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.Will I find justice for Brian ?Reaching in the bag, I slowly ran my hand through the bag, letting the runes slip through my fingers.One made my hand tingle more than the others did.I drew it out and placed it on the bed in the exact position it was when I selected it.Repeating the process, I drew two more and placed them in a row next to the first rune.I studied them for a moment.The symbol for the first one, the present, was upside down.Murk-stave, not good.The other two were right-side-up."Well? What did you get?" Darci asked impatiently."What do they mean?""Hey, give me a minute.I'm new at this and I need to think." Reaching over to the nightstand, I pulled out Great-Grandma's journal.The old pages crackled while I turned them, looking up the symbols.Slamming the journal shut, I stared, mesmerized, at the first rune, the upside-down one, Urdhr, the problem at hand.Maybe if I stared long enough, it would turn right-side-up.Elhaz—grave dangers lie hidden; possibility of being consumed by unknown forces…Nope.Not good, not good at all.Chapter Eight"What is it? You're three shades whiter than milk.It's bad, isn't it?" Darci said, reaching over and touching my arm.Her touch brought me out of the thoughts.I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly."The present is Elhaz—""How did you pronounce that?"" 'Ale-hawz.' The second is Eihwaz—'eye-wawz,' the third is Tiwaz—'tea-wawz,'" I said, pronouncing each rune twice slowly."Are they all bad?"I shook my head."There aren't bad or good runes.They just are.And they're damn subtle too."Darci patted her hands on the bed."Will you please hurry up and tell me what they mean?""Sorry.Okay, the first one, the problem, indicates grave dangers lie hidden.If I'm stubborn and refuse to prepare for the challenge, I could be consumed by unknown forces.""Humph." Darci snorted."That doesn't sound too subtle to me, especially the stubborn part.They've got your number on that one.What about the rest?""The middle one, the path I should take, is Eihwaz.It means I have protection, toughness, and the power to defend myself.The last one is Tiwaz.It stands for justice, good over evil," I said, picking up the last rune and rolling it in my palm."But that's good, isn't it? It means you'll win in the end and Brian's killer will be caught.""Yeah, yeah, that's probably what it means," I said, picking up the rest of the runes and putting them back in the bag."Listen, it's late and I need some sleep.I can't be dozing off in the seminars tomorrow.You still want to go out tomorrow night?""You bet.I want to go to this really cool bar.Tim took me there on our date.It has a great dance floor."Darci got up and walked to the door.Stopping, she turned and looked at me still sitting on the bed."After all of this, it would do you good to get out and have a little fun.Forget about killers, runes, and dreams for a while," she said."You're right.I'll look forward to it," I answered, smiling.After she left, I walked to the door, locked it, and put the chain in place.Leaning against the door, I looked at the bag with the runes lying on the bed.Darci thought it was the first rune that had scared me.Its prediction of grave danger wasn't a surprise.I was dealing with a serial killer, after all.And Darci was right about the rest of the reading.The runes showed my stubbornness and my reluctance to accept the challenge I had to face.Also that I had the power to protect myself—if only I would use it.But Darci didn't know the whole truth about the last rune, the one that scared me.It did mean justice and success, but it was also the symbol for the Norse god Tyr, the god of war.According to the sagas, a wolf was about to devour mankind, but Tyr tricked the wolf by placing his right hand in the wolf's mouth.The trick distracted the wolf long enough so that he could be bound and stopped from eating all the humans.When the wolf discovered Tyr's trickery, he chewed the hand off.Tyr sacrificed his hand to protect man.Self-sacrifice.What would I be called on to sacrifice in order to stop a killer? My life? Someone dear to me? Unfortunately, the runes didn't answer that question.Half-asleep, I rolled over to shut the alarm off.I did not want to get up.To hell with the seminars.I'd stay in bed for the rest of the day.But I couldn't find the snooze button.Where was it? Aww, here it is.I pushed it again and again, but the clock wouldn't stop ringing.Finally, it penetrated my sleep-fuzzed brain that it wasn't the alarm.It was the phone.Dang."Hello," I said, my voice sleepy."Hi, dear.Sorry to wake you, but I wanted to catch you before you left for the day.What happened at the police station?"Abby.I should have known.I glared at the clock: 6 a.m.I sat up in bed and clicked the alarm off."Ophelia, are you there?""Yeah," I said and scooted up in bed."I was shutting off the alarm.""What happened?""How do you know I went to the police station?""Please—"I cut her off."Okay, dumb question.I went, talked to a Detective Perez.The case is still open.There have been other killings they think are related, but he wouldn't say if they were any closer to catching the killer.The DCI and the FBI are involved now.""I see.Hmm—interesting.""Oh, and I ran into not only Henry Comacho, but also Fletcher Beasley.""How unpleasant for you.Did you speak with either one?""Oh yeah, Comacho insisted on walking me to my car.He's still cold and calculating, still convinced I'm hiding something, and still determined to find out what it is.""What about Beasley?""I didn't speak with him, Comacho did.Seems he doesn't like Beasley any more than he likes me [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]