Gods (26 page)

“My memories of the last several months are still gone. Sorry.”

“So you really have no proof she healed you.”

“No, the way she passed out and her life force was very low in Eljudnir was the first sign.” She hesitated and looked away.

“Yes?”

She sighed. “There’s a connection between us now that was never there before. Her energy flows through me. She gave me life and a bond was formed. It’s like the dragon kiss, but stronger.”

I winced. I was the only one who was supposed to share a bond with Celestia. Now there was Tammy and a crow.

“I knew she was in pain a few hours ago and the urge to go to her became unbearable. Please, ask her to come and talk to me. I might not have all the answers, but I can explain the source of her new powers.”

“Do you know of anyone with this ability?”

“No. Most healers hide their abilities. If they belong to a tribe or a coven, their people protect them. Celestia doesn’t have anyone to protect her.”

I smiled. “She has me, my mother, and the entire Grimnir force behind her.”

“Of course, she does. I’m talking about here on Earth. If word gets out about her abilities, no runes or spells will stop those determined to use her.”

I didn’t argue with the woman. No matter where Celestia was, she could always count on me to protect her. Runes and spells had nothing on me.

“That’s why I want to talk to her,” Tammy continued. “She must never tell anyone what she can do. If she does, she’ll never be safe.” She leaned forward. “Please, convince her to come and see me.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Thank you for talking to me.” I pushed back my chair and stood.

Now the trick was finding a healer and picking their brain without arousing their suspicions. I had to know what Celestia could do without crossing the line. Helping people was out of the question. The last thing I needed was a line of people rushing to her rescue every time she needs help because they were bonded to her. That was my responsibility. Call it a hero complex, but a man who couldn’t protect his woman wasn’t worth shit.

EIRIK

Torin was busy dismantling the engine of a car when I opened a portal to his place. He was filthy with grease on his clothes and face. I took a picture, and he looked up. Annoyance crossed his face.

“You’re looking pretty glum for someone about to get hitched.”

“If you’re here to mess with me, Eirik, get lost.”

“Why would I do that? I thought you might need my help.”

“Nah, this is not one of those moments where you play the hero. I got this.” He threw a worn-out piece in the garbage and opened a new one.

“I’m not talking about your pet project. I heard you were proposing to Raine today.”

“Shhh, keep it down. She’s in the house with that annoying student. She doesn’t know it yet. Go away.”

I grabbed a lawn chair and sat. “She doesn’t know about the proposal or that the wedding will really be on Wednesday and not Saturday.”

Torin threw a glance over his shoulder, and asked through a clenched jaw, “Who told you?”

“Does it matter? I’m supposed to bring my Witch friends to hide your energies. Plus, Raine deserves to have a roomful of those who care about her.”

Torin grinned. “Yes, she does. I hate hiding things from her. Because of the Norns, we have to sneak around and rush things. They won’t allow me to tell her anything.”

“So I take it Cora won’t be told either.”

“No-oo. But can you imagine Raine getting married without Cora being there? She’s not going to be happy. She’ll keep it inside and smile, but she won’t like it. Raine’s wedding day is supposed to be the perfect moment of her life. Her best friend should be there. I don’t care if she’d be hiding in the crowd. Cora should be there.” He went back to cleaning parts of the engine. “Svana and Freya insist she is the most vulnerable against the Norns, but I’ve decided to brave their wrath. Blaine is going to hide her in the audience, then after the wedding, keep her in my castle until Raine deals with the Norns. Once they know about our bond, Cora will be safe.”

I chuckled. “Do you know what Echo would do if Cora disappeared?”

Torin grinned. “Scorch the earth. What if she stays with you in Helheim? Echo should be okay with that.”

“Maybe, but Mother would know within seconds of her appearance and she’s dealing with too much right now to have Echo break one of her rules. I have a better solution. What if Cora attends the ceremony and someone buries those memories, where the Norns can’t reach them?”

Torin stopped tinkering with his engine parts. “Who? The only one who can do that is another Norn.”

“Like Svana?”

Torin shook his head. “No, I don’t think she’d go against Freya’s wishes. She’s been reinstated as a Valkyrie because of Freya, so I don’t see that happening.”

“We won’t need a Norn. Cora was not a Witch before she became Immortal, so we don’t need someone powerful to scramble her memories. Leave it to me. She’ll attend the wedding, but no one will know she was there. Her memories will be buried so deep the Norns would never dream of digging that far. When the time is right, and the Norns are okay with your marriage, we’ll siphon the memories out and make her remember everything.”

Torin studied me. “Can you really do that or are you just bullshitting me?”

I grinned and stood. I didn’t joke when it came to Raine. “What do you think? I might also keep the Norns busy on Wednesday so they won’t be thinking about Raine.”

Torin stood and wiped his hand on a rag before offering to shake my hand. “If you can pull all this off, I’ll be forever in your debt.”

I shook his hand. “We don’t do debts when it comes to her, St. James. Just make her happy. If you don’t…” I pointed at him. “You don’t want to do that. See you tonight or Wednesday.”

Torin was still eyeing me with a dubious expression when the portal closed. I hurried back to the hall and went in search of Einmyria. She opened the door and squinted at me. For one brief second I thought her eyes changed color. There was a dark outline around her iris. She blinked and the effect disappeared.

“Do you wear contacts?”

Annoyance crossed her face. “No. What a weird question. I mean, why would you say that?”

“Fine, I was wrong. No need to throw a hissy fit. Have you eaten?”

She looked at her watch. “Dinner is not for another hour.”

“Let’s ditch our parents and eat in the Grimnirs Hall. I’m hungry.” She frowned. “We can talk and catch up.”

“I’m not hungry.” She stepped back and closed the door.

I debated whether to knock again and insist, but that wasn’t going to win her over. She would open up when she was ready. I headed to the Grimnirs Hall for dinner. Syn, Echo’s partner was alone, so I joined him.

“Where’s your partner?”

“With his girl. How is Celestia doing?”

“Good. Busy with school. So what’s your story, Syn?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Everyone here has one.” One of the staff brought me a tray of food, bowed, and left. “Where are you originally from? What period?”

“Three-hundred B.C., Meroe, ancient Nubian city of Kush.”

“That makes you nearly as ancient as Echo?”

His eyebrow rose, stretching the scar above his eye. “Almost. That’s why I’m his partner. I’m the only one who can put up with his bullshit.”

“And the only one he listens to outside my parents.”

Syn shrugged.

“Why does he listen to you?”

He chuckled. “Why do you care?”

“I’m trying to understand him so I can fix this mess between him and Rhys.”

He chuckled. “Dev business. The man betrayed their people. Echo will never forgive him.”

“Damn! My mother was counting on me to fix the problem.” I went back to my food. “So tell me about Meroe and ancient Nubia.”

Syn studied me as though deciding how much to reveal. “Meroe was one of the wealthiest cities in the Kingdom of Kush. We traded with Ancient Egyptians and Romans, supplying them with iron weapons, ivory, and animals. We had our gods, some borrowed from Egypt. Some of our kings even conquered Egypt and ruled them for a period of time.”

I chuckled. “No kidding. I need to read the history of the world to understand why so many from different cultures agreed to become Immortal and reapers for Norse gods. So you and Egypt were enemies?”

“Sometimes. It depended on rulers and dynasties. During peaceful times, we sent our royal children to their courts while they used our archers in their armies. A lot of queens ruled our kingdom, so you could say we were way ahead of Egypt and other civilizations that way. I mean Egypt had Queen Hatshepsut, but…” he shrugged, dismissing the queen. Even I’d heard about her. “But like most civilizations along the Nile, we peaked and declined. We were conquered by Aksumites from the east, or as they are called now Ethiopians. Instead of sticking around and becoming someone’s bitch, I agreed to become an Immortal. Joining your mother’s hall just made sense. Our gods and goddesses had forsaken us, so I chose to forsake them. Okay, I have leverage you could use to make them talk.”

The switch in topic happened so fast I didn’t see it coming. “What?”

“When Echo and his Druid brothers and sisters first arrived here, they shunned him. A few wanted to take him out. I watched his back and stopped it from happening. What he didn’t know. What he still
doesn’t
know is Rhys was my inside man. He protected him. I promised Rhys I would never tell Echo the truth. Use the information wisely.” Syn stood, his eyes on someone behind me. “Your sister is looking for you.”

I turned to see Einmyria standing at the entrance of the hall. She looked so nervous. I stood and waved.

“I’ll get her for you,” Syn offered and smirked. “I have a way with the ladies.”

“Keep your hands off my sister or you’re a dead man.”

“Relax, Baldurson. We know she’s off limits.” He turned and walked backward. “After all, she is a goddess and we are mere reapers.”

I watched him take her hand and lift it to his lips, then cock his arm. He must have said something funny because she smiled. They took their time getting to my table because he decided to introduce her to the other Grimnirs. As they got closer, I overheard him introduce some guy, mention which century he was from. Then he introduced the two female Grimnirs at the table next to ours. When they reached my table, he pulled out a chair for her.

“Is it a date?” Syn asked.

Einmyria nodded. “It is.”

“Syn. I warned you. She’s off limits.”

“Some things are inevitable, Baldurson. Your sister and I clicked.” He touched his chest. “I think I’m already in love.” Then the reaper chuckled and walked away.

“You cannot date him,” I said.

Einmyria made a face. “Why not?”

“He’s a man-whore and he’ll hurt you. I forbid it.”

She chuckled. “Forbid? What century did you crawl from?” When I didn’t crack a smile, she added, “You’re really serious?”

“Damn right.”

“We were just messing with you. Did you really threaten to kill him if he messed with me?”

“Of course. You are my sister. As your older brother it’s my job to look out for you.”

“Older brother,” she whispered, her voice breaking. Her face contorted as though she was in pain. Next second, she pushed her chair back and took off, almost knocking down the Dwarf woman bringing her food. I stared after her, wondering what I’d done. I swear I didn’t understand women.

I finished my food and followed her scent to her room, but she refused to open the door. What was it with women and closed doors? Mom pulled that during her meltdown in this very room. Earlier, Celestia had closed her closet door on me.

“Do you want to ride with me in the morning, Einmyria? Be outside tomorrow morning. Might bang on your door to check.” No response. “I’m headed to Celestia’s but I’ll be back. See you in the morning, or not. Goodnight.”

She didn’t come out of her room. Somehow, I didn’t think getting her to open up would be easy. She’d spent most of her life on the run, so trusting me or Mother would take time. My father was different. He had a way of getting to a person before they could get their defenses up.

I swung by my room, grabbed one of my cameras and a memory card, and headed for the portal. Mother was receiving guests, which was surprising because it was late. Hopefully, they were passing through. Overnight guests were a pain. Because she never allowed visitors before, most of the ones who stopped by tended to be nosy.

The flow of reapers with souls seemed endless. I recognized a few of them and exchanged nods. One day, I’d be like Syn. Know everyone and the century they’d turned into an Immortal.

Celestia was at her desk, focusing on her homework, and didn’t look up when I entered her room. She had ear buds in. I took pictures, moved closer, and looked over her shoulder at the sketches she was working on. It looked like an interior of a house. I stroked the curve of her neck.

“I thought you were doing homework.”

“How can I focus with that stupid crow cawing outside my window?” She looked up. “Took enough pictures?”

“Not enough.” I caught the half smile on her beautiful lips. “Go outside and talk to the bird.”

“I don’t talk bird.”

“But this bird is special. You healed it, and it knows you. I’ll show you.” I pulled her to her feet.

“I don’t wanna.” She dropped her forehead on my chest. She’d changed into one of her oversize shirts with wacky writings and shorts. She looked both sexy and sweet.

“I’ll carry you if you like.”

She looked up and made a face. “Can you, please?”

I laughed at her fake pout. “No. Walk.”

She dragged her feet and forced me to apply a little pressure on her back. The kitchen was in darkness, but I could see light coming from under the door to her father’s den. From the sounds behind the closed door, the chief was watching a game. The porch lights turned on the moment we stepped outside. Just like she’d said, the crow was on the rail. It scooted sideways toward us. Celestia froze.

“Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not scared. This is weird. Talking to a bird.” I nudged her forward. She turned and swatted my hand. “Cut it out.”

“Scaredy-cat.”

“Bully.” She stopped by the pillar at the top of the stairs and wrapped an arm around it, so I couldn’t nudge her any farther. The bird did the rest by scooting closer to her. I took a step back and took several pictures. The camera’s flash didn’t seem to bother the bird. I guess it was so intent on connecting with its healer.

“What did you mean by it knows me?” Celestia asked, eyeing the crow suspiciously.

“You are connected because you healed it. Something about your life force flowing through it. It’s like a dragon bond without the bite.”

“You’re making me like this less and less.” She glanced at me. “How do you know stuff?”

“Because I make a point of learning about anything that concerns you. Go ahead and talk to it.”

“Why do you make me do crazy things? Fly with a dragon, cross realms, and now talk to a bird. Oh.” The bird brushed against her hand. She stroked the feathers on its head. “Aren’t you a friendly one? And you have shiny feathers for a crow. Hop on.” She laid her wrist on the rail and the crow hopped on it. It shuffled up her arm. She lifted the bird closer to her face. “I don’t know about this crazy bond between us, but I’m happy I healed you. However, I can’t have you yapping outside my window. I want you to go home, so I can go to sleep. Okay?”