I sighed. She was hopeless. "It bugs Eirik when you do that."
Her grin broadened. "It does?"
"Oh, you two are so annoying. Did he tell you he and I are officially no longer dating?"
Cora stopped. "No."
"With everything that went down and my trip, we've sort of drifted apart. We discussed it on Monday night. That's why he was at my place. We agreed we're better off as friends, honorary sister and brother."
Cora frowned. "He hasn't said anything."
"You know how he clams up sometimes. Now you can go for it."
Cora glanced at me in confusion. "Go for what?"
"Eirik. Why do you think he took off in a huff just now? You were talking about Torin, and he was jealous."
"Yeah, right," she retorted.
"For someone who claims to know guys, you sure are clueless about him."
As we entered the school, she became quiet and chewed on her lower lip. "I don't think it's cool to hook up with your best friend's ex."
I rolled my eyes. "Cora, we kissed. We never even made it to second base."
She made a face. "Spare me the details." Then she threw me a glance from the corner of her eyes. "Never made it to second base?"
"Nope." She shot me a skeptical look. "Don't think I didn't want to. I wanted plenty, but something always stopped him. I guess he wasn't feeling me as much as I was feeling him." Oh, the lies we weave. But the relief in Cora's eyes said I'd used the magic words.
"You really don't mind."
I shook my head. "Nope. Besides, I've always suspected he was into you."
Cora became quiet as we crossed the hall. I met wary glances from the other students in the hall. They no longer gawked, though I still got uneasy smiles whenever I came too close. I made a decision to not let them bother me. Even whoever had defaced our lockers had stopped.
We walked past Lavania, Andris, and Ingrid. Lavania waved and smiled. Ingrid ignored me as usual. Whenever I went to their house for lessons, she stayed in her room. Andris, on the other hand, still gave me looks like I was a slug.
"I can't stand that guy," Cora said, staring pointedly at Andris.
"Why?"
"He's so stuck up, and so is his sister."
I laughed. "Ingrid and Andris are not related. Ingrid is kind of lost because she misses her sister, and Andris is... Andris."
Cora frowned. "How do you know so much about them?"
Oops, I'd completely forgotten that to Cora, I'd only known the Valkyries for a week. "We're neighbors, duh."
"So what can you tell me about Torin?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. Something in her expression sent heat up my face.
"Nothing. He's one of them."
"So how come he stares at you a lot?"
My face grew hotter. "He doesn't."
"Even his harem noticed."
"His harem?"
"The cheerbitches who... Oh my. Look."
I thought she was talking about Torin at first, until I turned and saw that she meant our lockers. Someone had used a plastic jump rope to create two nooses and looped them around the locks on my locker and Cora's. I was so looking forward to mastering the powers of runes just so I could trap whoever was doing this.
Students scurried past us pretending not to see the nooses. Others gave us side-glances as though waiting to see what we'd do. I yanked the nooses and threw them down.
"I thought the loser doing this stopped," Cora said sighing.
"The security around here sucks," I muttered. "They should have cameras monitoring the halls twenty-four-seven."
I didn't notice Eirik had joined us until he picked up the rope from the floor. He lifted it and cocked his brow at someone behind me. When he made a face and shook his head, I followed his gaze to see who he was eye-talking to. Torin stood at the end of the hallway. As soon as he realized they had my attention, he turned and walked away.
"What's going on?" I asked, my eyes studying Eirik's face for signs of lying.
"Later," he mouthed and inclined his head toward Cora, who was still venting. Since Eirik couldn't talk, that left Torin. I opened my locker, put away my backpack and oboe, selected my books, and took off after him.
"Torin, wait up."
He kept walking.
"Torin St. James," I called out.
He continued to ignore me.
Getting ticked off, I got creative. "Hey, Valkyrie."
His feet faltered, but he didn't stop.
"Anyone want to meet a real live soul reaper?" Students stared at me like I'd lost my marbles, nothing new there, but he stopped and turned to study me with a long-suffering expression. I grinned.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked.
"You stopped, didn't you? What was that about?"
He cocked his eyebrows. "What was what about?"
"You and Eirik. When did you make a love connection?"
He smirked. "I don't do guys. I'm purely into chicks."
I narrowed my eyes. "You know what I mean. What's going on? What are you two hatching?"
"Do you know your eyes change color when you're angry?"
Sidetracked, I stared at him, remembering the first time he'd said those words to me. He'd wrapped me in a sensual haze, and we would have kissed if it hadn't been for our neighbor. My eyes went to his lips, and I caught his grin.
Argh, when did I become so easy? He'd deliberately distracted me. Again.
"Stop messing with my head, Torin. I want to know what's going on."
Before he could answer, several jocks, including Drew and Keith, joined us. The game in Portland was later that evening, and they were hyped.
"Guys, you know Raine, right?" Drew said, dropping an arm around my shoulders.
"The smoking hot Witch," Jaden Granger said and leered. "Feel free to bewitch me anytime."
I never liked Jaden. He was the kiss-and-tell kind of guy, and he had greasy hair. Sadly, some girls found him irresistible.
"Can you use your witchy powers," he wiggled his fingers, "to see if we're going to win tonight?"
Annoyance zipped through me. "No, I can't predict something like that, but if he," I pointed at Torin, "comes through, you will win or die, uh, trying."
Torin shot me an annoyed look. "Excuse us." He grabbed my hand and tugged. "Come with me."
"But I was enjoying their company," I protested half-heartedly.
"No, you are acting like a brat."
Ouch. That stung. "Thanks for the compliment."
He chuckled.
"I've been meaning to ask you something. Who are you escorting to Valhalla among the players? Keith? Drew? Both of them?" He's been spending a lot of time with the two players, just like he'd done with Jessie and her friends, and they all had died.
"None of them is going to Valhalla." He opened a door and pulled me inside.
It was dark, but not for long. He flipped a switch, and I looked around. We were in a broom closet. Not just any broom closet. It was the make out broom closet students often used because it was roomy and Officer Randolph rarely checked it for some reason. I grinned, remembering the last time Torin and I had been in here.
"What?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"This brings back memories. You do know that by lunchtime, everyone will know you and I were in the make out closet."
He frowned. "You've made out with some guy in this closet."
He sounded annoyed. I gave him a toothy grin. The only time I'd ever used the closet was with him. "We didn't exactly make out. We closed a deal."
He made a face like he'd swallowed a rotten egg and opened the door, almost bumping into his friends, who had either been eavesdropping on us or keeping a lookout.
"Do you guys mind?" Torin snapped, and the jocks walked away laughing. He started for class, but I was right behind him.
"You never answered my question about you and Eirik," I said.
"I will during lunch. I also have a solution to your Witch problem."
That threw me off. "You do?"
"Meet me in the hall at lunchtime. We'll go somewhere and discuss it."
Too shocked, I could only stare at him. For most of the week he'd played cat and mouse with me and now he wanted to do lunch? "No, I'll pass."
"No, you won't. If you need my help, you eat lunch with me. I hate eating-"
"Alone," I finished, forgetting I'd decided to stop bringing up the past. Instead of a frown, he grinned and sauntered into the classroom. I stared after him, wishing I could figure him out. He was so unpredictable.
CHAPTER 8. EVERYONE NEEDS LOVE.
Torin was waiting when I reached the front hall during lunch. "You really have a solution?"
"Yep." He led the way to his Harley. "You're not going to ask where we're going?"
"Should I? You're not kidnapping me, are you?"
He chuckled. "If I wanted to kidnap you, you'd be in my bedroom in a matter of seconds."
Kidnap me already, I wanted to say.
"Look around. If you haven't noticed, we're being watched."
I turned and sure enough, students watched us through the glass windows. The ones hurrying to their cars also turned and stared. "Is this your grand plan to make me less Witchy? Being seen with the new QB?"
He waved at someone. "Brilliant, isn't it?"
I rolled my eyes. "Sure, except you haven't won a game yet."
"We will tonight." He said it like it was a done deal and stepped closer with the helmet. I stepped back and stuck out my hand. He stared at my hand then my face. "I was just going to help you with it."
"I know, but I'd rather you didn't." I took the helmet, put it on, and snapped the strap while he scowled and studied me as though something bothered him. "What?"
"You're a prickly little thing, aren't you?"
"Quit with calling me little. I'm five-seven. And being cautious doesn't make me... prickly," I finished weakly when he reached out and tucked a stray hair out of the way, catching me by surprise. His eyes not leaving mine, his hand lingered on my nape. I shivered, and I allowed myself to forget how horrible the last few days have been. I welcomed his touch and got lost in his gorgeous, blue eyes.