Runes (Paranormal Romance, YA,) by Ednah Walters Read Free Book Online Page B

They were staring at us. I checked behind me to confirm it. Yeah, Cora, Eirik, and I were the only ones at the counter placing orders.
    Cora stayed behind to talk to a friend, and Eirik went to get our drinks. As I walked to our table, I glanced at the strangers again. Their gazes didn’t waver from me, their expressions hard to describe. Unease slithered up my spine.
    Throughout lunch, I was aware of their eyes on me. I tried to ignore them, but it wasn’t easy. They left the Creperie before we did, but as soon as we stepped outside, the feeling of being watched returned. It continued while we were at the mall, yet every time I checked, I couldn’t see anyone.
    “You okay?” Cora asked when we entered a jewelry store.
    “Yeah, why do you ask?”
    “You keep looking around as though you’re searching for someone.”
    “I have this weird feeling that we’re being followed.”
    Cora frowned. “By who?”
    “By whom,” I corrected and winced when she glared at me. “I don’t know. Let’s just get done here and go home.”
    But it was another hour before we left the mall. By then it was close to four, time for Ultimate Frisbee. Eirik was still at A2Z Games, and we had to practically drag him out of there. We headed toward Longmont Park in North Kayville.
    In the last two years, we’d had about eighty swimmers vie for spots on the varsity team, and this year was no different. About fifty students were already waiting at the park when we got there and more continued to arrive. A third of them were new faces fresh from junior high. I recognized some from the Silver and Bronze teams at my club.
    Longmont Park was one of the many parks in and around Kayville. It had a ballpark, a playground, fields used by Kayville Rec Center for recreational sports, and park pavilions for barbecues and parties. Today, like most Saturday afternoons, it was busy with families. We parked on the road and started for the pavilion where Coach Fletcher and the other students were already waiting.
    “Raine Cooper.”
    I spun around and frowned when Blaine waved.
    “Wait up,” he said as he sauntered toward me. With him were the three strangers from the Creperie. Up close, the girls with their blonde hair and light-blue eyes looked like they could be sisters. The silver-haired guy had dark-brown eyes that almost looked black. Something about him gave me the creeps. I gave a tiny smile, happy that Cora and Eirik had waited with me.
    “Raine is co-captain of the swim team and the fastest butterfly swimmer,” Blaine said, surprising me. I had no idea he knew anything about me. He turned and flashed his mega-watt smile at Cora. “It’s Cora, right?”
    She blushed and nodded.
    “Her best stroke is…?” He cocked his brow.
    “Breast,” Cora said with a giggle.
    Blaine snapped his fingers. “Right, breaststroke. And what do you do, Seville?” he asked, staring at Eirik’s camera.
    “I’m the towel boy,” Eirik said even though the swim team didn’t have towel boys. “The most important person on the team.”
    Cora threw him an annoyed look. I barely kept a straight face.
    “Think you’re funny, Seville?” Blaine’s famous topaz eyes darkened. He made a face, ignored Eirik, and pointed at the guy with him. “Andris Riestad. Maliina and Ingrid Dahl. They’re exchange students from Norway and plan to join your swim tea—”
    The loud purr of a Harley engine filled the air and cut him off. We all turned to stare at the biker. Dressed in all black—jacket, jeans, boots, and helmet, he turned onto the road that cut through the east and west fields and rode toward us. I frowned. Usually, you heard the sound of a motorcycle from afar; then it grew louder as it drew closer. This one had started suddenly as though it had appeared from thin air.
    The guy parked at the curb and removed his helmet. Torin. I should have known. He ran a finger through his raven hair, our eyes meeting across the students staring at him. A spasm kicked my