Prophecy (24 page)

I wanted to ask Liam about Odin and the ravens. I wanted Liam to explain what would happen to Justin. Fingers of residual fear from my nightmare crept into my chest, clenching my heart with worry. My home brimmed with the voices and laughter of everyone I loved. I needed answers. I needed them to be safe.

“We should get going.” Justin flipped his ball cap around backward. “I need to put the horses away before my folks get back tonight, and I’ve still got cleaning up to do from Friday’s party.”

Allison and I walked the guys to the front door. She slipped into her coat and moved onto the sidewalk with Oliver.

Justin kissed my head and looked away. “Sorry, man. Old habits.” He shook Liam’s hand. “I’ll meet you two at my place.” He jogged down the steps without looking back. Part of my heart left with him.

“I’m sorry this is difficult for you,” Liam whispered.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I put you in danger.”

I poked his chest. “I’m your future leader’s best friend on this planet. I’m in this. From the beginning of time, or whenever Justin was chosen to join you, I was already in this. I
am
in this. I need you to tell me what happens when he makes the change.”

Liam wrapped my finger in his hand. “You have a temper.”

“I’ve heard.” I folded my arms over my chest. “Why are you smiling? My temper makes you happy?”

“I like the fact you’re right. You were in harm’s way before I came. Since that can’t change, I’m happy I’m here to protect you.”

“You’re here for now.” The words that flattened my heart every night rolled off my tongue. “You’re leaving and you’re taking my best friend with you.”

“No time soon. Maybe not at all if we defeat the Stians. Anything is possible. I assure you, I won’t leave before you.”

“Where am I going?” I frowned.

He laughed and gathered me in a bear hug. “To college, you silly girl. You have a life in progress. Don’t forget.”

Justin’s engine roared to life. I gasped. His Jeep rolled away with one quick honk.

I buried my face in Liam’s chest. “I hate myself.”

“Don’t. He’s tough and honorable. He doesn’t blame you for finding someone and he’s reasonable. Hopeful too. A little too hopeful.”

“What’d you do, read his mind?”

“I see it in his eyes. He thinks I’m your right now and he’s your forever.”

A tear stung my eyes. I didn’t deserve Justin’s patience or understanding. I was cruel to break his heart. Kirk broke mine. Dad broke mine. Justin didn’t deserve that. Not ever. Liam’s chin pressed against the top of my head.

“Ah, to be so young.” He sighed. “I assure you there’s a bigger plan in this universe and it will play out in time. Don’t worry for the things you cannot control. Be patient. Listen.”

“To what?”

Liam kissed my jaw below one ear, then the other. He pulled my body against his and kissed my neck. His palm pressed the space between my breasts. “This. Listen to this.” Hot breath warmed my wind-chilled skin. His lips heated the hollow of my throat. Tiny kisses dotted my skin, one by one, back to my mouth, until my lips moved under his. I lifted the hem of his shirt and traced the muscles of his stomach, dipping and bobbing over each rock hard ab. I worked my thumbs through the soft downy hair stretching from his waistline to his belly button.

“Ah!” He slapped my hand and jumped back. A crazy look lit his face. His neon green eyes pulsated, despite the bright midday sun. The soft curves of his face changed to regal angles.

Oliver cracked up on the sidewalk, crossing his arms over his chest and tipping forward at the waist.

“What happened?” I placed a palm against Liam’s face. The long straight jawlines of a demigod pulsed under my hand.

Oliver shouted through wild laughter. “He’s ticklish.”

Allison watched Oliver with a look of utter contentment.

“Can’t she see you’ve changed?” I whispered.

Both Liam’s hands pressed against his stomach, presumably covering his belly button, the last place I’d explored before he screamed.

“All she sees is Oliver.” A measure of reverence lifted his words. His face returned to normal.

“It’s sweet.”

“It is.”

“You know what I see?” I made a show of my best puppy dog eyes for Liam. I twisted at my waist and placed my hands over my heart.

“What?”

I stepped closer, erasing the space he’d put between us. “I see my very strong, very sexy, very ticklish boyfriend.”

Liam stepped back and I lunged. I gave chase through the grass. Chester’s muffled barks echoed through the front window. We were deep in the rows of corn between our homes before Liam let me catch him again. This time, I got a better look at his ticklish spot.

Allison followed us in her hatchback to the gravel lot beside the school. Liam parked near the front, drawing attention from half the student body. So many things had changed since Friday afternoon. Basically everything. I’d learned that things unseen were real and they saw us. Dozens of heads turned our way, speculating about the new kids. The mysterious Hale brothers didn’t scare me anymore. They were allies sent to protect Justin. Definitely my kind of friends.

A banner with Kristy’s senior picture hung above the school’s front doors, covering the stone where Zoar High School had been etched a century ago. Dozens of matching signs hung from second story windows and on light posts surrounding the parking lot. Inches from Liam’s shiny hood, flyers flapped in the wind. Stapled to the telephone pole alongside weathered school spirit signs and faded bake sale announcements, a crisp white paper curled and flexed at the corners. The community had arranged a candlelight memorial for Kristy on the school football field at dusk. Nausea burned my chest. The world shimmered. How awful were her final minutes? What did she think was happening? Did she understand they weren’t human?

A knock on my window sent me into the console between Liam and me. Allison rubbed her arms and bounced in place outside my door. “Come on. Open up.”

The power locks popped up. Allison pulled my door open.

“Let’s go. It’s freezing out here.” She grabbed my hand and hoisted me from the toasty warm interior.

The Hale brothers trailed us into the crowded school. Women in black dress suits lined the space inside the front doors, handing out flyers. My heartbeat sped. Allison and I received our flyers in the same second from two different sets of hands.

“Join us at twilight for a candlelight memorial in honor of Kristy Hines, Zoar High School senior, student council member, and color guard.”

Allison scrunched her nose. “We have color guards?”

“I guess.” I stuffed the paper into my bag and weaved through the hallway, away from the suited ladies.

Justin leaned against my locker, his easy smile visible over the crowd. I hurried through a break in student foot traffic and stopped at his side. He tipped his chin in greeting to the Hales before turning intense blues eyes on me. “Are you going tonight?”

“I don’t know.” I’d never bought the “safety in numbers” thing. A big gathering like Kristy’s memorial seemed like the perfect place to attract trouble. If the Stians wanted to add girls to their collection, the memorial was a perfect opportunity. Then again, the running theory was they’d targeted Kristy because they’d seen her with Liam. It was a flimsy theory that didn’t explain why the other girls, the Wells students were killed. The Hales had never met those girls.

“We should go.” Allison leaned against Oliver’s chest. “The whole town will be here. Our community’s like that.”

Justin’s mouth tugged low on the sides. “She’s right. I can almost guarantee my folks will be there. Mom’s probably stopped unpacking from their weekend away so she can bake cupcakes for three hundred people. It’s unreal. Stuff like this doesn’t happen here.”

Liam nodded. “He’s right. We should all go and support Kristy’s family.”

Hannah and a group of haters sauntered by, wiping tears and wearing black armbands. My friends exchanged looks but didn’t speak. Another reason I approved of my little clique. They knew when it wasn’t worth stating the obvious.

“It’s just so tragic,” Hannah lamented to a group of lackeys and guidance counselors on hand to assist us with the sudden loss of a classmate.

A shiver lifted goose bumps on my arms. “Like grade school.”

“What?” the Hales echoed.

I looked at Allison. She told the story better than I did. A shiver coursed through me as faded memories resurfaced.

“A couple girls went missing when we were kids and people dressed like that”—Allison nodded to the adults eating up Hannah’s performance—“came to the grade school every day for a week, but we were all too young to understand the girls weren’t coming back.”

My teeth chattered.

“Callie?” Justin nudged me with his elbow. “Callie?” He gripped my face with rough, familiar hands.

“I’m fine. I didn’t sleep well last night.” All week. Whatever. I dropped my bag. Black spots danced in my periphery and the uneasy edge of a blackout crept over me. A moment later, my head hit Justin’s chest and I was flying. He whipped my feet off the ground and jogged through a parting sea of students with me in his arms. I raised limp hands in protest as we angled past the front desk of the school office. Chaos erupted in the space behind us as Oliver held back onlookers and Liam fought the secretary for permission to follow us. Every voice rang clear in my beating head. Justin’s face hovered over mine like an angel. He laid me on the padded table against the nurse’s wall. Paper crinkled under my weight. Bright lights glowed around Justin’s head. Antiseptic filled my nose.

“I’m texting your mom. I bet she’s here before you can get off this table on your own.” Justin’s voice was steady, but his eyes crinkled in worry.

I nodded. “Fine.”

“What’s the matter?” A woman bustled around the small office.

“I think she was about to pass out.” Justin didn’t look up. He watched me as if his life depended on the task. His strong hands held me in place, probably sensing my urge to sit up.

“Excuse me.” The school nurse’s face edged into view. “Did you eat any breakfast?”

“No, ma’am.”

The nurse huffed. “Move it, Mr. Maze. I need to check her vitals.”

“Work around me.”

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breathe. “I’m fine. Shaky, but fine.” Stressed. Afraid of losing Justin, and the pending Viking apocalypse, but fine. A tear slid from the corner of my eyes and into my hair. Ice filled my veins. I didn’t have time to be sick. Justin needed me. Something was coming for him. What if he became a Viking and Adam’s clan nabbed him? Oh my lord. They didn’t want him for their clan. They wanted to kill him. The sudden revelation amped up my adrenaline. If the Stians craved ultimate power, they’d find the marked one from the prophecy and eliminate him. Without the Vikings’ one true leader, the Stians could finish off the Hales and add every new Viking to their legions.

Cold fingers probed my head, wrist, and neck. “Did she hit her head?”

“No. Ma’am. We were at her locker talking. Nothing happened.”

“Get her a juice from the fridge beside the desk and I’ll call her mother.”

Justin ducked away and returned with a box of apple juice. “I already texted her.” He slid his arm under me and levered me into a seated position. I flicked the bendy straw he’d shoved into the tiny box and he smiled. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

The nurse held a phone to her ear. “No answer.”

I sighed. Didn’t she listen? “Justin texted her. She’s probably on her way.”

The little woman huffed and scribbled across a notepad. “She’ll need to sign you out before you go.”

“What’s happening?” Liam boomed.

I scooted to the edge of the table and Justin helped me onto my feet. I moved cautiously into the waiting area. “I’m fine. I’ll do anything for an apple juice.”

Justin chuckled. “Tell your mom I saved your life again.”

I patted his arm. “My hero.”

He pressed a wide palm against my hand, holding it in place for one long beat. “Being a hero is exhausting. Some days I just want to be normal.” He winked and sauntered away like a boss. A handsome, dork of a boss.

Liam looked me over. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. I’m worn out, stressed out and freaked out, but what can I do about that?” I chased the tiny, swiveling straw with my lips, unable to look away from Liam’s sincere expression. “I’m fine. I get woozy after practice sometimes, too. Low blood sugar.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Low blood sugar.”

I elbowed him in the ribs. “Just another glorious bonus of the human condition.”

“Because there aren’t enough outside forces willing to harm you. Your body has to make a few extras. That’s brilliant. Lovely, really.” He scrubbed his face in both hands and settled into the chair beside me.

“I just need a little rest. I push myself too hard sometimes.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. How could I explain to someone like him? “It’s a swim thing. No pain no gain?”

He looked horrified.

“If you’d ever had to train for anything, you’d understand. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we think until we try. I guess I’m used to pushing. Sometimes I pass out.” I chuckled. “Wow. That sounds really dumb.”

“Then why?” His eyes were wild with worry.

“Because sometimes pushing myself leads to amazing things.” Plus I was stubborn and single-minded. And also…potential Viking apocalypse. I had tons to learn so I could help Justin when he changed.

Mom jogged through the office door, eyes wide, mouth open. Relief swept over her face when she noticed me seated in the office waiting area. “Oh, thank the Lord.”

“I’m fine.” I sucked on the juice box until the sides collapsed. “All better. Are you in your pajamas?”

“Justin said you collapsed and were with the nurse.”

The nurse waved a slip in the air and mom went to retrieve it. “Thank you.” She signed her name and extended a hand my way. Liam followed us through the crowd to the front door.

She pressed the door open and icy air ripped through my skin. “What happened?”

“I have no idea. I saw the counselors and got panicky. They’re here for kids dealing with Kristy’s death. My teeth started chattering. It’s cold.” The word death lodged in my throat like an ice cube.