“I haven’t decided yet. I’m supposed to be graduating in a few weeks, but I don’t see that happening. I’d love to learn how to control my astral projection better.” She looked around and rubbed her arms. “There’s a very strong energy here. It’s familiar, but it’s not yours, your parents’, or Echo’s.”
I exchanged a glance with Echo. He moved toward me, but I moved away. Annoyance flashed in his eyes. He couldn’t possibly be getting angry with me now. He was the one who wanted us to pretend not to be a couple.
“Maybe it’s Dev’s,” I said from the other side of the bed.
“I recognized his already. It’s concentrated on your electronics. This is different yet familiar.” She frowned.
“You know Dev?”
“We met once.” She glanced at Eirik again and sighed. “It will make sense once they explain.” She walked to the window, then walked around the room. “The energy is all over the room, like the person moved around, touching things. I’ve encountered it before. I just don’t know where.” She went to stand in front of the mirror. “I was sure it would be concentrated here, but it’s not. The person didn’t use the mirror.”
“Air portal?” I asked.
“Most likely.” Celestia’s frown deepened. “May I use your bed?”
“Sure. Are you going to astral project?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, and follow the energy. Most of the time it happens when I least expect it, but at times, I get lucky. That’s how Eirik and I met.” She glanced at him and grinned.
“She thought I was a lamb shifter,” he said, walking to her side as she settled against the pillows. “Showed you, didn’t I?”
“Show-off. When he’s in his dragon form, he acts like he owns the freaking world.” She closed her eyes. Eirik’s gaze didn’t leave her face. “Stop worrying. I can feel it pouring out of you.”
“No, you can’t. I’m the dragon, the all seer, smeller, and hearer of things, not you. And I can scent when you are lying. You know who stole her blanket, don’t you?”
Celestia sighed. “I’m trying to concentrate, Eirik.”
“You do know.” His voice was accusatory.
Her eyelids lifted, and I inched closer. “No, I don’t, but I have a theory.”
“Care to share it before you float away?”
“No.” She reached for his hand, gripped it, and closed her eyes again. My frustrations with Echo shot up as I watched them. His concerns made no sense. If Goddess Hel was okay with her only son being with Celestia, I didn’t see why she would object to me being with Echo.
My jaw dropped when Celestia’s astral self separated from her body. Laughing, she saluted us and disappeared into the ceiling.
Eirik shook his head. “She treats going to AP like it’s nothing, while I think of all things that could possibly go wrong. It’s one thing when she helps her father catch criminals and quite another when dealing with the supernatural world. She doesn’t get it.”
He sounded like Echo. “How long has she known she is a Witch?”
“Since she was a child.” His eyes volleyed between Echo and me. “What’s wrong with you two?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“He’s over there, and you are over here. I’m getting bad vibes.” He angled his head. “Your heartbeat just spiked, and Echo reeks of frustration. You two fought?”
“No,” I said while Echo stayed quiet. “We have a new understanding, which I think will work great for us. You can hear heartbeats?”
“Yes, and scents, which change with moods, and I can see from far. What did you do, reaper?”
Echo growled something then left the room. I stared at the door, wishing I could yell at him or something.
“What’s going on?” Eirik asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle. You once told Raine you were a seer.”
“Because I can see from far.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seers, Einstein, are what Celestia and Raine are.” What I might be. “They see into the past or the future, not things from miles away. It’s not the same.”
He shrugged indifferently, his focus on Celestia.
I sat on the other side of the bed and studied her charm bracelets, the layered necklace, and matching earrings. She wore a beautiful ornate ring on her finger. It had runes on the band and a big clear stone in the middle. It looked like a wedding ring. “Raine and I tried to imagine what she looked like. She’s beautiful.”
“Breathtaking.” He stroked Celestia’s cheek. “She is feisty, stubborn, and talks a lot.”
“I noticed. She bullies you around.”
“I allow her to bully me around. Not the same thing. Asgard officially accepted her as my mate, and Mom is planning our wedding. Trudy, Maera, Hayden, and Jessica are helping and trying to keep it a secret from her, but I have a feeling Celestia already knows.”
“So that’s not a wedding ring she’s wearing?”
Eirik chuckled. “It is and it’s not. Our grandmother Frigg gave it to me, and I gave it to Celestia as a symbol of our commitment to each other. To my parents and grandparents, we’ve chosen each other, and she is my consort. But her father expects a wedding, and I want her to have one.”
“Where will it take place?”
“Eljudnir. I hope you and your parents can come. What happened between you and Echo?” Voices outside the door caught his attention and saved me from lying again.
Raine peered inside the room. She was wearing a robe over her pajamas. Torin had on a T-shirt, sweatpants, and loafers.
“What are you guys doing here?” I went to hug her.
“Echo said you needed me,” she said. “I didn’t hear the rest of what he told Torin, except a stolen baby blanket.”
My eyes locked with Echo’s. If this was his way of apologizing, it might buy him a few points, but not enough to make me see things his way.
“It doesn’t make sense, though. Why would she not want me to have it? Was it to stop me from proving I’m the goddess’ daughter? The funny thing is I don’t need the blanket to prove anything anymore.”
“She?”
“Or he,” I improvised. I wasn’t ready to tell them about what I’d seen.
“Or they,” Raine added. “Maybe it was Norns. Is that Celestia?” Raine’s eyes were on the bed.
“Yep.” We moved closer. “She can find energies and astral project at will.”
“Lucky, girl. I’m still working on mine. She’s gorgeous,” she whispered.
I grinned. “She orders Eirik around. It’s so cute how she has him wrapped around her finger.”
“I heard that,” Eirik said. He, Echo, and Torin were talking in low voices by the door, but he kept glancing at Celestia.
“I’ve met her before, Raine,” I whispered. “I keep having these flashbacks that don’t make sense. She’s in them and so is her best friend, Hayden, and a redhead.” I glanced at the guys. “Celestia insisted Eirik tell me everything, and she suggested you should be here. I hope Echo didn’t drag you out of bed.”
“We weren’t ready for bed yet, so I don’t mind. Besides, he said you needed me. He’s never said that before, so I knew it was something he couldn’t handle.”
Or the fact that I wasn’t talking to his sorry ass. A knock on the door, and Mom peered inside my room. “Anyone want a drink or pie?”
There was a chorus of “yes.” Mom’s pies were a favorite among my friends. She came back with a tray full of slices of apple pie and one cherry, utensils, and forks. Dad followed her with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses.
I took the pitcher from Dad and served drinks while Mom handed out pies. Eirik grabbed two slices and went to sit by Celestia. I only had two chairs in my room, and Torin grabbed one for him and Raine, while Echo brought me the other one and stayed close. I gave him kudos for trying to be his usual attentive self, but that wasn’t what I needed. He was either with me one hundred percent or he was not. I went to sit on the bed opposite Eirik. He studied me with narrowed eyes.
“How’s she doing?” Mom asked from behind me.
Eirik studied Celestia’s face. “Good. I’ll know when she’s in trouble. Her heartbeat will shoot up and fear will sour her scent.”
“Dragon senses,” I explained to Raine.
“We were in the audience the night you spoke to the Immortals,” Mom said. “We infiltrated the club and reported to the other parents here. That’s how we kept the orphans in Kayville and Portland area safe. You did a good thing that evening.”