He sighed. “If anything ever happened to you—”
“You’d level the Earth, I know. What is really bothering you, Echo?”
He studied me intently then smiled. “You can always see through my bullshit.”
“Damn right.”
“Which is impressive for someone so young.”
I frowned. “Is my age an issue now?”
“No.” He sighed. “You are Goddess Hel’s daughter, Cora. Odin and Frigg’s granddaughter. Eirik’s sister. He’s a dragon with an attitude and so much power I’m surprised he can contain it.”
“We haven’t exactly proven I’m his sister.”
“There’s nothing to prove. When you showed me that blanket yesterday, I had my suspicions. So I asked Maera to show me baby Einmyria’s things. Goddess Hel finally moved them from the nursery when she converted the room into a bedroom for Jessica, but she kept everything. The blanket and the runes are the same as hers. You are Einmyria.”
“Okay, let’s say that it’s true. So what? I’m still me, the girl you fell in love with.”
“And slept with when she was only sixteen. You just turned seventeen.”
I growled and fell onto my back. “Seriously? My age is a problem now? It never was before.”
“I know. I, uh, I feel…” He stood and scrubbed his face. He studied me with an expression filled with pain and frustration. He was struggling with something big. Something beyond what he was saying. “I think we should slow things down a bit. Take a step back.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up, my chest squeezing.
He scrubbed his face again. “We should ease up on intimate stuff until all this is settled.”
Anger swallowed my patience. I was pissed and wanted to hit him. “Oh gee, Echo. You know that’s all you are to me. Someone I go to for intimate stuff. Why don’t you say what’s really bothering you? When I was a scared nobody who needed you, you couldn’t wait to step up and be my hero. Now there’s a possibility that I’m more, and you think I don’t need you. Or maybe you think you’re not good enough for me.”
“That’s not it.” His eyes went to the ring on my finger.
The Druidic engagement ring didn’t have a rock, but it was priceless. He’d given it to me with my parents’ approval months ago. As far as I was concerned, it symbolized something greater than a promise ring and an engagement rock combined. It meant something to him. A hollow settled in my stomach, and I couldn’t breathe.
“Do you want your ring back?”
He paled, his eyes flying to mine. “No. Not that.”
“Then what?”
“You have your entire life ahead of you and a chance to be more powerful than you’ve ever dreamed. Your brother is a dragon, your father comes from powerful people, and your mother is a—”
“Shut up.” I threw a pillow at him. “I don’t care about being powerful. I care about you, Echo. From the moment I met you and you told those souls to leave me alone or whatever it is you yelled, you’ve been mine. You’d take on anyone who looks at me wrong and let no one stand in your way.”
His eyes went wolfish in seconds.
“I don’t care how powerful Eirik is, how powerful my parents are, or if my grandparents run Asgard. You and I are a couple. We complete each other. So whatever crawled up your butt—”
One second I was glaring at him, the next I was on my back with him on top of me, reminding me of the first time he’d appeared in my room.
“You don’t talk about my ass,” he growled.
“When it belongs to me, I do,” I shot back. “When you’re being a shithead, I do. When you are pushing me away and hurting me until it hurts to breathe, I fucking do.”
“Hel’s Mist.” Then his mouth was on mine. He kissed me as though to swallow me whole. Whatever he was going through was screwing with his head.
I wrapped my arms and legs around him, wanting to get as close to him as humanly possible and help him chase away his demons, whatever they were. He jumped off the bed, scooped me up, and started for the portal, runes blazing. The portal responded, opening into the bedroom of the house in La Gorce, not the cottage. I had a feeling he wanted to be as far away from Kayville as possible.
He wasn’t gentle when he pulled his clothes off, but that changed the moment he joined me. I still wore the two-piece swimsuit and the robe I’d thrown over it. He removed the robe while raining kisses along my neck and down my arm.
“My favorite swim suit,” he murmured, unhooking the top.
“You bought it. Along with several more.”
“You can never wear them in Eljudnir,” he murmured and nuzzled my neck.
I couldn’t imagine a pool in Hel’s Hall and really didn’t care as he transported me to that special place where we spoke our language, the language of love, sensual bliss, and perfect unity. Who my parents were didn’t matter there. We were two people in love and passionate about each other. Each touch was filled with shared memories, each kiss with promises of our future, and when he looked into my eyes, I knew that nothing could ever take away what we had. Not my family, not my insecurities or fears of the unknown, and certainly not his demons, whatever they were.
“You are mine, Cora-mia,” he whispered.
“Always,” was my response. Whether it penetrated his thick skull was another story. When we crashed, we stayed wrapped in each other’s arms until I bit into his shoulder to get his attention. “I love you, Echo. Whatever is bothering you, we’ll work through it. We have to because I’d be lost without you.”
“No, Cora-mia. I’d be lost without you. There’s no version of my life without you in it.”
He was worried about losing me. How silly. Just because I was acquiring a new, powerful family didn’t mean he would be on the outside. I’d just have to show him until he accepted that he was my family, too.
“Tell me about Helheim.”
“I don’t want to talk about Helheim.” He rolled us over, so I was on top. “Show me how you own my ass.”
I did until his beautiful, scarred body trembled in my arms.
Monday and Tuesday came and went. I helped souls during lunch with Rhys and Nara to escort them. In the evening, I helped the ones at the farm under my parents’ watchful eyes. Dev continued to help coma patients wherever he could find them, and his soul buddies continued to keep an eye on me even though I kept telling them I didn’t need it. The Idun-Grimnirs searching for me were the ones who’d scared the souls and made them believe I was dying.
Echo was gone a lot more than usual. At first, I thought it was because he was working on his issues, until I had a chat with Dev on Wednesday morning.
“He said someone was in your room and something went missing. Finding the person seems to be his first priority right now.”
We were in my car outside my school. For once, Echo hadn’t driven me. “Where is he looking for answers?”
“Among the Immortals. He’s convinced an evil Immortal was involved. Don’t worry. He’ll find the person who robbed you. He has ways of finding people, Mortal or Immortal.”
“He didn’t find you.”
“I’m a soul, doll-face, even though you tend to forget it. I also happen to know how your man thinks. And”—he stretched out the word—“I believe he knew exactly where I was, but chose to leave me alone. He told me to ask around and see if anyone met with the two ancient Grimnirs who were at the mansion. Souls can’t outrun them, but for once they weren’t interested in us. They were after a missing girl.”
I laughed. “They were after me, Dev.”
“You? Why?”
“Remember I told Raine I was adopted?”
“Yes, but… Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“A presence. It’s so powerful I can feel the pull from inside this radio.”
I glanced outside. “There’s no one out there but students.”
“Someone is here. Someone powerful. I’m coming out and standing guard in case it’s the evil Immortal. Then I want to know why the ancients are after you.”