images of Eirik’s back flashed in my head. Until he’d turned ten, Eirik had horrible bumpy marks on his back. They looked like strawberry marks you saw on newborn babies, except his had run from his shoulders to his waist.
I couldn’t concentrate, and Lavania didn’t bother to hide her disappointment. “Your association with this Mortal—”
“Cora. Her name is Cora,” I said.
“Your association with Cora is affecting your concentration. You need to cut her off.”
“She’s my friend, Lavania,” I protested.
“Then choose what’s more important. Your friendship with her or your training. You can’t have both.” She got up. It was only six. “We’re done for today.” She picked up my runes book and hers and thrust them at me, her disapproval obvious. “Take these and practice the runes on the next two pages at home. You can also take home your artavo. Do not let her see them.”
I just stopped short of rolling my eyes. She was being unfair and dictatorial.
***
I was still pissed when my parents came home, but as soon as I saw my dad, my anger disappeared. He looked pale and appeared frailer than yesterday.
I hugged him, stepped back, and studied his face. “You okay, Daddy?”
“Yes, pumpkin. Just a slight headache.”
“Then why are we going out?”
“We’re not,” Mom said from behind us, and I whipped around. She’d just entered the house from the garage. In her arm was a brown paper bag with a familiar logo. “Your dad and I are tired, so we thought why not have takeout from our favorite Cantonese restaurant. Come on.” She pushed the bag into my arms and slipped her arm around Dad’s waist. The two walked to the kitchen.
I followed, not liking the way they walked. It almost seemed like she was supporting his weight. Maybe seeing him on the floor a few nights ago was making me imagine things.
I kept an eye on him as I retrieved three plates from the cupboard and placed them on the breakfast nook table. Mom removed boxes of food from the bag while Dad plopped on a chair, leaned back against the ladder-back, and closed his eyes.
“Do you need headache meds, Dad?” I asked, worried about him.
He smiled. “Could you?”
I went to the hallway closet by the downstairs bathroom, lifted the First-Aid kit from where Mom kept it on the top shelf, and found ibuprofen. Approaching the kitchen with two tablets, I angled my head to catch my parents’ conversation, but they were talking in low voices.
“Not yet, please,” Mom said.
“It’s almost four weeks,” Dad answered.
“Which is too soon,” Mom murmured. “Give us one more week.” They kissed.
The conversation didn’t make sense, but then again, they always finished each other’s sentences which made it impossible to understand what they were discussing half the time. I stomped my feet to draw their attention with little effect.
“Do you two need to be alone?” I teased when they continued to kiss. “Because I can grab my food and disappear upstairs.”
Dad lifted his head and smiled. There was more color on his cheeks. “Sit down.” He glanced down at Mom and added, “Where do you think she gets her insolence from?”
“Me,” Mom said and chuckled. “I need it to counteract your stubbornness and impatience.”
Dad laughed. “You, my love, know that I don’t have a stubborn bone in my body. I have the patience of a saint.”
I sat, loving their exchange. Mom’s eyes were bright, and Dad looked much better.
“Saint?” She glanced at me. “Let me tell you the story of the day we went to the hospital for the first ultrasound when I carried you.”
“No, no, not that day,” Dad said, shaking his head.
Listening to their anecdotes, hearing their laughter and seeing their love pushed aside the concerns I’d had about Dad. He sounded normal and was even planning on running the next morning. Even when the conversation moved to my physical therapy, I steered it back to them. They were still talking when I left them an hour later.
Upstairs, I went to the window, but Torin’s room was in total darkness, even though lights were on downstairs. I finished my homework, including several oboe tunes, and was working on the book report for AP English when a warm draft filled the room and the mirror dissolved into a portal.
Eirik peered into my room. “Can I come in or are you going to throw something at me?”
Laughing, I stood. We hugged, and then I slugged him in the gut.
He doubled over. “What was that for?”
“For acting like a douche.”
He grinned. “I was trying to be heroic.”
“Then I like you better unheroic. Have you eaten?”
He flopped on my bed and stretched. “Yep. Mom made something.” He grimaced. “What did you have for dinner, so I can salivate with envy?”
“We didn’t go out. Mom brought food from San Tung.”
“I love San Tung.”
I angled my head. “They’re still downstairs. You want to see if there is any left… Wait up.” He was already heading for the door. I grabbed his shirt, forcing him to stop. “Do me a favor. See if you notice anything different about my dad.”
“What do you mean?”
“I found him unconscious on the floor on Saturday, and he hasn’t been the same since.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. Mom said he slipped. He was wearing silk socks, and there’s no traction on the kitchen floor.” I rolled my eyes. “He had a bump, but Torin healed him. After my head injury, I don’t take any head injury lightly, even a bump.”
“
Have you talked to your mom about it?”
“She’s the one who came up with the traction explanation, which is totally lame. I wish I knew what they were hiding. It’s been almost a month, and Dad hasn’t fully recovered from his illness in Cost Rica, even though he’s gone back to biking and running.”
“What did Torin have to say?”
I shrugged. “We haven’t discussed it.”
Eirik studied me pensively as though thinking over what I’d just told him. “Okay. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Downstairs, my parents looked up when we entered the kitchen. They didn’t look surprised, which told me Mom had known the second Eirik entered my room. Dad didn’t ask Eirik how he’d entered our house without ringing the doorbell either, which meant he knew about the mirror portal in my room. Mom waved Eirik to a chair and piled food onto a plate.
Conversation focused on the local 5K and 10K races Dad intended to participate in, a marathon he was hoping to run in spring, and upcoming swim meets. Typical conversation around my house. Dad religiously watched professional and collegiate sports, especially football and basketball. He rarely showed interest in high school until now. Maybe having Torin as the QB had something to do with it or Eirik’s enthusiastic recap of last weekend’s game.
“You should come to the playoffs, Mr. C.,” he said. “We are hosting.”
Dad looked at Mom, and she nodded, not masking her excitement. Seriously, the football gene must have skipped me or something.
“Are you going, Raine?” Eirik asked. I wanted to kick him. I wasn’t going to be myself with my parents sitting beside me. Besides, I planned to go with him, Andris, and Roger.
“Yeah, with Cora and a bunch of girls,” I fibbed incase my parents expected me to go with them.
“Oh, you won’t sit with us?” Mom asked and faked a pout.
“No-oo.” I stood and started clearing the table.
“Why not? Are you embarrassed to be seen with us in public?” Mom asked, but I heard the laughter in her voice.
“Absolutely. It’s social suicide.” I glared at Eirik, but he just smirked. “Don’t you have a swim meet on Saturday, Eirik? We should all go and cheer for him, Mom.” My parents always attended our meets; his only went sometimes.
“What a wonderful idea.” Mom touched Dad’s arm. “Do you have to bike in the morning?”
“I can bike in the evening.”
“I’ll invite Sari and Johan,” Mom added.
Eirik’s eyes narrowed, promising retribution. “When are you coming back to the team, Raine? I heard the captains planned to talk to you about it.”
Seriously, an unmarked grave in our backyard was too good for him. I walked to his side, picked up the remaining plates, kicked his shin, and smirked when he winced and bit his lip to stop from crying out.
“They already did,” I said, turning and catching Dad’s scowl. I wasn’t sure whether he’d seen the kick or if my response was the cause. “I told them I can’t until my doctor gives me the green light. He hasn’t.”
Dad exchanged a glance with Mom.
“Your dad and I don’t think you should go back to swimming until you can control your runes.”
Relieved, I nodded. As an Immortal, I could engage my runes and move faster than most humans. Of course, I would never cheat, but I didn’t have to worry about my parents pressuring me to join the team. They used to take such pride in my accomplishments.
I hurried back to the sink, aware that Eirik had gotten up to help me clear the table. I knew he was after revenge, so I shuffled away, ripped sheets of paper towel, and went to wipe the table.
“Goodnight, Dad… Mom.” I raced for the stairs.
***
I was checking to see if Torin was back when Eirik entered the room.
“I can’t believe you kicked me in front of your parents,” he griped, planting his sneakered foot on my gold and brown duvet and lifting the leg of his pants. “It’s swelling.”
His foot was fine. “I didn’t kick you that hard. Besides, I’m wearing sandals, you baby. Quit putting dirt on my covers. So what’s your verdict on Dad? Did he seem sickly to you?”
“He seemed fine.” Eirik walked to the other side of the bed, pulled out the pullout bed, stole half my pillows, and plopped on it. “I mean, he’s still thin, but he seemed okay. Where’s Torin tonight?” he asked.
I glanced out the window one last time and dropped on my bed. I scooted to the edge of the bed, so I could see Eirik’s face while we talked. “The players had dinner at the coach’s tonight.”
“So you two already sleep together?”
“He stays until I fall asleep then goes home.”
“I mean, you know, before you fall asleep. Do you have sex?”
My cheeks warmed. I couldn’t believe he just came right out and asked me. “That’s none of your business.”
He grinned. “So you haven’t. But he’s buttering you up with gifts.” He picked up the delicate hand-blown glass of a rainbow twirling around a clear arched piece. One base was the northern hemisphere of earth and the other a land with tall buildings grouped together on top of a stone mountain. Torin had surprised me with the piece after our trip to the waterfalls, and I loved it.
“Be careful with that.” I took it from Eirik’s hand and put it back. “And he doesn’t need to butter me up.”
“You know what that is?”
“Bifrost, the rainbow bridge connecting Asgard to Earth.”
“No, I mean it is a signature piece. Mom collects them, so I know they cost thousands of dollars. He’s definitely buying his way into your pants.”
“Shut up.” I hit him with a pillow. He yanked it from my hands and placed it behind his neck.
“How are your lessons with the Valkyrie?”
Grateful for the change in topic, I didn’t reprimand him for calling Lavania the Valkyrie. “Great. I have runes now. Watch this.”
I visualized Goddess Freya’s rune and a tingle started on my forehead, the feeling of well-being coursing through me. I didn’t have to look in the mirror to know I had Freya’s rune on my forehead. I added Odin’s on my right cheek, Thor’s on my left, and Tiw’s, the god of justice, on my chest.
Eirik sat up, his eyes wide.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“Beautiful.” He reached up and touched my forehead. “They make you look, I don’t know, unworldly.”
“I have more.” I focused on the runes of virtues. The beautiful etches spread on my arms like roots of a giant tree.
“That’s a lot,” Eirik said with awe.
“I etched them the last two days. I still have to add coded ones.” He gave me a blank stare. “Bind runes. You know two or more single runes combined to form a new one? Never mind,” I added when he still wore a clueless expression. “They’re gorgeous, powerful, and tailor-made for specific purposes. Lavania is really good. You should train with her, too.”
A thoughtful expression settled on his face as though he was thinking about it. He shook his head and plopped back on his pillows. “Nah.”
I let the runes fade. “Why don’t you like her?”
“She was rude to Cora the first day we met.”
“Are you sure? Cora told me she was nice.”
“Cora was just being polite. Lavania was dismissive when she talked to her and did it with that condescending smile. What else have you learned?”
“History of Immortals, Valkyries, the gods, and, of course, Norns.” By the time I finished explaining he wore a preoccupied expression. “I showed you mine, so now show me yours.” I sat up and stared at him expectantly.
He grinned and hooked his thumb under the waistband of his jeans. “Really?”
“You’re disgusting. I meant runes.”
He laughed. “Promise you won’t be jealous?”
I rolled my eyes. “Quit procrastinating.”
They appeared first on his face. He had Odin’s on his forehead like Torin, Goddess Frigg,
Odin’s wife, or should I say his grandmother, on his right cheek. The one on his left cheek was unfamiliar. “Whose is that?”
“I don’t know. My father’s, I think,” he mumbled, his cheeks acquiring a pink tint. Then like he’d opened a floodgate, runes inked his arms. There were so many of them. I recognized some, but majority were new to me. Some were visible on his collar, which meant he had more.
“Remove your shirt,” I said.
He threw me an incredulous look. “I’m not removing my shirt.”
“I’ve seen you shirtless countless times, bonehead.”
“Yeah, that was before you made out with Mr. Perfect Body next door,” he retorted.
I giggled. “I’ll tell him you’re crushing on him… No, I’ll tell Andris.” I wiggled my brow. “He’s bisexual.”
Eirik sat up. “No way.”
“Yes way. He’s dating some guy right now. Roger. Really pretty. Wears diamond studs.” I gawked when Eirik pulled off his shirt. “Whoa, that’s a lot of runes. Did you etch all of them?”
He shook his head. “No. They just appeared, and every day I get more.”
“What did your parents say about them?”
“Nothing. I mean, I haven’t shown them. Do you think deities pass runes through their blood to their children?”
“That’s possible.”
“I guess mine came from my father and my mother, whoever she is or was.” He reached for his shirt, which had dropped on the floor, and I saw his back.
My eyes widened, and it wasn’t because of the runes. The scars he’d had as a child were back, just like Cora had said. They were even uglier than I remembered. Something else registered. I recognized virtues runes on his body, but they were upside down or faced the opposite direction. I checked the ones on his face and arms again. Even Odin’s was opposite. I should have noticed that right away. What did that mean?
“Well?” he asked.
“Your runes are drawn wrong. They’re, like, facing the opposite direction.”
Eirik stood and walked to the mirror. I followed, visualizing my runes. By the time I stood beside him, runes coiled on my skin. We compared the familiar ones.
Immortals (Runes book 2) Page 29