Page 11

Neith

I force myself to think back about what they actually saw, and I realize that it didn’t really expose much.

My secret Darkness Friend is still a secret, and nothing else was seen.

From an outside perspective, it just shows that at some point, I was imprisoned and that the guy was a psycho.

My memories try to push forward, and instead of allowing them to do so, I pull the memory of Coen and Dimitri pulling him apart, and killing him slowly and painfully.

That makes me smile.

“Thank you, Mabel,” I say sincerely.

She nods and then frowns slightly, “Unfortunately, you don’t get the day off from a trial. The Choosing has to last for seven days, five trial days, a rest day, and then the scroll day.”

“That’s okay,” Reed says. “We didn’t expect to get the day off.”

“We’re just extremely grateful that we managed to start the day slowly and not get immediately thrown into another trial,” Doc adds with a smile.

“Even if that wasn’t intentionally done by the Choosing, we’re still grateful,” Ransom says with a smile.

Mabel’s eyebrows rise slightly, “Oh, it was definitely intentionally done by the Choosing. Which is curious, since it has never done that before,” her gaze runs over me. “There must be something extremely special about you.”

“Yep, we certainly think so,” Evander replies without skipping a beat.

Mabel chuckles, “I can see that.” Becoming serious again, she says, looking at the guys, she continues, “I came to tell you that it’s your trial day, and I imagine that you will be getting pulled in fairly soon.” Looking at me, she says, “It’s also another trial day for you as well.”

I tense.

I can’t help it. I knew that there was a chance that I could have another trial, but having one directly after the last one that affected me so deeply was not something that I was prepared for.

Arms wrap around my waist, and I lean back into the chest of Ransom as he holds me tightly, calming me in a way that he probably doesn’t realize and I don’t fully understand.

“It’s not going to be the same thing,” he reassures me quietly.

Griff moves into my eyeline, “He’s right. The Choosing wouldn’t do two of the same trials, we know that it doesn’t do that, and I think that the fact that it has given you as much of a break as it has goes to show that it in some way cares, and won’t put you through that again.”

I study his expression, before he moves closer and still wrapped in Ransom’s arm’s I pretty much headbutt Griff’s chest making him chuckle as he drops a kiss on top of my head.

Glancing up at him again, his big palm cradles my jaw, and Ransom presses closer against my back, his lips moving to my neck, as Griff’s lips meet mine in a soft, but heated kiss.

The sensation of having two sets of lips on me immediately sets me on fire, my thighs clench as my clit pulses and I forget everything around me, and sink into them.

With surprising ease, they turn me and switch positions so that Griff is kissing my neck, and Ransom kisses me with such fire, and emotion, that my hands grip his shirt as I hold on for dear life.

Fuck me, these men can kiss.

A throat clearing pulls me out of my Griff and Ransom bubble, as Evander says in a heated voice, “Er, guys, as much as we’re loving this, I’m not sure Mabel needs to see it.”

I pull back as far as I can since I am still wedge between them, as my eyes widen, oh shit I forgot about Mabel.

“Feel better?” Ransom questions looking amused at my shocked expression.

I nod, and then bury my head in his shoulder, while I try to gain some composure and Griff tightens his arms around me from behind his chuckles vibrating through me and not really helping the situation.

After a few moments of soaking in their comfort, I stand back up straight, and they both move so that I can once again see Mabel, who although now looks fairly amused, has got that same worried frown that she had when I first opened the door.

“Sorry, Mabel,” I reply with a slight wince.

She chuckles, and waves her hand dismissively, “Ah, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” Becoming serious she adds, “Are you okay?”

“I’m good now,” I reply, offering her a smile.

I kind of mean what I say. Although I am still incredibly nervous, I don’t think that I could go through that again.

It felt so real. I couldn’t find any part of it that showed that it was an illusion, like you would usually find in one.

I think that’s what made me lose it completely.

If it wasn’t for the voices and their instructions, I don’t know what would have happened.

I do know that if I had experienced anything else, if I had seen his face, then I would not be functioning very well now, even with Dimitri and Coen’s help.

I would be pretty much useless for a good few days.

If it had gotten that far though, no amount of shouting from the voices would have pulled me out of it, and I would have died.

I would have come back, I would have lost the Choosing and who knows what that would entail.

Once again, the voices saved my life, possibly in more ways than I am aware of.

They’re back to their usual murmur now, and I get the feeling that it’s only in rare circumstances that they will actually talk to me, but I am so incredibly grateful that they decided to when they did.

“I shouldn’t tell you this,” Mabel starts, pulling me out of my thoughts as I refocus on her. She continues, “But, it won’t be like your last trial. It’s more physical than the last one.”

The tension drains out of me, and I smile gratefully, “Thank you. I don’t think I would have been able to get through today if you hadn’t told me that. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” she replies. “I’ll have some of the good snacks ready in your room for after the trial.”

My eyes well at the kindness that she’s showing me, “Thanks Mabel.”

“Of course,” she replies, and then clears her throat and straightens her skirts. “Now, enough of this. You kick ass today, you hear me.”

“I hear you,” I grin.

She nods sharply and then heads back out of the room, Castle opening the door for her and then locking it with magic once she’s gone.

“We need to head back to our room and make sure that we’ve got our weapons and things before we have to go to our trial,” Raiden says somewhat reluctantly.

I open my mouth to reply when the familiar magic builds in the air. I instinctively know that it’s the portal for my trial, and I call Asael and Betty to me, waving to the guys as I get pulled in.

Looking around me, I’m pleased to see that I’m in some kind of dense woodland, the trees don’t look like any that I have seen on the Earth Realm, but that doesn’t really mean much since I don’t really have that great knowledge of trees.

Reaching behind me, I put Asael on my back, the harness for him immediately appearing, but although I know that a harness will appear for Betty if I do the same thing, I can’t quite allow myself to let go of her.

She’s my safety blanket, and always has been.

For now, she’s going to remain in my hands until I work out what exactly we’re dealing with here.

I am aware that I need to protect Betty and not give away to anyone that she can make bullets that kill everything.

At least I think that she can. We don’t really know until we’ve tested that, but that’s something that needs to wait until after the Choosing, and when we’re not being broadcast to realms of supernaturals.

I slowly take in my surroundings, aware that something is going to happen, because otherwise, what would be the point of the trial?

As I do this, my mind drifts to Dimitri and Coen and the fact that they both saw my last trial.

Logically, I know that I shouldn’t do what I do next.

Dimitri is not the person that he once was, and allowing myself to pretend otherwise is only going to cause me pain.

I know that.

However, I can’t help myself, and as I slowly move forward, keeping my footsteps as light as possible, I flick my left hand, the one that isn’t gripping Betty tightly.

To anyone watching, it would just look like I’m fidgeting, or nervous and that’s the way that my energy is showing itself, but to Coen and Dimitri, it’s our sign, specifically a sign for each one, my way of thanking them both even though I can’t thank them in person.

For Dimitri, that’s because it wouldn’t be safe, and I would end up in some sort of emotional turmoil because of it.

For Coen, that’s because I have no idea when I will see him next, and if I do see him, I can’t exactly thank him for helping me because of the response and questions that would elicit from Kylen.

So for now, this is the best that I can do. This is the only thanks that I can give them both, and if they are watching, they will understand what it means.

The sound of a branch snapping to my left and further back instantly tells me that I am being hunted by something.

I smile, now this is the kind of shit that I can deal with. Being hunted through strange woods by something unknown is something that I am far more comfortable with than anything emotional or from my past.

Bring it on.

My steps don’t falter as I move forward in exactly the same way that I was. My instincts tingle, telling me that I’m not being stalked by only one thing. I don’t know exactly how many more, but it certainly brings the excitement level up even higher.

My fingers flex on Betty as I glance up into the trees. I know that whatever is stalking me is doing so from the ground. I heard the underbrush moving, that doesn’t mean that whatever is following me can’t climb, but it does mean that I might get some kind of advantage if I go up into the trees.