Gods by Ednah Walters Read Free Book Online

Immortal with runic knowledge, she could open a portal to anywhere. I put on my cloak and my glasses. My vision was blurry. I removed the glasses and cleaned the lenses.
    “You still need that?” Hayden asked, indicating the cloak.
    “Not to see past the Veil.” Whenever I touched the clasp of the cloak, I could see the supernatural world, but Eirik’s runes had fixed that. I was officially a part of his world. “The cloak is handy when I need to go invisible since I don’t have cloaking runes yet.” She pulled out her artavus and started etching runes on the mirror in my bedroom. “Slow down. I want to see the portal runes. I plan to master all of them fast.”
    “So you can visit your man whenever?”
    “Yep.” Living in different realms wasn’t going to stop us from having a normal relationship. “We are going to make this work.”
    I watched her carefully as she etched runes on the mirror. I recognized two of them. The third one looked complicated. I believe Eirik called them bind runes—a combination of two or more regular ones.
    “How often did you visit Helheim while I was in a coma?”
    “Your father and I went twice a week. Zack came with us on weekends. He watched the Grimnirs train and glared at Eirik when he thought no one was looking. Talk to him. He shouldn’t blame Eirik for what happened to you. I tried, but he wouldn’t listen.”
    I’d seen Zack last night, but we hadn’t discussed anything serious. I was happy he’d finally embraced his magic. As for blaming Eirik, I planned to fix that.
    Hayden stepped back as the portal started to form. “I gotta tell you something, though. The goddess impressed the crap out of me. Every time I was there, she always stopped by to check on you. She never talked to me, which was just as well because she’s intimidating.”
    “It’s all for show. You should see her with Eirik. She’s very loving.”
    “Or with you. She always stroked your forehead and murmured words in her language. At first I thought she showed interest in you because of Eirik, but I think she really cares about you. She came even when he wasn’t there and sat with you. I had to skedaddle whenever she did.” She looked through the portal and frowned. “That’s weird.”
    I followed her gaze. The portal had opened outside a red brick home with ivy on the walls and roof, right at the foot of a ramp leading to the entrance. A couple of gardeners on ladders were pruning them while a few more tended flowers on large flowerbeds bordering the house.
    My stomach hollowed out with nervousness. The last time we met, Marguerite had blindsided me. I hadn’t expected her to be an Immortal or to be working with Eirik’s grandmother. I was prepared this time, so I wasn’t sure where the nerves came from. How hard could it be to ask her if she’d adopted a girl and named her Anne Marie?
    “The portal is supposed to open to wherever she is.” Hayden stepped back and let the portal close, then reopened another. It went to the exact same place. This time, a man in a suit was leaving the building. He wore a badge of some kind. He walked right past us without slowing down. I noticed the initials SH on his breast. On top of the letters was a symbol that looked like a rune.
    “You think it’s a psych ward?” I asked, staring after the guy. There were only a few cars in the driveway and he took one of them. The gate opened before he reached it and closed behind him.
    “Or rehab. Look.” Hayden pointed at the entrance.
    I put my glasses back on and squinted to read the sign, but my sight was still blurry. I needed a new prescription. I tended to wear contacts, but after three weeks in a trance while wearing a pair, I was giving my eyes a break. I removed my glasses and blinked. Interesting. I didn’t need the glasses to read the sign.
    The Serenity House written on the glass doors explained the SH on the man’s badge. The white letters were hardly noticeable though. I glanced at the gate.