“How did you even know we had one following?” I ask, curious. She never has noticed before, and she is basically a human until she turns eighteen, so it couldn’t be magic she used to find out.
“You look tired, exhausted really, and it’s because you don’t sleep when one follows us. Plus, you have blood on your boots,” she says, and I look down, seeing that she is right. Damn, I hope that comes off, these are new boots. I reach over, picking up a box and grabbing a plastic fork out of the bag.
“Good work, detective,” I say, making her laugh, but it dies off quickly as her pale, serious eyes meet mine.
“Do you think they will ever stop coming after you? What did you do anyway?” she asks, and I go to change the subject because she is too young to deal with the truth, when she interrupts me.
“Don’t lie to me. I’m not a kid anymore, and don’t you think I have a right to know?” she asks, locking her eyes with mine, so I can’t really look away. I know she isn’t a child, sort of, but I still want to protect her. She is like a little sister to me, and the only person in the world I’m close with. I don’t want her to understand the evil in this world until she really has to. This world is full of demons, protectors, witches, angels, and even the occasional reaper. It was, apparently, better a hundred years ago when all supes used to hide from humans. Now everyone knows about supes, and supes rule the very world humans pretend they still have control over.
“They don’t come for you, so no, not really,” I say, shoving food into my mouth, hoping she will just drop this. I almost gag on the taste of the sweet and sour chicken, it’s crap. I miss bacon already.
“Evie . . . protectors don’t come after me now, but you know I will be hunted when I’m older. It’s why you teach me how to fight, and it’s why we live in the middle of Scotland. I want to know why they come after you, as you already know why they will surely come after me,” she says, seeming much older than she should. I’ve always known why they will come after Hali one day, but I won’t let anyone touch her.
“I don’t know why they come after me, Hali, but I know they can find me because of my rune name. Protectors can always find one another if they know their rune name,” I explain to her the little I actually do know. I don’t even want to think about my asshole ex who is the only reason I know this much about my own kind.
“Like a tracker?” she asks, thinking about it. “Why don’t you just remove the rune name off your skin? It doesn’t give you powers like your others.”
“The problem is, I don’t even know what my rune name says, and have no clue how anyone else could know it. I won’t remove it, not until I know. I was born with it, and whether it’s a curse or not, it’s mine. It's the only potential answer I have to my past, and one day I will find out what it says,” I explain to her, and her eyes cloud over in sadness. I often forget what she was born with herself, and how she lost everything because of it.
“Could it be your family that knows? That send their people to kill you?” she asks.
“I don’t have any family, not other than you,” I reply quickly.
“I mean blood family. You had to have had a mother and father, and it would make sense they would know your rune name,” she says.
“I don’t get why the person hunting me doesn’t just come after me themself, but that’s not your problem,” I say. “Now let’s change the subject to something less depressing.”
“Like watching the new Catfish episodes?” she says, thankfully agreeing to the subject change, despite the sadness I still see in her eyes. I smile at the big, fake grin on her face. She is hooked on these shows, and I can’t say I don’t find them funny and addictive as well.
“Go on, then,” I say, smiling at her overly excited face as she grabs the remote.
Link to Runes of Truth on Amazon (Only 0.99 or free on kindle unlimited)
Excerpt from Run Little Wolf
“Really? A party in the woods? That’s where you want to spend your eighteenth birthday?” Colton asks me, just as the school bell rings, signalling the end of class and the last day of school for us. It’s finally over, and to celebrate, everyone is going to this party in the woods tonight. Well, everyone except Colton, that is, and he hasn’t stopped asking me why I want to go, since I told him this morning of my plans. I chuck my books in my bag, looking around at all my classmates as they run out the door, all of them so happy to leave.
“Yes, why won't you come?” I ask, pulling my coat on and picking up my bag. He grins at me - a cheeky grin that matches his personality. Colton is every bit the typical hot guy in looks, with short blond hair, bright blue eyes, and golden skin. In fact, when he spoke to me for the first time, last year, I choked on my drink and blurted out a load of words that made no sense. While I was utterly mortified with myself, he still wanted to be my friend. He’s a strange guy, but we quickly became best friends.
“I just can’t, not at night,” he mutters, pushing a hand through his hair. It’s a nervous tick of his.
“You know, I never see you out at night. Are your parents really that strict?” I ask. He always leaves my house before the sun sets and he never wants to go out after school in the winter because it gets dark so quick. I met his parents once, and they didn’t like me; at least, I don't think they did, considering they never replied to me when I said hello, and only asked Colton what he was doing by bringing me home with him.
“Something like that.” He smiles, but it almost seems a little sad. “Let’s go and get some lunch. I have a gift for you,” Colton says, and holds his hand out for me. I take it as we leave the classroom.
“Why do you always hold my hand, Colt?” I ask him, and he smiles down at me as we stroll through the nearly empty corridors.
“I want to, it's that simple,” he says, and shrugs his shoulders.
“You should hold hands with a girlfriend, not me. This is why you don’t have one.” I lift our joined hands and he laughs.
“I don’t have one because I don’t want one, Harper.” He nudges my shoulder. “Plus, every girl here is too scared of you to try and hit on me.”
“What eighteen-year-old guy doesn’t want a girlfriend? And I’m not that bad,” I laugh.
“This one. And yes, you are. You glare at them when they speak to me,” he says. To be fair, I don’t exactly glare. It’s just, the Barbie dolls that try to hit on Colton aren’t good enough for him. Colton needs a sweet girlfriend, someone kind and not made of mostly plastic. I roll my eyes and stop as Skye runs up to us in the car park. Skye is my only other friend in this school, in this village. Growing up in foster care isn’t easy; bouncing from house to house isn’t any better. When I moved here last year, no one would talk to me until I met Skye. And then I met Colton.
“Harper, are you still coming tonight?” she asks, stopping in front of me, not even looking at me as she talks. No, her eyes are on Colton. Not that he even looks her way; he never has. Skye has tried to get me to set her up with him on several different occasions, but I don’t know how many times I’ve told her that he isn’t interested. I do get her interest, even I have to admit Colton is extremely good-looking compared to the guys at this school. Or any school I’ve ever been to, for that matter.
“Yeah, I will meet you there at eight.” I smile at her, even though I’m getting annoyed at how she acts around Colton. I roll my eyes as she twirls her blonde hair around her finger and steps closer to him.
“Are you coming, Colt? I know I would love to see you there,” she says, her words laced with suggestion. She may as well strip down naked and lay herself out for him at this rate.
“No, it’s Harper’s birthday and I have plans for her. See you around, Skye,” he says, tugging on my hand as she frowns. I give her a small smile as I walk past her with Colt and get into his SUV. Colt has a Land Rover, a red one he fixes himself. The vehicle runs like a dream and the inside has dark blue leather seats he custom fitted in here. They’re even heated.
“Urgh, I wish I had your car,” I say, as I snuggle down in the seat and clip my seat belt on.
“I would give you anything, Harper, but not my car.” He winks at me and I laugh. Colt makes sure his seatbelt is latched before turning on the car to drive us the ten minutes out of town. I smile and lean back in my seat when I see where he is driving us to.
“The water tower?” I ask him.
“Where else? We always go there when we want to be alone,” Colt says, and I turn the heat on for the seats.
“Alright, anything is better than going back home,” I comment.
“What did she say?” Colt asks, picking up straight away that my foster parent has done something.
