"I don't want to know," I said. He could become crass in the blink of an eye.

"You have a dirty mind."

"Yours is twisted."

"Don't insult my mind. I am twisted. You want to have lunch at home or school?" he asked as we entered the school building.

He was being really sweet. Normally he'd tell me where we were having lunch and try to bully me into agreeing. "School, unless I'm needed at home."

"Okay, we'll meet in the cafeteria unless I get a text from you." He took off with a bunch of his hipster friends. I went toward my locker and kept an eye out for the two Witch sisters. I did that a lot during the day, even heard their Seidr song a couple of times.

Andris and Blaine were waiting by the SUV when I left the building at three. Usually, they couldn't stand each other. Today they were chatting like old buds. No, they were laughing.

"Okay, Seeress, we've decided to pick up where Torin left off," Andris said.

I frowned. "Pick up what?"

"Your lessons," Blaine said. "Where did you two train yesterday?"

When I finished explaining, they were staring at me as though I was an escapee from PMI. "What?"

"There's no trails to speak of and the place is crawling with wild animals," Andris said and shuddered.

"There are plenty of trails and you can outrun wild animals," I said and threw my backpack and oboe in the back of the car. "So is the offer still on or do I run alone?"

They looked at each other.

"Chickens," I teased them, getting inside the car.

"She has a point," Blaine said. "We can run faster than any animal and if she trains in such an environment, anything else will be a piece of cake."

"I don't care if she's right or wrong. We are not running through some damn jungle like a pack of wild animals. We'll take the back roads and race cars. You two have lived here long enough. Find us a route that's not busy this time of the day. I'll show you who is chicken."

"See you guys at home," Blaine said and hopped into his seat. He was already driving his sports car with the top down.

"Tell me about this Witch at school?" Andris asked we took off.

"I think there are two of them. Sisters. And they are new because I've never seen them before."

"Why didn't you tell Ingrid this morning?"

Torin's words rang in my ears. "I don't know. I want to see if we find the same girls. There could be more."

Andris shuddered. "Witches."

"I understand Torin's aversion to witches. What is yours?"

"None of your beeswax," he said rudely.

He entered our cul-de-sac and my eyes went to Torin's place. It was still locked up. "Where is he, Andris?"

"Searching for the person that put his stuff up for auction,' he said.

"Why is it so important?"

Andris brought the car to a stop at the curb by Torin's mailbox. "I never question why your man does some of the things he does. I just go with the flow."

"Should I worry about him yet?"

"Nope. Out of the car. Be at the mansion in ten minutes or I'm coming for you."

"Can you promise me something?"

He gave a long suffering sigh. "What?"

"Promise to tell me the truth if he's in danger, okay?"

"Okay." He rolled down the window and watched me walk away. I turned and cocked my eyebrows. "Go. I'm at home now."

"Did I ever tell you have a sexy walk?"

I kissed my fingers and patted my butt.

He laughed and took off. I entered the house. "Femi, I'm home."

"In here," she called out from dad's room. I peeked in. She was changing the sheets on his bed. She must have seen the concern in my eyes because she said, "He's having a bath."

I made a face. The bath had a contraption to keep him in place. "I'm running with Andris and Blaine. I should be back in an hour or so."

She paused in the process of fluffing a pillow and pursed her lips. For one second I thought she'd object, but Andris outranked her. "Make sure you take your cell phone with you."

"I know." I grabbed an apple in the kitchen before heading upstairs. In less than ten minutes, I was in the mansion.

Blaine was pacing in the foyer. He wore running tights and shirt like Torin had yesterday, but the impact of all that hotness was wasted on me. "Where's Andris?"

"I don't know." He looked up at the second floor. "Hey, Andris. Move it."

"So how are we going to do this?"

"I have no idea what he has in mind. He's calling the shots, as he put it." Blaine made a face. It was obvious he wasn't used to taking orders from someone who looked around his age.

"Have you worked with a lot of Valkyries?"

He nodded. "My parents have helped quite a few. I tend to work with Mortals. You know, wars, law enforcement, and private detective stuff."

"You've worked with the police? You look like any high schooler."

He grinned, topaz eyes twinkling. "I can look older when I want to."

"Do you see your parents often? I heard they're in Rio."

"A couple of times a week." He chuckled. "Rio is a portal away." He glanced up again. "Andris!"

"Hold your horses," Andris said from the top of the stairs. His outfit had to be just right. Unlike Blaine's black and gray outfit, his had neon green stripes that matched his shoes and jacket. Since he wasn't sporty, he was probably breaking them in.

"Nice outfit," I said.

"You'll thank me when it gets dark. Blaine lead, until we are out of town. We leave the compound with our runes engaged."

CHAPTER 10. MISSING.

Cora dropped her tray next to mine and I dragged my eyes from Gina and Rita. "What do you mean we can't have a double date tomorrow?"

"Torin is out of town. He's been gone since Wednesday." I picked up the biscuit and took a bite. It was the only appetizing thing on my tray.

"Gone where?"

"I don't know." That little fact was beginning to worry me.

"Did you two fight?" She took a bite of her pizza.

Whatever issues Torin was struggling with, I wish he would just talk to me instead of pulling a disappearing act. We'd tackled our share of issues since we met, but he never just upped and disappeared. What if he was in trouble and needed help?

"Raine? Did you two fight?" Cora asked again.

I shook my head, my eyes drifting to Rita and her sister. For the last couple of days, I'd studied them. Rita was pale and timid, yet she seemed to be the more powerful of the two. I got stronger vibes from her. The few times our eyes had met, she always smiled. Gina was the poster child of teen angst: dark clothes and black nail polish, multiple ear and nose piercings. She looked like she could kick some serious ass. And she acted protective of her sister.

"Does it have anything to do with his family crest?" Cora said. "Echo said he's obsessed with finding the person who had it auctioned."

I didn't want to discuss Torin, so I forced a casual shrug. "I don't know."

"Could this food get any more unappetizing?" Andris asked, sliding beside Cora. He bumped her with his shoulder. "Hey, gorgeous."

Cora grinned and glanced at his styled silver hair. "Right back at yah."

"What are you two plotting?" Andris asked.

Cora sighed. "I was just asking Raine-"

"If we can get our men to get along on a double date tomorrow," I finished. Cora studied me questioningly. "You do want that, don't you?"

"Yeah, but Torin is MIA."

"Oh, he'll be back," Andris said. "He's playing Lord of the Manor right now."

I frowned. Could Torin really reveal his true identity to his relatives? The way he was big on rules, I doubted it.

Across the room, Rita walked away from her sister. Finally. It seemed like forever waiting to see them apart. They were always together. Gina was having a deep conversation with their new friends and probably didn't know her sister had left.

"I'll be back," I said and got up.

"Where are you going?" Andris asked.

"Restroom." I hurried after Rita, not caring if he believed me. He didn't have to worry about me leaving the school grounds without him. With Torin MIA and someone out there after me, I wasn't taking chances.

Rita was disappearing around the corner. I ducked into a doorway, engaged my runes, and rejoined the students in the hallway. She was a few students ahead.

"Not bad," Blaine said from behind me. His runes blazed too. "Where are you going in such a hurry fully cloaked?"

"Andris sent you to follow me?"

"Nope. I was talking to some girl when you zipped past. Nice move using a doorway to engage your runes."

"You guys drummed that in me the last two days." Rita disappeared inside the library. "I need to pick up a book. See yah."

I ducked past students, almost bumping into a couple, and entered the room, but Rita had disappeared. Damn! I searched the aisles, aware that Blaine had followed me inside. I was close to giving up when I spotted her at the end of an aisle. She was chanting.

I entered the aisle behind her, made sure no one could see me, and willed the runes away. She whipped around, her eyes wide. She took a step back.

"Hey." I wiggled my fingers. "It's Rita, right?"

"Yes. How do you know my name?"

"You and Gina are new and you both wear the same pendant, which makes you stand out." I paused before adding in a lower voice, "I know what you are."

She swallowed and took another step back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I raised my hands. "It's okay, Rita. My name is Raine Cooper. I'm like you. I heard your Seidr song. You sing beautifully."

She laughed nervously. "Thank you. We knew there were witches in the school, but Mom couldn't find you by scrying."

That was because we weren't really witches. "We can hide our powers."

She smiled, color seeping in her pale cheeks. "I knew it. I told Gina, but she said I was being ridiculous. She said no Witch can hide from Mom's scrying. Mom said there was a powerful magical core here. Did you answer the Call too?"

"The Call?"

"You know, when witches are called to help one of our own."

"Oh, yeah. That Call."