Page 36 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

“Y eah, you did,” I reply. “So, Dimitri knows about Casimir, aka the Blue Fucker.”

“It would appear so,” Evander says, watching me closely.

“I guess I need to go and talk to Dimitri then,” I say.

I need to. I may not be ready to speak about, well, everything, but we do need to know about Casimir as soon as fucking possible.

“And you want to see him,” my inner voice mutters.

Yes, I do. I want to see for myself if he’s back to normal. I want to see if I can look at him and not see the bad shit, that he may not have been in control of saying or doing. If he really is my Dimitri, or if this is some kind of big trick.

I don’t know what the end goal would be with that, but it is a possibility that’s playing on my mind.

If he’s in front of me, I’ll know for sure, even if he’s pretending.

So, yes, I do want to go and see him for my own benefit, as well as the benefit of finding out some more about Casimir. Hopefully, Dimitri knows where he is, and we can finally end this shit.

“Only if you want to,” Reed says firmly.

“You’ve got yourself a good lot here, lass,” Kar grins, his accent slipping through.

“I know. Are you okay?” I ask him, realizing that I didn’t ask him.

“You know me, I’m always good,” he smirks, his arms crossed over his chest. When I level him with a raised eyebrow look, he sighs and continues, “I really am okay. I’m just trying to figure out what to do now.

I have to lay low because I have absolutely no interest in being involved with Casimir, and that whole thing is going to fall apart without Dimitri anyway.

Not that I would stay if it didn’t. Casimir’s turned it into the complete opposite of what it was supposed to be. ”

“Literally,” Coen agrees. “We would have taken down something like this before, not been involved with it.”

“Exactly,” Kar agrees. He smirks as he looks over everyone, “I also have to lay low because of you guys, SID isn’t exactly happy with me.”

“We could probably do something about that,” Reed surprises me when he offers.

Kar shrugs, “Maybe at some point. Right this second, I can’t promise you that I’m not going to do anything illegal. If someone I care about is in danger and the only way to save them is to pull out someone’s spine through their mouth, I’m going to do it.”

River chuckles, “I like you. You speak my language.”

Kar’s eyebrows rise, and he glances at me, “I see why you like them. They’re as blood thirsty as you are.” He pauses, “Well, maybe not quite, but they’re close, it’s impressive.”

I smirk, “I couldn’t just be with anyone, could I?”

“Definitely not,” he replies.

“What if you worked for SID?” Evander suddenly asks.

Kar’s eyebrows hit his hairline, “Work for the good guys? Now there’s a novel idea.”

River grins, “Well, you get to pull people's spines through their mouths legally.”

Well, I’ll be damned.

“Some of us needed to join SID to assuage our violent tendencies in a way that meant that we didn’t all have to go on the run, and could do some good while we’re at it,” Raiden smirks.

Kar bursts out laughing, “So you’re not really good guys at all.”

Doc shrugs, “We follow the law, we help people, and we do our jobs.”

“But you love the violence a bit more than most,” Kar summarizes, and the guys all shrug, small smiles playing around their lips. Kar continues, “They’re perfect for you. Dimitri’s going to love them.”

I just smile, because I’m not really sure how the guys and Dimitri will get to the point where they’re liking each other.

Dimitri’s in prison and will be for a long time.

“So, what do you say?” Ransom asks.

“Can I think about it?” Kar asks, with a slight frown.

It surprises me that he’s seriously considering it, but honestly, it would be a good fit for him.

It would have been a good fit for Dimitri too.

Their morals may be slightly grey, violence is always their first go-to, for Dimi in particular, but they always want to protect and end up doing the right thing.

At least Dimi used to.

It’s a bit more complicated now.

“Of course you can,” Van replies.

“Thanks,” Kar replies.

“Oh shit,” I exclaim louder than I needed to, but something just occurred to me and I’m excited about it, which means, of course, I’m louder.

“Are you okay?” Griff asks with genuine concern.

“Yeah, I just had a thought, Kar, can you find someone for me?” I ask.

He scoffs, “Of course I fucking can. Oh, by the way, before I forget, I’m trying to locate Casimir as well, but it’s proving to be pretty fucking difficult.”

“Why do you look pleased by that?” Reed asks.

Kar’s smile widens, “It’s not often that I get a challenge like this. I will find him, make no mistake about that.” He looks back at me, “Who do you need me to find?”

“I don’t have much for you, I don’t even have a picture,” I warn him.

His eyes light up, “Another challenge, even better. I’m getting bored with the usual searches, and now I have two complicated cases, even fucking better.”

I chuckle, “His name is Pete, but he might be going under a different name. he was from my hometown, spent loads of time at Bobbys, and helped to buy my house.”

I reel off as much information as I possibly can, knowing that even the smallest, most insignificant detail could be the thing that tips it in my favor, and the thing that helps Kar find him. When I’m done, I give him my number.

He nods, “Got it. Give me a day or so, and I’ll have a location.”

“Seriously? On that little information?” Doc asks, sounding impressed.

Coen nods, “He’s a genius when it comes to this shit.”

“Thanks, man, so sweet,” Kar teases.

“Fuck you,” Coen retorts.

“Maybe another day,” Kar fires back, making me and the guys burst out laughing as Coen rolls his eyes. Kar continues, “Right now, I have somewhere I need to be, and thanks to Neith’s freakout, I now need to change. I’ve got a date with a pretty pink-haired barista.”

My eyes narrow, “Neera?”

Surprise lights his eyes, “Yeah, that’s her. You know her?”

“She’s a friend, a really good friend. Don’t do your usual with her, Kar, or I’ll skin you alive,” I tell him.

He knows I’m not joking, and he nods, “I won’t.” Hesitating, he adds, “I like her.”

“Really?” Coen asks, sounding surprised.

“Yeah,” he replies, sounding as confused about his reply as Coen and I are.

Kar doesn’t do feelings or relationships. Ever.

No exceptions.

Well, apparently, except for Neera, and isn’t that interesting?

I grin, “She’s going to eat you alive.”

“I fucking hope so,” he grins. “See ya, I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”

“Kar, stay in touch properly this time,” I reply.

He nods, “I can do that.”

We all jump back into the van as Kar turns his car around and heads back into town.

I immediately pull out my phone and text Neera.

“Give me a second and I’ll have us all dry again,” Van says as scales ripple across his arms and all the moisture is pulled from our clothes.

“Thank you,” I grin, as I lean over the seat and kiss his cheek.

He smiles, “You’re welcome.”

While the guys thank Evander, I pull out my phone.

Me: Have fun with Karhu.

Neera: How the fuck do you know about Karhu?

Me: We go way back, he’s like family. You’ll be safe with him . . . I threatened to skin him if he hurt you.

Neera: This is why I love you. Seriously, thank you.

Me: I’ve got you. Now go have fun.

Neera: Yes, ma’am. You didn’t get followed out of the coffee shop by the way, obviously otherwise I would have told you.

Me: Thanks. It was actually Kar following us, so nothing to worry about. Have fun on your date!

“Well, that was more eventful than I thought it was going to be,” River says. “I like Kar.”

“Me too,” Reed grins.

“Kar is good people,” Coen agrees. “Technically, I’ve known him for as long as I’ve known you guys, roughly. Although there were a good few years where we didn’t see each other.”

“What’s the plan, Nene?” Van asks me.

“Call Ty, we need to get in to see Dimitri as soon as possible,” I reply with surety.

Van doesn’t question me, he doesn’t double check, he just nods and gets Ty’s contact up, the sound of ringing echoing through the van.

“Guys, I didn’t expect a call today. What’s up?” Ty answers almost immediately.

“Neith wants to meet with Dimitri. We’ve had some new information come to light, and we need to talk to him as soon as possible,” Evander replies, getting straight to the point.

“Of course. I can get you in to see him tomorrow morning. Is that too soon?”

A shiver of excitement goes through me, and I frown. Oh, this is not good. Van glances back at me, and I nod.

“Yeah, that’s fine, we’ll be there,” Evander replies.

“I can only let two of you in with him at the same time,” Ty reminds everyone.

“We know the protocol, Ty,” Reed replies.

“Just making sure,” Ty replies. “I’ll have everything ready for you.”

“Thanks,” Van says. “One more thing while we have you.”

“What’s up?” Ty asks curiously.

I have to admit that I’m slightly curious as well because I have absolutely no idea what Van is going to ask him.

“I sent you a text, but you must have missed it. When we went into town, we noticed that no one really paid attention to us, which we were grateful for, but it surprised us because of the Choosing. Raiden mentioned something about everyone forgetting,” Evander says.

“I’m sorry, I thought I had mentioned it. Yes, Raiden is right. The general population forgets who took part in the Choosing. It’s actually a fairly new thing,” Ty explains.

“What do you mean?” I ask curiously.

“Well, the Choosing was never broadcast like it is now, so it was never an issue. We’re not actually sure why it changed when Trieneliea closed down.

It’s just another thing that we’ve had to get used to.

Everyone knew that those who won the Choosing and became Warrior Bonded teams got a mark that identified them as such, but unless the warrior showed someone their mark, no one would know that they were a part of a Warrior Bonded team,” Ty explains.

“That makes so much more sense,” Reed says. “I was trying to wrap my head around why anything would think it was a good idea to let every supernatural, including criminals, know that they were now most likely coming after them. It just didn’t make sense.”

“It still doesn’t,” Ty agrees. “Like I said, everyone gets to watch the Choosing now, and although most forget who was involved, they just know that a Choosing happened, and someone won. Some don’t forget, and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for who gets to remember.

Which means there are most likely some supernaturals out there who we really don’t want to remember who you are and what you’re capable of that who do remeber. ”

“Well, that’s great news,” Coen says sarcastically, and I smirk.

“I’d put money on the fact that the Blue Fucker is one of the supernaturals that know,” Doc says, his eyebrow raised, and looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“That’s why HID is staking out your hometown, because how else would they know that you were alive without the Blue Fucker telling them that you were.

They’re human, they can’t watch the Choosing. ”

“Fuck,” I curse.

Ty sighs, “That would be a probable scenario.”

“Awesome,” Raiden says.

“Sorry, guys,” Ty says. “I wish there were something that we could do, but there have only been a few Choosings, including yours, since Trieneliea shut, and we don’t know why they’re suddenly being broadcast. We actually have a team working on it at the Training Academy, but they have very little data to work from. ”

“Do they remember them?” I ask.

“Yes, again, we don’t know why they do. They aren’t high-ranking, they aren’t supernaturals in places of power. There is no rhyme or reason for it,” Ty replies.

“That explains why Neera, Joey, and Navy remember,” I mutter.

“They do?” Ty asks, sounding surprised.

“Yeah, they seem to,” I reply.

“Maybe it’s because they’re all close with Neith?” Raiden suggests.

Ty hums, “Possibly.”

He doesn’t sound too sure, and to be honest, I’m not too sure about the suggestion either. However, I know next to nothing about this subject, so I could be completely wrong.

“At least the majority of people don’t know who we are, so we can still do our jobs,” Evander reasons.

“Yes. I’ll get everything set up for tomorrow morning so you can go and see Dimitri,” Ty changes the subject.

“Thanks, man,” Evander replies. “We’ll fill you in on what we find out after we’ve spoken to him.”

“Great,” Ty replies and then hangs up.

Evander stares at his phone for a moment, frowning, “We need to figure this whole Dimitri thing out pretty fucking quickly, because I immediately started thinking of ways that we could break him out.”

“Yeah, there’s definitely something weird going on,” Coen says with surprise at Evander’s admission. “Also, I meant to ask, but shit happened, have you told Ty that Dimitri’s a hellhound?”

The guys all shake their heads, and Coen’s shoulders drop with relief.

“We can’t,” Reed says.

Coen’s eyebrows rise as he leans forward in his seat so he can see Reed better, “What do you mean you can’t?”

“I mean, we tried to tell Ty because it seemed like something that he should know, and information that the team who were bringing him in should have, but several of us tried and we physically couldn’t say anything,” Reed explains.

“I was in the lab with him, looking at him, and I couldn’t say a word. ”

“I didn’t want to tell Ty, not really,” River admits. “It felt almost like it would to tell someone about some of our more unique abilities.”

Raiden nods, “That’s it. It felt as if I were telling everyone that River actually had nine tails. I mean, no one but the people in this van knows that.”

Coen’s eyebrows rise even higher, “Seriously? You all felt like that?”

The guys all nod.

“Oh, there absolutely has to be something more going on. I can’t think of a single reason why you would hold that kind of loyalty to Dimitri, especially since you know how he treated Neith,” Coen says thoughtfully.

“Yeah, the question is what? And why?” River asks.

“Fuck knows,” Ransom mutters.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out as they continue their conversation.

Navy: I’m really sorry, guys, I’m not going to be able to make it on Sunday. I have a job that’s proving tricky.

Joey: I can’t either, and for the same reason.

Me: That’s okay, we can arrange it for another time. Eventually, we’re all going to get together.