Chapter Twenty-Four
Neith
Glancing up at a slightly shocked-looking Ransom, I say, “I’m sorry. I’m really fucking cold still, and I read somewhere that body heat is supposed to help. I can sit on someone else’s lap if you want me to, though. I probably shouldn’t have just sat down on your lap like that without asking first.”
Ransom’s eyes sparkle as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer, “You’re good, Neith, don’t worry.”
I smile as I practically melt back into him. The magic that I am just starting to recognize as his, builds in the air and the thick dark blue blanket appears, covering me and adding to the warmth, as I feel my shivers slow down.
“Feel better?” Ransom asks, his mouth near my ear and the proximity sending shivers of an entirely different kind down my spine.
I feel fucking tiny sitting on his lap and completely surrounded by him, and quite honestly, there is no place that I would rather be right now. Thankfully, he mistakes my shiver for being cold still and pulls me impossibly closer. I’m good with that.
“Yes, thank you,” I reply.
Doc smiles as he moves over to sit beside us on the couch. “I know you are nice and comfy, but can I see where you’re bleeding? I am going to assume that it’s your arm because you came in with a towel wrapped around it.”
I nod as I reluctantly unbury it from the covers and hold it out to Doc, “Yeah. I got bitten by Mael when I tried to rescue him. I think he thought that I was trying to hurt him more.”
Doc’s eyes widen, “He bit you.”
I nod as I get the feeling that he is about to tell me I’ve done something weird again. “What?”
“You should be dead,” Raiden explains.
I roll my eyes, “Of course I should.”
“Kelpie bites are venomous, and they kill immediately,” Evander adds. “That’s why they are so feared.”
“That makes sense,” I reply. “They are pretty fucking terrifying without that though, I really did think that I was a goner. Again.” I hold up my arm so that Doc can unwrap the towel and then add, “So, that means that shifter bites and kelpie bites don’t affect me, neat.”
Vampire bites don’t either, but I don’t particularly want to get into that story right now, so I leave that out.
“Huh,” Doc mutters as he studies the wound on my arm.
“Uh oh,” River says, probably rightly predicting that there is something wrong.
“What’s wrong?” Reed practically demands, a note of worry in his voice.
“Nothing, actually,” Doc replies, and I raise my eyebrow at him in disbelief. He smirks, “Seriously, it looks like the wound has started to heal.”
I pull my arm out of his gentle grip so I can get a better look at the wound and then poke it with my finger, “Would you look at that? You’re right. It’s not nearly as bad as it was.”
“Your supernatural healing must have kicked in,” Griff says.
“That would be really cool,” I admit. “It would also be something a bit more tangible to prove that I am a supe. So far, it’s been a lot of maybes, and that’s not really confirming anything for me.”
“That’s understandable,” Raiden replies.
“Do you still want me to heal it?” Doc asks.
I nod, “Yes, please. It may be healing by itself quicker than I am used to wounds healing, but it is still healing really slowly, and it hurts.”
He nods, and I hold out my arm. He heals it within moments.
“I checked for any signs of infection while I healed your arm, and there wasn’t any but let me know if you start to feel weird, or experience any pain in the area even though it's healed,” Doc says.
I nod, “Yeah, I will. Thanks, Doc.”
My stomach growls, and I pull a face, apparently, I am hungry. It’s hardly surprising since night has now fallen, so it’s near dinner time. Oh, and I fought for my life, and had a massive adrenaline rush that tends to make me really hungry.
“We have ordered food,” River grins. “We got lots of variety and thought we could set up everything on the table and just share.”
“Sounds good to me,” I reply, as I snuggle closer to Ransom now that I’m not having my arm healed. I feel a lot warmer, but I’m still chilly, and Ransom is definitely helping to warm me up.
“He could totally warm you up in other ways too,” my inner voice suggests.
I choose to ignore her like I usually do.
“Did you manage to give Wallace the cinnamon buns?” Reed asks me.
I nod and repeat what I told them earlier, “Yep, I gave them to him before I heard the noise and followed it to the kelpies.”
“Did he like them?” River asks.
I nod, “Yeah, he seemed to. He took them off me and then just disappeared instead of walking into the forest all mysteriously like he usually does,” I smile. Turning to look at Evander I change the subject, “You wanted to talk about HID and stuff?”
“That can wait,” Van replies. “You’ve just had a near-death experience.”
I shrug, “I’m good. Honestly, it apparently happens a lot now. We haven’t got anything else to do right now while we wait for the food, so we may as well start to talk about it at least. If the food arrives before the conversation is over, then you should know that I will be tuning out for the rest of it in favor of the food.”
“Fair enough,” Griff replies, trying and failing to hide his smile.
“Are you sure?” Van double checks. I nod, and his demeanor changes as he slips into work mode. “We need to come up with a plan to weed out the compromised agents at HID.”
I interrupt, “We know that the boss, Richard, is involved because the agents that killed me mentioned that he would be pissed along with the mysterious guy that they are giving supes too. Even if I hadn’t overheard it, we could assume that he was, because the agents were using HID sanctioned vehicles and weapons. They also used the official clean up to sort everything out afterward and make sure that there wasn’t any evidence of the crash left behind.”
“That’s true. Can you remind me? I remember you saying that there were other agents there, but did you recognize them?” Ransom asks me.
I nod, “Yeah, I know who they are. Well, I know who three of them are, that I can say for certain are compromised. The agents that did the clean-up though I have no idea who they are since I was too far away to see or hear anything.”
“That’s good, we at least have a starting point of who we can look into,” Reed adds.
“If I can get close enough to his computer, then I’m sure I can get us some more names. Richard likes lists, he has lists of lists, and I am almost one hundred percent sure that he will have a list of agents that are working with him. He will most likely have information on what they have been up to as well. I have no idea how he managed to become the head of HID. He isn’t that bright.” I explain with a frown, “Although, he has been running the corrupt side for fuck knows how long without anyone really picking up on it, or if they have, without them being able to do anything about it, so I guess he can’t be as stupid as he seems to be.”
“I don’t think that it would be a good idea for you to go anywhere near HID, and especially not anywhere near Richard,” Doc says.
“Doc is right. Richard ordered you to be killed. We don’t want to risk him realizing that you are alive. Especially since they know that you were very definitely dead, so the fact that you are alive will most likely get back to whoever is taking the supes,” Evander agrees.
“That would be really bad,” River frowns. “Especially since we don’t know why he wants the supes.”
My frown deepens, “I don’t like it since I feel like I’m responsible for HID because I was a part of their organization, but you are right. It wouldn’t be a good idea for any of them to realize that I am still alive, and if I go to HID headquarters, then there is a good chance that I could be spotted.”
“We can still use your idea though,” Reed says. “We have some really good hackers at SID, and we can send in a team to get that information.”
I nod, “I think it’s probably our best shot at getting the information that we need to take down the corrupt people in HID as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it’s going to get complicated and involve a lot more of following agents, and that means a risk to our agents.”
River nods, “Yeah. We already know that they pose a significant threat to supernaturals, and obviously, those investigating will be supes. We need to make sure that everyone proceeds with caution. They must have something at their disposal that means they can easily subdue supes.”
“Fuck,” Griff curses. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about how they are getting the supes.”
“Let’s get Ty on the phone,” Evander suggests, “I need to talk to him about an update for what happened at the clearing anyway, and we can suggest your idea and warn him that everyone needs to be extra cautious.”
“I think you will probably need to emphasize that point,” I say. “Supernaturals tend to have a habit of underestimating humans, and therefore not keeping their guards up, and in this situation, that would be particularly dangerous.”
I know that because I have used that to my advantage a few times. The supes that I have been up against haven’t realized until it’s too late that they shouldn’t underestimate me.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Doc replies.
Evander pulls out his phone and presses a few buttons before holding it in the palm of his hand. I’m assuming that he hasn’t forgotten how a phone is supposed to work and has instead put it on speaker so that we can all hear the conversation, and he doesn’t have to waste time in relaying it all back to us later on.
My brain is doing that weird side quest thing that it likes to do regularly, and I have to force it to pay attention again so that I don’t miss anything important.
“Hey guys, I was actually just about to call you,” Ty answers with a warmth that I am definitely not used to hearing from a boss.
“We were just calling to get an update on the clearing and fill you in on the HID corruption case as well,” Evander explains.
Ty launches straight into the update that we have asked for. “We scoured the area, we had our best shifters working on trying to find any scents that were out of place. We also had mages and elementals working on seeing if they could pick up any magical signatures that would give us an idea of what was going on, along with multiple other agents, and we came up empty. The magical fire burned hot and fast, and we barely got it under control before it spread even more. Whatever evidence was left behind was turned to ash. Including the bodies. It would have been really handy to have at least one of them so Doc could have done his thing, and we could have at least linked them with the other hybrid cases.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that, although I’m not surprised,” Evander replies.
“I read your reports,” Ty adds, “from what you have described, I think it’s safe to say that it was super disturbing. I don’t know of a supernatural creature that can make bodies behave that way when the supernatural isn’t even present.”
“Whoever was behind it could have been there,” Raiden says, “he or she may have just been cloaking themselves, and we were too busy focusing on the melting bodies and then running from the fire that we didn’t pick them up.”
“That’s very possible,” River agrees. “The smell of the bodies and then the fire pretty much overtook my nose, so I wouldn’t have necessarily picked up on a new arrival if they weren’t already in the clearing.”
“Okay, well, I can’t decide if that’s reassuring or not. Either way, the fact that whoever it is can use portal magic is worrying because you have to be pretty fucking strong to do that. It also gives them a massive advantage over us because they can simply pop in and out within moments,” Ty replies, sounding as frustrated as the rest of us feel.
“We will get them. They are going to slip up at some point,” Griff says.
Ty sighs, “Yeah. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
“We all do,” Reed adds. “These hybrids are a real danger to everyone, and it’s a fucking awful way to die having your own magic fighting against you because you have been turned into something unnatural.”
The room is silent for a moment as everyone absorbs what Reed is saying. He’s right, it’s a fucking horrific way to die, and we need to get to the bottom of it before whoever is behind it can turn any more supes against their will.
After a moment, Ty speaks again, “You said that you had an update on the case with HID?”
“Sort of,” Van replies. “It’s less of an update and more an idea that Neith had.”
Evander then goes on to explain my idea and the need for them to be particularly careful as there is a link to HID taking supes and giving them to an unknown entity.
“That’s a great idea, and I have a team in mind that would be perfect. They are more than aware of how dangerous humans can be and would proceed with the caution that this task will need. They also have an amazing tech guy on the team. Hacking into Richard’s computer will be a breeze for him,” Ty replies.
“That’s great,” Van says.
“Actually, now that I am thinking about it, I agree that Neith should not be anywhere near HID, and I think that it would be best if that were for the whole operation. We don’t want HID realizing you are alive and relaying that back to whoever it was that was interested in you. We need them to carry on thinking that you are dead. So, with that in mind, I think it would be best to take you off the HID case and have you just focus on the hybrid case. The other team that will be trying to find this information that Richard might have on his computer is more than capable of taking point on this.”
Evander nods in agreement, “Yeah, I think that’s probably best.”
I can’t help it, I chime in, “Can I request that when they are able to bring him in, I’m there? He caused me a lot of shit, and I would like to be there when he finally gets what is coming to him.”
“I can agree to that,” Ty says and then adds, “however only if it won’t be risking your safety, understood?”
“Understood,” I reply with a smile.
Ty stays on the phone for a short while longer before he hangs up.
“I’m not surprised that there was no evidence left in the clearing, but I was really hoping for some sort of good news to tell Navy. Her graduation is coming up pretty soon, and I wanted to be able to give her some sort of peace for it.” I say with a frown.
“I know. It would have been nice to tell her something about her brother’s disappearance and death,” River agrees.
“She is an agent, or very nearly one. She has done jobs herself, and she will understand better than anyone that, in most cases, there is no quick resolution,” Griff says.
I sigh, “Yeah, that’s true. I guess now that we are only on the hybrid case we can at least make that our entire focus, and hopefully get some answers.”
“Exactly,” Reed replies.
“Food’s here,” Ransom says but makes no move to get up.
Doc smirks, “I’m guessing that you want me to get it?”
Ransom chuckles, “Would you want to move right now?”
Doc’s eyes meet mine, and he shakes his head, “No, I wouldn’t.”
He disappears, and I don’t think I will ever get used to how quickly he can do that. I glance back over my shoulder at Ransom, “When you checked the wards around the property, did you find anything to suggest that there was a breach? I remember you mentioning that you were reinforcing the wards, and I felt your magic go out, but I don’t know if you found anything. I was sort of focusing on not freezing to death.”
Ransom smiles, “Yeah, we actually all got distracted by the fact that you were injured. I did check the wards, and there were no breaches that I could find. There were no spikes of magic or anything like that, either. It is possible that the lake and the kelpies have always been here but have managed to conceal themselves until now.”
“Really?” I ask, “But you guys have been here for a while, how are they surviving if you are the only people on the property? Isn’t their main food source, people?”
Raiden shakes his head, “No. They prefer to eat people, but they are scavengers and will eat pretty much anything. So, any animals that used the lake as a water source and any fish living in the lake would sustain them too.”
“Okay, that explains how they have survived, but it still doesn’t explain why, if they have been here since before you even owned the property, then why would they make an appearance now, and try and eat me?” I ask.