Page 45 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

“D o you want a hand?” I ask Coen, as I lean on the countertop that splits the kitchen from the dining room, and watch as he pulls out loads of different things from the cupboards. I have absolutely no idea what he’s intending to make, but it’s clear that he’s got a definite plan.

“Don’t you want to go and visit the kelpies?” Coen asks me as he glances over at me.

I shake my head, “It’s late, and it’s just started to rain. I think I’ll just head over to the lake in the morning. I’ll pack tonight, so I won’t have much to do tomorrow.”

Coen smiles, “In that case, I would love some help.”

“Awesome, just tell me where you need me,” I reply as I move around the counter.

His eyes heat, as he smirks, “Well, there’s a question.”

“I meant in the kitchen,” I retort with a grin, and when his eyebrows rise again, I add, “with the cooking.”

He bursts out laughing and pulls me close, kissing me and making me smile. When he pulls back, he puts me to work, and we’re soon moving around each other and preparing dinner like we’ve been doing it for years. I love it.

∞∞∞

It’s too cold to be traipsing through the damn woods, it’s also still raining and hasn’t actually stopped since yesterday.

All of the guys are busy finishing off their packing and making sure that they have absolutely everything that they could possibly need, because we have no idea how long we’re going to end up staying in Ireland for.

Not only do we have no idea how difficult it’s going to be to find Murray and Pete, or even if they really are in the same place or not, but Griff said that we’re going there for more reasons than that. So goodness knows how long we will be staying.

I am really looking forward to going back to House, it’s where I feel the most at home.

It has occurred to me that there aren’t enough bedrooms for everyone, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

People can double up, or we will use the various other rooms in the house and repurpose them as bedrooms, I’m sure House won’t mind. It just loves having company.

The rain is falling in sheets, and I would rather be anywhere other than walking through the woods, but I want to make sure that Mael and the others know that we’re leaving and where we’re going.

There is a small woods that has a pool, much smaller than the one that they have here, in the grounds of House. So if they want to, they can come and stay there too.

I would much rather that they were close. I don’t like the idea of leaving them all here while we are so far away, even though I know that we could call on them whenever we need to.

At the end of the day, it’s completely up to them and what they want to do, we don’t own them.

“Mael,” I greet warmly as he trots out of the lake and onto the shore.

He moves his big body so that he’s shielding me from the worst of the rain, and my smile widens even more.

He’s fucking awesome, I love him.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you since the whole flaming mess thing that I had going on,” I wince. I had almost forgotten about my naked, flaming dive into the icy depths of the lake.

Almost.

He snickers, and I know for a fact that he’s laughing at me.

“Nice,” I mutter sarcastically, and he nudges me in apology.

“Anyway, I came to tell you that we’re heading to Ireland indefinitely in a few hours.

There have been some developments that mean that we have to head over there.

I’m not going to bore you with the details.

We’re going to the same place that I called you to for the first time.

There is a lake on the land there, so if you want to, you can all come as well.

” I frown slightly, “I have to warn you though it is considerably smaller than this one.”

Mael seems to study me closely and then nods.

I have no idea what that means.

As I open my mouth to ask, though I swear he winks at me, and then he just disappears. Looking around to see where the fuck he’s gone, my mouth drops open in shock.

The lake has gone.

The huge lake that kelpies live in has completely disappeared, and left in its place are just trees. It’s like the lake never existed.

Has he just moved his entire lake to House? Is that even possible?

I’m not going to know until I get there later, but if Mael is capable of doing that, then it explains why the guys were confused about the lake being here in the first place. I stand there for another couple of minutes, just staring at the woods where the lake once was.

This is so weird.

As I turn around, my necklace heats and I freeze.

What the hell?

Why does my necklace feel hot?

Why does that seem like a familiar feeling to me?

“Go back to the house,” Wallace warns as he suddenly appears to my left, his back to me as he stares at something that I can’t see in the woods beyond.

Apparently, I can hear him without having to touch him anymore.

There is a moment where I consider arguing with him and asking him what’s going on, but honestly, we’ve got enough to deal with right now.

“You know what, no problem. Tell Winston I will be asking him about this at some point,” I warn Wallace.

“Understood. Now hurry, I will deal with this. There’s nothing to worry about,” he replies.

“Oh, I’m sure there is, but okay,” I reply bluntly.

Turning back around, I do as he asked and take off at a run.

It’s like his appearance has triggered my instincts to come back online because I definitely don’t feel as comfortable in these woods as I did a moment ago.

They seem darker, and a hell of a lot more dangerous than they did, and I love the woods. I am never uncomfortable in them.

I have this feeling that I just barely escaped with my life, and I had no idea that I was under threat in the first place, and that’s fucking terrifying.

I run faster.

Ransom

I know that I’m supposed to be packing all of this stuff up, and I did pack some of it up last night with Doc’s help, but I have no idea where I’m going to set this up at Neith’s place, and I don’t know how well everything is going to work there.

Plus, I really want to try and sort this ward thing out before we go so that the only thing I’ve got to work on while we’re there is the blood.

However, it’s still not fucking working.

In theory, the root of the plant that I picked up yesterday should easily bridge the gap between the two ingredients that are vital to the spell, but that won’t work together.

In theory.

In practice, they’re still not cooperating, and I can’t find a single logical, magical, or scientific reason for it.

It’s driving me fucking insane.

“Come on, there’s got to be a way to make this work,” I mutter out loud.

I’m aware that it makes me sound like a crazy, magical scientist, but there’s no one in here to hear me, so does it really matter?

I’ve known that I’m crazy for a long time.

It’s not news to me.

Sighing, I decide that it might just have to be something that I figure out at House. Ethel is ancient, I have absolutely no doubt about that, maybe she’s got some sort of idea on how to make it work.

Suddenly, a force grabs the front of my shirt and pulls.

I’m seconds away from blasting it with my magic when I realize that it is actually something to do with my magic, and I’m not being attacked by some kind of invisible force.

It takes me longer than I care to admit to figure out why something is pulling at me, and it even takes an extra strong pull that nearly has me landing on my face, to make me realize that it wants me to go with it.

Maybe I should have gone to sleep last night after all. In hindsight, it was pretty obvious that’s what it wanted. It’s just in my nature to fight and resist.

I have no idea what’s going on, or how this magic literally has hold of the front of my shirt, almost as if in a fist, but I have learned over the years that it’s a lot easier to just go with it when magic plays up like this.

It can be pretty stubborn and almost dangerous in that stubbornness as well.

My decision to follow it turns out not to be my choice after all, because it once again tugs me forward, and I have no choice but to follow it, wherever that may be.

Surprisingly, it pulls me out of the door of my workroom and further into the house.

Maybe this is Neith? Maybe she’s worked out a way to use her magic to get us when she wants us?

I frown. I wouldn’t mind that at all, but it would probably be easier for her to use a phone, and this doesn’t feel like Neith’s magic. Despite the short amount of time that she has had her magic for, I am familiar with the way that it feels.

It doesn’t feel like any of the other guys either, and the more that it pulls me through the hallways, the more certain I am that it’s something to do with my magic.

I think.

When we get to the doors of the library, it doesn’t wait for me to open them, nope, it throws them open dramatically, causing them to crash against the wall, and my eyebrows hit my hairline.

“What the hell?” Griff exclaims, looking up from where he’s reading a book and not packing like he should be.

“Careful of the doors, man,” Raiden exclaims, looking pissed as hell.

“It’s not me,” I reply as I’m pulled into the room.

“What do you mean it’s not you? Who else could it be?” Raiden retorts.

Griff frowns as I’m pulled past them.

“Something is pulling his shirt, look,” Griff points out as he gets up and follows me, Raiden quickly doing the same.

“What’s going on?” Raiden asks, all signs of his previous anger gone.

I shrug, “I’m not really fucking sure. It started in my workroom and has pulled me all the way here. I think it’s something to do with my magic, but my magic has never behaved like this, and I can’t be entirely sure that it is my magic.”

“What do we do?” Griff asks.

Raiden frowns, “I guess we see where it’s leading him.”

“What if it’s leading me somewhere dangerous?” I ask.

Griff raises his eyebrows, “You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”