Runes

10. NORMAL

I’m not going to panic… I’m not going to panic…

I repeated the words during the ride back home, until Torin pulled up outside his house and turned off the engine. Eirik’s Jeep wasn’t parked outside my house, even though I was ten minutes late. I hoped I hadn’t missed him. I needed to see him. Right now, he represented everything sane and normal.

“Thanks for everything,” I said, giving Torin the helmet.

“Any time.” He studied me intently. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” I rubbed my eyes, my hands shaking, my mind starting to shut down. “I can’t deal with all this, Torin.”

“I understand. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you the truth.”

“No, I’m happy you did. I just remembered something else. I saw the runes on Andris before you healed me.”

Torin frowned. “You sure?”

I nodded. “That kind of confirms that I was marked before, right?”

“Yes,” he said slowly as though he was reevaluating everything he knew about me, which only made me feel worse. “Who did you meet first? Me or Andris?”

“You.”

His frown deepened.

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“I was afraid he’d marked you and awakened your ability to see magical runes.”

“And that would be… what? Bad?”

“Maliina is messed up because of how he turned her. He is…” He shook his head. “He’s reckless.”

This was all too much for me to handle. “I have to go. Eirik will be here any minute.”

Something flickered in Torin eyes. Pain? Anger? I couldn’t tell. He recovered and smiled. “Have fun. I hope he knows what a lucky guy he is.”

I was the lucky one to have Eirik, someone I could depend on when my world was crumbling. I walked away and tried not to look back. No matter how fast I hurried, I couldn’t outrun what Torin had told me. Someone had marked me before he arrived in town.

Who? Why? Would I end up like him? Alone? Roaming the world? Recruiting people for some secret organization? Probably. Tears rushed to my eyes. No, I refused to be like him. I was Lorraine Cooper, a normal teenager with a normal girl best friend and a normal boyfriend.

As soon as I entered the house, tears filled my eyes. I leaned against the door and slid down until I sat on the floor.

A knock rattled on my door. “Freckles?”

I ignored him, tears flowing faster and faster.

“Please, don’t cry,” he whispered.

I didn’t know how he knew I was crying. I just wanted him to go away.

“Let me come inside, so we can talk.”

“No.” He could probably use his runes to walk through the door, but I didn’t care. “Go away.”

“I’m sorry.”

Why should he be sorry? It wasn’t his fault. I cried harder. I knew he didn’t leave, knew he felt my pain and confusion on some fundamental level that defied explanation. It was one of those truths I didn’t bother to question anymore. I wasn’t sure how long I cried, but I felt rather than saw him leave. By then I was drained, completely spent.

Focus, Raine. This is not you. My father taught me to always look for solutions, not let a problem consume me to a point where I became useless. I had to do something. Anything. I looked around the house and focused on the familiar, ordinary things that were part of my daily, normal life.

I checked my cell phone. There was a text message from Eirik. He was running late. I texted him back then headed to the kitchen to start on dinner. Good thing we were having leftovers. I turned on the oven to warm up the lasagna then started collecting the ingredients for a salad.

This was normal. This was my life.

The doorbell rang, and I ran to answer it. Eirik grinned from the threshold, and I laughed. I had never been happier to see him. With his wavy, Chex Mix hair and warm amber eyes, he represented everything sane in my life.

“Sorry for being late,” he said

“It doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” I leaped in his arms and kissed him. Not a peck, but a full-blown, I’m-crazy-about-you kiss. When I pulled back, Mrs. Rutledge was watching us from her window with disapproval. Yeah, whatever. Eirik was my boyfriend. I pulled him inside the house and shut the door.

“I should be late more often.” Grinning, he dropped his gym bag on the floor and looped his arms around my waist. “And that kiss makes what I’m about to ask a lot easier.”

He tried to sound nonchalant, but I saw the uncertainty flicker in his amber eyes. “What?”

“Will you go to the Homecoming Dance with me?”

We’d skipped school dances the last two years because, well, he never asked me and I never really wanted to go with anyone else. “Are you sure? We don’t do school dances.”

“Didn’t do school dance,” he corrected. “It’s different now.”

“It is?”

He pressed his forehead against mine. “You’re my girlfriend, and I want to show you off.”

I loved it. Going to the Homecoming Dance was what normal teens did. “That sounds like I’m a trophy or something,” I teased.

He gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. How about this? You take me to the Homecoming Dance and show me off to the entire school. I don’t want other guys thinking you’re available.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a goofball, and yes, I’ll take you to the dance and show you off as my trophy.”

He laughed, lowered his head, and kissed me. This time, I let him lead. It started slow and grew intense fast. I put my arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. He was safe, dependable, normal, and a great kisser. My arms tightened.

“Wow,” he murmured when we moved apart. “We should have started dating years ago.”

“I don’t think you were ready to see me as anything but your childhood friend,” I teased, feeling bad the kiss didn’t have the wow-factor for me.

“Oh, I’ve always liked you this way, but you seemed happy being just friends.” He kissed me again, but I didn’t let him deepen it. I slipped out of his arms, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to the kitchen.

“Better late than never. I was making salad. Want to help?”

He wiggled his fingers. Exchanging a grin, I gave him the tomatoes. He knew where everything was and retrieved the cutting board from the cabinet where it was kept. While he sliced the tomatoes, I washed romaine and red-leafed lettuce heads. The familiarity of the scene brought normalcy back to my crazy life.

When he got a can of black olives from the fridge, opened it, and popped one into his mouth, I pointed my knife at him. “No, you don’t. You cut the onions, mister.”

“I hate onions.” He popped another olive into his mouth.

“I hate washing lettuce. Rules are rules. Tomatoes slicer does the onions, too.”

It didn’t matter how sharp the knife was, his eyes always teared up. I was laughing so hard by the time he finished. Tears ran down his face.

“I’m so going to make you do this next time,” he vowed then went to the downstairs bathroom to wash his face.

We added whatever we found in the fridge—olives, pickles, almonds, feta cheese—then tossed it with Italian dressing. Mom was still not home. I placed a tray of garlic bread in the oven and wiped down the counters. Eirik always made a mess.

We were making out on the couch when I heard Mom’s jiggling keys as she entered the house. We sprung apart.

“Hey, Mom,” I said, hoping I didn’t look as guilty as Eirik.

“Mrs. C,” Eirik said in a weird voice. I suppressed a giggle.

“Good evening, lovely children.” Mom dropped a kiss on my forehead then walked to the other end of the sofa and planted another on Eirik’s. She gripped his chin. “No more jumping over the balcony and sneaking into Raine’s bedroom, young man. You want to date my daughter? You do it the right way. You come and leave through the front door. No more spending the night in her bedroom either. The couch in the den opens into a queen bed. It’s yours whenever you want it.” She straightened and grinned. “I bought pumpkin pie.”

We stared after her.

“How did she know?” Eirik whispered.

“Sixth sense or something,” I said, jumping to my feet. “She’s scary smart.”

We followed Mom into the kitchen, where we’d set the table for three. I removed the lasagna from the oven and increased the temperature to make the garlic bread crispy. As we settled around the table, I had a feeling we were being watched. Torin. I glanced out the kitchen window several times, my emotions mixed. Part of me wished I could invite him over, even though I knew we were better off this way. He didn’t belong in my world, and I’d never be part of his. The other part wanted me to close the window. But if I did, Eirik would know why and I’d hate for him to think he had to compete with Torin for my attention.

As we settled around the table and started eating, our conversation by the waterfalls returned to haunt me. “Mom, did I have an accident when I was young and almost die?”

Mom choked on her wine and started coughing.

“You okay, Mrs. C?” Eirik asked, getting up to thump her back.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she said, putting her glass down, her eyes on me. “Where did that come from?”

I couldn’t tell her about the runes and the possibility that someone had saved my life by using them. It was the only explanation.

“Just a weird dream I’ve been having,” I fibbed.

She frowned. “You’ve never been in an accident, sweetie. However,” she added and my heart stopped, “before you were born, we never thought you’d make it.”

“What do you mean?”

“From the first trimester, we thought we’d lose you. It started with the spotting.”

“The spotting?” Eirik asked.

“Bleeding. Not heavy like periods, but just enough to cause Dr. Ellis to worry.”

“Ew, Mom. We’re eating.” Eirik and I made eye contact and grimaced.

Mom chuckled. “You opened this can of worms, sweetie. Your father planned to tell you the story on your birthday or before you left for college, but I think you might as well know the truth.”

“Unless something happened and I was miraculously brought back to life, we don’t need the details,” I said.

“Your father thought… thinks you should. He said there’s a reason you survived.”

I stopped eating and held my breath. She was no longer smiling. “What reason?”

“He said you would find out on your own. So many times we thought you wouldn’t make it, even after the first trimester, but you were determined to live. Then you were born premature, and there were complications. While you were fighting for your life, I was busy fighting for mine. Your father insisted we both fought to stay with him, but the nurses told me a different story. He did everything to make you live, from feeding you to giving you the human contact you desperately needed. Every day, he’d let you lie on his chest while he massaged your tiny body.” Her chin trembled as she smiled. “That’s the kind of man your father is. A fighter. Nothing ever stops him. That’s why I know he’s alive, that he’ll come back to us.”

Silence followed. My eyes welled. Now I understood why Dad often called me his little warrior, why he and I were close. I grew up running to him with my problems. From scrapes to little fights I had with Eirik, I’d go to him instead of Mom. That didn’t mean I didn’t love her as much as I loved him. He and I just shared a special bond. Still, the story didn’t explain the runes.

“I had no idea,” I whispered, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “How come you never told me any of this?”

Mom squeezed my hand. “Because it’s not a topic you discuss with a child or a rebellious teenager, who might think you’re trying to make them feel guilty.”

“I was never rebellious,” I protested.

Mom laughed. “Oh, sweetie. But enough talking about the past. What plans do you two have for this evening?”

“Homework, then swimming as soon as Cora gets here,” I said, my mind still mulling over what she’d told me. What if I survived because my father had help from someone like the one who’d turned Torin? “She volunteered to coach one of the new exchange students, and we’re going to keep them company.”

“That’s sweet. Maybe this time we’ll win state.”

Chances of that happening were slim. A 6A title meant we would have to beat Lake Oswego and Jesuit High. They had the fastest swimmers in the state. Torin should be recruiting them, not us. Maybe he would see that at the Trojan Invitational Meet in a few weeks and leave. Both teams would be there. I frowned. The thought of Torin leaving left a hollow feeling in my stomach.

“Go finish your homework while I clear the table,” Mom insisted after dinner. “And you’d better be doing homework up there.”

I made a face and led the way upstairs.

“That was an amazing story,” Eirik said when we reached my room.

“Yeah, who knew I almost killed my mother.” I was going to get her something really special on Mother’s Day next year.

“I’m not surprised you defied odds. You are a fighter.” Eirik pulled me into his arms. “Remember how you gave Derrick Gregory a bloody nose in third grade?”

Derrick couldn’t admit a girl had hit him, so he’d lied to the teacher by claiming he’d tripped and fallen. He never called me Freckles again. “He deserved it. Now, stop distracting me. I have homework.”

Eirik reluctantly let go of me, took my laptop, and settled on my bed while I plodded through my homework. I still wasn’t done when Cora entered my bedroom.

“Hey, Kayville’s newest golden couple. Time to go.” She walked to the window and peered outside. “I saw Torin tinkering with something in his garage when I drove up. Should we invite him to come with us?”

“No,” Eirik and I said at the same time.

Cora made a face. “Okay. You don’t have to bite my head off. What are you two doing anyway?” She glanced over my shoulder. “Homework? You’re usually done by now.”

“I have three more math questions.” History would have to wait until later. I tuned out Cora and Eirik, who were having an argument over something online, until she tapped me on my shoulder.

“Come on. It’s seven twenty.” Cora slapped Eirik’s foot on her way out. “Move it, mister.”

Wishing I hadn’t committed to going, I put my pen down.

“You could always tell her no,” Eirik said, scooting to the edge of the bed and picking up his shoes. “I’d rather just hang out here with you.”

“No, she needs us.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like the girl she’s helping.”

He slipped on his shoes and followed me downstairs where Cora was talking to Mom. I got my swim bag from the laundry room. “See you later, Mom.”

“Drive carefully,” she said.

“I always do, Mrs. C,” Cora said.

Outside, we piled inside her car. Eirik sprawled in the back, while I took the front passenger seat. As Cora drove past Torin’s, she pressed her horn. He looked up and waved.

“Hey, guess who’s going to the Homecoming Dance,” I said.

Cora laughed. “You two? Really?”

“Yep. Eirik asked me. Can we go with you and Keith?”

She frowned. “I guess so.”

I nudged her. “Where’s the enthusiasm? You guys are going, right?”

“I don’t know. Keith hasn’t asked me yet.”

I remembered our conversation outside the lockers. She’d hinted they might be breaking up. Not wanting to discuss it in front of Eirik, I dropped the topic.

“Let’s go shopping on Saturday,” she said. “I might not be going, but I want to make sure you make an impression.”

I hadn’t thought about what I’d wear. “Sure.”

In no time, she was pulling up outside the club. In the summer, no one blinked twice at skimpily dressed swimmers parading around the pool or the foyer of Total Fitness Club. In the fall, they were a rare sight. Ingrid, in a skimpy one-piece swimsuit, was pacing and drawing attention when we arrived.

“I thought you stood me up,” she said with a pout, her accent more pronounced once again. “Oh, and you brought friends.”

Eirik, typical guy, ogled her. I jabbed him with my elbow. He smirked. At least he hadn’t brought his camera to immortalize her. After checking in, we disappeared in the women’s locker room while he headed to the men’s. Cora was still spraying leave-in condition to protect her hair against chlorine when I finished getting ready. Ingrid watched her impatiently through the mirror. An insane idea popped in my head, and I moved closer to her.

“How come you’re here alone?” I asked.

She ignored me for a few seconds then shrugged. “I can do things without Maliina, and Andris is gone.”

“Gone where? Hel’s Mist?”

She shuddered. “How do you know about Hel?”

“I’m learning a lot about your world. Maybe you can help me decode some runes.”

She studied me with narrowed eyes. “You’re trying to trick me.” She glanced at Cora and whispered, “We are not supposed to teach runes to Mortals.”

“I’m not like other Mortals,” I pushed, noting that her accent was all but gone.

“Then ask whoever taught you about Hel.”

I was getting nowhere with her. Cora was putting her things away and would soon join us. “You probably don’t know anyway. Well, I hope you and Maliina are happy with what you did to my car.”

Ingrid scowled. “Your car?”

“Yeah, the stupid runes you drew all over it. Now I can’t drive it without worrying. Thanks a lot.” I turned and headed toward the door leading to the pool deck.

Ingrid followed. “We didn’t draw runes on your car.”

“Maybe you didn’t, but I wouldn’t put it past your sister.” I reached the swimming pool and waved to Eirik. He was already in the water. “I bet she’s also the one who caused the blackout.”

“She did not,” Ingrid protested. “It was meant to happen.”

“And Kate just happened to wear a dress like mine, had brown hair like me, and was about my heights. Just because she killed someone else instead of me, she had to put a whammy on my car. If anything happens to me—”

“Show me the runes,” she hissed.

I had her. I knelt, dipped a finger in the pool water, and used it to draw the runes on the dry concrete floor.

Ingrid laughed. “Your sketches are terrible, and no, Maliina didn’t do it. Those are protection runes, and she’d never protect any woman Andris wants.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want him. Doesn’t that mean anything to her?”

“Then why is he protecting you? We saw the runes at your school. She knows Andris drew them,” Ingrid whispered harshly.

“Him? Why?”

She studied the sketches. “The middle rune is for Goddess Freya. She’s Andris’ protector.”

“Is she Torin’s?”

She made a face as if I was nuts and dived into the pool. I stared after her, mulling over what she’d told me.

“Coming?” Cora asked as she walked past.

I followed her and joined Eirik. I tried to have fun, raced him and goofed around while Cora worked with Ingrid, but at the back of my mind I replayed the conversation I’d had with the Immortal. They were protected by deities, and I shared a protector with Andris. Was that why he’d asked me to join his team?

Screams filled the air, and I turned to find the source. We weren’t the only ones frolicking in the pool. A family with younger and noisier kids was in the smaller, warmer pool the club used for senior therapy. We left the pool for the hot tub.

“I’ll be back,” Eirik said and disappeared toward the restrooms.

As though she’d timed it, Maliina entered the pool deck. Dressed in black skinny jeans, knee-length heeled boots, and a soft-pink sweater, she paused and glanced around. Her eyes narrowed when our eyes met. Then she continued searching until she found Ingrid and Cora. A smug smile lifted the corner of her mouth. She went to the side of the pool to talk to Ingrid, interrupting their lessons, but her focus changed when Eirik entered the pool room.

Still talking to Ingrid, she watched him as though he was her favorite dish and she hadn’t eaten in decades. I clenched my fist. That viper had better not go after him.

“Eirik?” she called out, and he turned around.

My stomach clenched. What did she want with him? I stood and hurried out of the hot tub. I couldn’t hear their conversation because of the noisy kids, but I wasn’t taking chances. Grabbing a towel, I wrapped it around my shoulders and went to join them.

“Maliina,” I said, coming to stand beside Eirik. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

“I was just leaving, Raine. Catch you later, Eirik Seville.” She turned and sashayed away. I counted slowly from ten to one, but I was still pissed. The girl rubbed me the wrong way.

“What was that about?” Eirik asked.

“I can’t stand her. She came to my birthday party at the club and was a total bitch. What did she want?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” Eirik frowned as we walked back to the hot tub. “She asked me some very weird questions. Do I live with my parents? Was I adopted? Do you remember those weird birthmarks I had on my back?”

I nodded. Pink bumpy marks used to crisscross his back, but they were gone now. They’d disappeared by the time we were in third grade.

“She asked about them. How did she know? And who asks such personal questions?”

An Immortal who was up to no good. I glanced back and caught her watching us with a calculating gleam in her pale-blue eyes. Would she hurt Eirik to get back at me? How had she known about Eirik’s birthmarks? Torin knew personal facts about me, too. Maybe they had background info on every member of the swim team.

“She’s weird. Promise to stay away from her.”

He grinned and pulled me closer. “Jealous?”

If playing the jealous girlfriend would keep him safe, then I’d play. “A little. She’s kind of hot.”

“She’s not my kind. Why would I want her when I have you?” He kissed me, taking his time. I poured all my fears into the kiss. When we eased off, I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, savoring the moment, until I realized he had gone quiet. Eirik was a talker.

I leaned back and caught his frown, so I turned and followed his gaze. Cora was laughing at something Ingrid had said. The two were out of the pool.

“How did Cora connect with Maliina’s sister?” Eirik asked.

I explained the meeting at The Hub as Cora started toward us. Ingrid and Maliina headed toward the changing rooms.

“How did it go?” I asked when Cora joined us.

“Great. She’s really nice. Oh, this feels good,” Cora said, slipping in the churning water.

“Did you tell her it was a one-time thing?”

Cora shrugged. “No. She asked if we could do it again tomorrow. I said I’d call her.”

I sighed. “Cora.”

“I know that her sister is not nice, but Ingrid is different. She misses home. Her sister hangs out with her boyfriend all the time and leaves her alone. Blaine doesn’t have any sisters for her to hang out with.” Her eyes flashed. I knew that look. It meant she was going to be stubborn.

I raised my hands in the universal sign of surrender. “Okay. Work with her, but I’ll be here to keep an eye on Maliina.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to. I mean, she’s kind of mean, but she’s hardly a serial killer. I don’t need you babysitting me.”

“Fine. Have it your way.”

“I always do,” she retorted.

I wanted to shake some sense into her. She could be so annoyingly stubborn sometimes, but this time, she was dealing with forces beyond her understanding. I glanced at Eirik. He wore a puzzled expression like he’d landed in the Twilight Zone.

“What’s going on?” he mouthed.

I just shook my head. “We should go. I still have history homework.”

Tension was heavy in the air as we changed and during the drive home. I hated it. Cora and I were tight and rarely fought. This was the Immortals’ fault. Their presence was disrupting every fabric of my life. I clung to my seat and hoped Cora didn’t kill us.

She careened into Orchard Street without slowing down, totally forgetting the yield sign and almost hitting another car. She jerked the wheel, swerved, and kept going. I held on to the dashboard and opened my mouth to tell her to slow down, but Eirik beat me to it.

“Damn it, Cora!” he yelled. “Slow down.”

“Why? That wasn’t my fault,” she snapped, veering to the left to overtake another car. “Idiot! Slow pokes!” She overtook another, almost colliding with an oncoming truck.

I was queasy by the time she screeched to a halt outside my house, barely missing our mailbox. I stared at her with wide eyes, but she didn’t bother to look at me. “I’ve gotta go, so out of the car.”

“You can’t drive if you’re pissed off about something, Cora,” I said, my stomach still roiling.

“Last time I checked, this was my car, so get the hell out,” she said rudely.

Eirik leaned forward. “Cora—”

“Out!” she screamed.

We scrambled out of her car, and she threw the car into gear. We stared after her as the taillights disappeared around the corner. Cora was usually a careful driver. What had gotten into her?

“What the hell was that about?” Eirik asked. “Did you two have a fight that I missed? Because nothing makes sense. Why was she driving like a lunatic? We almost got into an accident,” Eirik snarled, still freaking out.

I had no answer for him. Instead, I pulled out my cell phone and texted Cora, then glanced at Torin’s. The lights were on in the upstairs bedroom, which meant he was home. He might know what Maliina and her sister had done to cause Cora to act so reckless. She’d almost gotten us killed. “I have to go.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Eirik asked as he walked me to the door, making me wonder if he’d caught the way I’d glanced at Torin’s.

“That would be nice, but I won’t finish my homework,” I whispered back.

He gave in without an argument and gave me a brief kiss. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow. I have to go in early for a meeting with Drexel.”

Drexel was his art teacher and Visual Arts Club advisor. I checked my cell phone as soon as Eirik left, but there was no message from Cora. Not that I expected any. Sighing, I locked the door and headed upstairs. Mom was still awake when I walked past her door.

“How was it?” she called out.

I popped my head inside her room. She had a large book on her lap and receipts all over her bed. She was doing her finances.

“You do know there’s software for such things,” I teased, no longer feeling queasy.

“I’m too old fashioned for computers.” She continued to scribble.

“I can help if you’d like. I took computer applications last year, which covered Microsoft Excel.”

“No, sweetie. I’ll stick with what I know while you…” She studied me with a knowing smile. “You focus on your school work, being a teenager, and finding a guy that puts stars in your eyes.”

“Eirik puts stars in my eyes.” I fluttered my eyelashes.

“Then I’d like to hear more than ‘okay’ after an evening out with him.”

My face grew warm.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. You’ll meet the right guy someday and you’ll understand.”

I shook my head. “Goodnight, Mom.”

“Night, sweetheart.”

In my room, I changed into my pajamas and was getting ready to start my homework when I got a text from Eirik. He’d stopped by Cora’s to make sure she was okay. She got home safely but was still acting crazy. I hope whatever had gotten into her would wear off by tomorrow or Maliina was going to get an earful from me.

I barely finished my homework when the lights in Torin’s bedroom flashed on and off. My heart skipped, but I ignored the signal and turned on the computer. I’d wait until tomorrow and see how Cora was doing before talking to him. Right now, I was dying to meet Goddess Freya, my protector.