“You’re not eating?” he asked.
I tried to eat, but every time I swallowed, my throat closed and my stomach threatened to rebel. I pushed a piece of shrimp around the plate like a puck on an ice rink, guilt tugging at my conscience.
“You don’t like my cooking?” he asked, his eyes volleying between my face and the food.
The flutter in my stomach grew. “No, that’s not it. I’m worried, uh—”
“About Eirik,” he finished, putting his fork down.
That too, but at the moment I was more worried about him and how he would react to what I was about to ask him. Taking a coward’s way out, I forked a piece of shrimp, placed it in my mouth, and chewed without tasting it. “This is really good.”
He rolled his eyes. “Now she humors me.”
“It really is.”
“You just ate a piece of mushroom.”
I reached for the paper towel to spit it out, but the way his eyes lit up told me he’d been teasing. “You’re a jerk.”
“Love you, too.” He went back to his food as though he hadn’t just told me he loved him. He’d never told me he loved me, not even before he lost his memories. Should I ask him if he’d meant it, or should I focus on what the Norns had told me about Eirik?
Thinking about the Norns only made things worse. My mind kept going in circles. Torin got a second helping, while I struggled through half of mine. When he was done, he sat back, sipped his drink, and studied me with a questioning expression. I squirmed. I hated it when he stared at me as though he could read my mind.
“Okay, Freckles. Out with it.”
I bristled. “Out with what?”
“Whatever is on your mind,” he said.
“I got a tardy today because you refused to help me,” I said and pouted.
“You can move fast, fade, and sketch forgetful runes. You don’t need my help anymore.”
“I’ve barely learned those things, Torin. I can’t practice on a teacher.”
“Why not?”
“Because… because she’s my teacher and I could do something wrong, and I didn’t carry my artavus.”
He sighed. “Don’t worry about Mrs. Bates. I already took care of her memories. In the meantime, talk to Lavania about carrying an artavus. You need two, one for your skin and another for portals.” He looked at his watch and leaned forward. “We don’t have much time. Tell me what’s really bothering you.”
I took a deep breath and steeled myself. “You said, uh, that you came back because you owed a friend a favor.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yes.”
“What’s the favor?”
He shook his head. “I can’t talk about it.”
“Does it have anything to do with Eirik?”
Torin frowned. “Eirik? Of course not.”
I studied his face. He seemed genuinely surprised, which meant he wasn’t the one hurting Eirik. Still… “Why can’t you just tell me what it is?”
“Don’t do this.” He got up. “I gave my word, and I can’t break it.”
“Not even for me?”
He rubbed his eyes. “You should never ask me to break a promise, Freckles. I wouldn’t be the guy I am if I did that.”
Dang it! He was right. I looked down at my hands, my face warming.
“I don’t know what happened between this morning and lunchtime, but I have a feeling the Norns have something to do with it. I’m here if you need to talk or—”
I gave an unladylike snort. “So it’s okay for me to share things with you while you keep secrets? You know I hate double standards. They suck.”
He sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry, but I can’t explain anything now.”
I got up, feeling tired and a little weepy. “You said the same thing months ago, Torin, and we almost lost each other.”
“I will never let that happen again.” He got up and gripped my arms. “Never.”
“You don’t know that. As long as you continue to keep your secrets, anything is possible.” I turned and started for the door.
“Freckles, wait!”
I wanted to ignore him. My heart dueled with my mind. My heart won. No matter how much he hurt or disappointed me, my heart would always belong to him. I stopped and turned. He closed the gap between us, blue flames leaping in the depth of his eyes.
“You mean everything to me.” He reached up and tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear, his eyes fierce. “I’m not going to lose you over this.”
I searched his face and saw the truth in his eyes. I should have known loving a Valkyrie wasn’t going to be easy. Yet I couldn’t have him any other way. I covered his hand and pressed it against my cheek. “Of course you’re not going to lose me. I just don’t understand.”
“The favor is personal. You’ll understand once you learn the truth. Will you give me a few days, please? A week at the most. Please. For us.”
How could I refuse such a plea? I reached up and touched his lips. His beautiful sculpted lips. He could make me agree to anything when he turned on the charm. “Okay.”
He grinned. “Will you tell me everything the Norns said?”
I laughed. “You’re charming, Torin St. James, but not that charming. You keep your secrets, and I’ll keep mine. I’ll take my car back to school.” I turned and opened the door.
“Why?”
“You have football, and I have errands to run after school.”
“My practice will only last an hour. We’re tapering down.”
“I need to stop by the store to see my parents then pay a certain deity a visit. Alone,” I added when his eyes narrowed with disapproval.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I can handle Eirik.” Torin followed me outside, still protesting, and watched me walk to my house. He was still standing on his porch, looking annoyed, when I drove past. I smiled and blew him a kiss.
***
If morning had been stressful, the afternoon was torturous. Teachers taught, but I didn’t hear a word they said. I kept going over what I planned to say to Eirik. He wasn’t returning my texts. When I tried to catch him between classes, he was always surrounded by his groupies. I never thought of Eirik as a chick-magnet, or an annoying, pig-headed douche. He was now both. I refused to compete for his attention.
I stopped by the store after school. Jared looked surprised to see me. “What’s up, kiddo?”
“Nothing. Thought I’d stop by and check on them.” I nodded toward the office.
He checked his watch. “They should be back from lunch any minute now.”
“Lunch? Where did they go? The North Pole?”
He chuckled. “Home. I always close up when they have their late lunches.”
Lunches? So they weren’t just sneaking off to have private dinners. Their dinners were really extended lunches. The thought of my parents sneaking off to make out the entire afternoon and into evening was… weird. Once again, a note on the fridge door said they’d be late coming home.
Next stop was Eirik’s house. Most homes in his neighborhood were gated. At least his gate was open. I tensed as I parked beside his Jeep. He couldn’t avoid me now, unless he’d brought home the girls I’d seen him with.
His mother answered the door with a smile. That was a first. I guessed training to be an Immortal made me someone worth smiling at now.
“What a nice surprise, Lorraine,” she said, giving me a hug.
That was new, too. Surprised, I stood stiffly until she let me go and stepped back.
“You haven’t visited us since you started your training.”
And way before that. I avoided coming here like the plague even though they had the perfect home, complete with an indoor swimming pool. They were cold and unwelcoming.
“Yeah, Lavania is keeping me busy, and then there’s school. Is Eirik home?” Of course he was home, but her enthusiastic welcome was spooky and making me nervous. When nervous, I tended to babble.
“He’s in his room. So ho
w’s your training?” she asked, closing the door behind us and walking me across their grand two-story foyer with its winding staircase and marble floor.
“Good.” Her husband appeared in the arched doorway leading to the living room and smiled when he saw me. He wasn’t as tall as his wife, but he had a presence and cold, steel-gray eyes that never missed a thing. While I could tolerate the wife in small doses, he often gave me the willies. “Hi, Mr. Seville.”
“Johan, please,” he said.
Okay, now I knew someone had replaced Eirik’s parents with their doppelgangers, or aliens. Stupid conclusion. They were aliens from another realm. Or they could be trying to hide something, like poisoning Eirik.
“So have you started learning runes yet?” Eirik’s mother asked.
Was she going to follow me all the way to Eirik’s bedroom? I could feel her husband’s eyes on us. “Last week. I’m on bind runes.”
“Already?”
“Lavania said they’re so complex and hard to master she wants me to learn them along with single runes.”
“I can see how that can be helpful. Well,” she stopped and indicated Eirik’s door, “here we are. It’s been nice talking with you, dear. You should visit us more often.”
Yeah, right. “I will, Mrs. Seville.”
“Please, call me Sari.”
I gave her a tiny smile and waited until she walked away before knocking on Eirik’s door. I could hear muted sounds. I knocked louder, opened the door, and peeked inside. He was on top of his bed fast asleep, but a game was paused on the TV screen.
I entered his bedroom and closed the door behind me. His bedroom was huge. One side had a flat screen TV, a couch, several gaming chairs, and every gaming console on the market. On the other side was a table with cameras and lenses. The corkboard, which took up quite a bit of wall space, had pictures and swim medals pinned on it. Most of the pictures were of me and nature. There were some of Cora, taken when she wasn’t looking at him.
I moved closer to the bed and studied Eirik. He looked so innocent. Sweet. Nothing like the mean person who’d hurled those damning words at me. I nudged his knee. He mumbled something and rolled over.
“Come on, Eirik.” I yanked at his toes. He jerked his feet away. “We’ll see how you like this.” I marched to his bathroom, which was huge and done in blue marble, grabbed a paper cup, and got some water. Just enough to knock him into consciousness.
“If you pour that on me, you’ll be sorry,” Erik warned as I approached his bed. He was still curled up, his eyes closed, intent on ignoring me.
I raised the cup and tilted it, drenching his face, shirt, and hair.
He swore and jumped off the bed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“That’s for the hurtful things you told me yesterday, you douche bag.”
He shook the water from his head, and his amber eyes narrowed. “You’re such a b—”
“Say it! I dare you!” I yelled back.
“Bitch!” Evil runes appeared on his skin.
“And you have shit for brains.” He started around the bed and, for the first time, uncertainty flickered through me. Okay, maybe I had gone too far. I backed up. “Eirik?”
“Did you think you’d come into my room, pull that stupid stunt and get away with it?”
“You wouldn’t dare hurt me.”
“Really?” His eyes glazed over.
Fear rolled though me like a dam had broken. “TORIN!”
Eirik kept coming, the evil smirk I hated twisting his lips. “He’s not around to rescue you.”
“This is ridiculous, Eirik. I’ve splashed you before and you never acted like… like…” I gulped. More evil runes appeared on his arms. I reached for the door just as the portal appeared on his mirror and Torin walked in.
Eirik stopped. Unfortunately, he was between us, so I couldn’t go to Torin.
“What’s going on?” Torin glanced at me. “Are you okay?”
I started to nod then shook my head. Andris, Ingrid, and Lavania followed him into the room. The door opened behind me, and Eirik’s mother asked, “What’s going on here?
“What have you done?” Lavania asked. She was staring at Eirik in horror.
Eirik glared at her. “I didn’t hurt her. I just wanted to scare her, so she’d leave.”
“I’m not talking about Raine.” Lavania walked past Ingrid and Andris who were staring at Eirik with morbid fascination. Torin was beside me, though I couldn’t remember seeing him move. “The runes. Where did they come from?”
Eirik looked at his arms, his runes starting to fade. The ones on his face were still dark. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” his father bellowed from behind me.
“Did you sketch them?” Lavania asked, throwing Eirik’s father a censuring look.
Eirik made a face. “You think I put these on me? Of course not.”
Lavania’s eyes narrowed on Eirik’s parents. “You! You dared to do this to him? Who do you work for?”
“We would never do this to him,” Eirik’s mother snapped, her eyes volleying between Lavania and Eirik. Torin and I stepped aside to let her and her husband walk farther into the room.
“How dare you accuse us of this… this atrocity?” Eirik’s father roared. “We’ve been dutiful to the boy.”
Everyone turned to stare at Eirik. I didn’t. I searched the others’ faces. They all looked horrified, yet one of them was responsible for Eirik’s runes. Which one? Lavania’s reaction had seemed genuine, but was it real? The shock on the faces of the others all indicated they knew the runes were evil.
“Eirik?” his mother asked softly.
He shrugged. “They just appeared.”
“Runes don’t just appear, young man,” his father snapped. “You’re not even supposed to have them. Worse, they are reversed, the worst—”
“STOP IT!” Lavania’s voice cut through the room. “You don’t talk to him with such disrespect.”
“We are his parents, Valkyrie,” Eirik’s father retorted.
“You are his guardians. Immortals, subject to Immortal laws.”
Laughter came from the other side of the room, and everyone turned. Eirik was seated on the arm of his couch, legs apart and hands on his knees, ambers eyes twinkling. What was funny? Was his evil side taking over again?
He shook his head. “This is all very entertaining, but I think you should all leave now. You too, Mom and Dad.” He glanced at me and frowned. “Raine can stay.”
“Don’t you understand?” Lavania said, moving closer to Eirik. “You’re not supposed to have runes.”
“So I have weird runes, big deal. I have an evil side that releases something that causes people to go crazy, too. Now that’s a discussion we could all sink our teeth into. Except I’m not in the mood, so out.”
No one moved.
“Evil side?” Eirik’s mother whispered.
“What are you talking about, son?” his father added.
“What evil side?” Lavania added.
Eirik looked at me as though surprised I hadn’t told them. I shook my head. He sighed, stood, and walked to his mother. He gripped her hands and peered into her eyes. “Mom, I’m fine. I’m dealing with the changes—”
“You’re not supposed to change, Eirik,” his mother said. “Your powers have always been there. All you need is someone to help you channel them.” She glanced at her husband, who hurried forward to join them. “Johan and I are not qualified to do it.”
“I am,” Lavania said.
“You can’t work with him until we get our orders,” Eirik’s mother said.
“Orders from who?” Lavania asked.
“The Norns,” Eirik’s father said.
The Norns? I exchanged a look with Torin and tucked away that information for later.
“What evil side are you talking about?” Andris asked.
“What does having upside down runes mean?” Ingrid asked at the same time
.
My eyes stayed on Eirik. As the others threw questions at him and the noise level rose, a cornered look entered his eyes. He was close to losing it again.
“Excuse me,” I called out. No one stopped talking. I moved away from Torin to where Eirik stood. “HEY!” I yelled, waving my arms to get their attention. “I think you should all do as Eirik asked and leave.”
Silence followed, then everyone started talking at once. His parents insisted they still wanted to talk to him. Lavania didn’t bother to hide her annoyance with them. I could tell she thought they were epic failures. Andris and Ingrid were busy hounding Torin for answers. He smirked and ignored them, arms crossed, his gaze on me for some reason.
“Eirik will talk to you when he’s ready. Right now, he needs space.” No one moved. I glanced at Eirik, hoping he would support me, but he was glaring into space. “Eirik!”
He looked at me then the others. “Do as she says. Not now, Mom,” he added when his mother appeared ready to argue. “Please.”
She nodded and led the way out of the room. For the first time, I saw something I had never seen in her eyes before—love. She kept glancing back, and I could have sworn her eyes were bright with unshed tears. The Valkyries surprised me by following them instead of leaving through the portal. Torin didn’t move.
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured him.
He gaze swung to Eirik then back to me.
“I’ll call you if I need you.”
He nodded then said, “Eirik.”
“I wasn’t going hurt her. Maybe throw her into the pool to teach her a lesson.” He waited until Torin left then glanced at me and added, “Upside down runes. Evil half. I’m screwed, aren’t I?”
“No, you’re not. I talked to the Norns this morning, and they explained everything.” That got his attention. “Someone is doing this to you, Eirik.”
Immortals (Runes book 2) Page 32