Runes (A Runes Novel) Read online

RUNES

  (Book One)

  §

  Ednah Walters

  Copyright © Ednah Walters 2013

  Reproducing this book without permission

  from the author or the publisher is an infringement

  of its copyright. This book is a work of fiction. The names

  characters, places, and incidents are products of the

  author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  Any resemblance to any actual events or persons,

  living or dead, actual events, locale or

  organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Firetrail Publishing

  P.O. Box 3444 Logan,

  UT 84323

  Copyright © 2013 Ednah Walters

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 0983429766

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9834297-6-0

  §

  Edited by Kelly Bradley Hashway

  Cover Design by Cora Graphics. All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner

  Whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief

  Quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Firetrail Publishing publication: May 2013

  www.firetrailpublishing.com

  ALSO BY EDNAH WALTERS:

  The Runes Series

  Runes (book one)

  Immortals (book two)

  The Guardian Legacy Series:

  Awakened (prequel)

  Betrayed (book one)

  Hunted (book two)

  The Fitzgerald Family series (Writing as E. B. Walters)

  Slow Burn (book 1)

  Mine Until Dawn (book 2)

  Kiss Me Crazy (book 3)

  Dangerous Love (book 4)

  Forever Hers (book 5)

  Surrender to Temptation (book 6)

  DEDICATION

  §

  This book is dedicated to my four daughters.

  Follow your dreams and never let the word ‘CANNOT’ stop you.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENT

  §

  To my editor, Kelly Bradley Hashway, thank you for

  Weeding out the unnecessary words. I am so lucky to have found you.

  To my beta-readers and dear friends, Catie Vargas and Jeannette Whitus,

  You ladies are amazing. You pushed and pulled me when I faltered.

  This book would not have been completed without you. You girls rock!!

  To my dearest friends, Katrina Whittaker and Jowanna Delong Kestner,

  Thank you for always being there when I want to vent.

  Friends like you are hard to find!

  To my daughter, MJ, thank you for listening to my crazy ideas

  and showing me how to bridge the gap between our generations.

  To my critique partners, Dawn Brown, Teresa Bellew,

  Katherine Warwick/Jennifer Laurens, thank you

  for being there when my muse takes a vacation.

  We are more than writing partners.

  To my husband and my wonderful children,

  thank you for your unwavering love and support.

  You inspire me in so many ways

  Love you, guys.

  TRADEMARK LIST:

  Google

  Nikon

  Jeep

  Frisbee

  Sentra

  Harley

  Chex Mix

  Vampire Diary

  Supernatural

  Lord Sesshomaru

  Portland Art Museum

  Tasmanian Devil

  Warner Bros

  GLOSSARY:

  §

  Aesir: A tribe of Norse gods

  Asgard: Home of the Aesir gods

  Odin: The father and ruler of all gods and men.

  He is an Aesir god. Half of the dead soldiers/warriors/athletes

  go to live in his hall Valhalla.

  Vanir: Another tribe of Norse gods

  Vanaheim: Home of the Vanir gods

  Freya: The poetry-loving goddess of love and fertility.

  She is a Vanir goddess. The other half of the dead

  warriors/soldiers/athletes go to her hall in Falkvang

  Frigg: Odin’s wife, the patron of marriage and motherhood

  Norns: deities who control destinies of men and gods

  Völva: A powerful seeress

  Völur: A group of seeresses

  Immortals: Humans who stop aging and self-heal

  because of the magical runes etched on their skin

  Valkyries: Immortals who collect fallen warriors/soldiers/fighters/athletes

  and take them to Valhalla and Falkvang

  Bifrost: The rainbow bridge that connects Asgard to Earth

  Ragnarok: The end of the world war between the gods and the evil giants

  Artavus: Magical knife or dagger used to etch runes

  Artavo: Plural of artavus

  Stillo: A type of artavus

  Grimnirs: Reapers for Hel

  Hel: The Goddess Hel in charge of the dead

  Hel: Home of Goddess Hel, dead criminals, those dead from illness and old age

  Nastraad/Corpse Strand: The island in Hel for criminals

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1. THE MAILBOX

  CHAPTER 2. MORE THAN FRIENDS

  CHAPTER 3. RUNES

  CHAPTER 4. THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

  CHAPTER 5. THE BLACKOUT

  CHAPTER 6. MARKED

  CHAPTER 7. MAKING CONNECTION

  CHAPTER 8. DAMAGE CONTROL

  CHAPTER 9. THE UNEXPECTED

  CHAPTER 10. NORMAL

  CHAPTER 11. BEING IGNORED SUCKED

  CHAPTER 12. PARTY PLANNERS

  CHAPTER 13. AN OBSESSION

  CHAPTER 14. MEMORIES

  CHAPTER 15. A CENTURY OR TWO

  CHAPTER 16. A SURPRISE

  CHAPTER 17. CHOICES

  THE RUNES SERIES READING ORDER:

  PRE-ORDER THE NEXT IN THE SERIES

  IMMORTALS, Book 2 (Sneak Peek)

  CHAPTER 1. A FRESH START

  CHAPTER 2. THE GIRLS ARE BACK

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR