Mom put the eggs in the second basket and turned to face me. “You don’t need the blanket to prove Eirik is your brother, Cora. He is. We checked everything he told us, and the runes on the blanket are the goddess’ special runes. And you are clairvoyant.” She laughed, then sobered up. “If we hadn’t used warding and dampening runes on you, your ability would have manifested itself years ago. For that I’m sorry. Next time you see a vision, just analyze it. Don’t panic. You are your father’s daughter and Frigg’s granddaughter. Both are powerful clairvoyants.”
I didn’t know what I’d expected to hear. When they’d told me my biological parents wanted to meet me, I’d fought it without knowing anything about them. Talking to Eirik had helped. And now I might have abilities because of them. I put the basket of eggs down and closed the distance between us. I hugged Mom.
A soft oomph left her, followed by a chuckle. “Why are you squeezing me to death?” She lifted my chin. “Tears? From my tough medium?”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I know, hun. Dad and I love you so much, and we always will. Now.” She pressed a kiss on my forehead and nudged me away from her. “How many people knew about your blanket?”
“You, Dad, Raine, Echo, and Eirik. None of you have a reason to steal it.”
“Hmm. That’s strange. Come on. Let’s find out what’s going on. We’ll look everywhere.”
Echo and Dad were talking quietly by Dad’s writing cave when we entered the house.
“Mom didn’t take it, and she says someone was in my room about half an hour ago and left drawers open. I kind of saw the person who took it.” I explained my vision.
“A clairvoyant, that’s my girl.” Dad hugged me. He always acted like he was responsible for anything I accomplished.
“We don’t know for sure, Dad.”
Echo was frowning.
“What is it, grouch?”
“Most souls cannot move objects.”
“Even dark ones? I couldn’t see her face at all, even when she looked at me.”
“Maybe she wasn’t a soul,” Echo said.
“I agree.” Mom started upstairs.
“Maybe she was an Immortal loyal to Lord Worthington,” Dad piped in, following her.
Echo and I exchanged a glance.
“Why would Immortals come after me? She smelled the blanket. That was creepy. Are you coming?”
Echo hadn’t moved.
I followed my parents upstairs. On any given day, I’d have been embarrassed to have my parents go through my drawers and look through my things, but there was no time for embarrassment now. I had a mystery to solve.
The blanket was not in the room. I looked at the faces of the three most important people in my life and said, “If she’s an Immortal, they know who I am. You talked to Warlock Worthington and then this happened.”
“I’ll pay him another visit,” Echo vowed.
“You talked to Lord Worthington?” Dad asked. Even Mom stopped pacing to stare at Echo.
“The second I found out Cora was an orphan, I paid him a visit. I didn’t mention Cora by name, but he knows all the reapers, Grimnirs, and Valkyries are watching them. His crazy followers will not use Cora to cross realms. He and I need to have another chat.”
“Let’s not jump to hasty conclusions,” Mom said. “We need someone who can connect with energies and locate the person who was in here.”
“People can do that?” I asked.
“Oh, yes.” Mom smiled. “In my days before we learned runic magic, we had Witches who could find a thread of energy and follow it anywhere like a bloodhound with a scent.”
“Unfortunately, most Immortals around here are like us,” Dad said, frowning. “We haven’t connected with our inner magic for centuries because we relied on runes. And even those we’ve used sparingly in the last fifty years.”
“Celestia Deveraux can find traces of energy anywhere and follow it,” Echo chimed in. “She helped Eirik find traces of Crazy Granny—uh, Angrboda and the orphans.” Echo shot me an apologetic look.
“Eirik told me about her.”
“Did he tell you she can also astral project anywhere in the future, past, or present. That’s how she helps her father and his department solve crimes,” Echo added.
“We met her when she came here with Eirik. Such an amazing young woman,” Mom said.
“Extraordinary orator,” Dad mumbled. “I wonder if she’s ever thought of being a writer.”
I just shook my head. Dad was weird like that. He always tied everything he saw or heard to writing.
I inched closer to Echo until I could feel his warmth. My worries eased a bit. Being close to him often did that. And he usually rested his hand on my back or took my hand as though he needed to connect with me physically. He didn’t reach for me. Was he standoffish because my parents knew about him?
“I’ll ask her when she returns from Asgard,” he said.
Eirik had said he’d bring her to meet me in a couple of days, but that might be too late. My eyes volleyed between my parents. “Uh, about visiting Helheim, I’m still thinking about it. I’ll go back to school and finish the term, but I want to discuss something with you guys.”
My parents looked at each other and nodded.
“I’d rather finish at Mystic Academy, the school Lavania is starting. I don’t know if you’ve heard about it. Raine is going and… What?” I asked when they exchanged another look.
“We’ve heard about the academy, but we didn’t think you’d care about school after what you learned from Eirik,” Mom said.
“We thought you’d want to visit Helheim and stay there for a while to get to know your other family,” Dad added.
“Really? I know these two amazing people who taught me to always see things through, no matter how unpleasant or boring. And believe me, school without Raine is boring. Shame on you for thinking I’d just up and quit.”
They grinned. Even Echo chuckled.
“About Mystic Academy, they’ll offer regular classes for those who plan to continue on to college and get regular jobs. I’m not sure whether that’s what I want. It depends on how I feel and my future plans. If I’m really clairvoyant, I’m going to need help mastering it, and Mystic Academy is the only place to do that. Is that okay?”
“That’s perfectly fine,” Dad said, his grin so wide you’d think he’d won a Pulitzer.
“Yes, dear,” Mom chimed in. “It’s okay with us.”
“Then if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to discuss a few things with Echo.”
“We did right, didn’t we?” I overheard Mom say as they disappeared into the hallway.
“Yes, love. She’s a chip off the old block.”
Except I wasn’t a chip off them. However, they’d influenced me. They’d taught me to believe in myself and to work hard at whatever I did. Dad encouraged me to follow my passion, no matter what people thought. He’d been my number one supporter when I’d vlogged even though he never watched any of my videos. Mom had and commented. I had no idea what other professions Dad had to reinvent himself in his lifetime, but in mine, he’d quit teaching to become an author and was damn successful at it.
Mom appreciated little things in life, whether it was watching the chickens act silly, mucking the soil, or tending her precious prized organic plants. She taught me to appreciate the mundane and to be patient. I wondered if she’d always done organic farming. I had so many questions about their past lives. What special abilities did they have before runic magic? Were they rich? According to Echo, most Immortals were loaded.
I closed the door and turned to face Echo. He stood in the middle of my room—duster, boots, fingerless gloves, and a frown on his face.
“Do you remember when we agreed we wouldn’t keep secrets from each other?” I asked, and his expression stayed unreadable. Anger licked at me, but I pushed it away. “Listen, I’m going through a lot right now, and the one person I know I can count on through good and bad times is you, Echo. Instead, I can feel you distancing yourself from me. Why?”
“I’m not,” he said.
“Yes, you are.”
“Someone was in your room, Cora. That’s enough to make me break out in a cold sweat. They stole from you. Another cause for alarm. I’m thinking of who I need to beat up to find answers.”
I didn’t buy his response. Yes, he tended to be passionate about my safety, but he’d arrived in a funky mood and that was before he knew about my missing blanket. I removed the hamper of clothes from my bed and sat. Instead of sitting beside me, or lifting me and pulling me onto his lap as he often did, he took the chair and scooted close until his knees bracketed mine. He took my hands and threaded our fingers.