Souls (Runes series) Read online

  SOULS

  Grimnirs Book 2

  Ednah Walters

  Copyright © Ednah Walters 2014

  Published by Firetrail Publishing

  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 of characters, places,

  and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are

  not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living

  or dead, actual events, locale or organizations

  is entirely coincidental.

  §

  Firetrail Publishing

  P.O. Box 3444 Logan,

  UT 84323

  §

  Copyright © 2014 Ednah Walters

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 0991251725

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9912517-2-8

  §

  Edited by Kelly 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: September 2014

  www.firetrailpublishing.com

  §

  ALSO BY EDNAH WALTERS:

  §

  The Runes Series

  Runes (book one)

  Immortals (book two)

  Grimnirs (A Runes book)

  Seeress (book three)

  The Guardian Legacy Series:

  Awakened (prequel)

  Betrayed (book one)

  Hunted (book two)

  Forgotten (coming 2015)

  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)

  Impulsive Desires (Book 7, Coming Soon)

  DEDICATION

  §

  This book is dedicated to

  my fans. Thank you for helping me

  make a living doing what I enjoy.

  You guys rock!!!

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  §

  Many thanks to people who’ve supported me over the years:

  To my editor, Kelly Bradley Hashway, you amaze me always.

  Thanks for streamlining the book and weeding out the verbiage.

  To Cora of Cora Graphics, your covers are stunning. Thanks for your

  patience during the process. I know I can be hard to please sometimes.

  To my beta-readers and dear friends, Jeanette A. Conkling

  and Cheree Crump, you ladies don’t miss a thing. Thanks for finding

  those pesky typos. Cheree, you are an invaluable personal assistant.

  Your input on the cover and blurb were spot on. Last, but not least,

  my amazing fans. Thank you for your support, spreading and

  the word about the series. I wouldn’t write if it weren’t for you.

  Raquel Vega-Grieder, thanks for leading the pack! You are awesome.

  Special thanks to superfans who inspired me with the names—from

  Druids and Celtic to angels and demons. Emily Owens, you rock!

  I don’t know where you found them, but I used quite a few.

  The same goes to Katrina Hill, Kayla M. Crow, Claire Monaghan,

  Christine Herrera ODell, Darcie Niewald, Kassidy Cockrell,

  Collie James, Jennifer Bryant Johnson, Laura Dirtrock, Renee Kate

  Booth, Rachel Souza, Katherine Wilburn, Amber Garcia, Nette Cooper,

  Michelle Ndiaye, Sarah Haybden Davey, Samantha Alyssa van Petersom,

  and Terri A. Williams. Thanks for all the names. I plan to use them in

  the upcoming books. If I left anyone’s name, it’s not intentional.

  To my husband and my wonderful children, thank you for your

  unwavering love and support. Love you, guys.

  TRADEMARK LIST:

  §

  Google

  Mercedes

  Elantra

  Sentra

  Harley

  Twizzlers

  Supernatural

  Grey’s Anatomy

  Warner Bros

  CWTV

  ABC.COM

  Youtube

  Apple Inc.

  Cheetos

  M&M

  Skittles

  Coca Cola Company

  Dean and Sam Winchester

  The Great Gatsby

  MTKO

  Bon Jovi

  NPR

  The Matrix

  Marvel

  The Fifa World Cup

  Raggedy Ann

  DC Comics

  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

  Garm: The hound that guards the gates of Hel

  1. THE VISITOR

  Cool air drifted across the room and fanned my face. Anticipation coursed through my core, and my heart trembled. I no longer freaked out whenever a chill swept the air. It used to be a warning that a soul was nearby. A reason to panic, close my eyes, and hope they’d go away. I’d even been admitted to a psyche ward because I’d thought the souls were ghosts out to get me. Ghosts. Boy, was I ever naïve. But that was then.

  Now I welcomed the cool breeze. A flutter coiled in my stomach, and I was sure a stupid grin curled my lips. I was about to get a visit from the man I was desperately and completely in love with.

  Echo.

  Hel’s number one soul reaper.

  My boyfriend.

  I still pinched myself whenever I was with him to confirm I wasn’t dreaming. After pining for a guy I’d known since junior high—like, forever—it was nice to have someone who was mine. And Echo was mine in every way possible. Body, heart, and soul. He adored me and didn’t care who knew it.

  Whenever he walked into a room, a cold draft followed him like the tail of a comet. Not th
at he was dead and cold. No, Echo was fire and passion. Unpredictable yet steadfast. The cold clung to his clothes from Hel, the coldest place in all the realms, the place where he escorted souls of the dead. As his chosen mate, I always welcomed him home with open arms and warmed him. Willingly and without complaint.

  “Come to bed,” I whispered without opening my eyes.

  A second passed, then two. He didn’t lift the covers or touch my face as he often did in the dark as though drawn to my warmth.

  My eyes flew open. It was dark. An inky blackness that said something wasn’t right. There were no glowing runes criss-crossing a face so breathtaking I could stare at it for hours. Or wolfish golden eyes so mesmerizing words couldn’t begin to describe them.

  Okay, so it was not Echo turning my bedroom into an ice cave. No need to panic. It was probably a soul needing my help.

  I peered into the darkness, heart pounding despite my silent pep talk, but I couldn’t see anything. The souls often looked real, like humans. Except for the iciness. I touched the lamp, and light flooded my room.

  “You can come out now,” I whispered, trying not to scare it. New souls were like newborn babies. Helpless. Confused. Scared. Incapable of expression, except through gestures. Loud noises from my room could wake up my parents, too. Their bedroom was down the hall. Usually, I kept things quiet in my room or used my computer to cover up any sounds. My parents couldn’t know about my supernatural activities or they’d freak out again.

  “I’m waiting. I promise I won’t bite.”

  Actually, I could, but that naughtiness was reserved for Echo. I giggled at my thoughts and immediately regretted it. This was no time for fantasies. I turned my head and looked around the room, expecting the soul to show himself or herself.

  Nothing happened.

  Times like this, I wondered if I was doing too much. Helping souls find closure before Echo escorted them to Hel’s Hall wasn’t exactly easy. They had to possess me first, which was like being dunked in ice-cold slime, breathing and swallowing some of it. Totally disgusting and bloodcurdling. So no, I didn’t just wonder. I questioned my sanity. I needed sleep and rest, and helping some soul in the middle of the night was not my idea of either.

  I glanced at the clock on my bedside chest. It was eleven-twenty and Friday night to boot, too early for bed unless you were me. I should be making out with my superhot boyfriend, but Echo was out reaping. Instead, I had lessons first thing tomorrow morning with a Valkyrie and a date with senior citizens in the afternoon.

  “Listen, I don’t know how you got in here, but I promise I’m not mad,” I said. “So be nice and show yourself.”

  No one walked through the walls. Souls might look solid, but they were made of pure energy. Or rather they sucked the energy around them to create an image, which explained the coldness whenever they appeared.

  Anger slowly replaced my patience. Time for tough love.

  “Okay, I’m going to say this once. Helping you guys is a choice and I usually don’t mind, except when I deal with psychos, sociopaths, and pervs. So if you want to play games, get lost or deal with Echo.”

  I turned off the lights and pulled the covers to my chin, but I didn’t dare close my eyes. When I was in the psyche ward, I’d wake up to find souls staring expectantly at me. Totally freaked me out.

  Of course, I hadn’t known at the time that I was a beacon, glowing from afar, begging them to find me. The glow came from runes scribbled on my body by an Immortal psycho-bitch, but that was another story.

  My eyes wide, I studied my room for unusual movements, wishing Echo was here. Souls never bothered me when he was around. The runes he’d etched around the house stopped them from coming to our farm, which made me worry. What kind of soul could walk right past soul-repellant protective runes? Even as the question crossed my mind, the cold chill swept through my room again.

  Bastard! I reached out and turned on the bedside lamp.

  “Get out, jerk!” Something moved in the corner of the room, and I whipped around, my heart pounding. There was no one there, yet I felt a powerful presence.

  Panic surged. Refusing to drown in it, I inched sideways and reached under the bed for a weapon. Before Echo, I’d disperse souls with an iron fire rod, something I’d seen Sam and Dean Winchester do in the hit TV series Supernatural. It actually worked. Now, I let souls take over my body, listened to their thoughts, and helped them find closure. Yeah, I know. I was certifiably insane. But what was a girl to do when her boyfriend was part of the supernatural world? I wasn’t a stand-by-the-sideline kind of girl.

  Gripping the knotted end of the rod with two hands, I slipped from the bed, walked slowly to the bathroom like some ninja warrioress holding a katana, and I ventured inside the closet. Both were off my bedroom and favorite hiding places before Echo came into my life. I poked between dresses, skirts, and folded sweaters.

  There was no one there. I opened the door and peered down the hallway. Empty. Refusing to lose it, I locked my bedroom door so my parents wouldn’t walk in on me hurling curses like a sailor while attacking something they couldn’t see. Another trip to the psyche ward was not in my immediate plans.

  To bring the noise level to zero, I headed straight to my wall mirror and let the image of Echo’s home fill my head. At the same time, I engaged the portal runes on my body until I glowed brighter than a strobe light. I loved that I could do this now. Loved the rush, too. The lessons I’d been taking from Valkyrie Lavania were paying off big time. I had healing runes, portal runes, and even strength and speed runes. Then there were the other runes. Nameless. Black. Yet Souls saw them glow. Totally weird.

  The mirror responded and dissolved into a portal.

  Echo’s place was in total darkness, but that didn’t bother me. I knew the room, and I always felt safe there. When I was a child, I’d crawl into my parents’ bed when I had nightmares. Now, I ran to Echo. Even when he wasn’t here, his essence was strong enough to scare souls away.

  Closing the portal, I crawled under his covers, the poker clenched in my hand. His musky scent clung to the sheets and pillows. I inhaled and let it sooth my jumpy nerves. Sleep, unfortunately, eluded me, and my eyes stayed locked on the portal.

  I was still new to the supernatural world. I called it the Runic World because etching runes on skin with magical blades gave people superhuman abilities and immortality. I became an Immortal after the same psycho who’d etched soul-magnet runes on me severed my spine and Valkyrie Lavania healed me with powerful healing runes.

  But my tango with the supernatural started with my BFF, Raine Cooper, and the Valkyrie she loved. Their story was complicated, but their love and devotion to each other was beautiful. Now, I knew that Norse pantheon wasn’t a myth. The gods and goddesses, giants, dwarves, and elves were real. Valkyries and Grimnirs roamed the world collecting souls. Valkyries took fighters and athletic people to Valhalla and Falkvang to train for Ragnarok—the war between the gods and the evil giants, the mother of all battles that would end our world. Grimnirs like Echo collected souls of criminals and those who died of old age and illnesses, and took them to Hel, the realm of the dead. Norns, deities in charge of destiny, moved around weaving destinies and screwing with people’s lives. And Immortals roamed the world, fighting with humans for worthy causes and supporting Valkyries.

  Then there were special Immortals like Raine and me. Raine was a powerful Seeress, a living, breathing Norn in the making. She hated it, but sometimes you can’t escape your destiny. She would signal the start of Ragnarok. Then there was me. No one knew exactly what I was, only that lost souls could find me in their darkest hour.

  My eyelids grew heavy. The next second, I sat up, my eyes widening as the portal opened. Echo. I’d left the lights on in my bedroom for him, knowing if he didn’t find me, he’d look for me here.

  My heart pounded. My room and the door leading to the hallway were now visible, and I could see a shadow in my room.

  “Over here,” I called out.<
br />
  Instead of Echo, something dark drifted through the portal. Shaped like a person, the core was so dark it appeared to suck in light. Images of black holes flashed in my head. Thanks to my association with Echo, I’d developed a morbid fascination with the cosmos. Anything to visualize the realm my boyfriend disappeared to several times a day. He hated talking about Hel’s Hall.

  The edges of this moving black hole were blurry. I couldn’t see his features or clothes, but it was definitely coming toward me.

  Panicking, I jumped off the bed, tripped on the covers, and pitched forward onto the floor, the rod slipping from my hand. I cursed, grabbed the poker, and scrambled to my feet. The dark thing, person, or whatever floated around the large bedroom and completely ignored me.

  My heart pounding so hard I thought it was going to burst, I gripped the poker and widened my stance like a baseball batter.

  I had a mean swing, courtesy of my father. Being homeschooled on a farm meant my P.E. classes involved climbing trees or playing whatever games my parents enjoyed. Dad was a serious baseball fan. In fact, he had a favorite team in almost all sports. That was one thing he and Raine’s father had in common.

  A quick glance at the portal and a weird thought flashed in my head. I could make it open into Raine’s room. Her house was full of supernatural people. They could protect me.

  Nah, Raine had just finished dealing with a horde of angry Immortals led by her boyfriend’s father and needed a break from supernatural mayhem. This was my problem. I had to deal with it.