Page 16 of Forgotten Arcane (Broken Ashes #6)

Neith

I t seems to quickly assess the situation before leaping into my flaming arms, and causing me to panic for a second that it’s going to burn, but my fire doesn’t seem to affect it at all, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Was that the fox spirit guide?” I hear Doc ask.

As I’m about to answer, magic that isn’t mine builds in the air, and with a pop, I suddenly find myself outside, still on fire, and it takes me a moment to realize where my little fox friend has taken me.

Looking around, I realize that I’m floating above the kelpie lake, and that Mael is obviously tuned into my presence because I can see him bobbing in the water below me.

I’m still on fire. Have I mentioned that, it seems like an important thing to keep reminding myself, even though it’s pretty fucking obvious that I am on fire, and I’m not likely to forget it any time soon.

I’m going to call it a weird coping mechanism, along with my rambling thoughts.

Looking at the fox in my arms, I say, “I thought if I calmed down, I wouldn’t still be on fire. I thought controlling my emotions would help?”

The fox nods, moving out of my arms so that she’s floating in front of me instead, and I’m shocked when she speaks, “Yes, that does usually help, but you have to put thought and intention behind what you want your magic to do. Simply calming down won’t help, not in a situation like this where you were so panicked to begin with. ”

I just stare at her for a moment, and then ask somewhat indignantly, and slightly offendedly, “You’ve been able to talk this whole time but instead chose to just eyeroll at me whenever I spoke to you?”

Amusement fills her eyes, “No, it’s only since you’ve had your magic unlocked that I’ve been able to speak to you. As I am sure you are aware of by now, all of us spirit guides work differently, and we’re all helping you with different things.”

“Oh,” I reply and then smile. “I guess that’s not too bad then. What’s your name?”

“Senka,” the fox replies.

I smile, “That’s a beautiful name.”

“Thank you,” she replies. “Now, do you want to know how to get down?”

My eyes widen slightly, “Shit. How the fuck did I forget that I was on fire and floating several feet above the ground?”

Senka gives me a look, “I’m not entirely sure, but you do seem to have a,” she pauses for a moment, “let’s call it a gift for being able to distract yourself in pretty much any situation that you find yourself in.”

I shrug my fiery shoulders, “Fair point. I’m not even offended by that, it’s a very true statement. Alright, how do I do this?”

“It’s pretty simple actually. You just need to think of your magic and the fire it’s creating, and then pull it back,” she explains.

“Oh, easy,” I reply as I do just that.

“Wait!” she says, but it’s too late.

I’ve already pulled my magic back, and a squeak of panic leaves me as I hurtle toward the lake below me. The icy depths of the lake consume me, but Mael is right there, and he nudges me to help me get on his back, before we break the surface of the water .

It will never cease to amaze me how he now has a bridle, reins, and a saddle, all of them beautifully designed with gemstones and engravings that, when I get the chance, I’m looking forward to studying closer.

I try to get my bearings and spot the guys waiting for me on the shore.

Huge grins on all of their faces, and looking quite amused.

I’m guessing that they saw my unceremonious drop into the water.

I grin, I reckon it’s going to be a while before they let me live that down.

The water around Mael and me churns, and more kelpies start swimming to the shore alongside us.

A quick glance at them shows me that they’re the guys' ones.

When I get to the shore, Doc hands me a pair of shorts and a tank.

“Thank you,” I reply gratefully. I have absolutely no problem with being naked around people under my own terms, but I had no control over this, plus it's too damn cold to be standing out here wet and naked.

Pulling on the clothes, I say, “This is not the way that I wanted you guys to see me naked for the first time.”

Reed smirks, “I thought you were super hot.”

I burst out laughing at the bad pun.

“Are you okay?” Griff asks me, still smiling at Reed’s joke.

I nod, “Yeah. I am now, but I was really freaked out when I woke up floating.”

Senka appears in front of me, and I point at her, “You could have told me to pull my magic back slowly.”

Senka raises one of her eyebrows, “I tried to warn you. It’s not my fault that you rushed into it without waiting until I was done explaining.”

“One of your spirit guides, I presume?” Coen asks, his expression slightly shocked.

Out of all of the spirit guides, Senka looks the most spirit-like, especially at the moment, since she’s semi-translucent and floating in the air.

I nod, “Yeah, this is Senka. She finally told me her name.”

“She’s been able to talk this whole time?” Ransom asks, looking as offended at the prospect as I did when I first realized.

“They can’t understand me, but they can obviously hear that I’m talking,” Senka says.

Raiden’s eyebrow raises slightly, “I can.”

This time it’s Senka’s turn to look shocked as she looks at Raiden, and does a little foxy frown, “You shouldn’t be able to. Even with the Gods enhancing your gifts, you shouldn’t be able to understand me.”

River clears his throat, “I can understand you, too.”

“So can I,” Ransom adds.

She looks around at all the guys, “Can you all understand me?”

They all nod.

I chuckle when Mael does as well, and pat his neck, “That’s pretty awesome that you can understand her.”

Mael snorts in reply and leans into my hand for more pets. The guy’s kelpies are all doing the same thing, and there’s even one nudging Coen for pets. His color is as bright as the rest of our kelpies, and I’m pretty sure that I can guess why.

“Well, I was not expecting that. I will have to inform Winston,” she replies.

“When is he coming back?” I ask, “I miss the snarky bastard.”

Senka chuckles, “He should be back in the next couple of days.”

I grin, “That’s great.”

She nods and then disappears without even saying goodbye.

“She’s a bit more blunt than the others, isn’t she?” Van asks with a smile.

I nod, “Yep. She did at least help me though, and it was her magic that brought me out here, so I wouldn’t burn the house down.”

“Erm, guys, should I know that this kelpie is called Drabek?” Coen suddenly asks as he strokes the nose of the dark red kelpie.

I grin, “Yep. That means he’s yours.”

“Mine?” Coen asks with his eyes wide.

Raiden nods, “Yeah, you know that we said that the kelpies are bonded to us, and what that all means?”

Coen nods, “Vaguely. There was a lot of information thrown at me, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around most of it.”

River chuckles, “That’s understandable. I think most of us are still trying to wrap our heads around some things.”

“True,” Raiden agrees. “Anyway, the fact that you know his name means that he is your bonded kelpie.”

“Congrats, man,” Evander says, with a broad grin.

Raiden quickly explains about the whistles and calling him, and Coen’s smile gets wider.

Before anyone can suggest it, Coen swings up onto his kelpie's back with ease and takes off. My smile is huge as I hear him whooping with joy as he races through the woods. River jumps up onto Reath and takes off after him, and soon I can hear both of them yelling and laughing.

“Well, Coen didn’t take long to get used to the idea of his kelpie,” Van chuckles.

“Nope, but the kelpies all liked him when we were in the Choosing on our last task,” Griff points out.

“That’s a good point,” Ransom agrees.

I yawn, “I’m going to go back to the house. I didn’t get nearly enough sleep, and now I need a shower too since I landed in the lake.”

Raiden nods, “Yeah, let’s all head back. River and Coen will come back when they’re ready.”

We all say goodbye to our kelpies, and I thank Mael for rescuing me again, and then we head back to the house.

∞∞∞

I have no idea what time River and Coen came back last night, but I woke up with them both wrapped around me this morning, and after having an argument with my bladder, I lost and had to very slowly extract myself from in between them so I could pee.

“Morning, Nene,” Van greets me as I walk into the kitchen, having also lost a fight with my stomach.

I’m not doing very well this morning.

“Hey,” I smile.

Reed hands me a coffee, made exactly how I like it, and Ransom points to a plate already on the table filled with my favorite breakfast foods.

“You guys are so awesome,” I grin, as I take a seat and immediately start eating.

“We know,” Doc replies with a smile as he sips his own coffee..

“We’re going to be practicing flying today,” Raiden says excitedly. “You’re going to need as much energy as you can get.”

“He’s right,” Griff adds. “When you’re first learning to fly, you burn through a lot of energy.”

I nod, “That makes sense, to be honest. I’m good with that, I’ll never turn down an excuse to eat.”

“Me neither,” River grins as he walks into the room with a sleepy looking Coen trailing behind him.

They both reach me at the same time, and like it’s the most natural thing in the world, River kisses me on my left cheek, and Coen kisses me on my right.

A sudden image of them both in bed with me appears in my mind, my clit pulses with need and I clench my thighs as I try really hard not to let what I’m currently feeling show on my face.

Of course, as River and Coen take their seats, my eyes catch Doc’s golden ones, and instead of getting embarrassed, I shrug and smirk as I take another bite of bacon.

“Trouble,” he mouths, and I grin.

The best kind of trouble though. The kind of trouble where I end up in bed with two of my gorgeous men is the kind of trouble that I want to be in for a change.

“So,” River starts. “Neith can set herself on fire.”

I grimace, “Apparently. I really hope I don’t spontaneously combust at any point, again. That was not pleasant, especially since I didn’t know what was going on, and if it hadn’t been for Senka, I would have ended up burning the house down.”

“I’ve got a fire gift,” River replies. “It shouldn’t take you too long to control it, especially since your fire appears to listen to you.”

“Not really. I didn’t tell it to engulf me in flames,” I reply.

Raiden nods, “No, you didn’t, but you did want to be covered up, and your fire did that for you. The more you practice with it, the easier it will be to control, and to give it the right commands.”

My eyes widen as a thought occurs to me, “Oh my goddess, do you think I could shoot flames like a flamethrower? That would be so fucking cool.”

Coen chuckles. “I’m not sure that you should do that, but you may be able to, it will depend on how your fire works.”

“I can do that with mine,” River grins excitedly. “But, it took me quite a while to figure out how to control that. As you can imagine, fire is one of the more difficult elements to control since it has a mind of its own.”

I nod, “Yeah, fire is volatile to say the least, so that makes sense to me. I’m going to have to be careful when I practice with it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help,” River offers.

“And I will make sure that you don’t accidentally set anything on fire,” Ransom adds.

“That’s smart,” I grin. “The floating thing wasn’t anything to do with my wings was it? They weren’t out, and I think I probably would have panicked less if they were.”

Reed shakes his head, “No, it didn’t have anything to do with your wings. It must be another part of being an angel. We need to do some research on it.”

“I’ll have a look and see if I can find any books in my library, but it’s like Lucius said, books on angels are really rare, so it’s unlikely that I have any,” Raiden adds.

“Thank you.” I reply, “I want to do the research, obviously, but first I want to do some flying practice.”

All of the guys smile at my obvious excitement.

“Sounds good to me,” Doc replies.

It doesn’t take much longer to finish breakfast, and then we all make our way outside so that we can practice flying.

It really only needs to be Reed, Griff, Coen, Raiden, and me heading out since we’re the only ones with wings, but the others want to watch and see how well or how badly, I do.

Nerves are swimming in my belly, and I shake out my hands to try and get rid of some of my nervous tension.

Ransom catches my hand and kisses the back of it, before he pulls me into his arms.

“You’re going to do great,” he says, while the others carry on walking further away from the house.

The fewer obstacles in the way when I fly for the first time, the better as far as I’m concerned.

“I’m going to fall on my ass,” I retort.

He chuckles, “We won’t let that happen. One of us will catch you.”

I grin, “Yeah, that’s true.”

“You’ve got this, Beautiful,” he grins.

“Kiss me?” I ask, although it’s more like a demand than a question.

His smile widens, and he pulls me closer. His kiss starts off sweet, but quickly turns heated as his tongue tangles with mine, and by the time that we break the kiss, my legs are like jelly, and I can’t even remember my own name.

“Better?” Ransom asks, his eyes heated and watching me closely.

I nod, “Yep, fucking awesome.”

He chuckles, “Go and kick ass. Remember you’re new to it, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t get it straight away.”

I nod, “Got it.”

When I don’t move to where the others are waiting, he gives me a gentle nudge, and I reluctantly move forward while he goes to stand with the others who aren’t involved in the flying lesson.

I’m still looking in their direction when he clicks his fingers, and several deck chairs appear for the guys.

My impressed smile dims into a frown as I realize that Coen is over there and sitting with them and not up here with me.

I’ve seen him teach loads of time before, and he’s fucking amazing at it.

It makes me wonder if there is something going on with his wings that he hasn’t told us about.

I decide that if he hasn’t told us, then it might be something that he doesn’t want to say in front of all of us, and that I’ll ask him about it later.

“Are you ready?” Griff asks me.

I nod, “Yep, let’s do this.”

Reed grins, “Okay, so the first thing is the most obvious, you need to shift so that your wings are out.”

“All you need to do is focus on your magic and ask it to allow your wings to appear,” Raiden says. “Do you want me to show you?”

“Yes, please,” I nod, mostly because I love Raiden’s wings and want to see them again.

I feel Raiden’s magic grow, and then his wings appear, arching wide and looking as stunning as they always do.