Goddess Read online

  Allison’s phone buzzed on the table. “Boo. Dad’s back. I thought he’d take longer at the pharmacy.” She frowned. “Time to go.”

  “What? Already?” I dropped my fork.

  “Yeah. I can’t drive until I’m off the pain meds, and I don’t have afternoon classes here, so I can’t stay.” She rose from her chair with a grimace. “It’s totally lame that the hospital did surgery. They didn’t find any internal damage, and there’s barely a scar. The surgeon said the robbers cut me with something crazy sharp, possibly hot, whatever that means, and it missed all the important stuff in there. I guess it wasn’t a regular knife. Like, maybe, the sickos make custom weaponry.” She rubbed her abdomen. “I’m inching around like an elderly and it’s because of the surgery, not the stabbing. The whole thing is stupid.”

  I forced a tight smile and glanced at Tom.

  He nodded in encouragement.

  Right. No dwelling on negatives. “Well, you’re gorgeous and nearly mended, so let’s hang out as soon as possible.”

  Allison smacked her palms together. “Perfect. I’m working with you tonight.”

  “Nice.”

  She wagged a finger at Justin and Tom. “All girl talk. All night. No boys. I know you both like to follow her around, but not tonight.”

  Justin guffawed. “I don’t follow her around.”

  “I can wait outside.” Tom’s sincerity set off another round of laughter.

  This time Justin joined in.

  Justin grabbed Allison’s tray. “You’d better spread the word, then. Tom and I aren’t the only ones sticking close to this girl.” He kissed Allison’s head on his way to dump the tray.

  She shot me a look. “Where is Liam?”

  I bounced to my feet. “Home. He eats there sometimes.” More and more lately, whether to check on the increasing number of Vikings at the manor or for another reason, I couldn’t be sure. He was too uptight for my new ability to untangle his motives with any precision. Whenever I asked, he had one answer. “Everything is fine.”

  “Whatever.” She crunched her eyebrows. “Am I shrinking or did you get taller?”

  “Heels.” I held my breath for a long beat, praying she’d accept the lie. No one else had noticed, not even my mom. “I added heels to the new wardrobe.”

  Her gaze moved across my flat-soled riding boots. Oops. Lines puckered on her forehead. “Okay.” She blew an air-kiss and headed for the door.

  I dropped back onto my seat and finished my burger like a feral animal. The bell rang before I polished off my water.

  “Ready?” Justin hoisted my bag over one shoulder and turned to Tom. “I’ve got this.”

  He dismissed my bodyguard with the same three words every day. In other words, Tom needed to bounce because this was Justin’s three minutes and he didn’t want or need a chaperone. He had this. Me.

  Funny how words could have so many meanings. He’d used the same words on me many times. You’ve got this, Callie. Those words had carried me through some of the worst times of my life. Through failing grades, broken hearts and my parents’ breakup.

  I wiggled my fingers at Tom and followed Justin through a sea of people, heading to class. Warm, calloused fingers wrapped around mine. He tugged me to his side and matched my slower pace. Students swarmed around us, some muttering about the holdup, others lusting, worrying, overwhelming my new sense.

  Heat rippled off Justin’s skin. “What the hell?” He forced my sleeve back a few inches. “Are those bruises?”

  “I fell.” I had. Repeatedly on training mats. Hard.

  “Callie.” Justin pulled me away from the crowd when we reached the second floor. He cornered me against a ZHS spirit sign and checked my other arm. His fingers traced the lines at my left elbow. He settled them over each bruise. “Tell me this isn’t a handprint.” His loving eyes burned with indignation. “Tell me.”

  “It’s not.” I jerked both sleeves down my arms until they covered my palms. I secured the material there with my fingertips. “I’m working out harder this year. It’s my last chance to get a scholarship.”

  “How’d you get the bruises?” His stance was rigid with warning. “If someone hurt you....” His jaw worked side to side. No need to finish the sentence.

  “No one hurt me.”

  His voice fell to a troubled whisper. “Are you sure? Because it looks like someone grabbed your arms. Someone with hands the size of mine.” He lifted one enormous palm for my inspection.

  I shook my head, dismissing the idea. “Who’d be dumb enough to mess with me?” I flexed a puny muscle.

  His shoulders drooped. “That’s adorable. Yeah. You’re right. Everyone knows I’ve got your back.”

  “Exactly.”

  Tom’s red hair drew my attention. He pretended to drink from the fountain down the hall.

  Justin shoved both hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Something’s different with you lately. I don’t like it. I know you’ve got swim and you’re seeing Liam, but we never hang out anymore. You spend every free minute at the Hales’ after school. I’m not sure that’s healthy.”

  After a Stian dropped Justin off the Dover Dam, he’d had a selective memory scrub too. My relationship with Liam seemed brand new to Justin, and his confusion on the matter killed me. Things that had built for more than a month were only two weeks old to him and Allison. Liam thought he’d given me a fresh chance to choose Justin over him, the way he’d hoped to redirect Allison’s affection from Oliver. Boys were dumb sometimes, even the really old ones.

  Justin’s downturned mouth twitched at the sides. “We’re cool, right? You and me?”

  “Of course.”

  “It seems like you’ve been dodging me since the Hales’ Halloween party. Does he try to keep you away from me?”

  “The opposite, actually. He thinks I’m safe with you.”

  He crossed suntanned arms over his broad chest. “You are.”

  “I’m overthinking my life, that’s all. It’s not you. It’s me.”

  He barked a laugh and wrapped one strong arm over my shoulders. “We need a night out. Just you and me. How about the indoor rodeo tomorrow night? Can I interest you in some popcorn and a show?”

  “Maybe.” We moseyed toward study hall. I leaned against the sharp V of his muscled side. “I assume the show will be you and all the other cowboy sadists getting their asses handed to them by some very angry bulls.”

  “Yes, ma’am. That sounds about right.” His strong Southern drawl clung to every word. His careful gaze swept over my arms.

  “Sounds like fun. Can you drive me?”

  He screwed his face into a knot. Of course he’d drive. He always drove. Plus, I didn’t have a car.

  “Just checking.”

  We stopped outside the library, where I had study hall, and he handed me my bag. “You’re sure no one’s hurting you?”

  “Promise.”

  “Liam’s good to you?”

  “Justin,” I scolded. “Of course.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed long and slow. He looked briefly at the ceiling. “He’s never rough with you?” His attention drifted back to my bruised arms. “He doesn’t try to boss you around, say unkind things, or grab you anywhere you don’t want grabbed?” Humiliation colored his tone.

  My cheeks burned. The sex talk Mom had given me was less uncomfortable.

  “Callie. He knows ‘no’ means no, right?”

  I covered my face with one hand. “Oh. My. Goodness. Please kill me.”

  He pried my fingers away from my eyes. “I’m serious. I need to know he’s keeping his promise.”

  At the Hales’ Halloween party, Liam had asked Justin to come kick his ass immediately if he, Liam, ever made me unhappy.

  “He’s perfect.”

  “And he understands ‘no’?”

  I turned my face away. The blush was hot enough to kill me if this conversation didn’t.
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  Justin made a disgusted sound. “You don’t tell him no.” A statement. Not a question. He scrubbed a heavy hand over his head and gripped the back of his neck. “Be careful, Callie. We don’t know him. He was busted for fighting at school his first week here. He never smiles. Before you say he’s misunderstood or some other give-him-a-chance crap like that, think about it for me. You spend all your time with him and you’re keeping things from me.”

  He leaned forward, catching my hands in his. “Sometimes when I’m around him, I have this creepy feeling. Like my skin’s crawling and my mind’s itching for something important, but I can’t grab onto it. I’ve never had that sixth sense about people like you, but I think that’s what this is. I don’t trust him. I think he’s hiding something. I can’t explain it better than that, but trust me, okay? Don’t lose yourself in some guy. Not any guy. Ever.”

  Liam turned the corner beside us. “Hey.”

  Justin dropped his hands to his sides, looking defeated and possibly nauseated. He tipped his chin at Liam, but spoke to me. “Remember what I said about the other thing. Nobody hurts you. You got it? No more bruises.” He stared at Liam for a long beat before turning for his classroom.

  Liam slouched in front of me, working his tall frame down to my eye level. Pale eyes scrutinized mine. “You okay?”

  I nodded. Emotion bit the backs of my eyes. Justin had proven himself worthy of my whole heart long ago, and I’d broken his when I chose Liam. Worse than that, I lied to him every day. “He saw my bruises. He thinks you made them.”

  Liam groaned. “You should tell him Oliver has paid soundly for every mark he’s left behind.” He stopped short, turning brighter eyes in the direction Justin had disappeared. “Do you mean he thinks I hurt you? Not in training. You haven’t told him about that. So, he thinks I what?” Liam’s fingers curled at his sides. “Beat you up?”

  I tugged his sleeve, drawing his attention. “Never mind that right now. What are the odds Justin will remember the things he’s forgotten?” I checked over both shoulders for eavesdroppers. The hallway was nearly empty. “He says he senses something’s not right about you.”

  Liam escorted me to a row of computer stations in the library. “I’m going to have to talk with him. Tell him the truth. Oliver’s teaching you to defend yourself and I’m overseeing. Frankly, I’d like to give him a few bruises for suggesting I’d do such a thing. Do I look like someone who would hurt you?”

  “No. Now, focus, please. Can he remember the things you made him forget? Is it possible?”

  Liam lowered his agitated gaze to meet mine. “I’m not done with this.”

  “I know.” I gave him my most patient look.

  He exhaled. Defeated. “He’s unlikely to remember, but he’s not blind and he’s got reason to push the issue. So, maybe.”

  I dropped my bag and collapsed into an aisle seat. “He says you give him a creepy feeling and he thinks it’s a sixth sense. His memories might be resurfacing. What can we do about it?”

  Liam took the seat beside me and pursed his lips.

  “Well?”

  “I don’t know. What’s the worst thing that would happen if he remembers?”

  I opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t. A million words rushed forward, ready to fight, but tumbled into an ugly incoherent sound instead.

  “I told him to forget. After that, there’s little I can do. Usually, we ask people to forget a small scenario and then we leave town. This is different. I tried to remove several weeks of random memories and he sees me every day as a mental cue. Eventually, some sound, scene, or scent could trigger the memories. You need to consider the possibilities. Suppose he does remember, then what?”

  “Then he’ll hate me for lying to him and stealing his memories. Have you been doing this so long you don’t know how invasive and out of line that is? And what about Allison? She’s falling in love with Oliver again. What happens when they do something that ignites her memory?” I dropped my face into waiting palms. Knowing Allison, they’d do something like that five minutes after she got him alone.

  “Oliver thinks we should tell her before that happens.”

  “What?” I lifted my eyes to his.

  “Oliver and I discussed this with Mason last night. If Oliver truly plans to remain in her life in a permanent way, it’s better for their relationship if we tell her.”

  “We?”

  “Probably you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Should I tell Justin?”

  “Probably. In hindsight, we should’ve found another way for both of them.”

  “I didn’t want to put them in danger.”

  He gazed at me through thick, dark lashes, a look of ancient misery on his brow. “Are you sure that was the reason?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is there a small chance, perhaps, that you didn’t want them to know the truth about you and me? We both know I’m not the best guy for you, and I see the struggle you have every minute with your transformation. The way you flush when you’re with him.”

  “You didn’t cause my transformation. I would’ve become this no matter what you did. Without you here, I might be dead-dead or worse. I could be with the Stians.” I linked my hand with his, pressing our palms together and lacing his long fingers with mine. “This.” I squeezed his hand. “This is fate. You came to town looking for the prophesied leader and you had no idea it was me. You found me by fate. I fell in love with you before I knew any of the things I know now. We are destined. You and me. Not me and anyone else. Us.” I dropped his hand before the librarian noticed our clear PDA. “You’re the one for me. Got it? And I’m yours.”

  Liam blanched. “Your eyes.”

  I blinked. The sting of emotion clogged my throat. “Sorry. I’m not usually so emotional. I could use a little sleep.”

  “Put your head down,” he whispered.

  The librarian startled me, speaking over my shoulder. “Miss Ingram? Mr. Hale? Are you unaware the final bell rang two minutes ago or that this is, in fact, study hall? In a library?”

  Liam’s pale face turned sheet white. “We’re very sorry. Callie was only saying she’s not feeling well. I suggested she lay her head down.” The emphasis on his final words snapped my stunned body into motion.

  I dropped my head to the table with a thunk. “Ow.”

  “Miss Ingram?”

  “It’s a migraine,” Liam interjected. “Her mother’s a nurse. They’re trying new medications.”

  Silence.

  What the hell was happening? Had runes sprouted across my nose? Probably, but the librarian wouldn’t see them if they had. Humans never did. I turned my head away from the librarian and opened my eyes. The glow of Viking eyes lit Liam’s computer screen. Oh, shit. Those were my eyes. Now my eyes glowed like a Viking’s when I got emotional? Except, my eyes glowed amber, not green. My tummy roiled, threatening to dump the burger and salad. I couldn’t keep my emotions under control. I was a newbie empath facing midterms. When I wasn’t stressed to the max on my own drama, I had everyone else’s to deal with. How could I ever leave the house with stupid glowing eyes? I smashed my lids tight and counted down from ten. I imagined lying in Justin’s field, inhaling the scent of earth and wildflowers. Warm sun on my skin. His Carhartt rolled under my head for a pillow.

  Liam nudged my arm. “She’s gone.”

  I opened one eye. “Well?”

  His expression soured. “Well. You know how you got those pretty platinum highlights last week?”

  I opened my other eye. It was impossible to glare with one eye. “You mean when I woke to three white streaks in my brown hair and had to convince everyone they’re super-blond and I intentionally did this?” I grabbed a handful of hair and twisted it in my palm.

  “Temper.” He smiled.

  I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my lips. No need to get the eyes glowing again. Holy crap. My eyes glowed. I shut them and concentr
ated on my breathing, the way I did in a long-distance swim. I reopened my eyes. “You were saying? About my hair?”

  “The transformation takes time to complete. Your abilities and physical changes didn’t happen all at once.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Remain calm.

  “Do you have a mirror?”

  “Sure.” I dug a compact from my bag and handed it to Liam. “What if my eyes don’t stop glowing?”

  He popped it open and turned it back to me. “They already have. Besides, humans wouldn’t notice the glow. I overreacted.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “They’re pretty.”

  Shards of green and amber light danced through my brown irises. The deep chocolate color had been transformed, like the rest of me. A pale green ring encircled the gorgeous new eye art. “They’re hazel. Mega-intense hazel.”

  “I like them.”

  I laid my head back down and snapped the compact shut. “They’re supposed to be brown. All brown. Brown like my hair.”

  “No one will notice. Tell the ones who do you got contacts.”

  I lifted and dropped my forehead back against the desk. “And my mom? Justin? Allison?”

  “Tell them the truth. It happened and you can’t explain it. Human bodies change all the time.”

  A helpless sensation crept along my spine. “When does it stop? If I get any taller, none of my pants will fit. I can’t afford a new wardrobe.”

  “My family will replace or provide anything you’d like.”

  “I liked my brown hair and eyes.”

  Liam smirked. “Death changes people.”

  “Yeah, well, can I order smaller boobs?”

  He shook his head in mock dismay. “Blasphemy.”

  Chapter 3

  Approaching Liam’s shiny black Mercedes after school was like walking the red carpet, only the gawking crowd in the bumpy gravel lot whispered our names instead of shouting them. And as far as I knew, no one took our picture. The outright staring raised gooseflesh on my arms and neck.

  Liam unlocked the passenger door and swung it open for me. “You don’t like being the center of attention.”