Read Runes (Paranormal Romance, YA,) for Free Online

the pact we made when we were ten?” I asked.
    “Which one? I lost count after the one about not having sleepovers when you grew boobs.”
    I giggled, remembering that conversation. “So, why are you here?”
    “I don’t know. What pact are you talking about?”
    We’d vowed to always discuss anything that bothered us. Torin bothered me in a way I didn’t understand, yet I couldn’t see myself discussing him with Eirik.
    “We said we’d apply to the same colleges our junior year,” I improvised.
    “Don’t worry about it. We will go to the same school.”
    If only I could be sure of myself the way he was. “I think we should choose now and go for early decision. Berkley maybe or… Where are you going?” I asked when he sat up.
    “Can’t you see it?” He pointed outside.
    The light from the upstairs bedroom in Torin’s house was flickering on and off. Three flashes, pause, one, pause, three. It was a signal Eirik and I had developed and used whenever one of us wanted to talk. “How does he know our signal?”
    “I don’t know,” Eirik said, sounding pissed.
    “Wait.” But Eirik was already across the room. He opened the window. I followed as he scrambled down the tree. I could see a silhouette in his old bedroom. Torin. The flickering light stopped. Seconds later, Torin opened his front door and stepped outside.
    How did he move so fast? Or was there someone else with him in the house? A parent perhaps? I couldn’t climb the stupid tree, so I peered at them from the balcony. Their voices didn’t carry, which only added to my frustration.
    After a few minutes, Eirik came back and stood at the foot of the tree. “Throw down my keys.”
    I frowned. “Why?”
    “I’m heading home. My mother called him.”
    I glanced at Torin. He was leaning against the porch pole, his arms crossed and eyes on Eirik as though making sure he left. “I’m coming down there.”
    Eirik shook his head. “No, Raine. You’ll break something.”
    “I’m not using the tree.” I closed the window behind me, grabbed his keys, shoes, and camera, and crept along the hallway. There was no sound from my mom’s bedroom, but she was a light sleeper. I frowned, hating the fact that I was starting to think of the bedroom as hers instead of hers and Dad’s. Downstairs, I found Eirik waiting outside the front entrance. “What’s going on?”
    “I don’t know, but I’ve got to go.” He looped his camera around his neck and slipped on his shoes.
    “Why did your parents call him and not me?”
    “Because they always assume I’m at the old house whenever I’m not home.” He took his keys, and for a moment, he stared down at me. The silence stretched. I was so sure he’d kiss me, especially when his eyes went to my lips. Instead, he stepped back, lifted his camera, and clicked. He grinned when I scowled. He clicked again. “Night, Raine. See you tomorrow.”
    I walked down the driveway and watched him drive off, then glanced at Torin’s house. He stood on the porch, still leaning against the pole, except his eyes were now focused on me.
    What was his game? I wanted to march over there and demand answers, but I was too pissed. I turned, entered the house, and crawled into bed. Sleep eluded me for so long and when I finally slept, I had a weird dream I was being chased by something invisible.

    ***

    The scent of fried eggs reached me when I woke up. Dad. He often cooked a special breakfast on my birthdays. Excited, I ran downstairs, taking two steps at a time. I stopped when I reached the kitchen and saw Mom at the stove turning scrambled eggs in a pan. Disappointment rolled through me.
    “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” she called out, bangles jiggling on her wrists, her hand-made stone necklace and matching earrings bearing the same weird symbols. “Eggs and toast coming up.”
    Smoke drifted from the toaster. I popped the toast out. “Do you need help with anything?”
    “No, I’m doing fine.” She turned off the