Page 44 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)
“We never really spoke about River getting the call from Ahren,” Coen starts.
I grimace, “How did I forget about that?” I look over at River, “You’re stronger than he is. This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?”
River nods, “Honestly, yeah. I don’t see another way around it. The alpha in me will not let me submit to another shifter.”
“Which means, you’re going to end up as the leader of this territory,” Raiden points out. “That’s going to get complicated. I’ll have a look and see if I can find a way to suppress your alpha temporarily, or anything really that could help.”
River nods, “While I don’t like the idea of suppressing anything, I would much rather that than having to lead all of the shifters in this territory and everything that comes along with it.”
“I know,” Reed says. “We’ll figure it out.”
“We say that a lot,” I point out. “It’s become our catchphrase.”
He chuckles, “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Ahren did say that we had some time, so hopefully we can figure it out before we have to go,” Griff says, getting us back on track.
River nods, “Yeah, hopefully. For now, it can go down at the bottom of the list. We’ve got other things that are more urgent.”
“Sounds good,” Ransom agrees, while the rest of us nod.
“I’m going to let the kelpies know that we’re going so that they can head over to Ireland as well if they want to. I don’t want them to be left here, and I haven’t seen Mael for a while anyway, so I want to check in on them,” I say as the thought occurs to me.
“That’s a point actually, speaking of supernatural creatures that we’re leaving behind, we haven’t heard anything from the imps since before the Choosing when they gave you that necklace,” Raiden says as he gestures towards the necklace that I’ve gotten so used to wearing, I forget that I have it on most of the time.
I pick it up, studying the perfectly carved creature, “Considering the amount of trouble that they caused when I first arrived, I’m surprised that they haven’t made their presence known since we’ve been back from the Choosing.”
“I wonder where they are?” Doc asks.
“Or more importantly, maybe, what they are up to?” Reed asks, sounding rightfully suspicious.
I nod in agreement, “Reed’s right. I don’t trust them, for obvious reasons, and quite frankly, the longer that they stay gone, the better. I’ll be happy if we don’t run into them before we head to Ireland.”
“Well, it’s highly unlikely that we will see them before tomorrow afternoon,” Coen points out. "Although I would kind of like to meet tricky fuckers after everything that you’ve told me about them. Especially since you can apparently speak their language.”
“Yeah, that was weird,” I reply. “To be honest, everything to do with the imps is weird, and we haven’t really had the chance to figure out why they sent me to Luesidious or why they gave me the necklace, and I had to take it to the Choosing.
As far as I could tell, it didn’t help me in any obvious way. ”
A sharp pain shoots through my temple, and I wince slightly, but it's gone as quickly as it came, and I’m just left frowning.
That was weird.
“It’s in my notes to research,” Raiden tells me, frowning. “I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but if you need me to, I can put it at the top of the list?”
I shake my head, “No, it's okay. We’ve got far more pressing matters to deal with at the moment, and the imps aren’t causing any trouble. If they do pop up, then I suppose that we should look into them, but while they’re quiet, I think we should take that as a sign.”
“Neith’s right, there is a lot of other research that’s screaming at us, I don’t think we should bother with things that are just quietly waiting,” Doc agrees with me.
Raiden nods, “Fair point.”
“Right, we’ve got a lot to do,” Coen starts, as he stands up. “Everyone, go and pack and sort out what you need to before we leave tomorrow, and I’ll do dinner.”
“Thanks, man,” Evander grins.
Griff looks over at Raiden, “Do you want some help with packing up the books and your notes?”
Raiden’s smile is relieved as he nods, “Yes, please. I need someone to rein me in as well because otherwise I’m going to find a way to take the whole library with me.”
I smirk. I think he’s probably going to try to do that anyway, and I’m not sure that Griff is the right person to stop him from doing that, since I have very quickly learned that he loves books almost as much as Raiden does.
“If everyone can pile everything that we need to take but we can’t carry by the front door, then at least it will all be in the same place when I come back for it,” Doc suggests.
I frown slightly, “I would say that you could take it over before we head over through the portal, but I have no idea how House would react, and I’m not sure that you would be able to transport yourself there in the first place. House doesn’t play by the normal rules.”
Doc smiles and shakes his head, “I would rather not make House mad, I get the feeling that I may not survive that.”
Coen grins, “I can’t wait to meet House and Ethel.”
“They’re going to love you,” I tell him.
Doc chuckles and then looks over at worried-looking Ransom, “Do you want some help with the lab?”
Ransom nods, “Yes, please. I’ve got no idea how I’m going to pack everything securely enough that it’s not going to get damaged.”
“I can conjure some proper packing boxes for it all,” Doc suggests as they both start to leave the room.
“I’ll come and help too,” Reed offers, and Ransom smiles gratefully.
Everyone else quickly disperses to do the various things that they need to get done before tomorrow afternoon. I can guarantee that nothing is going to get finished tonight, but they can at least make a start.