Page 3 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

I watch them all closely for their reactions, as I wring my hands nervously, I said far more than I ever intended to tell them, but it probably needed to be said at some point.

It probably didn’t need to be said right at this moment, but unlike normal people, I can’t control when my brain will spout some random shit that I then feel the need to deal with immediately.

They’re all just staring at me, and I’m really nervous that my ability to read their expressions has completely deserted me, as it usually does when I’m stressed. Which isn’t a good thing because I am absolutely certain that I will misunderstand something if I’m not careful.

I take a deep breath, try to calm down, and kick my expression understanding part of my brain back online.

“Okay, let’s take this point by point because I know how hard that was for you to say, and I know that you’re probably not able to read us very well right now, because you’re freaking out,” Coen says, proving how well he knows me.

“Stop panicking, Nene,” Van adds, as he moves forward and takes my hands, “deep breaths.”

I nod, and take some deep breaths, and he steps back and nods at Coen.

“We would never make you choose,” he says firmly.

“We wouldn’t do that to you,” Raiden adds and then looks around at the others, “we wouldn’t do it to each other either.”

“It would just be hurting us all to do that,” Ransom says. “We like sharing you. We like that you like all of us, and that you fit so well with us individually and as a family as well.”

“You’re ours,” River says, his eyes catching mine. His gaze fills with understanding, and he repeats, “You’re not just mine, you’re ours.”

“And before your mind goes elsewhere, because I know it’s about to,” Reed says, as he takes hold of my hand, “we are yours, only yours.”

“Making you choose between us hadn’t even crossed our minds, Nene,” Van adds gently.

“We promise that we will never put you in that position,” Griff says, and then adds, “and you should know that if you ever run off with no word or explanation, then we will come after you.”

I grin, “Good. If I run off with no word, then I’m not doing it willingly. You come and rescue me straight away.”

The guys chuckle.

“Deal,” Coen and River say together.

“Now for the second part, and the mate bit,” Reed says, raising his eyebrows, and my smile dims.

“Don’t look at us like that, Love,” Coen says, gently.

I shrug, “I can’t help it. I said that I understand that you are all going to get your mates, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to affect me when you do.”

“You’re it for us,” Reed says. “Demons don’t have mates or other halves, you’re mine.”

My eyes widen. I didn’t know that.

“Sirens get to choose their true mate, Nene, you refused to be in those classes when we got taught at the compound, or you would know that,” Van says, his eyebrow raised.

It was an argument that we had pretty regularly.

One of our only arguments actually. He wanted me to be in the classes or at least be able to tell me about them.

I refused to go, and every time that he tried to talk to me about them, I refused to listen.

Thankfully, I’ve grown out of that now, and I am more willing to listen than I was back then.

Raiden grins, “Reapers don’t have mates either. It’s actually a lot rarer in the supernatural world to have mates than the humans think it is. Apart from where the shifters are concerned, most shifters have mates.”

“Which you would know if you came to any of the supernatural lessons when we were kids,” Evander says with a smirk.

He’s waited twenty years to win that argument, talk about being stubborn. I try not to show him just how amused I am.

I stick my tongue out at him, “I was mad that I wasn’t a supernatural, and the kids were really fucking mean. I liked being in the trees or helping out instead.”

Understanding floods Evander’s eyes, “I know, Nene.”

Doc takes over the conversation, “Incubi don’t have mates as such, they have Bonded.

Bonded can only be another Incubus or Succubus, but it’s not supposed to be an uncontrollable thing, like some mate bonds.

We get a choice,” he frowns slightly as if something has just occurred to him, and I catch the look that he shares with Raiden.

Before I have a chance to ask anything, though, he continues, he makes sure that I’m looking at him when he adds sincerely, “You’re it for me, the only one. ”

We might have to discuss that later, because I’m reasonably sure that he’s going to need to feed, and that I won’t be enough to sustain him by myself.

I don’t allow that thought process to go any further.

I’m already on one spiral, let's not add another one.

Images of interconnecting spirals and me screaming uselessly as I hop from one spiral to the other flash through my mind and momentarily distract me.

My mind is so fucking weird sometimes.

Ransom nods and smiles at me, “Mages don’t have mates or bonded or anything really, Neith. You’ve got me for as long as you want me.”

“Forever?” I ask.

His eyes light up, “I’m good with that.”

“Dragons have mates,” Coen starts.

My heart sinks. I don’t know why it does because I know that dragons have mates.

It’s one of the reasons that I refused to take our relationship any further, or even acknowledge that we had a relationship in the first place.

I knew he was going to be taken away from me at some point, and I didn’t want to deal with how messy it would be.

I didn’t want to get hurt.

I somehow thought that if I pretended I didn’t have real feelings for him, or Dimitri actually, that it wouldn’t hurt as much.

I was stupid and very wrong.

He continues, “But I’ve been telling you for years that I’m not going anywhere, and I don’t want anyone else. I mean that. You’re mine, and I am so completely yours, Love.”

I nod. I know he means what he is saying, but I also know that a mate bond could overrule that.

I’ve seen it happen to childhood sweethearts, to couples that have a really solid foundation, and to ones that have been together for years.

One of them gets their mate, and it’s like none of that ever mattered.

It has destroyed people, and as I said, it is the reason why I refused to commit to Coen or Dimitri.

For now, he’s mine though, and although I know that it’s going to eventually hurt like a mother fucker, I’m going to focus on the now and not let what could happen years from now affect the present.

Some people might call it denial.

Some people can fuck off.

Griff smiles, “Gargoyles don’t have mates either. If you’ll have me, then I’m yours.”

I grin. “Yep, you’re mine.”

This has actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would. The only one that I have to worry about losing is Coen, which will kill me. But in dragon years, he’s still really young, so hopefully I’ve got a while before I have to worry about him finding his mate.

My eyes connect with his, and he easily reads the worry in them.

“Really, Love. There’s nothing to worry about,” he tries to reassure me.

Griff suddenly grunts, and we all look over at him, confused. His eyes are open, but they have turned completely black.

“He’s having a vision,” Van says with a slight frown. “He’s never looked like that when he’s had a vision before.”

“Well, he’s never been able to move whole fucking cliffsides before,” Reed points out, his eyes on Griff.

“This is lasting longer than usual,” Raiden frowns. “They’re usually a lot shorter than this. Just brief flashes and then he’s back.”

“Why do I feel like this isn’t a good thing?” Coen asks with a frown.

“Because these days things are usually problems and not good things?” Van retorts dryly.

“Should we do something?” I ask. It feels like we should be doing something, not just standing here and watching him.

Reed shrugs, “There’s not really anything that we can do, except maybe make sure that he doesn’t collapse or something.”

Reed’s words prompt them all to move closer to Griff, as Reed himself stands behind him in case Griff does collapse, so that he can catch him.

Suddenly, Griff’s eyes clear.

“Shit,” he curses as he rubs his eyes.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Coen comments sarcastically, and I chuckle.

Moving forward, I put my hand on Griff’s chest, “Are you okay? That looked pretty intense.”

Griff frowns, “It was really intense. The only other vision I’ve had like that is the one where I saw the hybrid chasing you.”

“So, the last proper vision that you had?” Doc questions thoughtfully.

Griff’s eyebrows dip down like he’s trying to remember, and he nods, “Yeah, actually it was. I’ve had feelings and things like that since then, but no proper visions since that one. Now that I think about it, I shouldn’t be having another vision at all. I never have them this close together.”

“We can figure it out. What was the vision?” River asks.

His eyes widen, and urgency crosses his expression, “There’s a wolf about the same age as we are. He’s barely alive. Derek severely beat him regularly. Tortured him, actually.”

River growls, and his expression darkens.

“Fuck,” Evander curses. “Do you know where he is?”

Griff shakes his head, “No. All I saw was that it was really dark, damp, and extremely cramped. He could barely move. He had enough room to sit and stand, but he couldn’t stretch his legs out or anything. Derek put him there a long time ago, years, I think, although I couldn’t tell you how many.”

“Okay,” Raiden says, his expression grim. “Is there anything else that you can tell us?”

The furrow between Griff’s eyes deepens as he tries to think back and remember everything that he can about the vision, “I know that he’s important, but I can’t tell you exactly why.”

“Because you don’t know, or because it’s one of the vision things?” Ransom asks.

“Because I don’t know. There are also a lot of spells layered over the top of wherever he is,” Griff says.