Forecast (19 page)

The giant turned and ran, crushing an overturned motorcycle under one huge foot.

I took a cautious step toward the still creature and saw the glassy, fixed stare of a dead thing.

Taran ran to me, clutched my arms. “Is any of this blood yours?”

I shook my head, feeling my lips tremble. But this time, the tears didn’t come.

Anger surged through me. “Come here,” he whispered as he tugged me into his body and wrapped his arms tight around me. “When that thing picked you up, my heart stopped.” He lifted me off the ground and hugged me. “I have never been that scared in my life.”

“Me, neither,” I said, squeezing him back. “I don’t want to let you go.” His lips were against my neck.

“Then don’t.”

“We’ll freeze.” He started walking us toward my house.

“I don’t care.”

“How, Coral?” he whispered into my neck. “How did you come to mean so much to me so fast?”

My heart flipped over. “I don’t know, but I feel it, too.”

He set me down in my living room, handed me a notebook, then tugged off the mesh glove so he could cup my cheek. His hand was surprisingly warm. “Those things wanted you. Just like the elf in the restaurant.”

“They seemed to.”

“It has to do with the prophecy you told me about. About how you and you sisters can stop the end of the world. It’s just this world, isn’t it? Theirs—the giants’, the elves’—their worlds will live on?”

I nodded. “But I really don’t know what I can do to stop any of this. Maybe my sisters and I are just supposed to keep the gods like you safe? And it can’t just be three of you. My mother is taking out others and I can’t understand why. When this was about keeping her daughters alive, I got it. I didn’t like it, but at least I understood her motives. This is ridiculous.”

“It feels like we’re being messed with.”

And a moment of clarity hit me so strong and so fast, I choked on the name that sprang into my throat. But then, nausea hit and I knew I was about to see something new.

I turned toward him, stepped close and wrapped my free arm around his neck. I had to stand on my toes to bury my face in his neck. He released my hand and put both his arms around me, holding me so close, I could feel his still-rapidly beating heat through our clothes. “Don’t let me go,” I whispered, because when I closed my eyes, I knew I’d be somewhere else as soon as I opened them.

And I was.

* * *

I turned in a circle, taking in the uneven white mounds of snow around me. I stopped when I recognized the huge, stone pillars beneath Brooks Bridge. Covering my mouth, I took a step closer. Or tried to. I couldn’t interact with the world during my vision. If this had been real, I would be stumbling over snow-covered debris. A barge had crashed into the shore, was several feet up on land and had spilled its contents. From the shapes, I guessed cargo boxes—orange and green from the colors peeking through the snow.

Like in my last vision, the air had the faint taste of tingling magic to it.

Something moved out of the corner of my eye and I turned to see a black-feathered coat disappearing around a bridge pier. She reappeared, halting and staring. I turned to see what she looked at. Huge chunks of busted-up boats littered the shore, floated in the water. Then, I spotted other people moving—pretty far away from us. Squinting, I tried to make out who would be walking during my
rune tempus
, and gasped when I recognized Mist’s golden beanie and Magnus’s black skin. He sat on the ground, cradling his head. He must have fallen again when the world started spinning.

My mother lifted her arm, her movements pulling my gaze back to her, and I cried out when I saw the small crossbow in her hand.

“No,” I yelled, but she couldn’t hear me.

She let an arrow fly, and I covered my mouth and watched, helpless, as it sailed toward Magnus and Mist. But the Valkyrie must have sensed it coming because she grabbed Magnus by the arm and hauled him out of the way—putting her body in front of his. Then she scrambled to her feet, helped him to his and they ran.

My mother aimed again. I remembered that she’d seen me in the vision before, so I started waving my arms frantically. The shock that froze her in place as she saw me would have been comical if I hadn’t right then spotted something at her feet.

My purple coat.

The one that had the sea snake venom in the pocket.

The grin that stretched her mouth as she saw where I’d looked didn’t look at all like my mother’s smile. She bent and lifted my coat into the air, then winked. Her scraggly hair stood out all over her head and that smile—that creepy, too-wide smile...it wasn’t hers.

That was not my mother
. The knowledge raked painfully through me and settled into a throbbing wound in my chest. I rubbed my sternum, feeling my norn’s dismay as she realized it, as well.

Someone had taken over my mother. And she—he or it—had the sea serpent venom.

I was pretty sure I knew who it was.

Someone who had taken Thor’s hammer in the past. Someone who loved to mess with him.

“Take me back to Taran, Verthandi.” I whispered. “Please.”

But she didn’t. Not at first.

Instead she took me to my neighbor’s backyard. Something dark moved in my peripheral vision. My palms began to sweat because I knew what I would see. A dark elf stepped into the yard. It wasn’t the one I’d seen in the restaurant. This one had long, reddish hair and he moved slowly, as if he was still hampered by my
rune tempus
, but had found the strength to fight it. He wasn’t alone. Five more followed him. They all wore the long coatdress like uniform outfits. All in black. Two had the white hair of that first elf I’d seen in the restaurant, one had a long, black braid and the last’s bald head shone like a polished eight ball.

They never looked in my direction, and I followed their gazes as one pointed.

At Grim and Josh, who had come around the house—probably to see the giant. Because the other one had taken her, they now looked at a patch of bright red blood in the snow.

Grim still held the magical staff in his hands.

I yelled as the elves slowly walked to Grim. They seemed confused by the double image of Josh and Grim together as they argued and made gestures toward the staff. I could do nothing. This was a vision. My body was actually in my house—so very close.

How come my mother could see me but not these elves?

Then another one stepped around the corner. One I recognized. And his black gaze locked onto me and stayed. He didn’t alert the others to my presence—he only narrowed his eyes, locking me into his stare even as my heart pounded in terror for Josh and Grim. Then he bent, picked up a stick and wrote something in the snow fast before straightening back up to watch me. I stood, helpless, as the elves carried the twins toward him.

He was definitely the creature who’d terrorized my childhood. I sneered at him and his sudden grin startled me.

It caught the attention of the redheaded elf, who turned my way, but his gaze brushed right past me. Why could only one of them see me?

Then it hit me.

My mother could see me.

And this one
,
lone dark elf could see me.

In my gut, I knew exactly what that meant.

Bile rose in my throat as the creature I was starting to think might be my father watched me over his shoulder as he walked with the other dark elves. Ones carrying Josh and Grim away. I woke up in my body with a gasp of pain. Taran wasn’t holding me—he’d laid me on the couch under several heavy blankets and was kneeling beside me. “You’re back,” he said. “I’m so glad. Did you know that you go as stiff as everyone else whenever you have a vision?”

I shook my head. “Nobody has ever been with me through these. I told you that.”

“I can’t imagine how scary it must have been when this first started.” He frowned, then grimaced and reached toward his chin where some flakes of blood had dried. “What did you see?”

Frantic, I sat up and shoved the blankets off so I could run.

“Coral!” Taran yelled from behind me as he followed, the sound of his shoes hitting the porch loud. “Wait!”

“I can’t!” I sprinted across my yard, the street, then my neighbor’s yard. Skidding as I turned the corner of my neighbor’s house. I looked at what the elf had written—surprisingly in English—but the first word was smudged. The second said bridge. Hurrying, I followed the footprints in the snow. My visions were of things happening in the present. They had just been here! I ran faster, groaning when I hit a snowdrift that pulled at the tired muscles of my thighs.

When I hit the next street, I knew they’d gotten away. The footprints grew farther apart, as if they’d been able to finally fight all the way through my
rune tempus
and run. I’d seen that thing move in the restaurant before it had wrestled with my
rune tempus
. At full speed, I’d never catch them. “Oh gods!” I covered my face, heaving.

“What?” Taran skidded to a stop next to me. “What made the footprints?”

“Dark elves.” I dropped my hands, stared down the street where the footprints continued to widen. As my
rune tempus
began to end and the world started its spin, I turned to Taran. “I know where they’re going.” I put my hands on his chest so he’d look at me. “They took Josh and Grim.”

Chapter Thirteen

Grady grabbed Taran the second we came back around the corner and hugged him so hard, Taran grunted. Then his dad let him go and yanked me in for a hug, too.

A mix of shock and warmth spread through me so fast, I clutched him back.

“I saw that giant lift you into the air, then I have no idea what happened. I expect a full explanation right—” He broke off when a woman screamed. Then another. People were gathering around the dead giant and loud sirens tore through the neighborhoods.

“Did the other two giants get away?” he asked as he started moving away from us.

“Yeah,” Taran answered. “Hey, Dad!”

Grady stopped. “Taran, I really have to take care of this area fast, get these people away from that thing and—”

“Dad,” Taran said, voice low and firm. “I know you’re gonna need me for questions and help here, but Coral and I have to go. Now. Some...things...took Josh and Grim. We’ve gotta try and find them.”

All color drained from Grady’s face. He stared at his son for a long time. “What kind of things?”

Taran waved a hand toward the giant. “Things along those lines, but smaller. I can handle them, Dad. You saw me with the hammer.”

Grady nodded. “I did. Doesn’t mean I’m going to let my son go off to fight an unknown threat.” He stepped closer to us, lowered his voice. “Are the boys in danger, Taranis?”

I was the one who nodded.

“Officer Breen!” A cop yelled.

“Just a minute,” Grady yelled back. “I’ll get you some walkies. You have to promise to call me when you find the boys. Don’t go after anyone alone. And I know you’re capable. Man, watching you was incredible today—” He broke off. “Today,” he repeated. “Today is your birthday. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier.”

“We’ve kind of been busy. It’s really not a big deal.” Taran reached for my hand, threaded our fingers together. “Coral and I really have to go.”

“I need to get my bag—if it’s still at your house.” I frowned at Grady. “I’m sorry about your place.”

“It’s in better shape than some around it. Walls are intact. The outside ones anyway. The inside is another story. We won’t be able to stay there.” He looked at his son.

“We’re just going to get a few things and then look for Josh and Grim. We’ll worry about everything else later—including birthdays. I’ll have my friends, you and my girlfriend, so it’ll be great no matter what we do.

“Girlfriend?” his dad asked.

“Girlfriend?” I echoed.

“Yeah.” Taran gently squeezed my fingers. “I know. Like you said, it’s crazy fast. But I know what I feel.”

Grady cleared his throat. “Okay, well.” He cleared his throat again, so obviously flustered that he wasn’t sure how to respond.

But I got it. My nerves were firing off so hard inside me, I was pretty sure that Ratatoskr, the frenzied squirrel that ran all over the Yggdrasil tree, had just been let loose in there.

“So.” Grady actually winced when another cop yelled for him. “This crowd is getting out of control, and from what I’m hearing, the giants who got away made more messes. I have to help. I’ll have an officer drop you off as close as he can get to our house. It’ll be a couple streets north of it probably. There’s a lot of damage and standing water, so most of the roads aren’t passable.” He paused, then grabbed Taran for another bone-crushing hug. “Please be careful and promise to call me on the walkie when you find the twins. Before you do anything,” he reiterated.

“Promise.”

Grady was sucked into the frantic, confused crowd of people. Some, who had seen him fighting, grabbed at him, yelling questions.

“Girlfriend, huh? Don’t you think we ought to date or something first?” The amusement that sped through me wasn’t altogether my own.
Go away
,
Verthandi
,
this is my private moment.
When she settled, I stared up at this boy I knew was going to be a handful...and worth it.

“Yeah, we’ll date. After we take care of a few other things. Just thought I’d let my dad know that you’re going to be around more.” He looked up when a cop called his name. “Looks like Officer Burns has our walkie-talkies and our ride. Let’s go find my friends.”

It took a frustratingly long time to get even close to Taran’s house. Hours. When Officer Burns finally dropped us off a street over from Taran’s, I knew we were in for something rough, and I wasn’t wrong. We stood at the end of a road that barely resembled one. Right in front of us was half of someone’s bathroom. The wood frame stuck out on the sides and a fully intact beige toilet, which was still attached to the blue laminate floor, rested on its back. Next to it, a black Ford pickup was turned onto its side, the windshield a spiderweb pattern of cracks. A man stepped onto what was left of his porch to our right. He looked thick in layers of sweatshirts and pants, but was still shaking with cold as he gave us a sad wave. He disappeared back into his house. It was missing a side wall.

Grief lodged as a rock-hard lump in my throat.

“You said you know where they took them.” Taran’s mouth was pinched into a hard line as he looked at the destruction of his neighborhood.

“Brooks Bridge. My mother was there in my vision.”

“The spirit wolves,” he murmured, nodding. “Seems like I should have thought of that after growing up around the stories. But they only come at midnight on the third Wednesday. Or so the story goes. I’ve never seen them.”

“I have. But it doesn’t matter what day it is. The area is obviously a sacred place or they wouldn’t show up at all.”

Taran flexed his hands then closed them into fists. “Adrenaline is pumping through my system so hard and fast and it’s growing stronger. We need to hurry.”

We cut through yards, my boots squishing and crunching on the wet and icy grass. The cold, at this point, had started to feel like an insidious tormentor, constantly zapping at my energy reserves.

Taran’s house still had all its outer walls. One of the porch steps had been ripped off and part of the front door was missing. The outer door was nothing but a frame and a few sharp remnants of glass. Debris crunched under our feet as we walked inside. The overcast sky made the inside of the house feel like a dank cave. Already the scent of mildew crept into the air.

“We’ll have to replace all the walls and insulation, the furniture.” Taran stood in the middle of his living room, arms crossed. “This isn’t as bad as some of my neighbors’ homes.” He offered me a sad smile. “Maybe your spells helped.”

“Speaking of spells...” I walked into their bathroom, relief flooding me when I saw my bag still settled on the counter. The water had come into the room and pulled one cabinet door completely off, tossed towels and first aid supplies everywhere. Wet toilet paper covered the tub and toilet. This room felt colder than the rest of the house, so I started shivering pretty hard as I dug around in my bag. I pulled out the vial of black salt, slung the strap of my bag over my shoulder and returned to find Taran staring at the triple goddess art.

“We lost a lot of things in here, and I keep telling myself they’re just things and that everyone I love made it through this, so none of the material stuff matters.” He offered me a sad smile. “But I’m glad this particular ‘thing’ made it.”

“Me, too. You guys will probably need to move it to someplace less damp for a while.” I handed him the vial. “This is black salt. I found it that first night and meant to give it to you. My mom made it.”

He took the tube and held it in his palm, raised an eyebrow. “I say again, do you really want me to use something your mom made?”

I nodded. “It’ll be better to take it out of the vial, sprinkle it in your pockets. And I believe this will work great
because
she made it. Especially now that I’m pretty sure it’s not really my mother running around hurting people. Someone is using her. I saw her in the vision earlier, and it looked like maybe she’s been possessed.” I stepped over pieces of broken coffee table, then froze as I remembered something. “Oh gods, why didn’t I think of this before? The day she disappeared, my sister Kat showed Raven and me a
rune tempus
she’d done that said
mother berserker.
That’s what it meant.”

“Berserkers were crazed, killer Vikings, right?” He handed the mostly empty vial back to me and I shoved it into my coat pocket.

I shook my head. “You really should know more about your ancestors. It was a word used to describe some Vikings in battle, but nobody knows for sure what it meant. It could have been something as simple as raiders without their shirts on. But
berserker
was also a word that was used for possession. And now I’m pretty sure I know who is doing this. I know your mom told you stories about Thor and how the god Loki liked to mess with him.” I glanced up at Taran, who still stood motionless by his mother’s art.

“But those were pranks. These kids were hurt. Killed.”

“Well, if you’d spent centuries tied up in a cave while poison dripped on your face, you might be beyond the prank stage, too. Plus, I think he’s taking out kids with god souls on purpose. Maybe to make the battleground even more uneven in the end. I think the elves are helping him.”

“So you think they took Josh and Grim to lure me to Loki?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they took them because of the staff. They seemed pretty interested in it when they were gesturing at Grim.”

“But if Loki thinks Grim has a god’s soul—” He broke off.

I nodded, my heart in my throat. “He’ll be killed. We have to go after them now.”

* * *

“So you never saw the spirit wolves? I asked Taran as we picked over the slippery, snow-covered debris near Brooks Bridge. It was frustrating and slow going because every time we tried to hurry one of us inevitably slipped. I couldn’t even tell what we walked on anymore because the snowfall had thickened as more clouds had come in. It grew darker fast and I didn’t know if it was because of the cloud cover or if we were closer to twilight than I thought. But then, I saw the moon peeking out and realized it was later than sunset. I hoped then, with everything in me, that Taran’s power was supposed to come at the time of his birth. I knew it wasn’t later than eight o’clock. My stomach growled and my hands were shaking and I also realized we hadn’t had time to eat all day. Luckily, I still had my bag.

Or Taran did, since he’d insisted on carrying it after I’d slipped and fallen the first time.

“Neither did Josh and Grim. We sneaked out four different times. The last time was my seventeenth birthday, and that night, I felt something in the air, but still saw nothing.”

I touched his arm to get him to stop walking. “Hand me the bag. We should eat something and I have granola bars in it.”

There was enough light despite the dark clouds to catch his grimace. “Hate those things. I’ve figured out by now that you’re a vegetarian. Since I do hope we have those dates, will you have a problem with me eating meat? Because I have to tell you—”

“No,” I interrupted. “Of course not.” I pulled my bag off his shoulder and dropped it onto a snow-covered bench that luckily didn’t have anything else on it. I handed Taran a bar. “I feel really shaky, and I know you have to be hungry, so just choke it down.”

“Wow, I can see who’s going to be the bossy one in the relationship.” He sighed loudly but unwrapped the bar and took a bite.

“Who’s bossy? Who insisted on carrying my bag when I’m perfectly capable?” I pretty much inhaled my bar. It was so cold, it kind of tasted like nothing, but I felt better instantly. “Guess I should tell you I’m not that interested in kissing someone with meat breath. Just so you know.”

He was silent a few moments as he watched me dig around for another bar for him. Then he sighed again. “I’m gonna miss bacon.”

My stomach fluttered. “You don’t have to give it up. Just don’t eat it when you want to kiss me.”

“What if I want to kiss you all the time?”

“I guess one of us will have to compromise.” I wanted to smile at the conversation, but along with the return of food in my tummy came the fear. I didn’t know what we were about to face—not really. I glanced at the hammer Taran had slid into a leather belt he’d put on before we left his house. Would it be enough against dark elves
and
Loki? What if there were more giants? I’d have to find a way to fight these things, too—not just stand around. Of course, I had my bag of spells now. I briefly closed my eyes and took a deep breath because I was doing the random thought fart thing again. My shaking fingers finally found the other snack I had stashed. “Here, it’s a protein bar. You’ll like this one better.”

“I feel bad for ever making fun of your bag, Coral.” He took the bar and had it unwrapped and in his mouth so fast, I ducked my head and smiled. He never would have told me he was still hungry. I slid the strap onto my shoulder, ignored Taran’s frown because he was going to need free hands fast—I just knew it. I pointed. “Look, there’s still a pier standing.” I shivered, squinted, because I couldn’t tell if the shadowy shapes on that pier were moving. My heart started pounding. My palms started sweating and that horrible, prickly evil crept softly over my skin.

He was here.

The elf I was pretty sure I wanted to go far, far away from me before I learned something I couldn’t
unlearn
.

I spun around to see him stepping from behind a stack of storage crates that had fallen off a beached barge. Again, he moved with that fluid sort of grace, as if he almost danced to me. Which should have made him feel less threatening, but didn’t. Not at all. Moonlight reflected off his white hair and the teeth in his sudden, wide smile. It was too dark to see his eyes but I felt that gaze going over me just as it had back in the restaurant.

Taran spotted him and pulled his hammer from his belt.

The elf ignored him and kept coming toward us, and as he drew closer, the clouds moved just enough to let more moonlight through and I saw some kind of determination or intent in his marble-like face. It sent alarm skittering through me like mad.

Right before he reached us, crashing noises sounded from all around us, and suddenly it wasn’t the one elf in front of us, it was the entire group I’d seen in my neighbor’s backyard. The one with long, red hair yelled in the first elf’s face and gestured at me.