Read Online Runes (Paranormal Romance, YA,) by Ednah Walters - Free Book Online

we left the park.” I hopped down from the Jeep. “So when are we leaving tonight?”
    “Eight,” Cora answered. “Eirik’s driving.” She tapped Eirik’s arm. “You’re driving me home, so don’t take off. Raine, come with me.” She gripped my arm and pushed me toward the house.
    Eirik didn’t complain about Cora’s bossiness, which was unlike him. He must have taken my orders to be nice to Cora seriously. He reached for his camera. He was always taking pictures, and I was usually his main subject. Even at the park when he wasn’t playing, he’d kept busy snapping pictures. I wondered if he’d captured the moment that girl kicked me. I paused to ask, but Cora kept tugging.
    “Move it, missy. I have two hours to transform you, but right now I want to know what I have to work with,” she said.
    “Transform me?” I unlocked the door and allowed her to push me upstairs.
    “Because your idea of dressing up is jeans, boots, and whatever top you have lying around in your closet. Your mom, on the other hand, has style. Your dad was a class act and… I mean, he is a class act.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Raine.”
    “Don’t be.” My chest tightened as I walked to the closet and opened it. For a moment, I stared at my clothes through blurry eyes.
    “Raine?”
    “I, uh, I have white jeans. Anything that glows under a disco light is fine, right?”
    “Usually, yes, but it’s your birthday and we’re going to the club. Damn it.” Cora hugged me from behind. “I’m so sorry I brought up your father. I don’t know how to deal with this.”
    “Me neither.” My voice shook. “Mom believes he survived the crash, but I’m losing hope. I don’t want to mourn him because… because…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
    “It’d mean he’s gone.” Cora’s arms tightened around me.
    I wiped the wetness from my cheeks and took a deep breath, then turned and faced her. She was crying, too. I tried to smile, but my tears started to flow again. “Can we promise not to mention him for the rest of the day?”
    “Night,” she corrected. “And the answer is yes. I’ll focus on prettying you up.” She nudged me aside.
    “Prettying me up? That’s insulting.”
    “Yeah, well, your understated style might work for school and the mall, but not the club. Not tonight,” she said as she flipped through my dresses and sighed. “Just like I thought. Nothing in here. You know what? I’ll come early with outfits, makeup, and hair stuff.”
    “Outfits?”
    “Dresses.”
    “I don’t like wearing dresses, and I have a perfectly decent blow drier, curling iron, and—”
    “Just wash your hair and leave everything to me. Be back in a few. Love you.” She sailed out the door and left me standing there slack jawed. Then I realized what she’d done. She’d deliberately distracted me from the issue with my dad, which meant she didn’t mean to make me wear a dress. Thank goodness.
    By the time I reached downstairs, Eirik’s Jeep was out of sight. Good. Now for the talk with a certain neighbor. I reached for the doorknob and froze.
    What was I doing? I’d vowed to stay away from Torin and his talk of magic. He had weird powers. I shouldn’t even be thinking of confronting him. What would I ask him? How would I start? What if he was evil? From the way he moved, I couldn’t outrun him.
    Swallowing, I paced and debated my next move.
    No, I refused to cower just because I was scared. If he were evil, he wouldn’t have healed me. He had healed me. I hadn’t imagined the pain.
    Taking a deep breath, I opened my door and slowly walked down our driveway. My heart pounded hard as I started down the sidewalk and headed for Torin’s front door. I paused before hopping onto the porch. Once again, I gave myself a pep talk before pressing the doorbell.
    No response . Okay, leave. You tried.
    But I couldn’t leave now that I’d made it this far. I pressed the doorbell again and angled my head to listen for