Page 37

Neith

“O h okay, so it’s warded then. We’re going to have to figure out how to take the ward off before we grab it and replace it with another one,” River says, with a slight frown.

Ribit shakes her head, “Not necessarily, it might just be warded against the dead, but you should be able to figure out what it’s warded against when you’ve got the description and can do some proper research on it.”

“Do you think that you could describe it?” Ransom asks hopefully.

Ribit nods, “Yeah, absolutely. I could draw it for you exactly, but for obvious reasons, I won’t be able to hold the pencil long enough to actually draw it.

I can manipulate things around me for a short amount of time, but I won’t be able to do it for the length of time that it will take to draw a proper, detailed rendition of the pendant.

” She pauses, and then carries on with a slight frown, “I suppose I could draw it in stages for you, but honestly, that will take me quite a long time to do and I don’t want to delay you any more than I have to. ”

“Don’t worry, we’re just grateful that you were able to get a better look at it than any of us could. It gives us a good point to start from, and if you can describe it well enough, then Ransom should be able to draw it,” Van says.

“You draw?” I ask Ransom.

He smiles, “A little bit. I’m rusty, and it is always difficult to follow someone else’s description.”

Raiden clears his throat and looks slightly uncomfortable, “If you’re comfortable with it, and it is completely fine if you’re not, I could help you have enough strength in order to draw it yourself. I have to warn you that I would need to be in my full reaper form.”

“You can?” Griff asks.

Raiden nods, “Yeah, I have done it for souls before. Sometimes they want to write letters to their loved ones, as if they were alive. It’s happened when someone has died suddenly, and they wanted to somehow lessen the blow of their sudden death by leaving their loved ones a letter to find in their belongings. ”

“I have never heard of that,” Doc says.

“That’s because it’s not a normal thing to be able to do,” Ribit says, looking intrigued. “Reapers, normal ones, aren’t able to do that.”

Raiden shrugs, “I only found out that I could do it by accident, maybe no other reapers have tried.”

“I doubt that’s the reason, you’re all a lot more than even you guys realize,” she replies.

“What do you mean?” Reed asks, his eyebrows rising slightly as he watches her with caution.

This time it’s her who shrugs, “The dead know things, and they’re gossips.” It’s the only answer that she’s willing to give because she then changes the subject: “What exactly will it entail?”

“I have to shift, and then all I do is place my hand on your shoulder, my magic will help you to stay present long enough to do the drawing,” Raiden explains.

“There is really no pressure though, Ransom is better at drawing than he made out he was, and with your help he should be able to do a pretty good rendition of the necklace.”

Ribit smiles, “I’m happy to have you use your magic, it would be so much quicker than trying to explain it and making sure that I remember every little detail.

If I’m completely honest, I have never been good at describing things.

Plus, it will take me ten minutes maximum to draw it if I’m not interrupted, and you guys really do need to get some sleep before tomorrow. ”

“All very good points,” Van agrees, glancing at Raiden.

“You’re sure?” Raiden checks one last time.

Ribit smiles, “Let’s do this.”

Raiden nods and points to a desk near the window. Ribit makes her way over to it and takes a seat, although she’s not actually sitting on it, and Reed rummages through the drawers, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper, laying them in front of her.

“Ready?” Raiden asks, and Ribit nods.

Her eyes widen as he drops his human form, and I have to admit that mine do too, because I swear that last time I saw him in this form, he was shorter, his robes were grey, and he didn’t have wings. His gorgeous wings are folded neatly on his back, as he towers over even Reed.

“Well shit dude, you’re even fucking bigger,” River exclaims.

Raiden chuckles, but the sound is deeper than his usual voice, and it does something to me that has my thighs clenching, well damn.

“So fucking hot,” I mutter and Raiden’s hooded head turns in my direction, all I can see is his eyes, a constant swirl of stars watching me with surprise.

Reed chuckles, clearly amused by my reaction, and then gets us, or well, Raiden, back on track because I’m still watching him, waiting for him to speak again. “Let’s get this done as quickly as we can, then.”

Raiden nods and places his hand on Ribit’s shoulder.

“Wow, you’re crazy powerful,” she mutters. “Not really surprising though.”

Before any of us can question her, even though we know that she most likely won’t answer, she ducks her head over the piece of paper and picks up the pen.

At first, her hand flies over the page, but as she adds more details, she slows down, clearly making sure that she is getting every part of it right.

I have to admit that it’s impressive to watch, and while I was expecting her to be able to draw to some extent, since she was the one who suggested that she could draw it, I didn’t expect her to be able to draw as well as she is.

Her expression is so peaceful, making it obvious that this is something that she really loves to do, and maybe even hasn’t been able to for a long time.

Can the dead draw? Like by using things from their plane of existence rather than ours?

She’s mentioned that the dead are gossips, so that means that she can at least talk to the other dead, even if she doesn’t actually want to cross over.

I suppose it would be a question to either ask her or ask Winston, because he should know.

I am really missing my sarcastic little friend, and I hope that he makes a reappearance soon. I haven’t even seen Wallace, or the fox that was beginning to make a regular appearance at the house.

“Can spirit guides not come here?” I ask suddenly in the silence of the room, without meaning to.

Ribit looks up at me, “Spirit guides are allowed in the realm, but they aren’t allowed to be a part of the Choosing.

Any participant of the Choosing who has a spirit guide won’t be able to get in contact with them because it is seen as an unfair advantage.

The Choosing is incredibly powerful and actually blocks the spirit guides, so they couldn’t get through even if they wanted to. ”

“Oh, we never knew that,” River says with a frown.

Ribit shrugs and goes back to her drawing as she answers, “It’s not common knowledge since very few supes actually have a spirit guide. No one knows who you are, so no one would have thought to tell you about it.”

“Who I am?” I ask with a smile.

She rolls her eyes, “Oh come on, you know I know who your parents are,” she pauses and then smiles and adds, “and a couple of other things that I won’t be sharing. Now hush, I’m concentrating.”

I share a smile with Doc, who happens to catch my eye, and no one dares to say anything else.

It only takes her five more minutes, and then she leans back in her seat and smiles down at the drawing, “Done.”

Raiden immediately lets go of her shoulder and shifts back to his human form. I must not keep my disappointment off my face because he immediately strides over to me, and kisses me deeply, his hand threading through my hair and holding me in place.

Resting his head against mine, he says barely above a whisper, “I love your reaction to me in my shifted form.”

I grin, “That’s good because I’m going to need you to at least use that voice more often.”

His eyebrows rise in surprise, “Oh really.”

I nod.

“Erm, as interesting as this conversation is, you guys really should be getting some sleep, the trial planned for tomorrow is a big one,” Ribit interrupts.

Stepping back from Raiden, I give her an apologetic look, “Sorry.”

She smiles, “Oh please, don’t worry about it. I’m definitely not shy and retiring.”

“Thank fuck for that,” I grin.

My response startles a laugh out of her, and she gestures to the desk with the piece of paper on it, “That’s as good as I can get it.

I don’t think I forgot anything, but I will go back at some point and have another glance to make sure.

The best person to ask if it’s right is Coen, I bet that he knows exactly what it looks like.

You just need to make sure that Kylen doesn’t get suspicious, he will take it out on Coen. ”

My expression darkens, “We’ll make sure that he doesn’t find out.” I add with a sharp smile, “Or I’ll kill him.”

“I can help with that,” she replies with absolutely no hesitation at all and a smile that matches mine.

Before I can agree, and take her up on her offer though Griff interrupts.

Leveling me with a look, he says, “No killing him, at least not yet. That’s a last resort.”

I share a look with Ribit, and she smiles.

“What was that look?” Ransom asks suspiciously.

I try to look innocent, “Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you,” Doc adds, narrowing his eyes slightly and trying not to smile.

“Smart man,” Ribit replies immediately, and I burst out laughing.

The guys are all giving me looks, so I reassure them, “Don’t worry, I know that I can’t kill him unless we really don’t have a choice, I know that it could affect Coen negatively, and I would never do anything that would put him in harm’s way.”

“We know that, but we also know how much you want to help him and how the timeline is not great. We all hate it as well,” Van replies.

“I know,” I reply. “We will get him out, and Kylen will face the consequences of his actions.”

“If you do need my help while you’re here, let me know,” Ribit offers.

I smile and reach out, giving her a tight hug, “Thank you. You’ve helped us loads. I’ll come and see you after the trial tomorrow.”

She grins, “Deal.”