Gods (10 page)

She looked at her watch. “Isn’t it late?”

“No. His store is open until late at night.”

“We’ll have to call first.” She pulled out her phone, but instead of calling, she fidgeted with it and I noticed the tremor on her hand. My protective instinct shot from zero to infinity.

I was beside her without realizing I’d moved and squatted at her feet, so I could see her expression. She looked stricken.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to stay calm.

“They blame me for the deaths, Eirik.” She searched my face as though looking for proof. “Mrs. Mouton said they thought I was hiding after the Call, so I wouldn’t go to Kayville. That Dad hid me.”

The more she talked, the more pissed I got. How dare they blame her after everything I’d done? Celestia was above reproach. They’d know nothing about my world if it weren’t for her.

“How many died?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“No, Dimples. We’re not doing this. Not now. Not ever.”

“I just want to know.”

“So you can blame yourself? I orchestrated this. I gave the Witches a choice the moment I realized the Immortals were going to attack. They chose to stay and defend Raine. The Valkyries and Grimnirs joined us, too. Yes, we lost some Witches, but so many of the Immortals died. Once it was over, Lord Worthington disappeared, but I tracked him down with Rhys and Nara’s help and delivered him to your Guild just like I’d promised.”

“I would have loved to see that.” Light entered her eyes, and my anger eased.

“I told you everything while you were in a coma, but I guess you were busy flying in the astral plane.”

“I’ll have to tell you about that sometime. Right now, I want to hear about Worthington and what the Witches did to him. Is he dead? Maybe entombed in a cemetery for eternity, or trapped by the same chain you used on Angrboda?”

I chuckled. I’d told her what happened after she was hurt, including locking Crazy Granny in Corpse Strand. “Now why hadn’t I thought of using that chain on him? You see why I need you by my side? You come up with diabolical plans, and I execute them.” My stomach growled.

She laughed. “Are you hungry?”

“Just for a snack.”

“I’ll make us sandwiches while you talk. I missed so much while I was in a coma. I can’t believe the Witches had Worthington.”

I followed her inside the house. “He compensated the families of all the dead Witches. Most wanted money to take care of their family while others asked for new homes. All of them are set for life and the Guild also got a large settlement. He can afford it. What are we having?”

She pulled out a French bread and got cold cuts, salad, and condiments from the fridge. “You decide what I should not add.”

I lifted her out of the way. “Then I’ll make the sandwiches while you call Doctor B. Oh, before I forget, Mom wants to see you.”

She stopped and frowned. “Why?”

“She misses you. She spent a lot of time by your bedside when you were in a coma.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Right.”

“On Tuesday when I went home after Jötunheim, she wanted to know how you were doing and when you’ll visit. Yesterday, she sent Trudy to find out what’s going on. She’s worried you’re angry about what happened to you. Today, she didn’t ask. She wore this really hurt expression when I said you’ll probably visit tomorrow.”

“So why haven’t you taken me to see her?”

“She’ll want to know what happened between you and Einmyria. I wanted you to focus on recovering, not revisiting that event. And I wanted you to myself.”

Celestia smiled. “Thank you, and I’m happy we’ve spent these last three days together.” She punched buttons on her phone and pressed the speaker button.

“May I please speak to Doctor B?”

“Who’s calling?” a woman asked. She didn’t sound friendly and she spoke with a singsong southern accent.

“Celestia Deveraux. He knows who I am.”

“Doctor B is very busy right now. If you leave a message I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“I’d like to stop by for a visit. Hopefully in the next hour.”

“Like I said—”

“He’s busy. I know, but this is important. If you give him my name… our names,” she amended, grinning, “I’m sure he’ll want to see us.”

“Give me your names, Miss.”

“Celestia Deveraux and Eirik Baldurson.”

There was silence, then, “Oh my,” the woman said. “Uh-mm, hold on. Do not hang up. I will tell him right away. You still there?”

“Yes, I’m here, and I’ll hold.” Celestia lowered the phone and whispered, “I knew throwing your name would open doors for me.” She moved close, leaned on the counter and watched me spread a generous amount of mustard with seeds on one half of the French bread. “That’s way too much mustard for me.”

I removed some on one fifth of the French bread. “Now?”

“Better.” I dropped a dollop on the tip of her nose and grinned when she tried to lick it off. Laughing, I leaned in and licked it off while she tried to evade my tongue.

“Eww. That’s disgusting.”

“You didn’t just call my kiss disgusting.”

“Never. This is.” She swept her hand on the yellow mass and smeared it on my nose.

“You better be ready to lick it all off or I’m wiping it on you.”

She shook her head and scooted away just as the woman came back on the phone and said, “Doctor B said he’ll see you any time. When do you think you’ll get here?”

I lifted a finger to indicate ten minutes.

“We’ll be there in an hour.” She put the phone down, walked to where I was almost done with the sandwich, and wiggled her forefinger. When I leaned down, she wiped off the mustard from my nose with a tissue and then kissed me. I forgot about the sandwich, picked her up, set her on the counter, and continued where she’d left off.

She was right. We needed an hour.

~*~

CELESTIA

When Eirik opened a portal to Doctor B’s shop, we chose a secluded area, so as not to startle the girl filing her nails behind the counter.

“We are early,” Eirik whispered.

“You are the one who cut short our fun,” I whispered. He stopped kissing me every time he went into a partial shift and it was driving me nuts. “I told you, I can handle it. I’m not fragile, you know.”

“Yes, you are.” He ran his knuckles up and down my arm.

“But I have runes now.”

“Not enough.”

“Then give me more, until Lavion delivers my artavo.” I looped my arms around his neck. He was so tall I had to go on my toes despite my heeled boots. “Then we won’t worry about me getting hurt.”

“I can’t. For you to start the transition properly, you need your set of blades.”

“What are you two doing back there?” a woman snapped, and I looked over my shoulder to find her glaring at us. She had tiny dreadlocks pulled up in a high ponytail and wore black leggings and a colorful dress shirt. I missed Shania with her fake accent and sunny personality. This lady was studying us as though we were a couple of delinquents.

“We are waiting to see Doctor B. Celestia and Eirik,” I added when she looked ready to speak. Her eyes widened.

“Oh my. You are so young.” I wasn’t sure whether she meant Eirik or me. Not me, I decided when she bowed. “Sorry, Your Highness. My name is Afua and it’s an honor to finally meet you. Can I get you something to drink while you wait? Water or soda. I can also get you seats. We have a private room by Doctor B’s office.”

“No, we’re okay, Afua,” Eirik said. “Thank you. We’re just browsing.”

“If you see anything you like, let me know.” She smiled and added, “I’ll wrap it up for you real nice. And it will be on the house.” She winced and thumped her forehead. “What am I thinking? Of course, our trinkets are nothing to you. Excuse me, Your Lordliness.” She disappeared around a shelf.

“Is that how people react around you,
Your Highness
?” I teased Eirik.

“I knew you’d get a kick out of that.”

“I like Your Lordliness better.”

He growled and kissed me, effectively shutting me up. “Are you done teasing me?”

If that were his way of shutting me up, I should tease him more often. I rattled my brain back to normal while he grinned smugly.

“Now where were we? Runes. I need more.” A weird expression crossed his face. I knew that look. He’d worn it after I burned myself trying to teach him to create a fire with a spell. “You are not regretting healing me, are you?” He took a lock of my hair and played with it, his eyebrows slanting down. “Eirik?”

“I wasn’t sure how you’d react, but if I had to do it again, I’d do exactly the same thing. It was the only way to save you.”

“I get it, and no, I’m not angry. Before the accident, I’d thought about how we would make things work since I was Mortal, but I’m happy with the way things turned out. Not the incident. Just that you were there to make the pain go away.” His frown deepened. “Now what is it?”

He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his mid-section and my arms circled his neck. I wondered why he did it so often. Was it because I was shorter than he and he wanted me up to be on the same eye level? Not that I was complaining. I liked being carried by him.

“I bit you and you didn’t tell me. We also haven’t talked about what happened between you and Einmyria before I arrived at Niorun’s.”

I tried to borrow from his rulebook and shut him up with a kiss, but it didn’t work.

“No, I’m serious.” He wasn’t smiling. “We should discuss what happened.”

“There’s a big difference between discussing what happened and listening to you blame yourself for everything bad that’s ever happened to me. You are not my keeper. I made decisions and must deal with the consequences, and they”—I kissed him when he opened his mouth—“are my consequences. Not yours. Yes, you bit me, and I chose not to share that knowledge with you when I realized Crazy Granny bit me first, so your bite wasn’t important.”

“I scarred you.”

I grinned. “I’m wearing your mark. That should make you proud. Can you imagine explaining it to another man?”

He growled, his eyes slitting. “What man? You’re never going to be—”

“I know. I know. I was trying to prove a point.”

“Your way of doing it sucks. You with another man is never going to happen.”

“Then you’d better treat me nice and start by not coddling me or blaming yourself for my pain… and giving me time when I need it.” He frowned. “We
will
discuss what happened when I’m ready. We should continue as we have these past few days. Just together without bringing up past unpleasantness.” His expression grew pensive. I knew I’d put him in a tight spot. He could either respect my wishes or ignore them.

“Fine. But no keeping secrets from each other.”

Relief coursed through me. This meant no discussing his sister. Until I had all my facts straight, I was staying off that subject.

“There’s a difference between not wanting to discuss what we both know and keeping secrets,” he said. “Because of the way I was raised, I hate secrets. Even well-intentioned ones.”

He was going to go ballistic if Anne Marie wasn’t his sister, and he learned that I’d suspected it. “Okay. Now about the artavo, Lavion didn’t give us a date, but you can teach me some of the runes, right?”

“Sure.”

“Good because I want to be able to do things like open a portal and surprise you in Eljudnir.”

He grinned, obviously liking my idea.

“You sneaked into my room and held me without me knowing about it for months. It’s only fair I return the favor.”

His grin widened.  “You think you can sneak into my bed, and I wouldn’t know about it? Never. Oh, Lavion mentioned something. He’s created a special bind rune for you.
”
Cruise Confidential

“A rune, for me?”

“Yes. It describes you, your strengths and weaknesses.”

“I don’t have weaknesses.”

“Of course you do. Me.” He grinned. “He said you were vicious with any archer that aimed at me, grinning while throwing them across the market. He’ll etch your rune on all your blades. He showed it to me and explained its meaning, and I swear the man is a genius. He described you so perfectly I wanted to punch his nose.”

I laughed. “Why?”

“No one should know you better than me.”

“No one does,” I said.

A throat clearing finally penetrated the sensual haze Eirik had created around us. I tried not to blush when my eyes met Afua’s. Her grin broadened while I wiggled to get down from Eirik’s arms.

“He will see you now.”

“Thank you.” Eirik waited until she was gone then nudged me forward. “Go. I’ll wait here.”

Confused, I frowned. “You’re not coming?”

“No. My presence will only distract him.”

I’d been counting on him to act as a buffer. When he was around, things always seemed less daunting. On the other hand, after Afua’s bowing and stammering, maybe I was better off facing Doctor B alone.