Page 28 of Forgotten Arcane (Broken Ashes #6)

Neith

I nstead, I type out a message.

Me: Hey Guys, hope you’re all okay? There were nearly a thousand messages in here! You guys will have to catch me up when we meet.

Joey: Neith! Good goddess, you were fucking awesome!

Me: Thanks. I keep forgetting that everyone watched it, so they saw what we went through.

Neera: Yeah, that must have been really weird. I don’t think I would cope very well with being watched like that.

Me: I sort of just had to not think about it, but still remember that they were there, so I didn’t do something that I wouldn’t want most of the supernatural world to see.

Navy: Yeah, that makes sense. You didn’t, just because I know you’re going to be worrying about it. Everyone loves you. The last I heard, all of your sign-up sheets for your classes are full, and you even have a waiting list. The guys have too.

Me: No way, that’s pretty crazy. And wait, I have sign-up sheets?

Joey: Haha, you didn’t do it? Well, that’s going to be fun for you to work out. I only wish that we were still doing classes so we could join in.

Me: Oh yeah! How did graduation go? Have you got teams yet?

Navy: It was good. Joey has, but I’m working alone for a while. People are uncomfortable around me.

Me: Assholes, the lot of them. Want me to stab them for you?

Neera: Sorry, guys, the cat was freaking out, and I had to save it from a mouse. Don’t ask. Also, Neith, I knew I liked you. Navy, I’m quite happy to join in on the stabbing, too.

Joey: I am shocked! You guys are psychos . . . I’m in.

Navy: Haha, thanks, guys. But I really am okay. I don’t mind working by myself. It means that I don’t have to explain shit all the time.

Me: Fair point. Let me know if anyone gives you any trouble that you can’t deal with. So, what else do you guys need to catch me up on?

Navy: Thanks, Neith. That means a lot. There’s not a lot else actually. We all got some new weapons from Luke, and got the VIP treatment thanks to Neera.

Me: Oh? Well, that sounds interesting.

Neera: He’s got a little crush on me. I’m so glad you’re okay, it looked like it got pretty fucking intense.

Me: You’ve got no idea. I’m not even sure whether I can talk to you guys about it or not.

Joey: That is not a little crush, sweetie. When do you guys want to meet up then?

Neera: He just thinks I’m hot.

Navy: This is pretty much all you’ve missed, Neith. I’m not sure if you can tell us, but there’s one way to find out.

Me: Yeah, good point. Well, we never got to get that drink. I think I’ve pretty much just got this week free, and then we’ll be back at work, and it will be harder to meet up.

Neera: I’m sorry, guys, but I’m busy until Sunday.

Joey: Me too.

Me: Sunday is good for me.

Navy: And me.

Neera: Awesome. I’ll see you guys then, I’ve got to go and open the coffee shop.

Me: I need to go too, bye guys.

After showering and getting dressed, I head downstairs. As soon as I walk into the kitchen, the guys all stop what they're doing and stare at me, their eyes heating and making me feel absolutely beautiful.

River whistles, “Fucking hell, you look edible.”

“I second that,” Coen agrees with a smirk as his eyes travel up my legs.

There are murmurs of agreement from around the table, as they all watch me with desire in their eyes, and quite honestly, I have never felt quite as beautiful as I do right now.

Evander smiles as he hands me a coffee, “You look beautiful, Nene.”

He gives me a kiss, and I smile, “Thank you.”

I really missed all of this when we were at the Choosing. They were only just beginning to give me kisses regularly, but since we’ve gotten back, they seem to be doing it a lot more, and I’m loving it.

Taking a seat, I load my plate up with an array of breakfast food that I found out yesterday is still good, despite us going to the Choosing for a week, because it was all frozen, and is just the kind that you chuck in the oven to heat up.

While we eat, we talk about what everyone is going to do this morning before we have to go to the compound to have dinner with Van’s parents and the rest of the compound.

It is really nice to share breakfast with people, and it definitely beats eating alone. When I think back to how different my life was a few months ago, the contrast is pretty fucking extreme.

Even with all of the complications and the near-death experiences that I’ve had in and out of the Choosing, I wouldn’t change it for the world, and I am incredibly grateful that everything has worked out how it has. I finally feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.

“The only thing that would make it better would be if Dimitri and Kyrous were here,” my mind whispers to me, and the thought pisses me the fuck off.

Kyrous is dead and will never be able to join us, and that makes me really fucking sad.

From what we have learned about him from Ty, he never let anyone get close to him, because he had a pretty traumatic past, and although I actually understand the reasons why Kyrous would have done that, I did it for quite a while.

I kept everyone at arm’s length and never let anyone get close to me.

Hell, that’s what I was doing when the guys showed up at Bobby’s and turned my world upside down.

But I know from experience how fucking lonely that way of life is, and while I was only doing it for a couple of years, he was doing it for decades, possibly centuries.

That’s a whole new level of being alone.

I bet that he had gotten so used to it by that point, that letting people in was even harder for him.

He obviously didn’t trust very easily at all, not with personal things, and not with himself.

He trusted Ty to help run the armies, he obviously had some sort of relationship with Draith, judging from Draith’s reaction to learning that he was missing, and he clearly spoke to the others that were in the meeting room in the vision in Ireland, but it seems like it was all surface things.

But we’re his Warrior Bonded team, he would know better than anyone what that kind of bond is like, and maybe that would be enough to allow him to begin to trust us.

Sadness swells inside me as I realize that now he will never even get to try, and he lived most of his life in self-isolation.

I am mad as hell that the fates, or what the fuck ever it is that is in control, denied him that chance, and he died before he could experience what being a part of a Warrior Bonded team is really like.

Then there’s Dimitri.

That’s just a whole load of fucked up and explains itself, I refuse to think about it for a moment longer.

I take a bite of my bacon a little too aggressively, and Doc raises his eyebrow at me from across the table. All of the guys are lost in their own conversations or have gotten up to take their dishes into the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” he asks me quietly.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I reply, hoping that it’s convincing because explaining it is going to take a while, and I really am okay, I’m just mad at circumstances that I can’t control, and I hate that.

He narrows his eyes slightly, but clearly decides to let the conversation drop, and smiles instead, “If you need to talk about anything, I’m here.”

“Thank you,” I reply, and blow him a kiss because he’s too far away to kiss properly.

“Ready?” Raiden asks me as he rounds the worktop island that separates the kitchen from the dining area.

“Yep,” I grin as I shove the last of the bacon into my mouth. Chewing and swallowing quickly, I add, “Let’s go and find some answers. Hopefully.”

“We will come and get you guys at lunch,” Griff says, as he stands as well, “we all know how caught up in the research you’re both going to get.”

“Good call,” I reply. “Have fun, guys.”

As I start to leave the room, Reed catches my hand, “Whoa, where do you think you’re going?”

“To research?” I ask, slightly confused. I’ve clearly not had enough coffee this morning.

“Kisses first?” Reed questions, wriggling his eyebrows.

My confused frown turns into a huge smile as I stretch up on my tiptoes and he bends down to meet me, giving me a kiss.

He’s quickly replaced by River, who dips me to kiss me like we’re dancing, and making me laugh.

I get kisses from all of them, and my head is swimming by the time that I finally follow an amused looking Raiden out of the kitchen.

“Damn, I could definitely get used to kisses like that,” I say as we walk through the doors to the library.

Raiden chuckles, “I think you’re going to have to. We love kissing you.”

I grin, “Good.”

We walk further into the vast room, and I glance at the sheer number of books in here, beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed at the task that we’ve got ahead of us.

Fortunately, this is Raiden’s domain, and he knows the books that he’s got in here.

At least I’m hoping he does. I doubt that he remembers the name of every book that he has, that would be extremely impressive. There are thousands in here.

“Okay, so where do we start?” I ask him, hoping he has a plan because I sure as hell don’t.

“I was thinking that maybe we should start by looking in the myths and legends section?” he suggests.

“I mean, everyone thinks that unicorns aren’t real, so it’s probably a good place to start from that point of view, and angels are supposed to be extinct, so there is a chance that they have moved from the fact books to the myths and legends books. ”

“Oh, that’s a great idea,” I agree. “We’re going to have to be careful that we don’t stumble into the fiction side of things though, and we will need to take everything that we read with a pinch of salt just in case.”

Raiden frowns, “Yeah, that’s the only problem. We aren’t going to know with absolute certainty that what we’re reading is true.”

“Well, it’s worth a go,” I reply, shrugging my shoulders. “Where are they?”

Raiden grins, “This way, follow me.”