Chapter Three
Neith
Evander nods once, listening to Doc and conceding that he is right. That reaction is definitely different from the Van that I knew, his pride would have taken over at that moment and his stubbornness. I am glad that he has learned to listen.
We don’t waste another moment as we all turn and head back the way we came. Normally I am a fairly decent runner, I have to be in my line of work, however I am currently running on empty thanks to going to see the Darkness, otherwise known as Friend. Either name suits it if I’m being honest, but it’s only when I am actually in the Darkness that I tend to call it Friend, I don’t know why. My point is that I am running on empty, I am already exhausted, and running is very quickly expending the little energy I have left. This probably isn’t going to end very well for me. I don’t really know what other choice I have though, it’s not like I can say to the guys, ‘sorry, I’m too exhausted to run, you guys go ahead, and I’ll just let it burn me to a crisp.’ Death by fire is not a nice way to go, especially magical fire, that shit just burns differently. Plus, even if I were willing to do that simply because I am too tired to run anymore, I have no idea what would happen if I died in such quick succession and without properly recovering in-between.
And I have no desire to die again.
With all of that in mind I’m going to have to pull up my big girl underwear and carry on going. I may be running on fumes, but I am sure as hell not a quitter.
I have once again gone off on a tangent that I had no intention of going off on, and it takes me a moment to refocus my thoughts and get myself back on track. It’s only when I feel the heat at my back that I remember.
There is a magical fire that is chasing after us and will easily burn us to a crisp in a matter of seconds if we are not careful.
“It’s gaining on us already!” Doc yells, running behind me and helping to propel me forward because I don’t want to risk slowing him down and causing him to end up in the fire.
“It’s moving faster than any magical fire that I have seen before,” Ransom yells back, not sounding out of breath at all, the bastard.
“I think we are nearly back to the van now,” Reed says.
I really hope he is right because I have black things floating in my vision now, and my head is starting to feel light. I don’t know how long I am going to be able to stay upright for, there is a good chance that I am going to pass out, I can feel it begin to come over me, encroaching on the edge of my vision. I just hope that I am going to be able to last until we get to safety, for the obvious reason, but also because I don’t want the guys to view me as a liability because I die so easily. I would be mortified if they told me they couldn’t have me on their team because I had a propensity to die too regularly.
Digging deep, I manage to find a tiny sliver of more energy and hold onto it with both metaphysical hands.
Finally, I recognize the path that will take us back to the lot, and I spot the small break in the trees that leads into it. I let out a relieved breath. Movement in the corner of my eye catches my attention, and I turn my head slightly to see what it is that has gained my attention. I’m worried that one of those reanimated corpses somehow survived the melting and burning and is now coming after us.
Watching that happen will definitely make an appearance in my nightmares tonight.
Thankfully, when my eyes finally focus on what has caught my attention, it’s not a freaky ass zombie, but the giant moose that was among the animals that helped me to get to the guy's place a few days ago after the last time that I died.
I think Winston said that his name was Wallace, and his showing up here is not a good sign, not at all.
I might be in worse condition than I thought I was.
It occurs to me that I lasted a lot longer on barely any energy after the last time that I died. I know I was in bad condition when I finally got to the guy's place, but it took me a while to get to that point. I’m starting to think that the spirit guides that accompanied me were doing more than just walking with me and encouraging me to stand when I fell.
I owe them even more than I thought I did, and I am going to have to find the best way to thank them.
I hear the jingle of keys and pull my gaze away from Wallace to see that Van has the keys in his hand, which strikes me as odd because we have Doc with us, so isn’t he just going to zap us out of here? My mind is too fuzzy to come up with an adequate reason for why he has the keys, so I abandon that line of thinking entirely. I probably won’t even remember to ask later.
“Thank fuck,” Van says as we break through the trees into the lot and see that back up has arrived. Van looks at Ransom, “Help the mages counter the fire. I will help the elementals and water users hold it back. Everyone else liaise with the rest of the agents and fill them in on what happened.”
Everyone disperses, and since I am new to the team and have no idea what to do in this situation, I move over to the van, trying to remain as casual as I can and not give away how badly I am struggling. Even if I weren’t struggling right now, I would still make sure that I am out of the way. I worked with HID for a long time, but I was never a part of a team, so I don’t know what my role in this situation is supposed to be.
Finally, my heavy feet get me to the van, and I lean heavily against it, desperately trying to keep myself conscious. It would be really embarrassing if I passed out and made a scene in front of all of these agents. Not a great first impression, especially since I am human and therefore, they all think of me as weaker anyway.
“Not human,” my inner voice reminds me although even she sounds exhausted and is lacking her usual sass.
It is by sheer fucking stubbornness that I stay upright and aware as I watch the agents work like a well-oiled machine, and within no time at all, the magical fire is out, and all that remains is the charred forest. My heartbeat slows and my eyes droop as I try to keep them open, the guys are all talking to the other agents no doubt trying to fill them in on what they need to know and what they should be looking out for when they go through the forest.
The world tilts, and instead of landing on the hard gravel of the lot, I end up leaning against something soft, not really having gone very far at all.
“I’ve got you,” the familiar voice of Wallace echoes through my mind.
My gaze is still on the guys, and I see Raiden stiffen as his gaze finds mine. His eyes are swirling magic, but I can still see the fear in them as they widen. He says something, although I have no idea what he says or who he says it to. All I know is that he is coming for me. The relief I feel is almost overwhelming in its intensity, and I know that I shouldn’t be feeling this much for him having only known him for a few days.
“He is yours,” Wallace says into my mind, but it makes absolutely no sense in my current state, Raiden is not mine.
A heaviness covers my entire body, and I struggle to hold onto any thought that tries to form in my mind.
The only thing that is keeping me anchored is Raiden, and his beautiful eyes.
“Neith,” Raiden says as he gets within a few feet of me.
His voice sounds like he is at the end of a tunnel, and I frown. I have the overwhelming need to be in his arms, which is really odd because he hasn’t even hugged me.
“You are in a bad way child, he is a powerful reaper, maybe one of the most powerful that we have ever seen although he is not aware of that yet. He will anchor you,” Wallace says into my mind again.
I don’t need to be told twice, although I am already starting to forget what Wallace has told me, it’s like trying to grasp hold of sand in a sieve and it's not working.
Using the very last of my strength, I practically launch myself away from Wallace and have a fleeting moment of panic that I am going to land on my face, but I shouldn’t have worried, Raiden is there, I don’t know how he got to me so quickly, but he is there. He wraps his arms around me, his knees bending slightly as he lifts me. My head lands on his chest, and as soon as I hear the steady thump of his heart, I know I am going to be okay.
I know I am safe.
It is an unusual feeling.
Raiden
“I have you, Neith,” I mutter almost silently.
My eyes are on the spirit animal that is still standing near the van where Neith just was. I have no idea how I got to her as quickly as I did, but right now is not the time to question it.
“What’s wrong with her?” Evander asks, panic edging in his tone, as the others all arrive at the van too.
“I’m not sure but judging from the presence of the spirit animal, I’m not sure it’s good,” I reply, my voice tense as I stride toward the van. We need to get out of here, we need to head back home, we are too exposed out here, she is too exposed.
I don’t like it.
“Let’s get her in the van, I can check her in there,” Doc says, his gaze flitting around at the people still around us and getting on with their jobs.
At least, that is what they are supposed to be doing. A fair few of them are watching us and trying to be stealthy about it. Most of them have looks of shock on their faces, Neith voluntarily came to me, she reached for me, and I will be damned if my heart didn’t skip a fucking beat because of it. People don’t turn to me for comfort, they are scared of me, or they want the infamy that comes with being able to say that they fucked a reaper and lived to tell the tale.
It gets tiresome.
I am not letting go of Neith any time soon and I think that the guy's sense that because they aren’t trying to take her from me, despite how worried they all are. As I move to step around the moose that is still here for some reason, it nudges my arm.
My instincts tell me that it wants me to touch it, and although I have a sense of urgency riding me hard to get Neith in the van so that Doc can look over her and help her, I also know that it would be incredibly foolish to ignore the request. Spirit guides are extremely fucking rare and revered because of it. It is an honor that one of them wants to talk to me.
Yet, I still hesitate, the only reason I decide to pause is because the spirit obviously cares about Neith, and he was supporting her before I got to her, it might know something that could help her.
I stop, and keeping Neith held tightly against me, I manage to turn my hand just enough that I can touch his flank.
“Raiden,” the voice of the spirit speaks into my mind, strong and rich. It’s powerful and all-knowing.
I try not to let my surprise show when he mentions my name. “Can you help her?” I ask. I am aware that I probably should be more respectful in the way that I speak to him, I am sure that there was a title that I should have called him, but my mind has gone blank, the only thing that I can think about right now is Neith.
“I cannot,” he replies, and I feel my heart sink. “But you can.”
“What? How?” I ask. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
It occurs to me that the lengths that I am willing to go for Neith are extreme considering the amount of time that I have known her, and I can’t explain why I feel this way for her, I just do. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if there were a choice between my life and hers, I would choose hers. It terrifies me, but I can panic about that realization later.
“You need to be her anchor,” he explains. “Neith did not get the sustenance that she should have gotten when she came back from the veil, she is close to crossing over again, and she cannot so soon after being there. Simply hooking her up to an IV won’t be enough this time. She has gone back too soon after she was last there.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. I will come back to that later because that means that she died recently, and that definitely needs to be discussed, although I have a good idea when it was. Helping her and making sure that she doesn’t cross over again now is more important. “How do I anchor her?”
“Let your magic guide you,” he says, and then adds knowingly, “all of your magic.”
I gulp. Fuck. “It’s the only way?”
“Yes,” firm, and blunt is the reply that I get as the moose disappears.
“What did he say?” River asks, his eyes are frantic and his body worryingly still, River is never still.
He cares about her as well.
“In the van,” I say stiffly.
I suppose I did say that I would do anything for her.
Dying would be easier and have less consequences.
“What is it?” Reed asks gruffly, his eyes narrowed and calculating.
We all take our seats as Evander jumps in the front and starts to drive away from the crime scene. There are too many agents around, and Doc can’t just transport us like he usually would, or it would raise too many questions. Van will drive until we are a safe distance away, and then Doc will take us home.
“She needs to be anchored, or she is going to die again. She can not pass over so soon after being there,” I explain.
“Why do you look like you are about to freak the fuck out,” River asks, studying me closely.
Out of all of the guys, he knows me the best, although I will admit there is not much difference between what he knows and what the others know, that small difference is enough, though.
My hands clench as I pull her closer, my magic is already keeping an eye on her spirit, and it is fading fucking quickly.
“He said I needed to let my magic guide me, all of my magic.” I mutter, my eyes darting down to look at her because I can’t look at them. They all know how hard it will be for me. They know why I keep that side of me locked down. It is why I am still a tier-five reaper when I could easily be higher. If I allow that side out, I am going to get summoned, I am going to have to step up and I am going to have to face the trauma that I locked down with my gift. Something that I have avoided for decades, ever since I was a child. An accident that not even my parents know the full extent of. The only people who know about the other side of my magic are the men in this vehicle, and even then, they don’t know everything.
It didn’t seem important to tell them everything because I was never going to use it. I now wish I had filled them in when I had the chance because I am out of time.
“Fuck,” Doc mutters. “It’s okay, Raiden, we can figure something out. Let me scan her, and I can see what I can do.”
“Doc’s right, brother,” Reed agrees, with no judgment in his tone at all.
“We can help her without you needing to tap into that magic,” Evander agrees.
River comes to sit next to me, his hand smoothing the hair off Neith’s forehead, he looks at me with understanding and acceptance in his eyes. He nods, “It’s okay, Raid, we’ve got this. We will figure it out. She wouldn’t want you to use something that makes you so uneasy, you know that.”
I was almost sure that I was going to do it for her. Still, hearing all of my brothers, my chosen family, say those words, all accepting and none of them pressuring me or judging me, letting me know that if I can’t do this, that’s okay, and that solidifies my decision.
My heart thrums in my chest, nervous, actually I am more than nervous I am fucking terrified, but beyond that is a slight thrum of excitement too.