Page 34 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

“I t does seem that our lives are pretty chaotic,” Coen agrees.

“And you’ve only been a part of the team again for a few days,” Ransom chuckles, making Coen’s smile widen.

“It’s like I never left,” he replies as he pulls open the door for us, and we walk in.

Neera looks up as we enter, and then does a double take, before she vaults over the counter like it's nothing and comes barreling toward me, hugging me tightly.

Weirdly, it doesn’t feel weird, it’s actually a very welcome hug.

“Neith,” she says. “What the fuckity fuck are you doing here? I thought we weren’t meeting until Sunday?” She pulls back her eyes wide. “Shit, it’s not Sunday, is it?”

I burst out laughing, “No, it’s not Sunday.”

“Thank fuck. I never want to watch you in the Choosing again. That was fucking intense. You should have seen Joey, he didn’t fucking sit still.”

“You guys watched it together?” I ask. “Wait, you remember that I was in the Choosing?”

She frowns, “Of course I do.”

“It must be because she’s close to you?” Raiden mutters.

I quickly explain to Neera what we’re muttering about, and she frowns.

“Huh, it makes sense, I guess. You wouldn’t be able to do your jobs properly if everyone remembered who you were,” she replies.

“Exactly,” River replies.

“Neera, we’re backing up over here!” someone calls from behind the counter.

“Oh, whoops,” Neera mutters and then rushes back the way that she came, although this time she chooses to go around the counter instead of over it.

We wait for a moment while she catches up with the drinks before we order ours.

“I’m really sorry, I’d love to catch up,” she starts with a frown.

I wave her off, “Don’t worry about it, we only came in to say hi and get a drink, we can catch up properly on Sunday.”

She grins, “Absolutely. I’ll text you later.”

I nod, “Definitely.”

The guys head toward the door, but I pause, that feeling skittering up my spine again.

“Everything okay?” Neera asks me, her expression serious.

“You’re extremely observant,” I mutter without meaning to.

She shrugs slightly, “I’ve had to be.”

My eyes scan the room, once again coming up with nothing. I move closer to the counter.

“Understood.” Leaning on the counter and smiling, I make sure that only she can see what I’m saying, and add, “Can you let me know if anyone follows me out?”

She nods and smiles, seemingly unconcerned, playing her part perfectly as she replies, “Of course I can.”

“Thanks, Neera. I’ll talk to you later,” I reply.

She nods and goes back to making drinks, her body language completely relaxed.

She’s got one hell of a story. I can just tell. She took my request in her stride, handled it perfectly, and did far better than most people would. It makes me wonder what kind of training she’s had, and she has definitely had some sort of training.

Not to mention her power signature is really fucking high. Although she’s concealed it enough that she would barely register as a supernatural, and I’m not sure whether me knowing how strong she is will freak her out.

Scratch that, I know it will.

Oh, on Sunday I’ll be able to show them my wings. Joey’s going to lose his shit, Navy probably already knows, and Neera will hopefully feel more comfortable around me.

Although I don’t think that she feels particularly uncomfortable.

I think I’m overthinking this.

Walking through the door, I catch up with the guys who have paused outside the door for me.

“Again?” Coen asks as he pulls me under his arm and kisses my temple.

I nod. “Yep.”

“What?” Reed asks.

“Let's get back to the van,” I reply.

Fortunately, Reed gets the hint and doesn’t think I’m just dismissing him. We don’t rush to get back to the van, there’s no need to, and it would be slightly suspicious if anyone is watching us if we suddenly started rushing to get back to the van.

When we do get there, it’s not until we’re on the move that Reed speaks again.

“What’s going on?”

“Probably nothing, but twice I felt like I was being intently watched, and I couldn’t work out who was watching me,” I reply. “The Voices weren’t going crazy, which is normally the sign that I’m in danger.”

“We need to teach you guys the signals that we came up with. Neith could have let you know then,” Coen says with a frown.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Doc says. He looks at me, “Did it feel threatening?”

“Not particularly,” I reply honestly.

“It might have just been someone curious about you?” Griff suggests. “They’re used to seeing us in town, but you’ve only been there once or twice, and you were with us, and they aren’t used to seeing us with anyone.”

I nod, “Yeah. Maybe.”

The sound of a cell phone ringing echoes through the van as we leave the main part of town, and we all look at each other.

“Oh, it’s mine,” River says, sounding surprised. He frowns when he pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the caller ID. “It’s Ahren.”

“Put it on speaker,” Evander orders. Switching over to professional mode. We were expecting this conversation, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be so soon.

“Ahren,” River greets.

“River,” Ahren says, with a warmth that makes me relax slightly. “I assume that I’m on speaker.”

I grin, “Hey, Ahren.”

“Little sister,” he replies. He sighs, “I’ll get straight to the point. I’m sorry. I’ve done everything I can to insist that this isn’t necessary, but my beta is insisting and has created unrest with my pack because of it.”

Ahren is the leader of all of the packs in this territory, but all of the packs still have their own alphas, like Asher’s pack. Ahren also has his own pack.

“I understand,” River replies.

“I’ve managed to put it off for a while, you have just come back from the Choosing, so that’s been an excellent excuse. But I’ve only managed to give you a few weeks, and then I need to see you at my pack house.”

“What happens at your pack house?” I ask tightly.

“In theory, it’s just an informal meeting to make sure that your strength is where it should be, and there’s no challenge to mine. If you’re stronger than me, your shifter won’t let you submit, and then we have a problem,” Ahren explains. “Hopefully, it’s not a problem.”

I share a worried look with the guys. River is stronger than Ahren, a lot stronger.

“Why is dickhead pushing for this?” I ask.

Ahren chuckles, he knows full well how I feel about his beta and doesn’t try to argue with me, “Honestly, I don’t know. If River is stronger, then he will just end up as beta for him. It doesn’t make much sense if I’m honest, and I am looking into it.”

“Good. I think that’s smart.”

“I’ll try to give you a couple of days notice before you have to be here,” he replies.

“Thanks,” River replies. His eyes are those of his kitsune, which is really not a good sign.

“No problem. Little sister, you did fucking awesome, you all did. I’ve been bragging about my little sis to anyone who still remembers,” he chuckles.

I laugh, “Thanks.”

“Does your beta remember?” Reed asks.

“Yeah, he does,” Ahren replies. There’s a bang in the background, and the sound of growling erupts. Ahren sighs, “Damn pups. I’ve got to go.”

Just like that, he’s gone.

I move, sitting on River’s lap, as he buries his head in my neck and takes a deep breath, the rumbling growl that he was making quieting.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Coen says sarcastically.

River chuckles, lifting his head from my neck, “No, it’s not. Just the suggestion of submitting to Ahren had my hackles rising. There’s no fucking way that I’m going to be able to submit.”

“Fuck,” Griff replies simply.

“We’re being followed,” Raiden suddenly interrupts from the front seat, his eyes glued to the side mirrors.

“Are you sure?” Reed asks, instantly alert.

Raiden nods, “Yeah, they followed us all the way from town.”

“Well, we can’t lead whoever it is back to the house,” Ransom points out.

I grin, “Well, in that case, I say we stop and ask them why they’re following us.”

Coen smirks, “I second that idea.”

“It could be someone to do with the Blue Fucker,” Griff points out.

“All the more reason to stop and confront them. It could be a lead, and fuck knows we need one of them,” River points out.

“Is everyone in agreement?” Evander asks.

“Yeah, let’s do this,” Doc grins. “I could do with letting off some steam.”

“You do realize that it’s one singular car that looks like it only has one person in it, so the chance of you getting a good fight in is pretty slim?” Raiden questions.

Doc shrugs, “You never know, they could be hopped up on something, and then we’d get a good fight.”

“I’d be concerned about your need for a fight if I weren’t exactly the same,” Reed points out with a smile and a shrug.

“Let's see what they want,” Van says as he pulls over.

Unsurprisingly, the car following us pulls over too, and we all jump out of the van, ready for anything.

With the sun hitting the windscreen of the car, I can’t see what the driver looks like, but whoever it is, they clearly aren’t bothered by the fact that there are so many of us because they don’t even hesitate to open the door and step out.

“Kar?” Coen says with surprise and then grins as he walks over to him and pulls him into a hug.

“Hey, man,” Kar greets him, his eyes twinkling. His gaze lands on me, “I don’t get a hug?”

I grin, “Just getting over the shock of seeing you.”

He wraps his arms around me in a huge bear hug, literally since he’s a bear shifter, “I’m so fucking glad you’re okay. I told him there’s no way that you were actually dead, but he wouldn’t hear it.”

I tense and pull back, glancing up at him with a raised eyebrow. We both know who he is talking about.

“Wait, Neith didn’t die in the Choosing,” Griff interrupts.

Karhu smiles at him, “No, she didn’t. I’m not talking about then, I’m talking about when Casimir ordered HID to kill Neith.”

“Who?” Reed barks.

“I think you need to start at the beginning, Kar. I can’t imagine that it’s a coincidence that you’re here,” Coen suggests. “I’d introduce you to everyone, but knowing you, there’s no point because you already know.”

Kar grins, “I do.”

“Should we ask?” Doc asks with his eyebrow raised and watching Kar cautiously.

“Kar is a genius when it comes to all things tech, and especially computers,” I explain.

“Thanks, Neith,” Kar grins. He glances at Coen and replies, “No, it’s not a coincidence.

We came into the country as soon as we realized that Neith was pulled into the Choosing,” Kar replies as he leans against the side of his car.

His gaze lands on me, “Dimitri has been under the control of Casimir. He gets injected with some sort of serum. He didn’t have time to tell me a lot, but he said that he’s figured out a way to fight the control, but that it takes a long time to break it. ”

“How the hell is someone controlling Dimitri?” I ask.

“You don’t seem as surprised or as combative as I thought you might be,” Kar replies, not answering my question.

“That’s because Dimitri mind melded with me, and I realized that he was being controlled, so we’ve discussed the possibility,” Coen explains.

“When the Choosing sent you back to his cell?” Kar asks, anger flashing through his eyes.

He doesn’t know as much as Dimitri and Coen, but he knows enough.

“Yeah,” I nod. This conversation is stirring up all kinds of feelings that I have absolutely no idea how to handle, but I can’t run away from them anymore, I can’t hide, I can’t bury it.

It’s time for me to face the situation properly.

I had really hoped that I had more time than this to get my head around it all, and what it means if Dimitri has been controlled and made to say and do all the horrible shit he has.

“It’s not a possibility, Neith, I’ve seen it in action,” Kar says.

“He got one of his feelings when we arrived here and had us split up. I saw him get arrested by SID, and I saw Casimir shoot him with a dart. The change that came over him was almost instantaneous. The good news is that while he’s in SID’s care, Casimir can’t get to him, so he should be able to fight off the effects. ”

“Why were you guys coming back into the country because Neith got into the Choosing?” River asks curiously.

I smirk, I can’t help it, I already have a pretty good inkling of why, and River’s eyebrows rise in surprise when he catches my expression.

“Dimitri was going to kill the other team,” Kar says with a shrug like it’s no big deal. “No team, no Choosing. No Choosing and Neith would be safe.”

River shrugs, “A good plan. I like it.”

“You’re SID,” Kar points out, although there’s a knowing glint in his gaze.

Doc shrugs, “Not where Neith’s safety is involved.”

“Good.”

“Okay, who is Casimir? He’s working with HID, wanted Neith dead, and is controlling one of the most dangerous criminals in the world currently,” Raiden says. His eyes widen, “Fucking hell, the Blue Fucker.”

Kar frowns, “Well, he has been blue.”

“Fuck,” Evander growls.

“Have you got a picture?” Reed asks.

Kar nods and pulls out his phone, making the guys eyebrows rise.

Kar’s phone is not one found on the market anywhere.

It has been designed by him and is crazy smart.

It’s pretty much a high-powered computer, security scanner, fingerprint scanner, and tons of other things that shouldn’t be possible to get into such a small device.

It's the most secure device on the whole planet and most likely the realms. He can access everything, and I do mean everything, from that small handheld device. It’s fucking impressive.

It only takes him a couple of seconds, and then he’s pulling up an image on his phone, “That’s the only one I have of him when he’s blue. He’s normally in some sort of disguise,” his nose wrinkles in disgust. “Usually smells like death, or chemicals.”

“The Blue Fucker. We finally have a name,” Ransom grins.

“You should know that he’s working with HID to get supernaturals.

I don’t know why, I’m not even sure that Dimitri does, but he does know more than I do.

He also ordered the hit on Neith.” Kar’s eyes cloud with darkness.

“I don’t know much, but he’s a fucking psychopath,” Kar looks at Coen, “not our kind of psychopath, the bad kind.”

“That much is obvious,” Coen replies.

“He’s really been controlled this whole time?” I ask. I’m aware that I’m probably focusing on the wrong thing, but people ordering my death really isn’t a new thing for me.