Page 69

Of course, as we got older there were the women that decided they hated me because him and I were friends, and women as a general rule can be pretty fucking vicious, siren women go a step beyond that. Fortunately for me, I had grown a pretty strong backbone by that point, and I enjoyed winding them up more than they actually ever upset me.

We carry on climbing as I focus once again. Honestly, my mind is so unfocused today, and I think it’s probably tiredness. We’ve been, go, go, go, and even when we have rested and slept, it hasn’t really been resting because we’ve all been aware that at any moment we could get pulled from our beds.

I’m hoping that it’s tiredness and not a new thing that I’ve got to work around. My brain already throws me enough curveballs, like the lack of a brain-to-mouth filter and rambling.

“How much further?” Doc asks.

Griff is flying just above Doc and Raiden who are climbing just ahead of me, Reed is flying at the same level as I am, and I know that it’s because he’s worried that I may fall and if he’s close enough then he will be able to catch me before I knock anyone else off, or hurt myself.

“It’s not too much further,” Griff says, really quietly. “We need to remain silent from this moment onwards though. There are a couple of caves nearby with those creatures in them.”

No one says anything, instead, we all nod and move forward.

I absolutely do not want to risk waking creatures that are even more of a threat than the fire locals that we ran into. Reed may have been able to vaporize one of them, but who knows if he can do it again? It took a hell of alot of power to do that, and it’s quite likely that he doesn’t have enough left to do it again.

Raiden referred to them as creatures and not supernaturals, which means that they will be more feral and wild. Meaning that they will be more likely to eat us first than they will want to talk about it, if they even can talk, which is unlikely.

Climbing quicker, thoughts of the kinds of creatures that could be lurking in the caves around us fill my mind. My imagination has always been extremely vivid, and although my depiction of what I think they look like is probably a lot more gruesome than they really are, just in case it’s true, or the reality is worse, I decide not to ask Raiden what these creatures look like until we’re back at the castle or maybe even back home.

Not that I can ask him now anyway, because we’re supposed to be being quiet, I remind myself firmly. Finally, Griff makes a gesture that we’re close to the highest cave entrance where we are supposed to put the gemstone, and he and Reed fly up together to check it out and see if there is anything that we need to be concerned about inside.

You know, like those creatures.

Griff’s magic grows, and I know that he’s using his echolocation thing. He doesn’t seem too concerned, judging from his expression, but he and Reed still cautiously enter the cave just to make sure that there is nothing lurking in there, as the rest of us continue to climb. I must admit that my arms are starting to get tired now, and if I can walk tomorrow, after all of the running and climbing that I’ve done, I will be very surprised. I did bring some of my favorite healing herbs that go into a warm bath and help to gently heal and ease sore muscles.

I frown slightly. I hope I’ve got enough for everyone.

Griff and Reed give us the all clear, and Doc and Van disappear over the edge of the cave and then reach down for me, hauling me over the edge with ease.

Once we’re all inside and relatively safe, I take a look around. The cave is pretty big, and there’s more than enough space for us to move around. The view out across the rocky terrain and the forest is absolutely amazing, and the forest is so vast that I can’t see anything else beyond it. What I do see is the sun dipping ever closer behind the horizon, and a sense of urgency hits me. We need to get out of here as quickly as we can.

Turning back to face the cave, I spot a plinth tucked away at the back, looking pretty unassuming. There is nowhere else that we could put the gemstone, and nothing has popped up to say put it here.

I mean, it would be helpful if there were a neon sign or something that would tell us exactly where to put it and what our next step is. But then again, I suppose if there were, the Choosing would be far too easy and not the challenge that it’s meant to be. I keep forgetting that the Choosing was intended for the warriors that trained in the realms and at the training academy in Trieneliea, the one that Kyrous led.

It wasn’t only meant to help deal with disputes about team members, which makes sense if you really think about it, because it’s not a simple or easy thing to go through.

“We can talk, but very quietly,” Griff says, barely above a whisper.

“Have you got the gem?” I ask, and then add, “Where the hell have you put it? None of us has bags.”

Ransom chuckles and holds his hand out, sitting in his hand is the giant gemstone, and I roll my eyes at myself. Duh, of course they used magic to hide it and make it easier to carry. River must have handed it to him at some point. I can’t believe I missed them doing it, actually. They had to have doneit when we were still in the woods, or I think those local supernaturals would have spotted it.

“Magic,” Ransom grins.

I chuckle, “I am aware that the answer seems obvious now.”

“It’s been a long day,” Doc says, pulling me under his arm and dropping a kiss on the top of my head.

They’re all so free with their affection for me that it just seems to come naturally, and I think any hope that we had that people wouldn’t think that there was something going on between us, is pretty much shot to shit. I don’t really care though.

The more I think about it, the more I think it makes more sense to have them focus on that, than it does to have them focusing on all the things that the guys can do that they shouldn’t be able to do.

“I’m going to assume that the gemstone goes on the plinth?” Reed questions as he points to it.

River shrugs, “All the instructions said was to bring it to the cave, since the portal didn’t immediately appear when we got here, we must have to do something to trigger it and officially finish this task.”

“And we need to do it before the sun goes down completely and we end up being attacked by the things in the caves around us,” Griff reminds us.