"Then we'll talk about your prom and what you're going to wear." Her voice rose with excitement.

I groaned. She was going to butt in and force me to wear something she liked and I absolutely loathed. "I already know what I'm going to wear, Mom. Saw it online." I caught a flash of sadness in her eyes. "Don't worry, you'll like it."

"Is that for the junior or senior prom?"

"Senior." I kissed her cheek. "Bye. Later, Femi."

"Can I choose your junior one?" Mom asked.

"No." What I wore was the one thing I had control over. I slipped inside the den. Dad looked much better and was actually sitting up. "Morning, Daddy."

"Why are you giving your mother such a hard time, pumpkin?"

Here comes the guilt trip, I thought. "If I let her help, she'll take over."

"You've grown up fast and she misses helping you choose clothes."

I had no say on what I wore growing up. "Nice try, Daddy." I kissed his temple. "Not even you can convince me to work with her. Love you. Gotta run."

She was outside the door with a tray and a longsuffering look. You know the one, the why is my daughter being so difficult when all I want to do is help look. She'd perfected it over the years, but I was an expert at pretending not to notice.

I planted a kiss on her cheek. "Love you."

I grabbed my stuff and headed to my car. Torin was already waiting. "What's wrong?"

I turned the key and started whining. "She's back one day and she's already micromanaging my life. I can't work at the shop because of the witches. Have to start studying with Lavania. And she wants to choose my prom dress. Can you believe it? Maybe we should just forget it."

"Wow, slow down," Torin warned.

I frowned. I'd left the cul-de-sac without even realizing it. "I was enjoying working at the store."

"But after last night, don't you think you should work on your witchy powers?"

I shot death rays his way with my eyes. "Don't you dare take her side. Besides, all Lavania and I worked on before she left were bind runes and we weren't done." I stopped at the stop light. I peered out the windscreen and studied one of the trees lining the road. I pointed at it and tried to make it move like last night. Nothing.

"Green means go, not try to control trees," Torin said.

"I lost my mojo already," I said in my saddest voice ever.

"No, you haven't. You need to focus. Just like you do with your visions. Last night you were pissed. Anger takes a lot of energy. You directed all that energy into causing mini quakes. Bad witchy stuff. Then you became a tree hugger because I knocked down a few. You made them reconnect with Mother Earth. Good witchy stuff. Tell Lavania you want to focus on harnessing that. Not the bad stuff."

I refused to let him bait me, found a parking spot, and switched off the engine. For a moment, I stared at the students hurrying past us with unseeing eyes.

I just treated Mom like crap. It didn't matter that she started running my life in less than twenty-four hours after she returned. She was home after months of uncertainties and scares.

"Freckles?"

I glanced at Torin. "I'm a bad daughter." His brow shot up. I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead on the steering wheel. "Worst. Daughter. Ever."

"No, you're not." He cupped the base of my neck and massaged it. His hand was so warm and his fingers brushing behind my ears made me want to purr.

"I think I'm still angry with her. You know, for not telling me Dad was sick for so long. For not telling she was Valkyrie. For being gone the past two months. At some subliminal level, I'm really furious with her." Whoa, that sounded so grown up for me. Hanging with Valkyries must be good for my grey matter. "Echo told Cora the Norns might have made Dad ill to punish Mom and Cora told me, so I think I might also be blaming her-"

"Whoa, stop. Echo is a moron and Cora needs to shut her mouth instead of repeating stupid things like that," Torin snapped.

He was probably right. I sighed.

He tilted my head, so he could look into my eyes. "It is not your mother's fault your father is ill. You can be angry with her for other things, but not that. I've seen your parents together and what they have is amazing. Sets the bar for the rest of us." His eyebrows shot up. "Would you give up everything for me?"

"Sure." He was the reason I wanted to be a Valkyrie. I might be a Seeress, but I refused to let it define me or determine how I lived my life. Wow, another grownup insight. "On the day you stop being a douche."

He chuckled. That sexy sound would never get old. I grinned.

I pulled out my phone when we got out of the car and made the call. Mom picked it up after a few rings. "Let's make a deal, Mom. You choose my junior prom dress and that's it. You don't do my makeup or hair."

"Ooh, I'm going to start looking right now. That includes shoes and accessories, right?"

I give her an inch, and she wants a mile. "Yes. Just don't make me look like a sixties love child. You rock that look. I don't."

She laughed. "Promise, but you've just given me an idea. The Great Gatsby outfits would look fabulous on you."

"The Great Gatsby?" I couldn't get through the book and I hadn't watched the movie. I must before she turned me into the laughing stock of Kayville High. "Okay. Uh-mm, in the all the excitement of last night and this morning, I completely forgot to ask about the verdict." I tensed.

"I didn't tell you? We won, honey. I'm back," she squealed.

Wincing, I put the phone away from my ear and pressed on the speaker button. "That's great news. I'm happy for you."

"Happy for us. I can keep an eye on you and Torin for as long as I want."

Scary thought. "I gotta go, Mom. Bye." I glanced at Torin. "Don't say a word. I caved and I'm already regretting it. I'll be the one wearing flowers in my hair."

"The Great Gatsby was set in the twenties." He grabbed our backpacks and we started for the building. His expression said he was remembering being there. "Aah, the jazz age. The music was amazing, the women dazzling."

I hated it when he went all nostalgic on me. "If you're trying to make me jealous, it's not working." Liar. I wish I'd been with him.

He smirked and put an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, luv. You have the next several centuries to dazzle me. Maybe I'll stop being a douche and you'll give up everything for me."

Did that really bother him? "But I love your douchebaggedness. It defines who you are."

My words appeared to please him. "Love your pain-in-the-ass-ness too. You'd be boring otherwise."

We were joined by his friends and conversation became less private. As usual, he tucked me to his side and shielded me from their roughhousing.

Just before we entered the building, a prickly feeling had me looking back and searching the parking lot and the students crossing the street. Someone was watching us. I didn't see Gina and Rita, or Bash and his sidekicks, but the feeling persisted.

The prickly feeling returned during lunch. I paused in the process of shoving my books in my locker and glanced around. Rita and Gina were trying to catch my attention. I gave them a tiny smile that I hoped said, leave me alone.

My attention drifted from them.

Students were everywhere putting their books away before heading to lunch, the buzz of their conversations in the air. It didn't distract from the feeling of being watched. And it wasn't the two witches. Bash and his boys, perhaps? They always gave weird vibes.

A flash of light and movement at the end of the left hallway and my Valkyrie radar went off. I squinted and searched. A broad shoulder and long Chex Mix hair disappeared around the corner. My pulse kicked up. No, not a Valkyrie. A certain god. I took off after him, determined to confirm it. He was going toward the front of the school.

The dirty blond hair was unmistakably Eirik's. I careened around the corner, almost bumping into two girls walking backwards.

"Who's he?" one said.

"I don't know, but he's hot."

"Why are there so many new students at the end of school year?"

"I know. Totally weird."

Totally normal in my world. I picked up speed, but the hallway split. The right headed toward the cafeteria and it had a serious traffic jam. I engaged sight runes and scanned heads. No male dirty blonds. Too many female ones, most of them fake. Eirik's hair was natural.

The left was empty, but chances were he'd taken it. I took off in that direction and hit the front hall running, attracting attention of students from first lunch who were hanging around waiting for the bell and the second lunch students leaving. Eirik wasn't there. I went to the window and scanned the front entrance of the school and the parking lot across from it.

He was gone. Dang it! I wanted to talk. Maybe slap some sense into him.

I turned to go to the cafeteria and another flash appeared in the corner of my eyes. He was still in the building. Why was he screwing with me? I shivered as I felt a strong supernatural energy.

"Hey, Raine," Sebastian said.

Of course, the annoying witches. The twins looked like they didn't want to be anywhere near me. That made three of us. I ignored them and hurried away.

The hallway was nearly empty and I was aware of the three witches talking in low tones behind me. Still, I kept an eye out for Eirik. I knew I'd seen him. I couldn't have been mistaken.

I entered the cafeteria and froze, the air getting trapped in my lungs.

Eirik was waiting in line for food as though he had never left. No one appeared to be staring or pointing at him. His gaming buddies and of course, the swim team mates, should be flocking around him now and asking questions. He'd been gone for half the school year and most of the swim team members knew he'd moved away.

Dizziness washed over me and I realized I was holding my breath. My eyes found our table. At least Cora had seen him. Sonya and Kicker didn't seem to care. I found Torin. He was having a bro moment with Andris and Blaine, but he hadn't seen Eirik yet either.

Instead of going to the line, I joined Cora. She made a face and jerked her head toward Eirik. "Why aren't you rushing to give him a hug? He looked right through me and I really don't blame him. I broke his heart," she added.

"You broke whose heart?" Kicker asked, cutting a piece of her gravy-covered burrito with the side of her fork.

"No one," Cora said.

"Look, Kicker. It's the blond eye candy from our bio class." Sonya nodded at Eirik's broad back. "All the girls spent the hour staring at him and wondering who he was."

I blinked. "You, uh, don't recognize Eirik?"

"Oh, is that his name?" Kicker asked. "Eirik. It suits him."

"Recognize him from where?" Sonya added.

My eyes met Cora's. No way. The Norns couldn't have. They most definitely could. As though aware of our scrutiny, he turned and stared at us with narrowed eyes. No smile. No expression.

"Oh, crap," I whispered.

"What's wrong with him? Did you know he was back?"

I got up without answering Cora, my heart pounding so hard it drowned other voices. I went to stand in line, my eyes on Eirik's back.

Hel must have one serious gym because he was ripped. The Eirik I'd known had the body of a swimmer-broad shoulders and narrow hips, but a bit on the skinny side. His hip-hugging jeans and chest-molding T-shirt said skinny was no longer in his vocabulary. He could pass for a surfer dude now. And I was so wrong about no one staring at him. The girls were. The two in front of me kept giggling and pointing at him.

He got his pizza and started toward me. My entire body tensed and a ringing started in my ears. Dang it, I wasn't breathing again. I struggled to control my swirling emotions as he drew closer. He walked by without slowing down or making eye contact.

I stared after him along with every girl in line. The Norns must have erased his memories too. That didn't explain his sneaking into his bedroom at the mansion.

My eyes found Torin. He was staring at me and frowning. He had an uncanny way of knowing when I was upset. In seconds, he was by my side. "What is it?"

"Eirik is here."

He followed my gaze and went rigid. Blue flames leaped in his eyes. "He's got some nerve."

"Torin, don't confront him." He was already striding toward Eirik. Things were about to get ugly. I caught up with him and placed my hand on his chest. His heart was racing, rage burning in the depth of his eyes. "Not here."

"He knows where my father is," he hissed.

"We don't know that. This could all be Norns' tricks. They've hit the erase button again. No one remembers Eirik but us. Just now, he walked right past me without recognizing me. Same with Cora. The Norns might have erased his too."

Torin angled his body, his eyes going to Eirik. "He's an Asgardian. Why would they do that?"

"Because they can."

Andris and Blaine joined us. "While you two are pow-wowing, we're taking Loki Jr out for a little chat."

His hand shot out and blocked Andris. "No. Not yet."

I glanced over my shoulder and caught the blank look on Eirik's face. He was staring at us without recognition. "Sit with us, guys," I begged.

"Can't I just tell him one thing? You know, about the mess in the kitchen and cleaning up after himself," Andris said.

I shook my head. Only Andris would create a half-baked joke during a serious situation. We moved as a group to our table. Kicker and Sonya watched the guys with wide eyes, their food forgotten. It wasn't often they all shared our table.

Across the room, Sebastian and the twins carried their trays and made a beeline for Eirik's table. They knew him. Nausea hit me hard. When they started talking like best buddies, white hot anger spiked through me and replaced the shock. Eirik and the witches were working with the Earl.

Torin placed a tray in front of me. He'd gone and gotten my lunch. How sweet. Too bad my palate didn't appreciate it. The conversation at the table focused on anything but the identity of the four people across from us.

When they got up to leave, Eirik glanced over and this time, he smirked. The smile was mocking. But what I saw in his eyes chilled me. He was enjoying this. The Norns hadn't erased his memories. He knew exactly who we were. He said something and the other three witches glanced at us and laughed.

I wanted to engage my runes and go invisible just so I could slug him. My hand balled and runes appeared on my arms. Torin reached out and gripped my arm.

"Easy, Freckles."