The east lot across from school was jammed with students trying to find parking. I eased my Sentra beside a four-wheel truck, switched off the engine, and just sat there, staring at the students scurrying past. Any moment, I expected someone to notice me and yell “Witch!”
Being a witch would be preferable to what I was. What I will become after I complete my training. A Valkyrie. A soul reaper. Just thinking about it made my skin crawl. Six weeks ago, I was your average student concerned with starting another boring school year and making out with the guy I’d had a crush on, like, forever. My best friend, Eirik Seville.
Then Torin St. James stormed into my life on his black Harley with his wicked smile and brilliant blue eyes. He’d shattered everything I thought I knew about me, life, and love. Made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. The focus of his existence.
But before I’d been able to savor the joy of being in love, it all fell apart like a house of cards, destroyed by beings so powerful even the gods quaked in their presence. I shuddered. Two weeks had passed, yet the images from that night still haunted my dreams.
Twelve swimmers from my high school had met their death in the most horrific way. To the rest of the world, they’d been electrocuted by lightning during a swim meet. The media had called it a freak accident. I knew better. Evil Norns had caused the lightning.
Norns, destiny deities from Norse pantheon, were real and as badass as they come. Some blissfully went about guiding disasters, natural or manmade, without caring about the lives they destroyed. The worst part was, I had known about their plan but hadn’t stopped them. Couldn’t stop them even though I’d tried. Valkyries, or Valkyries-to-be in my case, couldn’t prevent deaths. Not without consequences.
Norns, on the other hand, ruled over destinies of gods and Mortals and did as they pleased. My flamboyant, technology-challenged mother might have saved my teammates at one time, but her Norn card got canceled when she fell in love with my father, a Mortal, and chose him over them. She had been training to be a good Norn when she fell; thank goodness. Mom’s situation was another tidbit I’d learned two weeks ago. I was still trying to wrap my brain around that one. Now I had to deal with school, friends I hadn’t seen in two weeks, and teammates who’d seen me act like a deranged lunatic during the meet.
I continued to watch the students and tried to muster courage. You can do this, Raine. Stop whining and get your butt out of the car. You can do this… You can…
I exhaled sharply and pushed the door open.
The protective runes my mother had painted all over my Sentra to ward off accidents were thankfully gone. I’d insisted. Seeing them would have reminded me of how I’d been spared while my friends had died.
I hoisted my backpack on my shoulder and was reaching for the folder on the passenger seat when the powerful sound of a Harley filled the air. A spasm kicked in my chest, and my heart started to pound.
Torin.
Anticipation and pain flashed through me. Last night when my parents and I had arrived home, his place had been in darkness. I’d worried he was gone again, taken away by sour-loser Norns to punish me for refusing to join them. As if they hadn’t done enough by erasing every bit of his memories of us together. I wasn’t sure what was worse—having him gone or having him around when he couldn’t remember he loved me.
He parked his bike, removed his helmet, and pushed locks of raven hair away from his forehead, baring his chiseled face. The familiar gesture made me smile. He looked exactly the way he had the first day he knocked on my door and took my breath away. Same black jeans, matching shirt and leather jacket. Blue sapphire eyes so brilliant it hurt to look into them.
In the recesses of my thoughts, a fantasy blossomed.
I run to him, wrap my arms around his neck as he circles my waist and pulls me close. I draw a ragged breath, his musky scent filling my lungs, his warmth wrapping deliciously around me. He professes his love, and his voice resonates through me, sending fingers of need through my body. I hear his heart beat fast against my chest, mirroring my own. Then his head dips, and my lips tingle with anticipation. But he doesn’t kiss me. He makes me wait. Crave. Bold and cocky, he teases me, his hot breath caressing my lips and igniting a wave of desire as natural as breathing. My body trembles and melts, then we kiss. Souls meld. Two halves become a whole.
Giggles reached my ears and reality crept in like a thief in the night, stealing my fantasy. That was all I had left. Fantasies of what could have been. The two giggling girls almost tripped staring at Torin. Still straddling the bike, he stood. Six-foot-three mass of pure masculine hotness.
I wanted to touch him, kiss him again, claim him like he’d claimed me before the Norns interfered. How could I let them win? Give up on him? On us?
No, they weren’t going to win. Not when it came to Torin. If I had to remind him of everything we’d done together, every touch, every kiss we’d shared, I was going to make him remember.
As though he felt my gaze on him, he turned and stared straight at me.
I ducked, the folder slipping from my hand and landing on the wet ground with a dull thud. I squeezed my eyes tight and cringed.
Way to go, Raine. That was the dumbest move ever. How was I going to help him remember anything when I couldn’t even face him?
Acting cowardly wasn’t encoded in my DNA, but what was I supposed to do when I’d thoroughly humiliated myself the last time I saw him? I’d run straight into his arms and kissed him, welcoming him back, thrilled to see him after I thought I’d lost him. I hadn’t noticed his initial reaction, the hesitation, the words that should have warned me that he didn’t remember me. So he had kissed me back, a stranger, a silly Mortal girl throwing herself at him—a Valkyrie.
Oh, the humiliation.
But that was two weeks ago. Now, I had a fail-proof plan to fix him. Two, to be on the safe side. Dad had taught me to always have a back-up plan. By the time I was through with Torin, he’d either remember we were meant to be together or he’d fall in love with me all over again.
Slowly, I stood and peered over the hood of my car.
Our eyes collided, and I winced. He stood on the other end of my car in the cocky pose I’d come to expect from him, backpack slung over one shoulder, hands in the front pockets of his jeans, brilliant blue eyes studying me with a wicked gleam. A zing shot through me. That gleam still had the power to make me weak in the knees.
“Are you hiding from me again, Lorraine Cooper?” he said in a deep, hypnotic voice, and my entire body flushed in response to the sexy timbre. I wanted to savor the feeling forever.
“No. I dropped my folder. See?” I wiped the wetness off the red leather cover. He flashed a sexy grin, and my traitorous heart leaped. I knew the smile too well. It said he knew I was lying, but chose to ignore it. “How do you know my name?”
“Mrs. Rutledge told me.”
I thoroughly disliked that gossipy neighbor, but I forgave her this time. I was still annoyed at her for this morning. She’d crossed herself when she saw me, and then hurried back inside her house as though I was the devil’s spawn. I guessed everyone around town knew about the incident at the meet. I hoped they wouldn’t start a witch-hunt. Being burned at the stake didn’t exactly fit into my future plans.
Then something Torin had said registered. “What do you mean by ‘hiding from you again’?”
“You disappeared after you kissed me.”
My cheeks grew warm. Trust him to bring that up. “You think I left because we, uh, kissed?”
“You kissed me,” he corrected, that charming wicked grin broadening as my face grew hot.
“I went on a cruise with my parents to get away from, uh—”
“Me?”
“Everything.” I glared at him. My mother thought we needed a break from Kayville and the endless tragedies, so we’d taken a ten-day Hawaiian cruise. “It had nothing to do with you.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Of course he wouldn’
t believe me. I waited for his next question. Come on. Ask why I kissed you. He continued to study me, curiosity replacing smugness, but the question didn’t appear.
“Shall we?” he asked, indicating the school entrance.
I loved the formal way he’d worded that, his British accent rearing its head.
“Aren’t you going to ask why?” I asked, walking to his side.
“Why what?”
“Why I did it.” My face burned, but I couldn’t afford to stop. Too much was at stake. “Why I kissed you.”
Torin blinked as though surprised by my boldness. He chuckled. “No, I already know why. Women always find an excuse to throw themselves at me. I’m more interested in why you cried. No one cries after kissing me.”
Seriously, he could be so arrogant sometimes. “Well, I, uh, I did it ‘cause I was angry.”
His eyebrows rose until they almost met the locks falling on his forehead. “With me?”
He sounded like that was unheard of. “Yes and no. You forgot about me.”
He gave me a slow perusal. “I don’t think I’d forget meeting you, Lorraine Cooper. You, on the other hand…”
“Would forget you because Norns erase Mortals’ memories after they meet with Valkyries,” I said, speaking so fast my tongue tripped. Plan A had better work. I took a deep breath and continued slowly. “They didn’t erase my memories, Torin. Instead, they erased yours.”
Torin stopped walking, uneasiness crossing his face. “What are you talking about?”
“We met when you and your friends came here a little over a month ago to reap the souls of my teammates. You even saved my life a few times, but that was okay because I wasn’t really supposed to die. Three Norns were trying to lure me to their side. When I refused, they decided to punish me. They erased your memories, so you wouldn’t remember me.”
Torin stared at me as though I had escaped from a psych ward. Then his expression hardened.
“Listen, I’ve never seen you before two weeks ago. If I had, I would not have forgotten.”
“But it’s true. How else could I know you are a Valkyrie? We were neighbors. I saw you every day.”
He shook his head. “You couldn’t have. Someone told you about me.” He lifted his head and looked over my shoulder, his eyes narrowing. “I’m going snap his neck and trap him in Hel’s Mist for eternity.”
I followed his gaze. Andris was getting out of an SUV. “Andris didn’t tell me about you. I haven’t seen him since he reaped my friends’ souls at the swim meet. You were supposed to be with him, but—”
“I had to reap a busload of school kids in Seattle. You’re one of his girlfriends, aren’t you? After I’d told him to leave Mortals alone, he’s back at it again. Did he promise to turn you?”
This wasn’t how I expected things to go. “I wouldn’t let Andris touch me if you paid me. You gave me clues about who you are, and Andris confirmed it.” Torin’s expression grew thunderous, and I knew I was screwed. “I know about you because you told me. You were born during the reign of King Richard. You and your brother James fought during the crusade, and that was where you were turned into an Immortal. When your brother died, you changed your surname from de Clare to St. James to honor him.”
Torin stared at me intently, a slow grin lifting the corners of his sculptured lips. The smile didn’t reach his sapphire eyes. “Ahh, now I know who you are.”
My heart skipped. “You do?”
“You’re Lavania’s new protégé. It’s just like her to do this to me.” He started walking.
I stared after him, so frustrated I could scream. Who the heck was Lavania? Surely my trainer wasn’t here already. I didn’t want to train. Not before I helped Torin remember us. I needed time with him. Alone.
“Did she ask you to kiss me, too?” he asked over his shoulder.
“No, that was my brilliant idea.” No matter what I said, he wouldn’t believe me. Plan A had bombed. Feeling deflated, I added, “I kiss all new guys in our cul-de-sac.”
Torin chuckled.
That was a stupid explanation. Everyone in our cul-de-sac was either old or married. Maybe I could save face with a lie and move on to plan B—make him fall in love with me again. The problem was I had no idea what I’d done to make him fall for me in the first place. I was an average girl, while he was super hot.
Silence hung heavily between us as we crossed Riverside Boulevard, the street running in front of our school. I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes and caught him studying me. I wasn’t sure what I saw in his eyes. Pity? I hated to be pitied.
“Actually, I thought you were someone else,” the lie rolled off my tongue with such ease I wondered why I hadn’t started with it.
Torin stopped walking, forcing me to stop, too. His brow shot up. “You mistook me for someone else?”
The outrage in his voice made me grin. “Yep, my ex.”
“Your ex-boyfriend looks like me?” Torin was no longer smiling.
“No, you look like him. Black hair, blue eyes, even the bike. You could be his doppelganger.”
“Doppelganger?” He said it like I’d just called him a troll. His eyes narrowed, and then that sexy grin I loved curled his sculptured lips. “Nice try. No one looks like me, Raine. The world couldn’t handle two of me.”
His arrogance was rearing its ugly head, but I didn’t care. He’d called me by my nickname. Soon, he’d remember he always called me Freckles, a special nickname he’d coined because of the freckles on my nose.
“What’s his name?” he asked.
“What’s whose name?”
“Your ex-boyfriend.”
“Blue Eyes,” I said and grinned. I had called him Blue Eyes when we first met. Surely, he’d remember.
Torin snickered. “What kind of a stupid name is that?”
“Hey, no disrespecting the nickname. He had dazzling eyes.” Torin frowned while I warmed up to the subject. Maybe I could make him jealous. “They were like blue sapphire. He had gorgeous hair, too—darker than yours, and his smile…” I fanned myself. “Sexiest evah. You know what the best part was?”
“Not interested,” he grumbled.
Was that annoyance in his voice? “He was completely crazy about me.”
“What happened?” he asked, his voice hard to describe.
I glanced at him and caught him scowling. “What do you mean?”
“You keep talking about him in past tense. Did he leave you?”
I stopped. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like making him jealous anymore. Instead, anger washed over me, even though I had no idea who I was angry with—the Norns for erasing his memories, him for not even remembering the special name he’d given me, or me for not having a decent plan and feeling helpless. I hated feeling helpless.
“He. Didn’t. Leave. Me,” I ground out. “He was taken from me,” I finished in a shaky whisper then turned and hurried into the school building.
I didn’t notice the stares until I was by the lockers. People whispered behind their hands and threw me furtive glances. Others watched me with wide eyes or flashed uneasy smiles when our gazes met. The words “witch” and “crazy” reached me several times. Part of me cringed, wanting to run and hide. Another part had me returning stares. I’d saved lives during that stupid meet. Didn’t that count for anything?
Morgan, a girl I knew from my physics class, shuffled backwards as though I was a giant zit. Another girl grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her away, whispering something in her ear. One by one, they created space between us, until I was an island surrounded by gawking students.
“Raine!” Cora pushed through the gathering crowd, hazel eyes filled with mischief. “Look at you. That tan is fantabulous. I hope it rubs off.” She brushed her arm against mine.
I laughed, momentarily forgetting the gawkers. I’d missed her crazy humor. “You’re silly.”
“You should have shared the love and brought home some Hawaiian sun and hot cabana guys.” She enveloped me
in a big hug. “Smile. Ignore them. They’re losers,” she whispered in my ear.
Before I’d left, she couldn’t look me in the eye. Surprised and happy she wasn’t scared of me anymore, I hugged her back.
“Ooh, watch the ribs,” she said. I released her, and she leaned back. “When did you get back?”
“Last night.”
She glowered. “And you didn’t text me?”
“It was late.”
“Like that’s ever stopped you. Don’t they have cell phone reception on these cruises? Don’t answer that. You were busy with the cabana boy. I want to hear everything.” She threw her things in the locker, removed her folder and some textbooks, and bumped me with her shoulder. “Come on. Start talking.”
The crowd parted to let us pass, but the stares and the whispers followed us. In the hallway, students saw us coming and pressed against the walls as though I was a disease-ridden sub-human. Their attitude hurt.
“What cabana boy?” I asked.
“The one I told everyone swept you off your feet whenever they asked if I’d heard from you. When is Raine coming back? Did she change schools? Is it true she’s in a psych ward? Is she a witch? Gah! People can be such tools. They made up stories, and the longer you were gone the more outrageous they became.” Cora glared at a group of girls and asked, “What are you looking at?”
They flinched.
“Everyone knows what happened,” I whispered.
“Yeah, I know. We told them your head injuries gave you psychic abilities. Watch this,” she said, squeezing my hand. She paused by two girls, one of whom I recognized from my math class. “Want to know your future?”
The girl shook her head so hard I thought it would snap. I was mortified. “Cora—”
“Want to know if your boyfriend is the one?” she asked the second girl and grinned when the girl nodded. Cora was having way too much fun with this.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her away. “Stop it. I don’t have the power of premonition. It was a one-time thing.”
“You don’t know that.” She looped her arm around mine. “Okay, so I was totally spooked at first, but I reached a conclusion while you were gone. You are a hero, Raine. If you hadn’t jumped into the pool and yelled at everyone to get out, more people would have died.” She paused by a group of football players. “Hey, if you want to win on Friday, change the way you’ve been playing, Jaden.”
Jaden Granger grinned. “Is that true, Raine?”
I looked down, wishing the floor would open up and swallow me. This was awful.
“Get behind the new QB, or you’re so going to lose,” Cora answered with a toss of her glorious blonde hair.
I shook my head. “We have a new quarterback?”
“Oh yeah. He’s smoking hot, too, but the guys have been giving him a hard time during practice. Anyway, if you get another premonition, let me know.”
I sighed, wishing I could tell her the truth. But where would I begin? Even I hadn’t believed Valkyries and Norse deities were real, or that they moved freely between their world and ours, until I met Torin. Nothing had prepared me for the way he’d used runes to heal wounds, acquire superhuman strength, become invisible, or make portals appear and disappear on walls and mirrors. Maybe pretending I had psychic abilities after my accident was the only solution to this nightmare.
“Have you seen Eirik?” I asked.
The smile disappeared from Cora’s face. “A few minutes ago. I left him with this group of new exchange students his parents are sponsoring. One of them is the QB. He’s pure hotness.” Cora fanned her face. “I’m talking about leather jacket, a Harley, sexy eyes. He doesn’t say much, but he’s a chick magnet. If I wasn’t crushing on someone else, I’d go for him in a big, big… Oh, there they are.”
I followed the direction of her gaze. Eirik stood at the end of the hallway with Torin, Andris, Ingrid, and a gorgeous dark-haired girl in a trendy dark gray sweater dress, matching tights, and black knee-length boots. From the way her arm was linked with Ingrid and Andris, I’d say she was a Valkyrie. Her hair was held back in a high ponytail like a dancer. When she kissed Andris on the cheek and reached for Torin’s arm, I wanted to march over there and yank her arm away.
CHAPTER 2. THE GIRLS ARE BACK