Foretold

by Rinda Elliott

  She taunted me with the knowledge of something I never thought to know.

  “No.” Vanir kept his voice low, his breath warm against my cheek. “I can tell you’re dying to ask. Don’t bother. Anything she, no he, says could be a lie.”

  The words from my rune tempus kept playing over and over in my mind. Of dark blood born. Of dark blood born. I looked away from my mother so I could stare up at Vanir. “But what if your aunt was right and I’m one of—”

  He put his hand over my mouth.

  This snapped me out of my horror-stupor because it pissed me off. My eyes narrowed at him and I opened my mouth to bite. The corner of his mouth turned up because he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  Vanir just shook his head, muttering, “Later. We’ll figure that part out later.”

  My mother must have grown bored with us because she stopped messing with the living human statues, walked over and calmly kicked over one of the dogs. Hard. Then she did it to another. And another.

  “Stop!” I started to go to her, to stop her, but Vanir held me back. “You’re picking on helpless animals.” I should have known it wasn’t my mother when I’d realized all those dogs had been spelled. She loved animals. They loved her.

  “Your mother’s particular affinity for the creatures made this easy. And fun. Just look at all these faithful servants. “ The words came out of her mouth, but they no longer arrived in her voice. This one was deeper, but tinny, as if the god spoke through a coned muzzle. She looked at Vanir. “You haven’t said my name. I suppose I spoke too soon about your intelligence. How could you not know which god I am?”

  “I know which god you are,” Vanir said on a growl. His voice had deepened, too. My gaze flew up to find his eyes glowing yellow. The sky darkened rapidly now, snow swirling into the grove. Shadows played across his face as twilight approached. Anger and raw power poured off him like a river. “The trickster.”

  I’d been so busy thinking of the raven as a trickster, of me as the trickster, I hadn’t thought of... “Loki?” I whispered the name, but her gaze whipped toward me.

  “You mother has been planning this for years. Well, not killing the warriors.” He sneered the last word. “She planned to bind them with some silly spell. After it took her forever to find them. She was stronger than I expected. I guess she sensed me in some way because the one spell she did get right was the one that kept me from possessing her. Once I got inside, everything fell into place.”

  “The snakeskins at the bottom of that ladder,” I said on a shaky breath. “Mother berserker.” It was all making sense now. Mother falling off that ladder, being out for three days. It was just the sort of opening a spirit, or god or whatever he was, needed to take her body over. Berserker was another word for possession—a word the norns would have used and thought we’d understand. Maybe they didn’t know that berserker meant something closer to “crazy” in this modern world. “Kat’s norn told her you were possessed.”

  “Did it?” Loki shrugged my mother’s shoulder.

  I swallowed hard, afraid to ask the question that had lodged into a hard lump in my throat. But I had to. “Is she...is my mother still in there?”

  He stroked his hands down Mom’s sides and hips. “She is. Not that it matters. I’m the one holding the reins now.” He took a step closer to the grove. “Such a fun game you have turned out to be. I left the papers in her room for you to find. Wanted to see how fast you and your sisters would figure it out.” He reached out to touch a suspended snowflake. “And to make it even more fun, I turned up the snow...and a few other things.” He rubbed his hand over my mother’s stomach, grinned at me.

  I winced, wanted to hurt him for messing with her. But hurting him was hurting her. I couldn’t believe I’d thought she would do all this—kill kids, put me in danger. I tightened my fists then as I suddenly remembered we were still in my rune tempus. This one had been nothing like the others, not with the fast burn in my hands, the entire prophecy and the time we’d stood here talking. I looked up at Vanir to find his eyes closed, his hands opening and closing into fists. He must have sensed my gaze, because his dark eyes opened. Only they weren’t dark. They glowed like polished gold.

  Whatever was supposed to happen to him on his birthday was happening now, and with the true gloaming settling over the grove, the magic in the land was at its purest—its strongest. I held my breath, then quickly looked back to find my mother still grinning at me. No, not my mother. I needed to keep her...his...attention off Vanir.

  “Turned up the snow. And the wave in Florida? You’re doing this. You started the true Fimbulwinter.”

  “I’m having the time of my life! It’s the best sort of trick, don’t you think?”

  “But why?”

  Vanir growled and I wanted to hit him for pulling the attention off me.

  “It’s the game for you, isn’t it?” I raised my voice. “It’s all a game to you. Don’t you realize you’re supposed to die at the end of the world, too?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I’m not the one who set things in motion.”

  I shivered at the barely banked power in those eyes. “Who did?”

  He threw back my mother’s head and released a laugh so loud it echoed throughout the grove. “I can’t wait until you girls figure that one out.”

  “Raven.” Vanir’s voice held something that made me lock on to him, something that curled in my gut and stole my breath. The magic coming off him had the hair on my arms rising. He reached out, took my chin in his hand. “Loki likes games. Likes to unsettle us and keep us guessing.”

  “It’s my gift. Shouldn’t one want to share this gift?” Loki pulled my mother’s lips into a parody of a smile that sent chills down my spine. “But I’ve grown bored with this particular game.”

  “You mean you ran out of time,” Vanir said.

  Loki looked at him and his eyes flared wide before he quickly returned my mother’s features to that shrewd, pinched look. “Not quite yet, I haven’t. But I did get bored and try to end things with that nightmare spell on you. Raven’s mother has quite the knack for such things. Comes in handy.” His gaze slid to me. “Guess I have the norn to thank for it not working?”

  Vanir shook his head. “You have Raven to thank for it.”

  “So you killed Steve and Dan just to mess with us?” I tightened my hands into fists and took a step toward him.

  Vanir grabbed my arm before I could step out of the grove.

  “The blond boys? The first was actually an accident. One of the wolves was running with him and the woods were dark.” My mother’s body shrugged. “The second was just plain fun. Upset your mama.”

  Anger, like nothing I’d felt before, sent black spots before my eyes, made my ears ring. The world should have started the spin again. I wondered if Loki had something to do with it. “Do you really think you can change your fate in the coming battles by taking out the major players early?”

  “Why not? I don’t like the outcome. Don’t want to die. And because I can’t get fully out yet, your mother’s accident was the perfect opportunity to take her over. She’d already done all the footwork because she wanted to save her daughters.”

  As he talked, the world started its spin. Panic clawed my gut. We needed those men and their guns. But we did not need the dogs. I wanted to stop it, but I didn’t know how. I’d just learned how to start it up. Afraid to take my eyes off her, I grew queasy as the spinning quickened.

  My mother still grinned at me, not moving or swaying as the world went crazy around us. My hope crumbled. How could we fight a god? That creepy, mechanical humming noise sounded. It was actually coming from my mother’s throat.

  My legs wobbled and I reached for Vanir. But this time, he didn’t need me. He stood strong, tall, his hands curled into fists, his eyes glowing brighter and brighter.

&nb
sp; The gloaming hit its peak and the magic of the grove spiked. I gasped, nearly fell to my knees. The magic poked at my skin, crawled underneath it to curl around muscles and veins. I cried out when it explored my shoulder wound. Felt like curious, razor-tipped fingers poking at it.

  I bent at the waist. Vanir’s attention went to me and that was what Loki had been waiting for. My mother’s hand whipped up, something shiny glinting in the waning light. She’d gone back to retrieve her crossbow. I didn’t think. I was still bending over, so I turned and put my shoulders to his thighs, pushing as hard as I could to get him out of the arrow’s path. She’d aimed for the heart with the other two boys so I was safely out of the way. Or so I hoped.

  Vanir must have thought I was trying to take the arrow for him. He let out this sound, like a roar, and snatched me right off the ground. The power pouring from his hands and into my body as he held me made me dizzy. I think he meant to push me back out of the way, but I flailed and kicked my arms and legs out...right into the path of that arrow.

  It went into my thigh, just above my knee, as chaos erupted around us. Dogs attacked, rifles went off. Vanir laid me on the ground, knelt over me, his mouth tight, his eyes so bright they hurt my own.

  Somewhere out there, my mother cried out. Not Loki—my mother.

  Vanir didn’t look away from me. “I think your mom is fighting him.”

  “His hand to the death of a norn,” I whispered, repeating the part of the prophecy that had started all this for my family. The irony twisted my heart. His hand had been trying to push me out of the way.

  “What did you say?” Vanir reached for the arrow in my leg. “Never mind. Be still. We have to get this out before it melts.”

  “No, don’t touch it.” His aunt Sarah knelt next to us.

  I jerked, startled. With only Vanir, Loki and me moving and talking while everyone else was trapped in the rune tempus, I’d zoned them out.

  “You are so telling me later how you guys moved like that after I help her.” Sarah opened her medical bag and pulled out a pair of iron tongs. “The spell is strong. It could still hurt you. Luckily, she missed your heart, so the poison isn’t there yet. Honey.” She leaned over me. Her blond hair was loose under her red beanie. Strands fell across my face. They smelled like vanilla. “Tell us her name. Your mother’s name. She’s the one who made the spell. We can reverse the spell if we know her name.”

  I tried to focus on her words, but whatever Loki had shot in me had started to work. I floated in a world of vanilla and golden, glowing Vanir eyes.

  “Raven,” Vanir snapped. He clutched my chin in his hand. “Tell us your mother’s name.”

  I blinked and fought the brain fog, stared at him, at the fear coming through those gold eyes. “Dru,” I whispered. “Her name is Dru Lockwood.”

  “Okay, let me get some stuff together.” Sarah’s movements off to my side became frantic, but I ignored her.

  Smiling at Vanir, I reached up to touch his face because I no longer felt any pain. Everything below my waist was completely numb. “The prophecy came true, only we got it wrong,” I said on a shaky breath.

  “Which prophecy?” Vanir bent close so he could hear me. “Tell me.”

  “It’s the reason we moved so much. I was trying to tell you before.” Pain slashed my belly, then quickly disappeared. I gasped. “My mother was always a little crazy, but I kind of understand why now. The prophecy said a warrior born of two magical clans will herald the beginning of Ragnarok—his hand to the death of a norn.” The ground below me grew warmer. The magic felt almost curious as it came from the grove and tingled along on my skin, like it was exploring me or whatever was killing me.

  Around us, the battle between the dogs, Loki and the men went on. Here in the grove, we were cocooned in its magic. Before it poked and probed, now it cradled. Was peaceful. I dropped my hand to find his, smiled again when he curled his warm fingers around mine. “Loki isn’t done. He’ll go after the others.” I broke off, remembering my nightmare about Kat and the blackened fire demon. “My sisters.” Grief struck me quiet, a sob stuck in my throat.

  “You’re saying you came here because of a prophecy?” His blond hair slid forward. “And you came here to save me? That you knew you might die?”

  “Well, I really hoped that wouldn’t happen.” Tried to grin, but my lips felt all tingly. “Couldn’t let her do it.” The numb had crept to my chest. Was strange. Like I was only a head and arms. I couldn’t feel a thing below my rib cage. “You have to help your brothers.”

  Sarah laid out things around me, but I couldn’t see them. Thought I smelled lavender. “I can stop it but I have to work fast.” She touched Vanir’s arm. “Ari’s hurt. I can’t see enough out there to know how Hallur is. I’m really scared, Vanir. The grove isn’t going to hold those dogs out for long. And I think that woman killed the new cop, David.”

  He stared into my eyes for the longest time. Shook his head. As I watched, fury filled his expression, tightened his lips, narrowed his blazing, golden eyes. He stood, his hands curling into fists.

  I followed his gaze to find a bloody battle raging. The men were outnumbered. Dogs still poured from the trees and the bullets were going to run out. One shot after another was fired and every single time another dog took the dead one’s place.

  My lungs still worked. A sob erupted from my throat. So many dead animals. And I still partially blamed my mother. Her fear had given the god a door inside. Her knowledge of magic, her kinship with animals, had brought all this together.

  All those dogs were dying, and before they were all gone, the ones left would storm this grove and take us with them.

  Vanir let out a yell so loud it rattled the leaves on the trees. Everyone and everything jolted to a stop. The grove, the woods, all went silent. A faint glow came from his skin. I could see it on his hands as he suddenly uncurled his fingers, pointed them to the ground. “Call off your dogs, Loki.”

  My mother didn’t answer—either in her voice or the god’s. One of the dogs growled and it was like a catalyst. The battle went on.

  This time when Vanir yelled the ground began to shake. Everyone but Sarah stopped to watch. She kept working on her counter spell. I could no longer wiggle my fingers.

  Couldn’t take my eyes off him, either. The power around him grew visible—it was golden, like a kid had outlined him with the brightest yellow crayon in the pack.

  A rumble came from his chest and the earth shook harder. Then he began to chant. Ancient words spilled from his lips, the sentences in a strange, staccato rhythm. Shock and awe filled me as I realized we were listening to Odin as he called forth one of the nine powerful songs he’d learned from Bolthorn, his great-grandfather, or father according to some stories. Secret, potent songs. This one grew louder and louder as wisps of something began rising from the ground. Hundreds of them—the wisps. They snaked into the air, sinuous and eerie, slithering around him and everyone else.

  One pulled itself from the ground right beside me. My heart was beginning to slow, but my eyes flew open wide. It had hands. And arms. And long, long hair.

  The chanting stopped. Still nothing moved. It was as if the people and the animals were all held in thrall. Snow swirled about them, and even my mother, who’d had her arm locked around a man’s neck, stood perfectly motionless.

  “Do you know how gloaming groves are made, Loki?” The voice came from Vanir but it wasn’t his. It was deeper, thick and commanding.

  My head grew heavy and I lowered it, then tried to lift it again, knowing I had to watch my mother. But I couldn’t. The fear that filled me then was too strong for the grove’s calming magic.

  “No,” Sarah said, putting her hand gently on my forehead. “Save your strength. Your body has to fight this.”

  “I don’t think my body’s winning this battle, Sarah. It’s too late. I
can’t feel anything.” Except for the hot tears burning my eyes and sliding down my temples. “Can you see my mother?”

  She shook her head. “Just dogs. And Vanir. Or what I hope is still our Vanir.” Her voice broke on the last word, but she continued readying her spell.

  “Loki!” Odin roared through Vanir’s mouth. “This grove got its magic through blood and death. The death of warriors locked in a battle without a winner.”

  The wisps of smoke tripled in number, took on shape. All kinds of shapes and sizes. Ancient warriors of two races who must have fought for this place. All ghostlike and white. All moving toward the dogs. I wondered if they floated toward my mother, but I still couldn’t see her.

  “And Odin will bring the glorious dead back to battle,” I whispered. One moved over my head, drifted across my body. I would have shivered if I could.

  “I don’t know about you,” Sarah whispered, “but I feel like screaming.” She ducked as one of the ghosts whipped past her head. She shut her eyes, then opened them. Resolve burned steady in those blue irises. They reminded me of Ari’s.

  “Is Ari okay?” Wasn’t sure she’d understand me since I could barely speak.

  “I don’t know.” She cursed under her breath. “You’ve got to hang on, Raven.”

  But my attention had gone back to Vanir. A part of me marveled over the change so visible in him. So much power. Would he carry this always now? Would Odin take him over completely? That had always been my biggest fear—that Urd would take me over. I’d been wrong, I knew that now. But she didn’t come through me as Odin had with Vanir. Her possession or whatever it was...it was nothing like what I saw on him.

  My barely beating heart wanted to stop with that thought. Couldn’t stand the thought of Vanir disappearing altogether. The tears that continued to escape the corners of my eyes were so, so cold as they ran down my temples into my hair.