Page 31 of Forgotten Arcane (Broken Ashes #6)

Picking up the bag that I didn’t go through with the guys when I was trying to find my phone, I rummage through the weapons and my choices.

I grin. There’s a thigh holster that contains a set of throwing knives, and another one that can hold a single knife.

Perfect. I put them on, making sure that they are secure, and then move over to the mirror in my room to make sure that they can’t be seen under my dress.

Perfectly concealed.

My eyes drift up to my necklace, the one the imps gave me. To be honest, I have gotten so used to it that I forget that it’s there half the time.

I’m reasonably certain that it either alerted me to the creature that helped me with the backward knee walking things, or it may have even called to it somehow.

I frown. I need to bring it up with the guys before I forget again.

Once I get back downstairs, I take a seat at the table and wait until all the food is dished up before I start talking.

But as I open my mouth, the thoughts slip from my mind, and I have no idea what I was going to say.

I know that I wanted to talk to the guys about something, and I know that it was pretty important and not just a flippant thing, like asking them if they knew what sounds giraffes make. I looked it up once, and it's kind of terrifying.

All thoughts of giraffes and their weird noises aside, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to remember what it was that I wanted to tell them.

“Are you okay, Nene?” Van asks. “You’re frowning pretty hard right now.”

I nod, “Yeah, I’m fine. I just feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“It can’t have been that important if you’ve forgotten it,” he points out.

I shrug and grin, “Yeah, you’re probably right. I hate forgetting things though, it really bugs me.”

“I’m sure that it will come to you, at some point,” River suggests, taking a huge bite of his sandwich.

“I find that the more that I try to remember something, the less likely I am actually to remember it,” Ransom adds.

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” I reply, as I tuck into my food.

I am so fucking hungry, but then again, I always am, so that’s not really a surprise.

“Oh, wait, was it your suggestion about the Obsidian Market?” Griff asks.

I frown. I don’t think that was what I wanted to talk to them all about, but it is something that I think needs to be brought up, so maybe it was.

“What about the Obsidian Market?” Coen asks curiously. He was as familiar with it as I am, although I imagine that’s no longer the case since he joined SID and Kylen got his claws into him.

I quickly explain about the little information that we managed to find regarding unicorns and angels especially, and then my idea on finding more information.

“While I agree that all of your points are good, and it could be a real bonus for us if we go to the Obsidian Market, I think we should call that 'plan b’ for the moment,” Evander replies thoughtfully.

Reed nods, “Agreed. I think we should at least see what the Elders are going to come up with. It carries a lot less risk than going to the Obsidian Market and asking about angels, a kind of supernatural that is supposed to be extinct.”

I sigh, “Yeah, I see your point. It would be risky to go, but it’s also risky to accept information from an unknown group of supernaturals that we’ve already been warned about.”

Doc frowns, “Yeah, that’s a really good point actually.”

“Agreed, but I still think that we should see what informationthey are willing to share with us, before we go to the Obsidian Market,” Ransom adds.

I nod, “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. I don’t want to put everyone in unnecessary danger.”

Coen shrugs, “If we do go, then I should have a couple of contacts that I can speak to as well. I haven’t dealt with them for a while, but that’s pretty normal in the Obsidian Market. People disappear all the time when they have to lay low and then pop back up months or even years later.”

“That will definitely give us an advantage,” River agrees.

“You know that we’re going to have to fill Ty in if we do decide to go, otherwise that could cause all kinds of issues,” Van points out.

I nod, “Well, we can iron out all the details if we decide that it’s necessary to go.”

“Good point,” Van agrees. “Let’s finish lunch and get to the Compound before we’re late and we get into even more trouble.”

∞∞∞

Doc transports the van to just up the road from the gates that lead into the compound, so that we can drive up normally.

We can’t get any closer because we would risk being caught on the cameras at the gate, or having to explain how we got into the compound without driving through the gates if we were to get Doc to transport us to Van’s parents' place.

The compound is located in the middle of nowhere, and includes one of the biggest lakes in the country.

It has a river going from it to the sea, and the land between the sea and the lake is all owned by the compound and Van’s parents.

It’s an insane amount of land, but completely private and very secure.

There’s a monitored fence that runs around the perimeter to keep out wandering humans and unwanted supernaturals.

The area is so big that a large portion of residents live in the town.

It is fully equipped with everything that you could expect from a town, including a cinema, grocery store, several restaurants, a school, and a doctor's surgery among other things.

There is also a lot of water on this property beside the big lake.

There are lots of smaller ones, rivers, waterfalls, pretty much everything that you can think of that naturally relates to water.

We head through the gates, Evander keying in the code so that we can gain access.

It takes us an extra thirty minutes of driving before we get to the town, and then a further twenty before we finally pull up to the central part of the compound where Evander’s parent’s house is, along with a few cabins, that people live in, the meeting building, gym, and all of that sort of thing.

It's kind of run like a pack now that I think about it. A difference being that only a few people live near the main house, whereas in a pack everyone lives spread out around the packhouse.