Chapter Thirteen
Neith
O nce he’s gone and we’ve continued back through the hallways to our van, River sighs dramatically, “We’re definitely too late to eat in the dining hall now.”
Griff chuckles, “Oh yeah, we absolutely are. But we can order food on the way home, and if we time it right, then it should be there when we are.”
“Sounds good to me,” I reply. “I’m starving.”
“Me too,” River says unnecessarily since we all know that he’s hungry. It’s pretty much a constant state for him, but he is a shifter, and shifters are known to have massive appetites.
“How come you guys aren’t in your supernatural forms around the house much?” I suddenly ask as we step through the doors and start to make our way through the lot to the van.
Griff smiles, “We actually spoke about that last time we were at the academy. I think we subconsciously stopped so that we wouldn’t frighten you even though we all know that our other forms won’t scare you.”
I shake my head, “I’m not even vaguely scared, so if it’s something that you would usually do at home, then don’t change for me.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” River grins, glancing down at me and flashing me his kitsune eyes.
The conversation pauses as we all climb into the van. Evander backs out of the parking spot and then heads through the lot to take us home.
Finally.
“To be honest, we do tend to stay in human form more often than not,” Evander says. “Especially River, Reed, Raiden, and me.”
“Well, I didn’t realize that I had another form that wasn’t the eight-foot-tall black-robed skeletal form,” Raiden says with a smile. “It’s not advised to walk around as a reaper, even if it is only at home.”
I frown, “Yeah, I can see that. It would probably be a good idea for you to practice with your wings just in case we need them.”
Raiden nods, “Agreed. I know that we are all in agreement that we need to make sure that we don’t let on how strong we all are, but we also may not have a choice, and I don’t want to be caught out or unaware and not be able to do something that I would have been able to do if I had been properly prepared and trained.”
Doc nods, “I think that makes sense. We don’t really know much, but we do know that the trials are going to be really fucking difficult.”
“Survive,” Ransom says. “Our goal is to survive. If that means that some of our lesser abilities are revealed, then so be it.”
“I agree on that for everyone but River,” Griff says. “He’s not just rare. He’s not supposed to exist. After the Choosing, we’ve got a lot of complicated things that we need to go through, not just finding the blue fucker, and hopefully bringing him in or killing him, but also the fact that HID is going to be aware of Neith being alive and the complications that Dimitri is going to bring as well. We don’t want to add in River being hunted and possibly the blue fucker’s attention turning to him because he’s so unique.”
“Shit, yeah, you’re right,” Evander nods, his eyebrows dipping into a heavy frown as his gaze stays glued to the road.
“I can keep my tails hidden easily enough with the spell potion that Ransom gives me,” River replies. “No one has ever realized that I have more than six tails, apart from Neith, but I’m one hundred percent certain that she is the exception to the rule.”
Griff smirks, “Oh, definitely. I know that you aren’t due for a top-up, but I think that it’s probably a good idea that Ransom makes you one anyway just to be safe.”
I nod, even though he’s not talking to me. I definitely think that it’s a good idea to make sure that River stays safe. Especially since, as far as we know and as far as history has told us, he is one of a kind. It’s not just the supernatural government or whatever the fuck they’re called that will be interested in River, but Scavengers and Obsidian Market dealers, as well as every nasty fucker out there.
That last grouping will want to own him, train him, and make him a weapon that they can use for their own fucking gain, and they will do that by any means necessary. If that happens, I’ll kill every fucker who tries to hurt him. It turns out that the violent protectiveness doesn’t only go one way. I feel that for the guys too, but then again, I know that from how I responded when that Melody bitch tried to push Raiden. I think that there’s some kind of poetic symmetry or some shit that I threatened to take Melody’s hands for trying to hurt Raiden, and they actually did take the hands of Kylen and Rupert for threatening me.
I like that.
That’s a massive, momentous understatement.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Ransom agrees, throwing me slightly since I had tuned out momentarily. He continues, “I have everything that I need to make it. Obviously, you know that it will take me a couple of days, but I’ll start it off as soon as we get home.”
“Yeah, I think I would rather that we were safe than sorry when it comes to things like this,” Evander agrees. He glances at Doc in the rearview mirror and changes the subject, “What about that hybrid that we brought in? Are you going to be able to get a chance to study him before we have to go to the Choosing?”
Doc’s eyes widen slightly, “You know, I think for the first time in my life, I forgot about something that was going on at work.”
“No way.” Raiden replies and then adds, “Although, to be honest, I don’t blame you. It seems like a lifetime ago that we were investigating the hybrid case, and you dropped the hybrid's body off here. We’ve had a vision that actually pulled us into it, nearly drowned, and then got told that we had been pulled into the Choosing. I think it’s understandable if we’ve forgotten things that we usually wouldn’t.”
Doc pulls a face like he’s considering Raiden’s words and then nods, “Yeah. You’re right. I would really like to have a look at the body and run some tests before it isn’t viable anymore. Some of the tests that I would like to do need to be done sooner rather than later, so they won’t wait until after we have gotten back from the Choosing.”
Reed nods, “That makes sense. Why don’t you head back tomorrow?”
“Wait, Ty said that we should steer clear of the Training Academy for a while,” Ransom reminds us.
“Shit,” Doc says. “I completely forgot about that.”
“Maybe he will be okay with it if it's only you?” Griff suggests.
“I don’t think that we should be going there alone,” Evander says, “especially after what we did to the Draconian Team. They’ll be looking for any opportunity that they can get to return the favor and make us pay.”
“That’s a good point,” Doc says with a heavy frown.
“I’ll call Ty and see if there’s a way that you can do what you need to do and not be near Draconian,” Van says and then presses some buttons so that he can call Ty.
“What happened?” Ty asks immediately, worry in his voice.
“Nothing happened,” Evander reassures him. “Doc has some tests that he wants to do on the hybrid body that are time-sensitive. He wants to know if there’s a way that he can come in and do it?”
“I should have known that it would have been something like that,” Ty replies, sounding a lot less tense than he did moments ago. “I told the Draconian team that they should steer clear of the Training Academy as well, so it should be fine for you to come in tomorrow. You tend to stick to your labs and the autopsy room anyway, so I don’t think that it will be an issue.”
“Brilliant, thanks, Ty,” Doc says.
“No problem, see you tomorrow,” Ty replies and then promptly hangs up.
“I’ll go with him,” Reed says as soon as he goes.
Doc smiles, “Thanks, man.”
“What is the day tomorrow?” I ask since I have absolutely no idea where we are in the week.
“It’s Thursday tomorrow,” River says, needing to pull his phone out and check in order to answer my question.
It occurs to me that I could have probably done the same thing.
“Oh shit, really?” I ask. “That means my night out is a lot closer than I thought.”
River chuckles, “Yep.”
The car falls into silence as we all drift into our own thoughts.
My mind goes back to the thoughts of my little house, and something occurs to me.
“We’re assuming that HID is going to know that I’m alive, right?” I ask, seemingly out of the blue.
Doc glances at me and nods, “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty safe assumption to make. They won’t be watching it themselves, but the announcement has to be made before the Choosing, and you will be named in that. It’s safe to say that the blue fucker and Dimitri will hear about your involvement, and since we know that they are both working with HID, then it’s pretty logical to assume that they will tell HID.”
Ransom frowns, “I’m sure that Ty has a plan to make sure that they are kept in their lane. Especially since they will have absolutely no jurisdiction over you anymore because you aren’t human.”
I nod, “Yeah, I’m not particularly worried about that, if I’m being honest. We’re dealing with other things that are a much bigger threat than they are. I was just thinking that if they know that I’m alive then I can go back to my little house, right? Get some things, make sure it’s alright? All of that sort of thing?”
The guys hesitate.
“You might be able to, but we already know that the blue fucker is interested in you and that HID is working for him. There’s a good chance that one or both of them are going to predict that you want to go back to your house and be waiting for you,” Reed suggests. “We can’t risk that, but we may be able to work something out.”
I shrug, “It was just an idea, if it’s going to turn out to be too difficult or risky then we won’t do it. I can wait. It’s not like the house is going anywhere.”
River frowns, “Sorry, Neith.”
Smiling, I reply, “It really is okay. I get it, and it would be stupid to put myself or you guys in danger just to check on the place or get some stuff that I don’t really need.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Raiden reassures me, and I nod.
“We need to order food,” Griff reminds us.
It doesn’t take long for us to place our orders, but since we left it a bit later than we had intended to, we have to wait by the gates for a couple of minutes to grab the food. I don’t know how, but I am tired, and I am more than ready to fall into my giant, epically comfy bed. Dinner is, as always, a lively affair but is over pretty quickly since we all seem to be exhausted. It’s been a long and trying few days, hell weeks, and I’m not surprised that we’re feeling this way. My bed is just as comfortable as I remember, and as I’m falling asleep it occurs to me that I felt comfortable here exceptionally quickly.
It turns out that I am so tired that all of those thoughts that really should keep me awake just drift off as quickly as I do.
∞∞∞
The next morning, well, I say morning, but really, it’s a lot closer to the afternoon by the time I wake up, and I actually ended up getting a really good night's sleep, which means that I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to get started on training, which is my plan for today. As I step out of my room, Van steps out of his, and I smile.
He opens his arms for me, and I don’t hesitate as I step inside them. I don’t know why, but when he leans back slightly and dips his head, his lips meeting mine in a soft kiss, it surprises me.
“Morning,” he mutters with a smile as he pulls back.
“Hey,” I reply. Then, because I don’t really know how else to reply or what this new dynamic is, I ask, “How are you doing with your mom and dad being the King and Queen?”
He shrugs, “Fine, really. I do want to talk to them though.”
I nod, “Yeah, I get that. Did you message them yesterday when we got back?”
Van nods with a grin, “Yeah, and I’m glad I did. I had so many missed calls and texts that I know if I rang them, I would probably still be on the phone now.”
“When are we going to see them?” I ask, knowing that he has definitely arranged that with them.
He grimaces slightly, “They said they had waited long enough to see you and that they refused to wait any longer, so we’re all going for dinner on Saturday.”
I burst out laughing, “All of us?”
He nods, “Yep. They insisted on all of us coming. I hope Doc’s finished what he needs to do by then, but I wouldn’t put it past them to go and get him themselves.”
“Oh, they definitely would,” I reply as we start to head down the stairs and hopefully to breakfast and coffee. “Have Reed and Doc gone?”
He nods, “Yeah, they left early this morning.”
“Morning,” Raiden says as we enter the kitchen and dining space. He dips his head and kisses me before he carries on to the kitchen.
I clear my throat, “Morning.”
River is suddenly in front of me and grins, “Well, if Raiden’s doing it.”
His kiss lasts a bit longer than Raiden’s, but there’s no denying that it has the same effect on me. I walk into the room and dazedly take my seat between Griff and Ransom. Noting their huge smiles.
Griff clears his throat, and I glance at him, before he can do anything, I figure that I’ll just go with it and shrug, pulling his head down to mine and kissing him. A spark of awareness darts down my spine, and before I can take it as far as I want to, I pull back and turn to Ransom. He doesn’t wait for me; he just pulls me closer, a smirk on his lips that quickly disappears as they meet mine.
These men leave me fucking breathless.
I admit that it takes me a moment to drag my thoughts away from all of the things that we could be doing right now if it weren’t for the fact that I am still more human than supernatural.
In a somewhat ridiculous attempt to make it so that I can see all of these delicious men naked, I decide to plead with that place of magic that resides inside me. If I am a full supernatural, and hopefully a strong one, then I will get to play with my men, I mean the men. Wait, that didn’t really make sense. Damn vagina is messing with my thinking capabilities again. It happens far more often than I would like to admit.
Come on, just a bit more than a spark? Maybe reveal my true nature? I wait as the magic stirs, but only a little bit, as if it knows that my main motivation is so I can do the horizontal tango with the guys. I have never understood that saying, I mean, sex isn’t always horizontal, is it? Maybe I’m thinking too much into that. I have spent far too much time thinking about that. To be honest, it’s one of those random things that pops into my mind periodically and usually at really inopportune times when I really shouldn’t be thinking about names for sex and instead focusing on something important.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Griff asks.
“Sex,” I blurt out.
Griff’s eyes widen slightly while Evander seems to choke on the sip of coffee that he’s only just taken, and the others all stop what they’re doing and stare at me. River has his mouth open, his fork halfway to his mouth as his eyes heat.
Raiden recovers first, “Oh, care to share?”
I roll my eyes but figure I may as well since I’ve already dragged them down the rabbit hole with me.
“I was thinking that the horizontal tango is an overused phrase since sex isn’t always horizontal,” I explain.
There’s silence for a moment before everyone begins to laugh.
“That is not what I thought you were going to say,” Griff admits with a laugh.
I shrug, “What can I say? My mind is a strange and mysterious place. Not even I understand it.”
“I don’t think anyone ever will,” Van replies with a teasing smile.
I grin, “Nope. So, what are we going to do today?”
“I think that we should head to the library, just in case there’s something that we can find out that Ty either didn’t think to tell us or maybe even didn’t know himself,” Griff suggests.