Gods (19 page)

“The same energies?”

She nodded. “They’re powerful, but stormy. Like they are barely contained. And they are almost identical.”

Damn Norns. I tried to sense them, but I couldn’t. They’d better not be after Celestia. My mother might no longer be interested in going after the Norns, but I might make it my mission to destroy them if they so much as glanced in Celestia’s direction. I hope they were stalking me, not her.

The moment we reached the food court, someone called out Zack’s name. We headed toward a group of guys and girls. Wes was with them, but he was no longer important. I got the girl. From the fist bumps and hugs, Hayden and Celestia knew them quite well.

“Guys, this is Eirik”—she glanced over her shoulder at me, and my arms tightened around her waist—“my boyfriend.” Which earned her a kiss. She didn’t shy away from it, which thrilled me to no end. Her cheeks were pink when she added, “and his cousin, Trudy. They’re visiting from out of town.”

Wes’ interest in Trudy was instant because he knew what “out of town” meant. But a tall dude with a goatee, Jack something or the other, gave up his chair for Trudy and immediately started flirting with her. Without the magic in Helheim to regulate her speech, she spoke English with a lilt that was hard to place. However, she’d learned a lot of American colloquialism from watching people in the Resting Halls.

“Out of town from where?” Jack asked, grabbing another chair and straddling it.

“Eljudnir,” Trudy said then a stricken expression crossed her face.

“It’s a small kingdom in Eastern Europe,” I said and touched her arm in reassurance. The last thing we wanted was for her to shift in the middle of the mall. To distract the group and maybe tell Jack what’s-his-face to behave, I indicated Ranger and Daiku with a nod. They’d taken a table a few feet away. “Those are her bodyguards.”

“Let’s get something to eat,” Celestia said, turning to face me. “What do you want? There’s Cajun, Chinese, Mexican, and of course, pizza, burgers…”

“I’ll start with pizza and work my way around the room. Boyfriend?” I added as we walked to the pizza place.

“It just slipped out. You don’t like it?” The twinkle in her eyes said she wasn’t taking the conversation seriously. “What would you have preferred? A consort? Mate?”

All of the above. “I’m not complaining, you understand. I just need a heads up before you claim me.”

She stopped walking and studied me while chewing on her lower lip.

“I could go back and tell them we broke up, and that I am available,” she said.

“After that kiss, only a fool would believe you.”

“I could kiss Wes, too.”

Something gripped my chest, until I couldn’t breathe. “And you’d sign his death warrant.”

Celestia backhanded my chest playfully. “That’s the attitude because FYI, I didn’t like the way those girls were checking you out. I can share you with your mother in Helheim, but here on Earth, you are mine. Get used to it.” She slipped out of my arms and walked ahead while I grinned like an idiot.

~*~

CELESTIA

Instead of joining the others, Eirik and I found a table for two with a beautiful view of the river. Zack and Hayden kept Trudy busy and had her trying the different foods New Orleans had to offer at the mall. Eirik demolished an entire pizza, then my shrimp and chicken stir-fry while I picked his brain about his ideal home.

“I might not be outdoorsy, but I love paintings and pictures of nature. Have you ever thought of enlarging and framing some of them?”

He chuckled. “No, but I might some of these. Like this one.”

We went through the pictures he’d taken of the three of us in different outfits. Some were cute, others hilarious. “Trudy would definitely like that,” I said. Most of hers were cute. She was photogenic. “I’ll frame that for Zack. We look ridiculous there.”

Something caught my eye, and I turned my head. Three girls were at the food court entrance: a blonde, a brunette, and a brown-skinned girl. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen them from the corner of my eye since we arrived.

I continued talking to Eirik while I waded through energies until I found the one. It was the same one that had crawled inside my head outside the shoe store and left me feeling violated. I’d managed to push her out before she pressed an erase button. I followed it and wasn’t surprised when it led to one of the girls, the blonde. They were now by one of the vendors, paying for their food.

The blonde turned and stared straight at me. Before I could pull away, there was a sharp tug on my energy as she grabbed a thread of my energy and yanked. I fought back, trying to push her out. Eirik spoke, but my focus was on the girl, our energies and eyes locked in a silent battle. She’d violated my mind earlier and it wasn’t going to happen again. She was more powerful, but I was determined.

“Einmyria should have come too,” Eirik said, his voice sounding distorted. “It’s not like she brought a suitcase filled with clothes. Most of the orphans carried a few things in their backpacks, and that was it.”

Einmyria was one person I didn’t want to discuss. I wanted to ask Eirik for help, but I knew him. He would go ballistic. Besides, sometimes a girl had to stand on her own dainty feet without running to her man. Raine had done it and won. My skin grew tight and clammy, and the first wave of wooziness hit me.

“She contradicts herself a lot, but I guess having had my grandmother inside her head would screw with someone. Or maybe she’s just a whack job. I’ve checked on the other orphans we brought back and only a few want to visit other realms again. The majority were too traumatized. Dimples? You’ve gone pale and your heartbeat is slowing down.”

A second wave of dizziness left me with a blurry vision. Okay, time to let Eirik know what was happening in case I fainted. “One is in my head.”

Eirik was by me before I completed the sentence. “What?”

“Behind you,” I said, but they were gone before I finished speaking because the pressure inside my head eased suddenly, leaving me weak, and my blurry vision cleared. Instead of the three girls, an elderly couple and a young girl waited to be served. “They were there seconds ago. I followed a thread of the energy to find them and it led to three girls. One of them tried to get inside my head. She’d caught me unaware before and done it, but I fought back this time.”

Eirik’s amber eyes glowed with fury. “Damn hags. I’m taking you home.”

“No, I’m okay now. I fought back, so she didn’t get inside my head, but I grew weak as though she was draining my energy. I almost passed out. I’d heard of Witches draining energies, but it’s never happened to me.”
I think.
The flow of energy, the helplessness, and the sound of my heartbeat slowing down had felt familiar, yet I couldn’t recall when I’d been attacked like that. “Sorry, I scared you.”

“I still think we should head home.” Despite his words, he lifted me, took my seat, pulled me down onto his lap, and tucked my head under his chin. Eyes still in slits, he studied the people around the food court. “I almost lost you twice, Dimples, and now those hags are after you.”

“That’s the second time you said hags. Do you mean Norns?”

“Yes. They are the only deities who work in threes.” He continued to sweep the room. “They can be anyone at any given time. Men. Women. Children.”

I looked around for the elderly couple with the little girl, but they were gone. Could they really be Norns? The last time our paths crossed, they’d wiped my memories.

“Aren’t Norns supposed to be good?”

“Some are. There are evil Norns behind natural disasters, but I’ve never dealt with them. They don’t deal with individuals like the “good” Norns. And I use the word good lightly. Good Norns are the ones in charge of destinies. Most of the gods just accept what they have set as though written in stone. Even my mother is perfectly content with the future the Norns weaved for her. Being raised as a Mortal on Earth gives me a different perspective on things. I don’t want anyone choosing my destiny. That is also the cause of Raine’s problem with them. She refuses to go along with what they’ve planned for her, so they are locked in a constant battle, which makes their good intentions seem pretty evil.”

“Are you saying you won’t take over for your grandfather and rule Asgard?”

He grinned. “That is one future I don’t mind. I want to take over, but I also want to choose what works and reject what doesn’t work for me. You should start taking lessons with Einmyria. According to the
Völva
my grandfather spoke with, Asgard will fall and the surviving gods will build new halls. I plan to make sure my mother survives as well as my sister, and of course, you.”

“Your father?”

“He survives and joins the rest of the gods in the new halls. Now can we get out of here so I can start to practice saving you?”

I laughed. “Not yet. Tell me more. What is a
Völva
? Which gods are supposed to survive?”

“I’ll tell you everything you need to know once we leave.”

“I’m not running away, Eirik, just because a Norn got inside my head. No, she tried to get inside and failed because I fought back. The last time one was inside my head, she’d triggered the memories erase button.”

“Don’t remind me. I keep reliving everything that’s happened to you since we met. If I lost you, Dimples…” A growl escaped him.

It was time to distract him. I tilted my head, planted a kiss on his neck, and rubbed my nose along the column, loving how powerful it was, his scent. I kissed his chin and pulled his face closer for a longer one.

Everyone and the food court disappeared, as he became the focus of my senses. His scent was in my nose, his warmth wrapping around me, and his pounding heart beating a rhythm underneath the palm of my hands. I could kiss him for hours and never want to stop.

When I lifted my head, he mumbled, “How did you know this was one of my fantasies,
Stjärna mín
?”

“Being seduced in public by your girlfriend?” I whispered.

“No, being groped in public,” he said, laughter in his voice. “Your hand, if you haven’t noticed, is under my shirt.”

I punched him. “Groped? Eww, you are gross.”

“And a willing partner, which makes that word totally inappropriate.” He took over the kiss, his incisors elongating, but he didn’t pull back. He was no longer hiding from me, and I loved it. The taste of him changed, his mouth scorching. I lost my ability to think, breathe, or hear. When he lifted his head, his face was out of focus and my ears were ringing.

He pressed a kiss on my temple and whispered, “Let’s rent a movie and watch it at your house instead of going to the theater. We can go to your room to make out.”

I loved the idea. “But it’s Trudy’s day, and we promised her a real theater experience with mega popcorn and slurpees. We could go to the theater in Windfall instead of here. They’re showing the same movies.”

“She’s going to owe me big for this.” He glanced behind me and stiffened. I followed his gaze to the others. Alejandro had joined them and typical him, he was all over the new girl. He’d acted like that with Hayden a few weeks ago.

“That’s Alejandro, Zack’s friend. He’s one of us. Or, one of our childhood buddies.”

“No, he’s not. Let’s go. Up. Up. I’m taking her back to your place, and he’s not invited.”

I didn’t move. “No. You are not storming over there and grabbing Trudy like some big brother from Hel because you have a thing against… what? Tall, beefy guys with a cute smile?”

“Cute? Dimples, you have five seconds to get up or I’m carrying you across the food court to get Trudy.”

“No, you’re not.” I stood, turned, and straddled him before he realized my intentions. He blinked, either shocked by my boldness or surprised. I couldn’t tell because his eyes became slits. I knew I wasn’t playing fair, but his reaction toward Alejandro didn’t make sense. “What do you have against him? I’ve known Alejandro since I was in preschool. When Zack wasn’t around, he was my ride home or last line of defense against bullies. Leave him alone. I don’t want you embarrassing Trudy and spoiling her fun.”

His eyes went to the others before snaring mine. His expression said he had every intention of doing exactly that. I wiggled and grinned when he groaned.

“Okay, you win.” He put his arms around my waist, pulled me closer, and buried his face on my neck.

“Awesome.” I hugged him.

“Don’t move.” He pulled up a chair and propped up his feet, the position bringing me flush with him—hip-to-hip, chest-to-chest. I loved cuddling with him, but this was a whole new level of cuddling. I really hadn’t thought this through.

“What’s up with you and Alejandro?” I asked to distract myself from the crazy thoughts going on inside my head.

“Forget about him. I like this.” Eirik slipped his hands under my kimono and feathered the skin along my waist. “I can open a portal right now to your place.”

“No.”

“To the car?” His hand inched up my back as he kissed my neck. The effect on me was immediate. I shuddered. I needed to distract him fast.

“I’m ready to tell you about what happened with Einmyria.”

“Not right now.”