I waited until Lady Adelaide was by my side and pointed at the vine. It started to unravel. This link I had with Mother Earth was surreal, but then again, everything about my life was way out there.

I disappeared through the portal with the soul of Lady Adelaide right behind me. The portal closed as soon as we stepped into the foyer. She looked around. I wasn't sure what to tell her. Truth be told, I wanted to go back to the forest. But I was stuck babysitting her.

Souls didn't exactly communicate with people verbally, but according to Torin, they understood things. "Do you remember Torin, Lady Adelaide?"

She stared at me as though I was speaking a foreign language. Maybe she didn't understand English. She spoke French when she was alive and I didn't speak French.

She nodded.

I grinned. "Was that a yes?"

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Ok, talking about Torin was not a good subject. "Please, don't cry, okay. He's okay. He's a loving and amazing guy, and you should be totally proud of him. He's a Valkyrie. That means he escorts souls to Asgard."

She nodded again.

Then inspiration hit. Cora. She could help big time here. "Lady Adelaide, I'm about to introduce you to my friend Cora. She helps soul communicate with the living. I think Torin will need her services." I pulled out my cell phone and she watched me curiously as I texted Cora. "She can also watch you while I..."

Panic flashed in Lady Adelaide's eyes.

"No, don't be afraid. I'm going to help Torin." I peered at her. On a good day, I'd be freaking out talking to a soul. Today, anything was possible. "You want me to help Torin defeat the Earl, don't you? They need me back there in the woods because the forest listens to me." She still looked doubtful. "Please. I'd take you with me, but Torin won't be happy. He has a temper and can be quite melodramatic." She smiled and nodded. I sighed with relief. "Thank you. Cora's nice. She's a friend of mine and Torin's. She helps souls."

"At home going crazy. What's going on?" Cora texted.

"I'm opening the portal," I texted back, engaged my runes and watched the portal form.

Cora practically raced into the room as it opened. She was a hot mess, her hair rolled up at the back of her head and eyes red as though she'd been crying. "What do you mean you want me to watch over a soul? Are they are okay? Echo refused to let me go with him."

"I don't know if they're okay. I need to find out and you can't come with me. Echo would focus on keeping you safe and not teaching the Immortals a lesson."

"Torin would too..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Lady Adelaide. "Is that the soul I'm supposed to help? Who's she?"

"Cora, Lady Adelaide, Torin's mother. Lady Adelaide, Cora Jemison, my best friend. Explain to her what you do, Cora. I have to go." I created a portal into the forest just like Torin had taught me in the last few days.

The scene was worse than I'd imagined. I almost twisted my ankle in the huge cracks criss-crossing the ground. Immortals littered the forest floor, their heads twisted at weird angles. Some witches with bruises were still fighting, but a few had joined the Immortals, including the poor old man with a crooked staff. Poor guy. I had seen the vision of his death, so I was happy I'd missed that.

The rest of the witches pointed their staffs or fingers at the Immortals and sent them flying across the forest. The Immortals took down trees with them and unpeeled themselves from trunks like freaking bandages, healed then charged at the witches. It was a vicious, endless cycle, but the forest suffered the most.

So many trees were on the ground. After this, I was going to have my work cut out for me. I engaged my runes. Going for strength, speed and endurance. The healing and pain runes dotted my skin automatically whenever I was in danger.

Torin was easy to spot, with his brilliant runes and his gravity-defying moves, he matched his father's moves. The body slams. The slugging. Their clothes were in tatters, their faces bloodied and muddy, and their hair tangled with leaves and twigs.

"Come on, old man," Torin bellowed. "Is that all you got?"

His father dragged himself from the ground, his face red with rage. "You would not be a Valkyrie if it weren't for me, boy."

They charged. I winced as they collided, the force throwing them in the air. I should do something. So far no one had noticed me. Hawk made up for two men, his movements precise as he mowed down Immortals. Femi's laughter rang out with each kick or punch. The Earl's Immortals didn't stand a chance, not with the witches involved.

A Witch yelled something and pointed her staff at an Immortal and sent him flying. Several Immortals were on the ground holding their heads. I was sure the images the witches projected were gruesome.

A scream came from my left. Rita, Gina and their mother had the Earl's girlfriend trapped. She was begging them to spare her. She had to be Madam Bosvilles.

I hope they drove her insane. Yeah, I know. Super bloodthirsty of me, but she deserved it. Where was Mom?

My eyes returned to Torin. He and his father were back trading insults. Torin enjoyed a good fight, but for the first time, he wasn't having fun. Their rage was still not spent.

I sighed. Five more minutes and I was going to do something. After all, Mother Earth was on my side.

"Do we take these two or those three?" Echo yelled. I turned to catch him and Andris messing around with several Immortals.

"All of them," Andris said and they went after the Immortals with moves any pro wrestler would be proud of.

"Raine, behind you," Lavania warned.

I turned in time to see a blurry Immortal sprinting toward me. A flicker of my hand and a fallen tree lifted and knocked him across the clearing. He landed and vines did the rest, wrapping him up like a mummy.

Someone laughed and I whipped around. Torin gave me a thumb up, then he scowled. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping. Who said you're the only one who can have fun?"

"Where's my mother's soul?"

"With Cora. Your right," I yelled.

He whipped around, going from calm breeze to a twister in a fraction of a second. He caught his attacker in the ribs with a roundhouse kick. The sound of bones cracking filled the air. Nice move.

I pointed a finger and vines wrapped him up. Gentle, please. He has broken ribs.

That became my job, wrapping up Immortals and keeping them down. The ones that were down kept healing and getting up, but I caught them one by one. I wasn't sure what we'd do with the witches once this craziness was done. They shouldn't remember fighting Valkyries or Immortals. Maybe Mom would come up with something.

A blur raced toward me and I braced myself for an impact, but Torin tackled her and snapped both her legs.

"No one touches her," he snarled. He looked up and called out, "You hear that?" A few people stopped pounding each other and glanced toward him. He stepped in front of me, hands on his hips. "You touch Raine Cooper and this stops being a game."

Oh, the arrogant son of... an evil Immortal. He just made me appear weak and defenceless in front of these people. I kicked him hard.

Because of my runes, the force flipped him over and he landed on his ass. Now that should make him act right. Someone laughed. I knew that laugh. I turned and my eyes met Eirik's. He saluted me and went back to fighting.

Torin glanced over his shoulder and shot me a mean look. "Stop horsing around and tie them up. If you haven't noticed, the vines are the only thing keeping them down."

I stuck out my tongue. "Then stop playing around with your father and break something already," I said, twirling the vine around the woman he'd just injured.

"I already did. Several times." He jumped to his feet and took off to help Lavania who'd been ambushed. His laughter reached me and I smiled. He was enjoying himself now. They even high-fived each other after taking out her attackers.

Unbelievable. Fighting must be in their blood. Not so much in mine.

Part of me was happy Immortals avoided me like the plague, thanks to Torin's threat. Still, I used trees to knock them out then tied them up with vines. I was like a child poking helpless ants at a picnic.

"What do you think you're doing?" Catie asked and I looked up.

They finally showed their faces. And they weren't Bash and the twins. "Fixing the mess you made."

"The mess we made?" Marj asked.

"Oh yes. You set the Earl on this road hoping you'd use him to manipulate Torin and get me exactly where you want me. However, you forgot one thing. Want to know what it is?"

They stepped back without answering.

"She's not alone," my mother said, coming to stand beside me. "And I just happen to know how you think."

Torin dumped his father's unconscious body at the feet of the Norns. "He's all yours. And it will be my pleasure to take out anyone you send to hurt or manipulate her."

Andris cleared his throat. "I have her back too. She's the annoying younger sister I never had." He winked at me. "Or wanted."

We were slowly forming a circle around the Norns.

Echo laughed. "This has been fun, but none of them belong to Hel's Hall. Nice family reunion and all. Call me next time you have another." He opened a portal and disappeared.

"Stop trying to feed my student false information," Lavania warned. "I will give her the information she needs when she's ready."

"And I speak for the rest of us," Femi said, indicating Blaine, Hawk, and Ingrid. "We will always stand by the Cooper family."

I waited for Eirik to say something, but silence followed. I turned to search for him. Eirik and the witches were gone. Even the dead ones had disappeared, along with their souls.

"Where's Eirik?" I asked.

Everyone looked around. I wasn't the only one surprised by his disappearance. Did he just stop by to save the day again? It was becoming a nasty habit. Where did he go this time and how was he going to erase the memories of all those witches or send their souls to Valhalla?

"He took the witches with him," Mom said with a smile then pinned the Norns with a piercing look. "Run along and make sure they forget what happened here. It is your job to clean up after us, so fix the forest too."

"We will take the Immortals, Svena, but Eirik will erase the witches' memories and Lorraine will fix the forest," Marj said and grinned.

I didn't understand why the three Norns wore triumphant smiles. They'd failed again. Unless everything that had happened today was really part of their plan. But to what end?

They were never going to give up. Torin reached for my hand. As usual, he knew when I needed him.

"As always, it's been a pleasure. Good luck next time. Let's go home." He glanced at Mom and the others. "All of us."

He opened a portal and we all filed in. I saw the faces of the Norns just before the portal closed. They waved, looking pleased with themselves. I had to find out what the other Norns meant by I had to choose a side and make it official. Now that Lavania and Mom were back, they should know what that meant.

EPILOGUE.

"So no one saw Eirik leave?" I asked.

"Nope." Andris planted his feet on the footstool of my chair. "I have to give it to our young god. His plan was brilliant."

Yeah, it was. Without the witches' help, we might not have defeated the Immortals or released Torin's mother. Torin was catching up with his mother with Cora's help and the older crew-Mom, Femi, Hawk and Lavania-were at my house. I wondered what they talking about. Probably rehashing what happened. We had staked out the mansions' kitchen while we waited for Torin to finish with his mother.

"I don't understand why he had to be so mean when he came to get Raine," Ingrid asked.

"He was being watched," Blaine said. "The Immortal woman, Bosvilles, is a powerful Seeress. When we left to talk to the witches, we found him talking to them. He talked about going to Asgard after joining the Immortals. Then he slipped Femi the real instructions. The spell. Supporting us. The whole nine yards."

I studied the instructions Eirik had left behind with Andris. He'd told them where my father was and where to find us. They were to wait until the witches did the spell and released Lady Adelaide before joining us. I wish he'd stayed and explained everything instead of taking off.

"Do you think he went back to Hel?" Ingrid asked.

I couldn't tell them what he'd told me. There was no way he went back there.

Andris shrugged. "Possibly."

"Or Asgard," Blaine said and for the first time, I didn't hear a yearning in his voice. He'd just seen how that need to go to Asgard could eat at someone until they were mad with it.

I checked my watch. Torin was still not done. Should I start worrying?

"We should go out and party," Blaine said.

"I'm in," Ingrid said. "This is the most fun I've had in years."

Andris jumped up and pulled her to her feet. "Then let's not stop. We'll use a portal and go anywhere-" He glanced back at me and frowned. "Coming?"

I got up. "No. I'm heading home." To wait for Torin.

Andris tilted his head. "You sure? Torin is going to escort his mother to Asgard."

But he'd be back. "I know. You guys have fun." I followed them, waited until they used the portal then used it to go home. Voices came from downstairs. I heard Mom's. Femi's. Even Hawk's. What were they discussing?

I was just about to head downstairs when the portal opened and Torin walked in with Cora. I studied his face for signs of stress, or anger, or bitterness. There was none. He was calm, happy.

"Hey," I said. Totally lame, but I couldn't think up anything else.

He chuckled, took my hand and pulled me closer to Cora. It was strange being introduced to his mother and hearing her thoughts through Cora. When I hugged Cora, I knew I was really hugging Lady Adelaide. She was smiling when she separated from Cora, her eyes no longer glassy and lifeless.

Torin cupped my face and planted a fast one on me. "I'll be back as soon as I can. We are taking that weekend vacation together. Not a word," he said, pressing his finger on my lips. "We'll take Lavania and Ingrid."

"Great! Andris too."

His eyebrows came down fast. "Why?"

"Because the more the merrier. Blaine too."

"Oh, I'm so going to regret this." He pressed a kiss on my forehead and turned to face his mother, who was watching us with an indulgent expression. "Come on, mother. James is waiting."

He engaged his special runes and when a portal appeared, flashing rainbow lights were visible at the other end. As soon as they reached the other side, something strange happened to her. She seemed less ethereal. When Torin took her hand, I grinned. She was solid.