Chapter Twenty-Seven
Coen
I freeze.
“Oh, don’t worry, this place is warded by Ransom, I’m completely safe here, so are you,” River explains, Baz’s words not fully sinking in. He stops and turns to stare at Baz, “You can see my tails?”
With a slight dip of his eyebrows, Baz nods, “Yes.”
River looks at Ransom, “Is the potion still in effect?”
Ransom nods, “Yes, it’s not due to wear off for a while yet.”
“So, I shouldn’t have been able to see that you had nine then?” Baz asks, getting to the same conclusion that we have quickly. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I owe you a life debt, and even if I didn’t, your secret would be safe with me.”
River studies him closely for a few moments and then nods, “Thanks, man.”
Baz smiles slightly, “Of course. You mentioned wards. How strong are they? It will take a while for The Hunt to find me here, but they are relentless, and I am certain that they will be coming for me.”
Ransom grins, “They can try. You’ve got backup now. The wards are strong. Reach out with your magic and see for yourself.”
Baz hesitates slightly, and I realize that he has got his magical signature on lockdown.
River grins, a mischievous light in his eyes as he says, “Come on, I showed you mine, you show me yours?”
Baz, fortunately, bursts out laughing along with the rest of us.
Suddenly, his power releases, he’s still holding back, but what he has sent searching toward the ward is immense.
As his power touches the ward in order to test its strength, there’s a boom, magic lighting up the sky for a brief moment before the ward settles again. Even I can feel how strong it is now.
“Did you just add your magic to the ward?” Raiden asks, his eyebrows raised with surprise.
Baz nods, looking shocked as he replies, “Not intentionally. My magic took over, and it hasn’t done that for years. Apparently, it deems this place a place worth protecting. That puts me at ease.”
“Good,” I reply, and then I offer because it seems like the right thing to do. “You have a safe haven with us for as long as you wish to be here.”
“Thank you,” he replies, seeming mystified by the turn of events, but then again, I am too.
I think we all are.
This morning, we set out to end the wolf sales, which we did somewhat successfully until The Owner escaped, and then we get back home, go on an adventure, and end up bringing back a supernatural that already feels like a friend to us.
At least I’m never bored.
“Let’s go and introduce you to the others. House and Ethel will have gotten dinner done by now. I bet you’re hungry,” Raiden suggests. “I’ve just messaged the others to let them know that what happened with the ward was us, and that we aren’t under attack.”
“I’m not entirely sure what to make of this new turn of events,” Baz admits honestly as we move across the driveway.
“Neither are we,” I admit.
“We’ll figure it out,” Ransom adds.
“And we’ll try to figure out if we can restore your memory in the least damaging way,” Raiden adds, the wheels in his mind already turning.
Baz nods, “Thank you. I meant what I said earlier, I owe you all a life debt, I am not a threat to you and yours. My magic has clearly decided that this place and therefore those within its barrier are worthy of protecting, and that’s enough for me.”
I believe him. I don’t know why, I don’t have any reason to, but I also don’t have any reason not to.
Something is going on, that’s for certain, and I’m interested to see how the others react to him.
“We’re back,” I yell as I walk through the door, the others on my heels.
Neith
I am infinitely curious to see if the supernatural that they have brought home, Baz, is the same supernatural that I saw in Luesidious. I’ll know as soon as I see him. I’m not ashamed to admit that the scarred, purple-eyed supernatural has stalked my dreams.
I’m also not ashamed to admit that I will be irrationally disappointed if it isn’t him, and I don’t know why.
To be honest, all the confusing things that I have been feeling about the horned, and quite frankly gorgeous, supernatural, I have been burying because I don’t know what the fuck to do with them.
They don’t make any sense. I saw him for two seconds at the most, and yet the impact that he has had on me is profound.
It makes me twitchy.
The Voices mumble, offering no real advice or help.
“We’re back!” I hear Coen yell.
We share a look and then get up and head to the front door.
“Nice to meet you, man,” Van greets him, shaking his hand.
The guys all introduce themselves, and I just stare because holy shit, it’s the same supernatural.
I was wrong about him being slimmer than Reed, he’s not. He’s fucking massive.
The scars on his face don’t detract from his rugged looks at all, they simply add to it. Throw in the dark purple eyes and huge horns, and I challenge anyone not to think he’s good-looking.
I reach for my phone, before my brain catches up with my actions, and I remember that I can’t take a picture of him to send to Navy and Neera to see if they agree with me that he’s hot.
That’s not socially acceptable.
Oh, and I lost my phone again. I don’t think Griff is going to let me live that one down. It’s fair, I could have put it absolutely anywhere. I’ve found it in the freezer in the past.
His gaze lands on me, and my brain instantly shuts up.
Breathe, behave like a normal human. Er supernatural.
“You,” he mutters, and the guys all look between us.
I wave like a dork, and River and Coen snicker.
“Hello again,” I say.
“You should be dead,” he replies, still staring at me.
I nod, “Yep. But why should I be dead according to you?”
Reed groans, “Neith, that was confusing even for me.”
“You got bitten by a Hunt Hound,” he replies. “You should not have been able to survive that.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t have survived a lot of things,” I say as I cotton on to what he’s talking about. I pull my necklace out from my shirt. “You mean this guy? That’s what he is, a Hunt Hound?”
Baz’s eyes widen, “Where did you get that?”
“The imps. They gave it to me when I got back,” I explain.
“I don’t know how the imps had the ability to gift to you, but it means that you have somehow gained the loyalty of one of them. They are formidable creatures, you must be very special,” Baz explains, his eyes watching me intently before they shift away again.
I fight a blush, he’s not calling you special, idiot.
The Voices snicker.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Raiden replies. He grins, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to Neith not doing anything that she’s supposed to do and throwing curveballs at you every five minutes.”
Baz’s gaze moves back to me, and he smiles, changing his face from intimidating and sexy to downright sunshine adorableness, well there’s a contradiction.
“It sounds interesting,” he replies.
“Oh, it’s certainly that,” Doc chuckles.
I frown, “Should I be offended right now? You’re all bonding over my inability to do anything normally.”
Griff pulls me under his arm and kisses the top of my head, “No, you shouldn’t be offended, we love it.”
River pulls me away and lifts me up, spinning me around and kissing me before he says, “He’s right. You’re awesome. I’m hungry.”
“Dinner is ready,” Ethel shouts from the kitchen.
“Perfect timing,” Reed grins. He strides off into the kitchen, the rest of us following, although Baz is moving a bit more cautiously despite River’s almost constant stream of chatter.
When I walk in, I grin. House and Ethel are awesome. The table is bigger, and there is an extra place set for Baz, they knew he was here. Most likely from the second that he set foot on the property.
Maybe even before. They probably knew that he was coming.
“Take a seat anywhere,” Van offers Baz with a warm smile.
It is strange how it doesn’t feel as strange as it probably should, having Baz here with us, but I’ll just go with it. The Voices are excited, so excited that they’ve become louder, and even less discernible than usual.
Baz
The difference between my life an hour ago and now is such a contrast that it's taking a while for my mind to catch up.
It doesn’t help that it doesn’t feel weird at all. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that I knew them before I lost my memory, that I was a part of this family unit that they have.
Of course, that may be wishful thinking on my part, a creature like me can never be a part of a family like this.
Something stirs, a long-forgotten memory, and I try to grasp onto it with my magic. Just when I think I might have actually gotten a hold of something, it slips through my hypothetical magical fingers.
I was so close. Closer than I have ever been before. Something about being here is making my lost memory seem more accessible.
The woman, Neith, laughs at something one of the others says, and I can’t help but stare.
She’s beautiful, but more than that, she’s fierce, and strong, really fucking strong.
She met my gaze.
Most supernaturals cannot do that. I was mildly surprised that Ransom, Raiden, and Coen could, but not entirely, since I had seen Ransom fight. The fact that they all seem to be able to hold my gaze with no problem is certainly surprising.
Even the Hunt struggles to do so.
It’s instinctual, and because of what I am.
Neith doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable or uneasy in my presence at all. None of them do, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it, or whether to trust this feeling of belonging.
I don’t think I have ever truly belonged somewhere. Not like these people all belong with each other, and how I find myself yearning to be a part of it.
It’s absolutely not a feeling that I am used to.
Her gaze finds mine, and I can’t help but let some of my power free into my gaze. Instead of glancing away and looking fearful, she grins, challenge lighting up her gaze and making me smirk as something I long thought was dead stirs within me.
She’s something else.
River keeps the conversation flowing, and I find myself wanting to tell them what little I know about myself as they share things about themselves.
Despite the circumstances that brought us here, and the fact that I really don’t know them at all. I like them.
I don’t like anyone.
“After dinner, we can show you to your room,” Doc offers, after a particularly amusing story about River and Coen and some shaving foam. He frowns, “We probably should have offered that to you first.”
I look down at my mud-stained and bloodied tatters that are barely passing as clothes and wince.
“I’m sorry. It has been such a long time since I’ve had a meal that I haven’t had to hunt for that you probably wouldn’t have been able to convince me to go and clean up first anyway,” I tell them honestly, relieved when they laugh and don’t take offense.
“I would be exactly the same,” Neith admits, and although at first I think that she’s joking, it’s clear that it isn’t the case when the others just nod in agreement.
“Especially if there is bacon involved,” Reed adds with a fond smile.
Neith shrugs, “You’re not wrong.” Her attention turns back to me, and I have to remember how to breathe as she asks, “So what . . .”
There’s a flash of magic.
My claws and fangs descend, and my sword appears as I push away from the table, ready to defend these people.
“Whoa, it’s okay, Baz, it’s just Winston,” Ransom says, as they all watch me closely but with no real fear, which is new. “He’s one of Neith’s spirit guides.”
I lower my sword so that it’s not digging into the neck of the rather pissed-off-looking raccoon and glance over at Neith.
She grins, “I like your claws.” My eyes widen with shock at her compliment, and then I have to fight for my damn life to repress a rumble of desire as she waves at me, showing off her own set of claws.
Fucking hell, that’s hot.
My memory pings, but I don’t know why.
“For goodness sake, we do not have time for this,” the angry little raccoon grumbles from the middle of the table.
Why he appeared there, I don’t know.
“Give him a minute, Winston,” Neith says, earning a glare from the spirit guide. Her smile widens, “You’re cute when you’re mad.”
The guys groan as I gape at the casual way she’s talking to the spirit guide.
“Fuck you,” Winston retorts, although the amusement is unmistakable.
I start to question my memory, but that’s one thing that I didn’t lose. I never lost my knowledge of things in the realms, what I am, and things like that. I just lost the knowledge of who I am.
So I know that this spirit guide is not the norm.
“Winston, I assume that you are here for a reason, and this isn’t a social call?” Van asks.
Winston nods, his gaze moves to me, “I am glad that you have found them. Neith is going to be a handful. Although it does move the timeline along further than we expected.”
“Oi!” She exclaims. “Wait, what do you mean, found us?”
Winston waves his little hand in the air, “There’s no time. There is something that you must get. Now.”
Neith
The little shit of a spirit guide claps his hands, and before anyone can say anything or ask any questions.
I find myself disorientated, being battered by wind from all sides, and pelted with rain, as I try to see where the fuck we are in the dark.
“Sound off!” Van yells back.
We all reply that we’re here, and it surprises me when Baz’s voice replies just as strongly as the others.
“Where the fuck are we?” Doc asks, echoing my previous thought.
A bolt of lightning lights up the sky.
“We’re on the fucking moors!” I yell.
Here we go again.