“I impersonated you,” she whispered.
“You were manipulated. You are my sister now, Jess, and that’s all that matters.” I gave her a hug. When I stepped back, she was fighting tears. “Now all we need to do is convince our parents to let you come with me to Mystic Academy. We need Eirik on board too, of course, and Celestia.”
“And my mother because I plan to go, too,” Trudy said.
I hid a smile because I already knew the answer to that. We reached Eirik’s place and found Tammy with Lavion’s two Dwarves. The one that had kept staring at me hopped down and took my hand.
“Hel’s daughter, how befitting that you are one of the roosters. I never thought I’d see the three of you in one place. Where is the third one? The one with dark hair?”
I didn’t understand what she was saying. “Who?”
“She’s talking about Raine,” Trudy said.
“She’s back on Earth.”
“No, I just saw her with the goddess. I never thought I’d live to see the three of you together. The end is near.”
I still had no idea what the woman was talking about, but I smiled and nodded. I took off the second she turned away. Raine was here? Just like in my vision. Echo was with Syn in the living room and stood.
“Raine is here,” I told them.
“Cora!” Trudy called, and I glanced over my shoulder. She’d followed me out of the bedroom.
“I’m going to find Raine.”
“Are you clairvoyant?” Trudy asked.
“Uh, yes. I just started having visions. How did you know?”
“Lavion’s aunt said you are one of the roosters.”
“I heard her.” But I didn’t believe her.
“That means you are one of the seers who will announce Ragnarok. Me from a forest in J?tunheim, Raine from Asgard, and you from Helheim.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not.”
“Ask the goddess. We thought it was Eirik, but he doesn’t have the gift to see into the future. You do. The healer, Lavion’s aunt, recognized you.”
Frowning, I turned to face Echo. His expression said he was shocked, too. It couldn’t be true. There was too much happening too fast. First my visions; now this.
“It makes sense, sweetheart,” he said.
“No, it doesn’t. I just barely started having visions.”
“Your parents used runes to suppress your ability to see souls, so they must have suppressed your other gifts. You could still have more. Telekinesis and mind reading like your mother. Shape shifting like your grandfather. Like you said, you come from a family of powerful Witches. You could be the most powerful of them all,” he added, words dripping with pride.
He was no longer intimidated by who I was or my family. Instead, he was celebrating me, my abilities. I pulled his head down and kissed him. When I stopped, his eyes were glowing.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“You keep reminding me why I love you, Echo Maidrid. Now I need to find Raine.”
Still wearing a puzzled expression, he opened a portal to the Throne Hall, where Raine, Torin, and Dev were talking to my mother by the steps.
“Raine!”
She started toward me, paused, and curtseyed to my mother, who waved her off. I met her across the room, and we hugged. Her hands were freezing. I shrugged off the cloak Litr had given me and draped it around her shoulders.
“What are you doing here? I told you I’d be fine.”
“We brought Dev. He was wary of coming with Rhys and Nara, so we offered to bring him.” She stroked the top of the cloak. “Ooh, this feels amazing. I was out there for only a few minutes, yet the cold crept to my bones. This”—she hugged the cloak—“is exactly what I need. Look at you. You look amazing. Oh, and I just met your mother.” She glanced over her shoulder. “She’s intimidating.”
“It’s all a front. Look at her.” The goddess was laughing with Torin while Dev looked like he couldn’t wait to escape. “Poor Dev. Should we rescue him?”
“Not yet. I want to hear about Celestia. Rhys said she hasn’t recovered since last week and they are trying to find a way to help her, but he didn’t say how.”
“Her energy dropped so low after she healed Dev she went into a coma.”
“Oh no.”
“My mother has brought healers from all over the realms and beyond, but no one has been able to help her. She even sent emissaries to Asgard, but that didn’t pan out. Eirik is taking it hard, but I saw…”
“Yes? What did you see?”
I didn’t know where to begin. “I’ve been seeing things before they happen.”
Raine laughed and hugged me. “Finally. It’s been so hard not telling you I’d seen you do much more than help souls.” She leaned back and added, “But the scenes I saw were from the new school, so I wasn’t sure when you’d start having visions.”
“Are you saying you’ve known I’d be clairvoyant?”
She nodded. “Since two weeks ago.”
I yanked my hand from hers and pinched her.
“Ouch. What’s that for?” she screeched.
“For not telling me. Some best friend you are. You could have warned me.”
“Rule number one of clairvoyance is never tell people what you’ve seen or they’ll try to change it or fight it. Your gift had to come naturally, and you needed a trigger. Mine was the dying Seeresses. What was the first thing you saw?”
“My mother visiting my room and taking the blanket,” I said. I explained what I’d seen in my vision.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I wasn’t sure what it meant or whether it was a one-time thing. If someone had told me she’d seen visions of me doing clairvoyant things, I would not have been so afraid or conflicted.”
“No, seriously, ask your mother. She’ll tell you the same thing. Never reveal visions to the person they affect.”
“Is that right, Mother?” I asked.
Raine paled. Before she could turn around, the goddess placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m afraid Raine is right, Daughter. You never tell anyone what you’ve seen or they’ll do something to change it. Why do you think the Norns have been working hard to lure Raine to their side?”
“To change the outcome of Ragnarok,” Raine said, her shyness forgotten.
“Exactly. They must be gnashing their teeth right now because I have all three of you under my roof.” Mother touched Raine’s cheek, then mine.
“Is it really true about me? Lavion’s aunt said it, but I didn’t want to believe her.”
She grinned and palmed my cheek. “Yes, my beloved daughter. I was going to tell you after our guests left, but the healer beat me to it.” She sighed. “Why don’t you two run along while we move the villagers to one of the other halls and let the preening peacocks inside?”
“Preening peacocks?” I laughed. “You sound like Echo.”
“I stole the description from him. Show Raine around, and tell your brother as soon as he returns that I want both of you ready to receive our guests.”
“How are we going to help Celestia now that Goddess Eir is not coming?”
“Raine’s husband offered to get her. They won’t refuse a Valkyrie entrance.” She smiled at Raine. “I hope you two will stay and visit for a while.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Raine watched her glide away. “She’s an interesting person.”
“I thought you were scared of her.”
“Intimidated, not scared. She’s fascinating.”
“I know, and amazing. So are you going to Asgard with Torin or staying?”
“After what you told me about Celestia, I’m staying. My presence in Asgard would only disrupt things. I’m not ready to go there.” She slipped her arm through mine and grinned. “My best friend is the second rooster. I love it. It’s like we gravitated toward each other. Who is the third one? Eirik?”
“No. Trudy. You’ll announce Ragnarok from Asgard, I will from here, and Trudy from J?tunheim forest. Mother said every few centuries a rooster is born, but they never live long enough, so there are never three of them alive at the same time. She has a theory about that. She thinks the Norns have been manipulating the fate of roosters for a long time until they had one who was one of them.”
“Me?” Raine asked.
“Exactly. Come on. Let’s get Dev.”
“You get Dev.”