Chapter Twelve
Neith
R eed moves forward, and River chuckles, “I can smell your fear. It’s probably the smartest reaction you’ve had so far.”
Reed crouches next to Kylen and pulls his head up off the floor with his hair. His voice is deeper and darker as he says, “I think you have misunderstood the situation. You may think that you have done something by calling the Choosing and pulling in a human, but you have forgotten to take into account that she is ours. You should know that if you lay one fucking finger on her, one slither of fucking magic, if she comes to harm at any point because of you or your team, then I will end you. I will rip your spine out through your throat and smile as you gurgle on your own blood. Consequences be fucking damned.”
“We will tear the world apart and watch it fucking burn if it means that Neith is safe,” River adds, his voice a deadly growl, his arms tightening around me.
Raiden chuckles and moves so that he’s in Kylen’s eye line, “You have no idea what you’ve done by threatening her.”
His eyes swirl with magic as his power level jumps, and the team on the floor makes sounds of distress, apart from Coen, who is grinning like a fucking madman. Raiden’s power grows again. It doesn't grow to the strength that I know that it can, but he’s definitely showing them more than the level of power that he usually walks around with.
“Did you know that there are certain things that you can do to a soul that damage it to such an extent that it’s not even whole enough to get into the afterlife? Instead, it goes to the pit with the other tormented souls where it gets tortured over and over and over again?” He asks Kylen, the threat evident.
The fear is so fucking strong in the air that even I can feel it, and when he speaks, Kylen’s voice trembles.
“You won’t get away with that,” he splutters.
This time, it’s Ransom who laughs, and sounding darker than I have ever heard him, he says, “You’ve misunderstood. We don’t care if we get away with it.”
Kylen’s fear grows, his eyes becoming impossibly wider as he realizes the situation that he’s put himself and his team in.
“Because you seem to be a dumb cunt, let me put it incredibly clearly for you all,” Griff starts, his power hitting levels that I haven’t ever felt from him, “if any of you hurt Neith in any way, physically, emotionally, using any of your magic or any magic at all, then we will kill you all. We don’t care who’s watching, we don’t care who knows, we don’t care if we get sent to the strongest and most terrifying prison in the realms, and we don’t care if we die.”
I want to interrupt and say, like hell will any of you die for me, but I am in complete and utter shock, and there is a lump of emotion sitting on my chest, I’m not actually sure that I am capable of talking right now.
“We’ll make sure that we aren’t witnessed though and then I will ensure that they don’t find a single microscopic trace of you, you will be smaller than dust on the wind,” Doc suggests.
“We’ll even help look for you,” Evander chuckles.
River’s eyes are dark, but his voice contradicts it as he excitedly says. “Oh, that would be really fun. Looking for you guys and knowing that there were pieces of you scattered around, never to be found, or even better yet, knowing that you’re in a secure location waiting for me to come back and play, slicing and dicing, using some specially designed potions to make you feel like your skins peeling off and then actually peel it off, that’s my favorite.”
I chuckle quietly. I can’t help it. This man, who has his arms wrapped around me, protecting me, is dangerous and deadly, and I fucking love it.
“So really, it’s very simple,” Ransom says, “don’t touch Neith. Don’t hurt Neith, and we’ll all get through the Choosing alive.”
“Technically, we should have already taken Rupert and Kylen’s hands for instigating that fight in the training gym,” Raiden adds a glimmer of dark amusement in his eyes.
“You’re right,” Griff says as he pulls out a large dagger. He strides toward Rupert. The blade slices through his wrist like fucking butter, making Rupert screams in agony, and Griff doesn’t even react to the sound as he then moves to Kylen, who starts to splutter and curse. Griff pays him absolutely no mind, as he does the same to Kylen.
His eyes meet mine, slightly worried by the show of brutality, but I just grin. That’s my kind of fucking justice, and it was hot as shit that he’s done it for me. Once he realizes that I’m not freaking out, he winks.
“Shut the fuck up, you whining assholes, you’re dragons, it’ll grow back in a couple of days,” Ransom says, rolling his eyes.
Rupert carries on yelling, and Ransom flicks his wrist, making Rupert's mouth slam closed as his eyes fill with panic.
“We’re not scared of you,” Kylen says defiantly, pain saturating his voice as it shakes with fear, a direct contradiction to his words.
“You should be. We play by the rules in every other situation, but not this one. If you hurt her, we will use everything at our disposal to make you beg for death,” Evander replies, his eyes beginning to glow blue as his magic spikes for some reason.
Suddenly, all of the team on the floor start to writhe in pain, yelling and cursing. All of them except for Coen, who Evander has managed to avoid with his magic. Coen realizes what’s happening and quickly joins in, faking it so well that I start to panic that he’s really being hurt. Evander pulls his magic back.
“What the fuck was that!” one of them yells, sounding panicked and then getting slammed back to the floor by Reed’s power before he can get up.
Van shrugs, “Your blood boiling in your body.”
“You think we’re not going to immediately go to Ty with the threats that you’ve made? There’s surveillance in this hallway,” Kylen replies, grasping at straws and some way that he can protect himself.
Ransom grins, “Not anymore. The cameras have been wiped, and the footage replaced with an empty hallway.”
“How?” Kylen splutters incredulously. Then threatens again, “We’ll still go to Ty. I have friends in high places, we all do. Ty’s got no choice but to listen to me. I know Draith.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head but don’t say anything out loud since the voices are muttering to me in warning. He absolutely doesn’t know Draith, not how he is claiming to, I know Draith’s closest, and he’s not one of them. The fact that they all seem to know people in power makes sense to me though. Stupid fucking politics mean that Ty’s hands are tied and that he really can’t do anything about them.
However, if we prove that they have done something to Coen, which we all know that they have, then even their friends in high places won’t be able to help them.
“I didn’t see anything,” Ty’s voice surprises me as he comes around the corner. “I didn’t hear anything, and I certainly won’t ensure that should what they described happen, that they get a head start.”
“Hey, boss,” River greets him happily.
Ty rolls his eyes and then widens them as he sees the blood mess on the floor. He doesn’t move any closer though and I realize why when he looks at Reed questioningly. Reed’s power pulls back, and all of the Draconian team members, who can now move, get up and run down the hallway. I think it’s safe to say that the guys scared the shit out of them. Coen winks at me before he does the same and pretends like he’s terrified as he rushes down the hallway.
“You two should get to the infirmary. They’ll be able to give you something to quicken the healing of your hands,” Ty says somewhat dismissively to Kylen and Rupert.
“You’re going to let them get away with this!” Kylen demands.
“There’s no evidence,” Ty says, and the blood on the floor disappears as Ransom’s smile widens. Ty continues, “If you don’t get to the infirmary quick enough, they won’t be able to help. Everyone knows that it’s easier to reattach a limb rather than regrow one.”
Rupert dips and immediately picks up his hand, running down the hallway.
“Our contacts are going to hear about this,” Kylen threatens.
“Great, be sure to tell them that you are petty and jealous enough that you pulled a human into the Choosing. I’m sure they will be really fucking happy to hear about that.”
Kylen’s scowl deepens, and for once, he doesn’t have a comeback as he turns on his heel and walks casually down the hallway, then disappears around the corner. As soon as he’s out of sight, I hear his footsteps pick up, and I chuckle. Yeah, he’s not as unaffected about what just happened as he makes out.
Ty looks at us, a smile on his face, “I see you had some fun.”
“They threatened Neith,” Evander explains simply, his shoulders shrugging like it’s a no-brainer.
“Then they deserved it. Conflict was always settled like this in Trieneliea, and I agree with what you did, however, we aren’t in Trieneliea, and the Earth Realm has made some supes soft. I think that it’s probably a good idea for you not to come to the Training Academy until after the Choosing. I’m sorry, but that means you will have to miss Navy’s graduation.”
I smile, “That’s okay. She already told me I was going to miss it, and we’re meeting up on Friday instead.”
Ty chuckles, “Of course she did.”
“Is it going to cause issues if they speak to their so-called connections?” Reed asks, his arms crossed over his chest.
Ty shrugs, “Let me worry about that. Like I said, some supes have gotten soft, and I think I’m one of them. There was a time that they would have been immediately dismissed and punished for the shit that they have gotten away with at this academy, and I think that it’s time to remind them exactly who I am.”
“Damn straight,” River grins. “Fucking tell them, Ty.”
Ty chuckles, “Thanks, River. I will. Do I need to clear any of the footage from this hallway?”
Ransom shakes his head, “Nope, it’s all taken care of, and the only footage on it is of an empty hallway.”
Ty’s eyebrows rise, “Well, that’s impressive.”
Ransom grins, “Thanks.”
“Alright, you guys better head home. You need some rest. It’s not going to get easier from this point forward. You need as much rest as you can get while you can get it.” Ty frowns, “The Choosing isn’t supposed to be easy, and it’s not made for the Earth Realm. It’s made for Trieneliea and all the other supernatural realms. They used to train for nearly a decade before they went through the Choosing, and even then, not all supernaturals were deemed worthy enough to go through it. The Warrior Teams were the elite teams.”
“Did you help Kyrous train the Warrior Teams?” Doc asks.
Ty shakes his head, “No, they were on an entirely different level. I wasn’t, and I’m still not qualified enough to train them.”
My eyebrows rise. Considering that he is the second in command of Trieneliea’s armies, which from my understanding, are pretty fucking vast, then the fact that he isn’t experienced enough to train the Warrior Teams is pretty insane. It also makes me incredibly intrigued by Kyrous and who he was.
“That’s not what I expected you to say,” River admits.
Ty smiles before becoming serious again, “The Choosing is brutal, and I really need you guys to understand that. Going into this thinking that it’s going to be easy is a mistake.”
Evander nods, “We understand that, and we will be training hard over the next couple of weeks. We aren’t going to lose against Draconian, and we will keep Neith safe. No matter what, we will keep Neith safe.”
Raiden carries on, “We are aware of some of the basic rules of the Choosing, we have seen one. We know that the contestants aren’t allowed to attack or kill each other in order to make sure that they win. One because there is still no guarantee that you will win, the other team could still get named even if they’re dead, and two because it pisses off the Choosing itself if you do, but I think you should know that if Neith comes to any harm from them, then we’ll take the consequences of a pissed off supernatural entity as well.”
My smile is wide, and my heart is beating fast, not fully recovered from all of their threats and the violence that took place against the Draconian Team for me, and that I probably liked far more than I should have.
Ty nods, “Understood. I just wanted to caution you about what would happen if you did. As I’ve said, the Choosing is designed to test you mentally and physically, so don’t just train in combat and weapons.”
I nod, “If I’m being honest, it’s the mental side of it that’s making me worry. I have been physically defending myself for as long as I can remember.”
“You’ll do fine,” Evander replies to me confidently. “You love solving shit and researching. You’ve got the mental side of it down. Besides, you have us too.”
I nod, “Yeah, there is that.”
The fact is we have no idea what we’re going to face. I only have vague memories of the Choosing that happened while I was alive, and there’s no way for me to be able to go and watch it again. It’s not stored anywhere, so I can’t retrieve it. Besides, even if I could, it wouldn’t make any difference because I’ve already been told that the Choosing changes to suit the teams and no two Choosings are the same. The only thing that remains vaguely the same is that it isn’t just physical things that the teams have to go through, but also mental and emotional things as well.
We’re pretty much going in blind, and I don’t like that. I always make sure that I have as much information as possible unless it is really unavoidable. Even when I worked with HID, it was something that I dug my heels in about. They tried to give me as little information as they possibly could, but I outright refused to do any kind of work until they gave me the proper case files, and they folded.
I’m pretty sure that they only gave in because the case was pretty high profile, and they were getting shit from higher-ups. They tried it again every now and then but usually changed their minds pretty quickly. After all, I was always bought in as a last resort when they had exhausted all of their other options and still couldn’t get results.
We start to head down the hallway so that we can head toward the doors and our lovely big van so that we can go home. I must admit that I’m looking forward to getting back to the guy’s place. It doesn’t feel as much like my home as House does, but then again, even my tiny house that Pete helped me buy back in town didn’t feel as much of a home as House does. I think it’s probably because House has a personality, and Ethel. House has also saved my life and sheltered me when I was at my lowest, so that immediately endears me to him.
Oh, and HID doesn’t know about House, whereas they do know about my little house on the edge of the town, that has always made House infinitely safer. But the guy’s place is getting closer to how I feel about my tiny house, and I really do love that place. It’s like I told Raiden; I won’t get rid of it any time soon. One, it’s got all of my stuff in it still, and it’s mine, I get possessive over the things that are mine. My tiny house is the first thing, real thing that I bought for myself and that I could call mine. I will keep it forever and make the repairs to it that it desperately needs and that I have never had the funds to fix before. I made do with quick and cheap fixes that weren’t likely to last very long because I had no other choice. I’m pulled out of my thoughts when Ty starts to speak again.
“Just to clarify,” Ty starts, and we pause again, “I meant what I said. If you end up killing the Draconian Team because they’ve done something to Neith, I’ll give you as big of a head start as I fucking can, and I will pretend that I know absolutely nothing about the number of people that will be helping you evade capture.”
Raiden’s eyebrows raise, “So what you’re saying is that we could kill them and get away with it?”
Ty sighs and pinches his nose, “Technically, that’s what I’m saying, but please avoid it if you can. You would be on the run and in hiding for a very long time. Not to mention the other complications that will happen because of it.”
Evander chuckles, “Don’t worry, man. We won’t kill them.”
“Thank . . .” Ty starts.
“Unless they hurt Neith,” River adds, deadly serious, from beside me. He moved from holding my waist to holding my hand tightly.
Ty sighs, “Thanks for clarifying.”
“No problem,” River grins, and I can’t help the laugh that escapes me.
“Bye guys,” Ty says as he shakes his head and heads in the opposite direction to us.