Page 21 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)
Neith
R ansom nods, “Yeah, that should work. Like you said though, we’ll also need to write a lie and test it on that too, not just the altered text.
I’ve added in a visual element to the spell so you guys will know what it means.
If the books float, the information has been altered, if it turns black, then it’s a lie, if nothing happens, then it's correct information that hasn’t been tampered with. ”
Van nods, “Okay, so if it floats and turns black, then the information is a lie and it's been tampered with, but if it just turns black, then no one has messed with it, and the information was written down as a lie?”
Ransom nods, “Yes.”
“Well, I’m glad we cleared that up,” River smirks. Adding sarcastically, “This has no chance of becoming confusing at all.”
I chuckle, and his smile gets wider.
Raiden takes charge of writing down the things that we need, and then we all watch as Ransom does his thing.
Magic sparks at his fingertips as he concentrates on the pieces of paper. Each one does what it’s supposed to do.
“Looks like it works,” Coen says.
Ransom nods, “Yeah, everything did what it should. I’m actually pretty surprised it usually takes me a couple of rounds of tweaking things before I get it right when I try a new spell.”
Doc grins, “I’m not surprised, you’re the best when it comes to this sort of thing.”
“Let’s test them then,” Reed says, sounding impatient. “I want to see what else Neith is going to be capable of.”
Griff nods, “Me too.”
“I think it would definitely be smart to get a heads up, just in case I accidentally nearly set everything on fire again,” I reply worriedly.
“Oh, maybe the books will have information about your different colored fire?” Raiden suggests, looking excited to get some answers to some of the questions that we have.
“That would be great,” I agree. “Especially since it seems that it’s a lot more playful than normal fire.”
Griff grins, “I might get my scorched pants framed.”
I burst out laughing, “Hey, at least it didn’t burn you.”
“Good point,” Griff chuckles.
Ransom grins, “Oh, before I forget, I’ve added a fireproof spell to your room, so if you do go all firery goddess on us again, you won’t need to take a midnight swim in the kelpie lake.”
My heartbeat picks up pace at his compliment. I like that one, and I blow him a kiss. “Thank you,” I tell him.
“No problem.” He grins. “Alright, let’s lay all the books out on the table and get them tested.”
We quickly do as he’s asked, and this time, when he does the spell, it’s a hell of a lot more powerful. The hair on my arms stands up as the static from the magic charges the air, and he guides it to do what he wishes.
“Huh,” I mutter. “I wasn’t quite expecting them to all be wrong. I thought at least one of them would have some information in it that was going to be helpful.”
“Me too,” Ransom says with a disappointed expression.
“So that’s five books that have been altered and have lies in them, which obviously makes sense if someone has gone to the effort of altering them in the first place,” Doc says thoughtfully as he looks over the floating books.
“Yeah, and then it looks like three of them were written with false information to start with,” Reed says.
He picks one up, “Which is interesting because they appear to be quite old.” His eyes widen as he opens the cover of the book he’s holding and adds, “Really old, this one is nearly a thousand years old.”
“Whoa,” River mutters, reaching for it. “That’s pretty cool.”
“So false information has been spread for a long time about angels, then,” Raiden summarizes.
“If they were hunted, then that kind of makes sense. Not that we know whether they were hunted or not. All we know is that your mom was the last known one alive. I would find it hard to believe that they just all died off naturally, so my mind immediately assumed that they had been hunted. We’ll have to ask Sully about it. ”
“There’s a lot that we don’t know, and a lot that we need to know.
Sully should hopefully know why your mom was the last one alive.
That should be a fairly universal thing to know,” I say.
“I think we should see if we can find any books about angels elsewhere and do the same spell. If we can’t, then I’m going to suggest the Obsidian Market again. ”
Van frowns but nods, “Okay, we’ll exhaust all of our options first and then go to the Obsidian market.” He looks around at everyone, “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Coen says, not bothered by the suggestion at all, but then again, why would he be? He’s dealt with them almost as much as I have. Hell, he has his own contacts there. However, I’ve probably used my contacts a lot more recently than he’s used his.
The others are slightly more hesitant in their agreements, but they do all eventually agree, which is a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.
I have this feeling that we’re going to end up at the Obsidian Market at some point. I don't know whether it’s for this reason or not, but I want to show the guys the place so that they understand why I want to go and find information there.
Especially Raiden, he would absolutely fucking love the place.
The information side, not the other side.
The other side of it needs to be shut down immediately, but that’s incredibly fucking complicated for so many reasons, the main one being that it is never in the same place, kind of like the wolf sales.
I get why the guys are so hesitant to go there and meet one of my contacts.
I do, the market doesn’t exactly have a great reputation, but I’m starting to think that if we have any hope of getting some real and valuable information, then it’s going to be at the Obsidian Market.
“I wonder if the Elders are the ones who altered the books?” Griff asks, turning one over in his hands.
“It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. We’ve been warned about them by pretty much everyone at this point,” Raiden replies. “Thankfully, they seem to be like the Reaper Council, at least they do so far, and we haven’t been called into a meeting.”
“Shit, I almost forgot about the Reaper Council,” River mutters.
Coen frowns slightly as he tries to sift through all of the information that we’ve filled him in on. He looks at Raiden and asks, “That’s because of your wings and the massive amount of power that you let off when you saved Neith, right?”
Raiden smiles, “Yeah. They still haven’t called me in about it.”
“Is it normal for it to take this long?” I ask.
“Yeah, pretty much. They’re in no rush, and with my dad on the council, they’re especially not in any rush.
He will be telling them that it was a fluke and that the power spike didn’t come from me, and after I played down my power during the Choosing, I will have hopefully moved even further down the list,” Raiden explains.
“Will they even bother to call you?” Coen asks.
Raiden nods, “Yeah, unfortunately, because of who I am, they will call me, but hopefully it won’t be for a while.”
“Let’s hope not,” Ransom smiles.
River picks up one of the books, “Is there any point in us actually reading these?”
I shake my head, “Not unless we want a story book, I suppose. We already know that none of the information is correct.”
“So it's just a big waste of time, and the only thing that the Elders have achieved by giving them to us is to make us even more wary of them,” Evander says.
“Which is probably the opposite of what they were intending to do, by giving us the books and appearing like they were being helpful,” River points out.
I chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right. They’re underestimating us, and I would like to keep it that way.”
“Actually, now that I think about it, I think I will read the books,” Raiden says as he starts to gather them.
“I think it would be a good idea to know what kind of fake information they’re trying to give us.
We’re going to be in a meeting with them at some point, and it would be a good idea to know if what they tell us in person is different from what the books say. ”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Reed frowns. “It’s a good idea, the information that they have given us will give us an idea of what they want us to feel about angels.”
Raiden nods, “Exactly. If they’re painting them as a threat, then we know where they stand and how they’re likely to react to Neith.”
“Also, what kinds of restrictions that they may try to impose on her for her own good?” Coen growls, making bunny ears when he says own good.
“I think it’s definitely a good idea for you not to hide what you really are, like they recommended that you do,” Griff says thoughtfully.
“Agreed,” Doc says. “Your mom didn’t hide who she really was, and I think that it makes you harder to control if everyone knows what you are. I also think that it’s becoming increasingly more obvious that the Elders have their own agenda, one that most likely involves controlling you in some way.”
“Most likely through fear,” Griff mutters angrily.
River nods, “Yeah, I agree with that. We just need to be overly cautious. At the moment, the Blue Fucker is the biggest threat, and the Elders are just trying to get us on their side, but we need to pay attention in case that changes.”
I nod, “That sounds good to me. One thing at a time.”
There’s a chorus of agreements around the table, before everyone falls silent again.
We’ve got so much on our plate at the moment that I think if we try to focus on too much at once, then we’re going to feel overwhelmed and start dropping things.
So, one day at a time.
“Wait, what about Bobby?” Griff suddenly asks, interrupting the silence.
I frown, confused, since we weren’t talking about anything to do with Bobby as I ask, “Who?”
“Your boss where you used to work, not the HID dickhead,” Griff clarifies.
My nose crinkles. I still have no idea where he’s going with this, “What about Bobby?”