Runes.

Souls.

Ednah Walters.

Cool air drifted across the room and fanned my face. Anticipation coursed through my core, and my heart trembled. I no longer freaked out whenever a chill swept the air. It used to be a warning that a soul was nearby. A reason to panic, close my eyes, and hope they'd go away. I'd even been admitted to a psyche ward because I'd thought the souls were ghosts out to get me. Ghosts. Boy, was I ever nave. But that was then.

Now I welcomed the cool breeze. A flutter coiled in my stomach, and I was sure a stupid grin curled my lips. I was about to get a visit from the man I was desperately and completely in love with.

Echo.

Hel's number one soul reaper.

My boyfriend.

I still pinched myself whenever I was with him to confirm I wasn't dreaming. After pining for a guy I'd known since junior high-like, forever-it was nice to have someone who was mine. And Echo was mine in every way possible. Body, heart, and soul. He adored me and didn't care who knew it.

Whenever he walked into a room, a cold draft followed him like the tail of a comet. Not that he was dead and cold. No, Echo was fire and passion. Unpredictable yet steadfast. The cold clung to his clothes from Hel, the coldest place in all the realms, the place where he escorted souls of the dead. As his chosen mate, I always welcomed him home with open arms and warmed him. Willingly and without complaint.

"Come to bed," I whispered without opening my eyes.

A second passed, then two. He didn't lift the covers or touch my face as he often did in the dark as though drawn to my warmth.

My eyes flew open. It was dark. An inky blackness that said something wasn't right. There were no glowing runes criss-crossing a face so breathtaking I could stare at it for hours. Or wolfish golden eyes so mesmerizing words couldn't begin to describe them.

Okay, so it was not Echo turning my bedroom into an ice cave. No need to panic. It was probably a soul needing my help.

I peered into the darkness, heart pounding despite my silent pep talk, but I couldn't see anything. The souls often looked real, like humans. Except for the iciness. I touched the lamp, and light flooded my room.

"You can come out now," I whispered, trying not to scare it. New souls were like newborn babies. Helpless. Confused. Scared. Incapable of expression, except through gestures. Loud noises from my room could wake up my parents, too. Their bedroom was down the hall. Usually, I kept things quiet in my room or used my computer to cover up any sounds. My parents couldn't know about my supernatural activities or they'd freak out again.

"I'm waiting. I promise I won't bite."

Actually, I could, but that naughtiness was reserved for Echo. I giggled at my thoughts and immediately regretted it. This was no time for fantasies. I turned my head and looked around the room, expecting the soul to show himself or herself.

Nothing happened.

Times like this, I wondered if I was doing too much. Helping souls find closure before Echo escorted them to Hel's Hall wasn't exactly easy. They had to possess me first, which was like being dunked in ice-cold slime, breathing and swallowing some of it. Totally disgusting and bloodcurdling. So no, I didn't just wonder. I questioned my sanity. I needed sleep and rest, and helping some soul in the middle of the night was not my idea of either.

I glanced at the clock on my bedside chest. It was eleven-twenty and Friday night to boot, too early for bed unless you were me. I should be making out with my superhot boyfriend, but Echo was out reaping. Instead, I had lessons first thing tomorrow morning with a Valkyrie and a date with senior citizens in the afternoon.

"Listen, I don't know how you got in here, but I promise I'm not mad," I said. "So be nice and show yourself."

No one walked through the walls. Souls might look solid, but they were made of pure energy. Or rather they sucked the energy around them to create an image, which explained the coldness whenever they appeared.

Anger slowly replaced my patience. Time for tough love.

"Okay, I'm going to say this once. Helping you guys is a choice and I usually don't mind, except when I deal with psychos, sociopaths, and pervs. So if you want to play games, get lost or deal with Echo."

I turned off the lights and pulled the covers to my chin, but I didn't dare close my eyes. When I was in the psyche ward, I'd wake up to find souls staring expectantly at me. Totally freaked me out.

Of course, I hadn't known at the time that I was a beacon, glowing from afar, begging them to find me. The glow came from runes scribbled on my body by an Immortal psycho-bitch, but that was another story.

My eyes wide, I studied my room for unusual movements, wishing Echo was here. Souls never bothered me when he was around. The runes he'd etched around the house stopped them from coming to our farm, which made me worry. What kind of soul could walk right past soul-repellant protective runes? Even as the question crossed my mind, the cold chill swept through my room again.

Bastard! I reached out and turned on the bedside lamp.

"Get out, jerk!" Something moved in the corner of the room, and I whipped around, my heart pounding. There was no one there, yet I felt a powerful presence.

Panic surged. Refusing to drown in it, I inched sideways and reached under the bed for a weapon. Before Echo, I'd disperse souls with an iron fire rod, something I'd seen Sam and Dean Winchester do in the hit TV series Supernatural. It actually worked. Now, I let souls take over my body, listened to their thoughts, and helped them find closure. Yeah, I know. I was certifiably insane. But what was a girl to do when her boyfriend was part of the supernatural world? I wasn't a stand-by-the-sideline kind of girl.

Gripping the knotted end of the rod with two hands, I slipped from the bed, walked slowly to the bathroom like some ninja warrioress holding a katana, and I ventured inside the closet. Both were off my bedroom and favorite hiding places before Echo came into my life. I poked between dresses, skirts, and folded sweaters.

There was no one there. I opened the door and peered down the hallway. Empty. Refusing to lose it, I locked my bedroom door so my parents wouldn't walk in on me hurling curses like a sailor while attacking something they couldn't see. Another trip to the psyche ward was not in my immediate plans.

To bring the noise level to zero, I headed straight to my wall mirror and let the image of Echo's home fill my head. At the same time, I engaged the portal runes on my body until I glowed brighter than a strobe light. I loved that I could do this now. Loved the rush, too. The lessons I'd been taking from Valkyrie Lavania were paying off big time. I had healing runes, portal runes, and even strength and speed runes. Then there were the other runes. Nameless. Black. Yet Souls saw them glow. Totally weird.

The mirror responded and dissolved into a portal.

Echo's place was in total darkness, but that didn't bother me. I knew the room, and I always felt safe there. When I was a child, I'd crawl into my parents' bed when I had nightmares. Now, I ran to Echo. Even when he wasn't here, his essence was strong enough to scare souls away.

Closing the portal, I crawled under his covers, the poker clenched in my hand. His musky scent clung to the sheets and pillows. I inhaled and let it sooth my jumpy nerves. Sleep, unfortunately, eluded me, and my eyes stayed locked on the portal.

I was still new to the supernatural world. I called it the Runic World because etching runes on skin with magical blades gave people superhuman abilities and immortality. I became an Immortal after the same psycho who'd etched soul-magnet runes on me severed my spine and Valkyrie Lavania healed me with powerful healing runes.

But my tango with the supernatural started with my BFF, Raine Cooper, and the Valkyrie she loved. Their story was complicated, but their love and devotion to each other was beautiful. Now, I knew that Norse pantheon wasn't a myth. The gods and goddesses, giants, dwarves, and elves were real. Valkyries and Grimnirs roamed the world collecting souls. Valkyries took fighters and athletic people to Valhalla and Falkvang to train for Ragnarok-the war between the gods and the evil giants, the mother of all battles that would end our world. Grimnirs like Echo collected souls of criminals and those who died of old age and illnesses, and took them to Hel, the realm of the dead. Norns, deities in charge of destiny, moved around weaving destinies and screwing with people's lives. And Immortals roamed the world, fighting with humans for worthy causes and supporting Valkyries.

Then there were special Immortals like Raine and me. Raine was a powerful Seeress, a living, breathing Norn in the making. She hated it, but sometimes you can't escape your destiny. She would signal the start of Ragnarok. Then there was me. No one knew exactly what I was, only that lost souls could find me in their darkest hour.

My eyelids grew heavy. The next second, I sat up, my eyes widening as the portal opened. Echo. I'd left the lights on in my bedroom for him, knowing if he didn't find me, he'd look for me here.

My heart pounded. My room and the door leading to the hallway were now visible, and I could see a shadow in my room.

"Over here," I called out.

Instead of Echo, something dark drifted through the portal. Shaped like a person, the core was so dark it appeared to suck in light. Images of black holes flashed in my head. Thanks to my association with Echo, I'd developed a morbid fascination with the cosmos. Anything to visualize the realm my boyfriend disappeared to several times a day. He hated talking about Hel's Hall.

The edges of this moving black hole were blurry. I couldn't see his features or clothes, but it was definitely coming toward me.

Panicking, I jumped off the bed, tripped on the covers, and pitched forward onto the floor, the rod slipping from my hand. I cursed, grabbed the poker, and scrambled to my feet. The dark thing, person, or whatever floated around the large bedroom and completely ignored me.

My heart pounding so hard I thought it was going to burst, I gripped the poker and widened my stance like a baseball batter.

I had a mean swing, courtesy of my father. Being homeschooled on a farm meant my P.E. classes involved climbing trees or playing whatever games my parents enjoyed. Dad was a serious baseball fan. In fact, he had a favorite team in almost all sports. That was one thing he and Raine's father had in common.

A quick glance at the portal and a weird thought flashed in my head. I could make it open into Raine's room. Her house was full of supernatural people. They could protect me.

Nah, Raine had just finished dealing with a horde of angry Immortals led by her boyfriend's father and needed a break from supernatural mayhem. This was my problem. I had to deal with it.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" I asked, trying to sound brave but failing miserably. My voice came out breathless and squeaky.

It stopped moving. I stepped back when it changed directions and moved closer. A cold front followed him, making me wish I wasn't wearing silk cami shorts and top. Where was a thick winter robe when you needed one?

I shivered and waved the poker menacingly. "Stop or taste the iron."

The Shadow vibrated, and a sound rumbled from its core. Was that a chuckle?

"You think that was funny?" I asked, continuing to brandish the poker like it was Excalibur. "Wait until this baby slices you into a gazillion energy pockets. It takes months, years even, to come back together," I lied.

The Shadow stopped and drifted back toward the portal.

"That's right," I said, becoming cocky. "Run. I don't know what kind of soul you are or care about what you want. Leave. Now." It stopped moving and did that vibrating thing again. It sounded whiny and pitiful this time. "What? You don't want to leave?"

It pointed at the portal, and for the first time, I saw fingers. The edges were undefined like the rest of it. At least it wasn't threatening to possess me.

"What about my room?"

He floated toward my room and gestured that I follow him.

I stopped near the portal, scared of following him. "Are you asking me to come back in there?"

The Shadow nodded. At least I thought it did. The dark mass that was his head moved up and down.

"Why?"

More vibration and humming.

"Come on. You can do better than that."

The Shadow gestured frantically, pointing at something inside my room.

"Okay, I get it. Sheesh. I'm coming, but don't try anything funny. I'm still holding this baby." I shook the rod.

This time, I recognized the chuckle. I left the portal open in case Echo returned. Just because the Shadow hadn't tried to possess me didn't mean it was friendly. Inside my room, I realized he'd been pointing at my laptop.

"What do you want me to do with that?"

He kept pointing.

"What kind of soul are you? Why don't you have features?" It made a growling noise, which I assumed meant he was getting frustrated. "Yeah, you and me both, pal. I should be asleep, you know, yet here I am playing Gestures with you. Okay, I get it. You want me to open it. Move aside and give me space."

The Shadow floated away and stayed by the wall. Keeping my gaze on it from the corner of my eye and pointing my poker its way just in case, I opened my laptop, pressed the power button, and backed away.

"What are you going to do?"

The Shadow slithered inside my laptop through a USB port, like a genie getting sucked into a lamp. I moved closer warily. A weird squiggle appeared on the blue screen, then another and another... They looked like the ones on Echo's rings and chains.

The writing stopped, and the Shadow slithered out through the same USB port and moved back to the wall.

"I don't read Druidic," I said. "But Echo does." I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture of the screen. "I'll show this to him and he can figure out what you want, okay?"

A groan came from the mass, and I jumped back. "Hey, enough with that. I'm willing to help you, so don't get pissed at me. Is this message for Echo?"

He nodded, then appeared to change his mind and gave an emphatic shake of his head.

"Can't make up your mind, can you?"

He folded his arms and tapped his foot. Bet he was glaring at me. I smothered a giggle. When his hands landed on his hips, I knew he was definitely pissed by my attitude.

"Okay, no Echo. But how am I going to read Druidic?"

A shrug.

"Yeah, big help you are. How about I go to sleep now and you come back tomorrow, and together, we'll figure out what you want? In English," I added.

It seemed to shrink, shoulders drooping.

"Listen, Master of Different Body Languages and Sounds. I don't know whether you can see my world, but it's nighttime. It's almost midnight, and I have to get up early tomorrow for lessons. I promise to help you, so go home or wherever you came from, and come find me tomorrow," I said.

I was surprised when it nodded and drifted through the wall. Laughing with relief, I crawled back into my bed. This time, I wasn't worried. I even put away my energy-dispersing poker. Still, sleep eluded me.

I debated whether to turn on my computer and research shadowy figures in Norse pantheon and the meaning of the Druidic letters the thing had written, but I didn't want to touch my lap top yet. Who knew what it had left behind? Dark energy or gooey ectoplasm stuff, another thing I'd picked up from the Winchester boys.

I did the next best thing. I picked up my smart phone and got busy.

I was still awake when Echo swaggered through the portal wearing nothing but his leather pants and runes on his face and chest. My heart melted. He was such a beautiful man. Eyes like a wolf's. Chiseled cheekbones. Sensual, totally kissable lips. Skin so smooth... except for the scars criss-crossing his back. But I didn't mind them. They were his badge of honor.

"Not asleep, Cora-mio?" he whispered, stroking my face. His fingers were freezing, but I didn't care. I loved it when he called me his Cora.

I covered his hand with mine and engaged the few runes I had. We generated heat faster with them, and he needed to be warmed. "I was waiting for you. We need to talk."

"Later." With smooth and graceful movements he shed his pants. He didn't believe in sleeping with a stitch on. Not that I was complaining.

He slid beside me, and a shudder rocked his body when our skin met. The pulsing sensations we generated whenever we touched were nothing new, but the effect on him never failed to amaze me. Sometimes he sucked in a breath and closed his eyes with a bemused expression on his face. Other times he looked like he was in pain.

I melted in his arms and welcomed him with a kiss, savoring the taste of him. The combination of his hot tongue and cool lips was stimulating. But he was in one of his moods, super intense and hell-bent on driving me insane, which meant he'd had a rough night or something was wrong. It couldn't be because of me since I hadn't been possessed by some selfish soul. Whenever that happened, the Hulk in him emerged.

He lifted my leg around his waist and rolled so I was on top. His hands journeyed down my back, leaving heated skin behind, while his mouth trailed along my neck. My breathing grew shallow. Then it became raspy.

His masculine mouth seared my flesh, his tongue sending flames through my body. He knew me. Knew what pleased me and what drove me crazy. Our lips met again and again, my hands stroking parts of his body I could reach, his muscles spasming underneath my palms.

His skin was no longer icy. He was burning hot. He rolled me over again and pinned me to the bed with his leg. Glowing eyes met mine questioningly.