Chapter Twenty
Neith
I watch as River slices his wrist and drips blood into the vial that Ransom holds up. Ransom then says a few words over the top of it before handing it to River, who smiles and takes it like a shot.
“Why don’t you shift so we can see if it worked?” Doc asks River.
River immediately shifts, only showing the normal number of tails that everyone else can usually see. Of course, I can still see all of his tails, and I’m actually really glad that I can; I like seeing them all.
“Great,” Van says. “Let’s head back to the house. Now that Doc’s mentioned dinner, I’m hungry.”
I chuckle and then smile softly as River grabs my hand and threads his fingers with mine.
“Are you running back or calling your kelpie?” Griff asks River.
River shrugs, “I’ll run.”
“You know that you’re bigger than you were, right?” Raiden asks.
River nods, “Yeah. I realized that it was either that or Neith had suddenly shrunk. It’s a good thing that I don’t speak to any family members or the pack, or it would be really difficult to explain.”
“Will they not get in contact when they see you shift on the Choosing?” I ask. Choosing to ask what I hope is the least invasive question.
River shakes head, “I doubt it. Come, let’s get home.”
I grin and let go of his hand to head back to where Mael is still waiting for me, along with all of the other kelpies. I climb on, thanking him for sticking around, and then we take off, the others running with us.
As we run through the woods, something out of the corner of my eye gains my attention. At first I think that it’s River, but then I see him up ahead in what appears to be a race with Raiden and his kelpie. When I glance down next to me, I realize that it’s the black and copper-colored fox that was in my room before we went to Ireland.
It glances up at me as if sensing my gaze and yips once before focusing on where it’s going and continuing to run beside me. After a moment of watching it and trusting that Mael is going to lead me in the right direction and we’re not going to crash, the fox’s form shifts.
It switches from being solid to being see-through, its whole body losing its definitive colors and instead becoming orange, glowing, sparkly, and semi-solid. It then jumps into the air, and instead of running next to me on the floor, it’s now running in the air at the same level as my head.
I grin, “That is so fucking cool.”
“What is?” Griff asks as he glances back at me. “Oh wow, is that the fox you said was on your bed?”
I nod, “Yeah, it’s the same one. I have no idea what it’s called. It doesn’t talk to me like Winston or even Wallace does.”
Griff nods as we both watch the fox, “It seems a lot more like I would have imagined a spirit guide to look like.”
“Yeah, same,” I reply somewhat stiltedly. It’s not actually that easy to speak while riding kelpies at high speed through the woods, so we stop trying and just watch the spirit guide play in the air.
It suddenly occurs to me that I was supposed to be going to meet Navy and the others, and I have no idea what the time is.
“Can you slow down for a second?” I ask Mael, and he immediately slows down to a walk.
The others all carry on going at super speeds, but I can see the house from here, so I know that they aren’t all going to freak out because I’m missing. I absolutely do not trust myself to pull out my phone while going at super speeds on the back of a kelpie, which is why I asked Mael to stop for me. While he slowly walks in the direction of the house across the vast expanse of grass that the guys call their backyard, I check the time and realize that I am already late to meet them.
Fuck.
Me: Hey guys, sorry I’m late, something came up. I’ll be there as soon as possible! Head down to Luke’s, and I’ll meet you there instead of at the coffee shop.
Navy: No problem! We’ll see you when you get here.
Neera : Don’t take too long, or I’ll get all the pretty swords.
Joey: She’s having one designed, dude, but I agree. Hurry up, Neith, or we will buy all the pretty swords. *Insert evil laugh here*
I laugh at their messages and send a reply with laughing faces.
“Is everything okay?” Reed asks me as I get to the guys.
I nod, “Yeah, I was just messaging Navy and the others.”
“Shit, sorry,” River apologizes unnecessarily.
I shake my head, “Don’t you dare apologize for something that you had no control over.”
River smirks, “Yes, Ma’am.”
Mael dips so that I can get off him, and the guy's kelpies all do the same. We say thank you and watch them all gallop back into the woods and back to their lake before we then head back inside the house. I’m too hungry not to eat, but I don’t want to fill up on food now when I know that I’m planning to eat later with Navy and the others. Which means I need a snack, and yes I am aware that most people don’t put as much thought into food as I do.
As we walk through the massive back doors and into the kitchen, Evander’s phone starts to ring, and we all turn to look at him curiously like the nosey fuckers we are.
He grins, “It’s my parents. I should probably answer it. They’re most likely wanting to know what time we’re arriving tomorrow.”
As Van answers the phone, we all disperse through the kitchen to grab something to eat.
“What do you mean?” He asks, sounding confused.
His eyes meet mine as the confusion begins to mix with anger.
“What’s going on?” Doc asks, watching Evander and clearly picking up what I have.
Everyone stops doing what they’re doing and turns to look at Van.
“I’ve got to go, I need to talk to Ty,” Van says and then hangs up before his parents can say anything else. I know that it must be serious because he’s going to catch hell for doing that.
“Why do you need to call Ty?” Ransom asks, worry in his eyes.
“Because he has announced the Choosing and that we’re contestants,” Evader says with a growl as he starts to dial another number.
“What the fuck?” River asks. “Why would he do that? He was supposed to wait until just before we went in, and we aren’t supposed to be going in for another two weeks.”
Van shakes his head, “I don’t know, but I intend to find out. He’s not answering.”
“Keep trying until he does,” Ransom suggests, his expression not pleased at all.
Everyone abandons what they were doing and moves to stand near Evander so that we can hear what’s going on better. As soon as I move up next to Reed, he pulls me in front of him and wraps his arms around me. I lean back on him and wait to see what the fuck Ty is thinking.
It wasn’t just for the hell of it that we wanted to wait until just before the Choosing to announce that we were going to be pulled in, it was for safety reasons. We didn’t want HID to know that I’m alive until the very last moment because they’ve tried to kill me before. Well, they did kill me, but as far as Ty is concerned, it was only an attempt that they thought they had succeeded at. My point is that they are likely to try again. Although this time, they’re going to be convinced that I’m a supernatural and most likely try to take to me to the blue fucker.
When Ty doesn’t answer again, Van just immediately hits the redial button.
“I would transport us to him, but I have no idea where he is, and we would just end up wasting time,” Doc says.
“We’ll call that the last resort,” Van replies. “I’ll keep trying him until he answers.”
Doc nods.
“We can probably assume that he’s at the academy. He rarely leaves,” Griff replies, not sounding very impressed at the situation that we find ourselves in.
“Agreed,” Raiden says. He frowns, “It’s Ty. It’s not like him to say that he will do something and then go and do the opposite. He must have had a good reason.”
I nod, “I know I haven’t known him for as long as you guys, but he’s been fighting in our corner since I have known him, and he is adamant about keeping me safe for my parents. Announcing the Choosing now is the exact opposite of that. Is there any way that someone else could have called it?”
Griff shakes his head, “No, we deliberately kept those in the know very small, although I suppose that the Draconian Team could have told someone. Was the announcement official?”
Van nods, “Yeah. My parents said that they were struggling now that it has been officially announced.”
Griff frowns, “Then it’s unlikely that anyone but Ty has announced it.”
“You still can’t get through?” River asks Van.
Van shakes his head, “No, it’s just ringing. At least he isn’t putting me straight through to voicemail.”
I frown. It’s really strange that Ty isn’t answering the phone, and I’m about to question whether we should be worried that something has happened to him when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Usually, when we’re in this situation, I wouldn’t bother to answer it since we have other things going on, but I am supposed to be meeting Navy and the others, and it looks like we’re going to have to get to the bottom of this early announcement so I need to tell them that I’m not going to be able to make it. I don’t want them hanging around waiting for me.
“I’ll just keep trying,” Van says, seeming like he’s at a loss for what else he can do.
“Give it a few minutes, and then try again. If he doesn’t answer, we’ll go and look for him at the academy and hope that the Draconian Team isn’t there,” Doc suggests.
They all carry on talking about options while I pull my phone out of my pocket and check my messages. As soon as I read the message that I’ve received from Navy I know that I need to take it seriously.
Interrupting the guy's conversation, I say, “Navy has just messaged and said that we need to put the bags that we packed by the front door. She said she’s not sure why and that now we’ve met, the vision is getting spotty.”
“That can’t be good,” Ransom frowns.
I shake my head, “No, but I already know better than to argue with Navy. If she says that we need to get our bags and put them by the front door, then we need to do it.”
“Yeah, I agree with you,” Van says. He looks at the others, “Alright, everyone, go and get your bags. We’ll do what Navy said and then I will try to ring Ty one more time. If he doesn’t answer, then we’ll go over to the academy.”
Everyone nods, and then we all head toward the stairs, splitting up on the landing to go to our separate rooms. I’m glad that I actually packed my bag when Van suggested that we do it and I didn’t procrastinate like usual, otherwise I would have to shove everything in a bag right now and I would definitely forget something vital.
“Oh, hello,” I say with surprise as I open my door and find the same fox that followed me through the woods curled up on my bed in his solid form.
This time, he doesn’t just stare at me out of one eye. He sits up on the bed and watches me curiously as I move over to where my bag is resting next to Betty and Asael. I glance back at him curiously, waiting for him to do something like talk or move, but he just stays sitting in the middle of my bed, watching me. I shrug and just carry on with what I’m doing. I figure that he will talk to me when he wants to.
Picking the bag up, I start to turn away before I think better of it and grab both of my weapons too. If we have to leave in a rush then I want to make sure that they’re with my bags, where I absolutely won’t forget them. Not that I’m likely to forget them.
Glancing around my room, I try to think of what I’ve packed and if there’s anything that I could have missed.
Do I need pens? I scoff, of course I fucking need pens. You always need pens. There is nothing worse than needing a pen and not having one. What if I need to do some sort of really hard mental puzzle, and I need a pen to work it out so I don’t forget halfway through what I was trying to do?
I nod decisively to myself.
I definitely need a pen.
What else could I be overlooking? I think I have enough weapons with me. I mean, one of my bags is just weapons, and I’m surprised that the guys haven’t mentioned the missing ones from the weapons room that they have here. So what else could I need? Oh, I know. I leave my bags and Betty and Asael by the door to my bedroom as I head toward the giant closet. Despite the fact that I did what I considered to be a huge shopping spree, the closet still isn’t full or even halfway full.
On a whim, I decided to buy two sets of stilettos, they aren’t my usual style of shoe, not because I don’t like them, but because I very rarely go anywhere to warrant wearing them. I have a pair at my little house that I had to abandon, and they were used purely for if I needed to go undercover or flirt with a target before I took them out. My intention in buying these two pairs, though, was that I had a brief thought about maybe one of the guys taking me on a date and wanting to look more girly than I usually do, and the second reason was in case I needed to go undercover.
Turns out there was a third reason that I hadn’t thought of.
A weapon.
I grab one of the black ones, swing it in my hand a few times and then smile, yeah, that will work. There may be a task or whatever they’re called that says that we can’t take any weapons in with us. The stiletto will do a lot of damage if the situation calls for it and if it’s wielded correctly. I know that from experience. It’s also not technically a weapon which means that no one can say shit about me taking it into a task. It can be fucking painful too.
I grimace. Yeah, the feel of a stiletto going through an eye is not something that you easily forget.
The fucker deserved it though.
I quickly zip it into my bag and then stand back up. I’m aware that the fox is still watching me from the bed, but if it’s not going to talk to me, I’m just going to go on with what I was doing. My eyes narrow as I look around my room, hoping that inspiration will strike and I will think of something else that I need to take.
My healing herbs.
I know we have Doc, and I know that the guys can heal, but I can’t, and if I’m in a task by myself, which we have been told is going to happen, then I want to know that I can put something on whatever wound that I have sustained, that means that I’m not going to get some sort of nasty infection, and that is going to help it heal quicker, or at least take the pain away until I can complete the task and get back to the guys where Doc can heal me.
With this in mind I head to my desk and pull out all the things that I will need, and then add them to my bag as well. To be honest, I’m a little bit disappointed in myself. That should have been one of the first things that I packed, not something that I added at the last minute.
As I glance back at the desk, my eyes land on the little carved statue of the wolf thing that bit me, the one that the imps gave me. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it, but I feel like I need to take it with me. My hand wraps around the little statue, and although it’s small I do wonder how I’m going to carry it with me. It heats in my palm, and I drop it in shock before bending down and staring at the statue that has turned into a small pendant instead. It even has a chain attached. I reach my hand out to pick it up before pausing.
Is it really a good idea for me to pick up the shapeshifting gift that I got from the imps, who sent me to another realm. The same gift that everyone scanned and told me that it had absolutely no magic in it when it clearly does.
On the other hand, I was thinking that I didn’t know how I was going to carry it on me, and I got some weird instinct or something that made me want to take it with me in the first place. I frown, unless that was the imps tricking me into wanting to take it, when really, if I do, it’s going to cause me some sort of trouble. Although they aren’t trying to hurt me, if anything, they are now trying to protect me.