He chuckled, the sound rumbling through him. “Don’t say it like it’s a bad thing. Thanks for sharing your vision. When Celestia is up and about, I’ll take you up and show you the entire realm.”
“Uh, let’s take it one step at a time. I have to get used to you as a dragon first, not the annoying guy who used to tease me.” I glanced at Karle. “He used to be so mean to me when we were young, there were times I actually thought I hated him.” Karle bobbed his head without speaking. So as not to embarrass him, I focused on Eirik. “May I touch your scales? I’m dying to find out how they feel.”
He lowered his head. “Go ahead.”
“They are smooth,” I said, touching his cheeks. The images that followed didn’t surprise me. I didn’t tell Eirik about them, but I grinned and asked, “Why the chipped horn?”
“A badge I wear with honor. One day, I’ll tell you the story. We have to go, Sis. Keep an eye on Celestia for me while I’m gone, okay?”
“Okay.” I waved to them and backed away. Karle was still staring at me with a dopey expression. Eirik chuckled and bumped him. “Let’s go, Casanova.”
Karle turned, but I still heard him say, “She is—”
“My sister, so stop drooling,” Eirik retorted. “It’s embarrassing.”
“I don’t care. She’s beautiful.”
“Next time, try telling her that while looking at her.”
I watched them take off, their massive wings sending snow flying in the air. I tried to cover my face, but the blast of air they created nearly knocked me off my feet.
“I got you,” Echo said, steadying me. “Let’s take you back inside before we have a riot on our hands.” I saw what he meant when I turned around. The people he, Syn, and the guards had been detaining had tripled in number and were getting closer. Some were pointing at me. I heard them yell out my name as Echo ushered me inside the hall. He slammed the door shut.
“Damn opportunists. Lavion must have described you, because the second the blast of wind knocked off the hood of your cloak, they recognized you.”
“I don’t care. I had a premonition.” I hugged him. “That’s the third one today, Echo. Third. It took Raine forever to get hers. The magic here probably has something to do with it, but a touch triggers it. I touched my ring, and I got one about you.” I removed the gloves and cupped his face. “Come on. Show me his future. Something. Anything.” Nothing. I went to Syn and gripped his hands. He’d just walked in from outside, and they were cold.
“Not that I mind the love, but what’s going on?” the Nubian asked.
“She’s trying to get a premonition,” Echo said with a resigned sigh.
“So I’m going to touch everyone until I get one.” They stared at me as though I’d lost my mind, but I didn’t care. “Hey, don’t judge me. I come from a line of powerfully gifted people, and my grandmother dumped me in a forest because she thought I was worthless. Her loss. I didn’t even realize how I felt about not being gifted until now.” I stared at my hands and grinned. “I belong. I didn’t feel it at first because I thought everyone in my family had a gift, except me. Mother can move things. She lifted her hand and the scepter flew into it. She can read minds. Father has the power of premonition. I mean, I was happy helping souls, but this is different.” I hugged the guards, who looked both shocked and amused. No premonition. I kissed Litr on his ruddy cheek. “Damn, nothing.”
Syn and Echo exchanged grins.
“Cut it out, you two. I will find what triggers it. Come on. Let’s check on Celestia, then go to lunch.”
Tammy was with Celestia, so I knew she was in good hands. From there we headed to Grimnirs Hall. The sheer number of men and women from every walk of life stuffing their faces was mind-boggling. Echo led the way to a table. It wasn’t until we sat that I noticed the silence and the stares.
“Want to say something, Goddess Einmyria?” Syn asked.
“No, ignore them,” Echo said.
“At least order them to stop staring,” Syn countered. “They’ll listen.”
“Go sit somewhere else, Syn. She doesn’t need to say anything to anyone. Here comes Maera.”
The Dwarf hurried toward us, and behind her was a female in a driven cart. “Do you think she’ll boot me out?”
Syn grinned. “Absolutely.”
“No, she won’t. Eirik eats with us all the time. Syn, stop being an ass.”
Maera stopped at our table and paused to catch her breath. She glared at Echo. “Is this your doing?”
“I’m supposed to watch over her, so where I go she goes.”
“It’s where she goes, you go, you impossible man. What are you doing in the Grimnirs Hall, young lady?” Maera asked, pinning me with a glare. I guess I’d been demoted from “young goddess” to “young lady.”
“Getting ready to eat. I’m starving.” I looked behind her at the cart. “Is that lunch? It smells good.”
“Litr already took food to your quarters.”
“But I’m here, Maera. I don’t mind. I get to hang out with Echo.” I hugged his arm. Syn whistled and raised his hand. “And Syn, too,” I added, grinning. “Do you want everyone in the hall to think I’m too good to eat the food they’re eating?”
“Of course not.” Maera sighed. “First, your brother and now you. I don’t understand young people anymore. There is bending rules, and there’s outright rebelling. Next thing I know, it will be your father and mother in here.”
“Now that’s a wonderful idea,” I said.
Maera paled.
“I was just kidding. Thank you for letting me stay.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Images flashed through my head. I blinked, and they were gone. Maera was walking away.
“I just had another one,” I whispered to Echo. “Maera is not going to be happy, but Trudy will be going to Mystic Academy with us.”
Lunch turned out to be fun. I even forgot about the other Grimnirs in the hall. I didn’t realize I was holding on to Echo’s arm as we walked out until I reached the front hall and saw Trudy and the other girls. They stared at our linked arms, but I didn’t pull away. My parents knew about us, so I was done hiding our relationship from everyone.
I joined the girls, and we walked back to Eirik’s. “Thanks for talking to Eirik, Trudy. I thought he was angry with me, but he wasn’t. He was just having a moment.”
Trudy scoffed. “A moment? I know he is your brother, but I swear he can be very unfeeling sometimes.”
“More like often,” I corrected her. “I grew up with him. Well, practically grew up with him. I’d ask him to help me with school stuff, and he’d say no in the mean, uncaring voice, then add that I should look it up myself. But he could be so nice and sweet afterward, and I’d find myself forgiving him.”
“Did you really have a crush on him?” Hayden asked.
I glanced back at Echo and caught the smirk on his face. He’d heard the question. “I thought I did. He and I bickered like siblings. He thought all the guys I dated were losers and that I used my looks to get my way.”
“Did you?” Jessica asked and turned pink.
“Uh, yes. Shamelessly.” The girls laughed, even Jessica. “Wouldn’t you?”
“I’ve never attended a school,” Jessica said, and uneasy silence followed. She’d lived in an institution all her life because no one had wanted to adopt her. I stopped, and they did, too.
“My parents in Kayville put me in an Immortal institution for a month when I started seeing souls. They tried to suppress it.” From their reaction, they hadn’t known about it. “I hated it. Seeing souls was traumatizing enough without being trapped in that home. But I was only there for a month, and it was a nightmare. I can’t imagine just how terrible it must have been for you all those years, Jess.”
“It was horrible,” she whispered.
“I’m going to attend Mystic Academy in the fall. You should come with me. As my sister, no one will mess with you.”
She stared at me with shiny eyes. “You think of me as, uh, your sister?”
I chuckled. “I should be asking that question, seeing as I’m the new one around here. Do you think of me as your sister?”