Page 16 of Muted Voices (Broken Ashes #1)

“S orry,” he apologizes again.

A thought occurs to me, and before I can stop it, the question falls from my lips, “That’s got to be super awkward if you’re having sex. I mean, do the lights flash the whole time? How would you keep a straight face?” I ask as they stare at me in amused shock, and I just can’t seem to stop myself from talking as I add, “Oh my fuck, do you think that you could get them to flash to the beat of a song you could thrust in time. Hang on.”

With a giant grin on my face, I test the theory out by clapping out the beat to We Will Rock You, and sure enough, the lights flash on and off in time.

“Why haven’t I thought of that,” River wonders out loud and then starts clapping the beat to a different song, grinning when the lights start flashing in time.

I point at him, bouncing on my toes, “Carry on, my wayward son!”

He grins, “Yes! Okay, what’s this one?”

“Guys!” the others all say together just as River brings his hands back together to clap out a new song for me to guess.

“Yeah?” I ask.

Evander shakes his head, “You were looking for the thing that tripped you?”

“Oh shit yeah,” I reply. I can’t believe I fucking forgot; I glance back at the tall kitsune standing next to me, “This isn’t over foxy dude.”

“What did you just call him?” Doc snaps, having just been quietly watching this all unfold so far.

“Foxy dude?” I question, “Was that offensive?”

“Why did you call him that?” Ransom asks, as River just stares at me.

“Because he’s a kitsune,” I reply. “He shifted during the fight.”

“You should’ve forgotten about that, not that he’s a supe but what kind he is. He’s rare enough that it’s an inbuilt safety mechanism,” Doc explains why they’re all looking at me like I’ve got two heads.

“Oh, sorry,” I reply, somewhat unsure.

“You just caught us off guard, that’s all,” Griff adds, trying to reassure me.

River is watching me intently as he tilts his head and asks, “Neith, how many tails do I have?”

“Nine,” I reply, with absolutely no hesitation because I fucking counted them as soon as I saw them.

“What the fuck,” Raiden exclaims.

“Did you show her?” Reed asks, a sharp edge to his voice as a wave of magic goes through the room. Everyone freezes, their heads bowing slightly, and Reed’s eyes lock on me. “How?”

“How what?” I ask and then frown and add, “I don’t know what your magic is doing to them, but you probably want to reel it in a bit.”

“Fuck.” He curses, and the magic snaps back to him, making me wince; that had to have hurt.

“I didn’t show her,” River says once he’s recovered from Reed’s magic. “I had them concealed, and she counted them.”

“That’s impossible,” Doc mutters.

“Apparently, there’s a lot about Neith that’s supposed to be impossible,” Raiden adds with a distinct undertone of snark to his voice.

I flip him off, and I reply drily, “Yey, go me.”

“Alright, there’s nothing to do now, she knows,” Ransom points out and then turns to me, “it is extremely important that you keep that information to yourself. If the wrong people find out about how many tails he has, it will mean his death.”

“I understand. I give you my word that I won’t say anything. I’m happy to do a blood oath to prove it if you want me to, and I fully understand how binding they are.” I reply earnestly, I would never even dream of doing anything that would hurt River or any of them and it’s really important to me that they believe that I wouldn’t.

“That’s not necessary,” River chimes in, just as Ransom nods his head in agreement.

“River,” Ransom starts, warning in his tone.

“It’s not necessary,” River interrupts. His voice has a growl to it that wasn’t there before, and his eyes have switched to those of his kitsune.

Ransom’s eyes widen slightly as he holds his hands up, and replies in a calm voice, “Okay, if that’s what you want. A blood oath will not be necessary.”

River crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes returning to normal, but his posture is still tense.

After a beat of awkward silence, where they no doubt question why the fuck they’ve let me in their home, Raiden says, “Sooo, you tripped over something imaginary that was fury and screamed?”

I give him an unimpressed look, although my lips do twitch slightly in amusement, “It wasn’t imaginary; it was solid, and there’s nothing left on the floor.”

“I don’t know how a creature could’ve got in here, Neith,” Evander says.

“I know you think I’m crazy, and that’s okay; you guys all go back to bed. I’m sorry I woke you up. I’m going to keep searching because I am not going to be able to sleep until I find it,” I explain.

River, seemingly back to normal after whatever just happened, lifts his nose into the air and takes a long inhale, “I can’t smell anything out of the ordinary in here, and if a creature had gotten in here, I would’ve been able to smell it.”

“Are you sure?” I ask him.

“I’m sure,” he replies and then looks at the others. “Have any of you picked up on anything?”

“No, not at all,” Reed immediately replies.

“I haven’t,” Doc adds, his eyes glowing with his magic as he does another scan of the room and shakes his head.

They all say that they can’t sense anything, and I’m surprised that even though they were giving me shit, they all had already checked the room to make sure that it was safe and that there weren’t any intruders. It kind of makes my heart go a bit squishy actually, and I don’t like it.

“Raiden?” Doc asks.

Looking in his direction along with everyone else I see him chewing his lip contemplatively.

“Did you sense something?” Evander asks, all teasing removed from his face and tone now that there’s a potential for something dangerous actually having happened.

Raiden runs his hand through his dark hair and sighs, “I don’t know. When we first walked in, I thought I might have sensed something for a microsecond, but it's gone now, and I’ve been searching for whatever it was while we’ve been talking, and there’s not even a trace. I’m not really sure I didn’t imagine it.”

“Alright, everyone, thoroughly search the room, I want to make sure that there isn’t anything here,” Doc orders.

“I’ll put up a few more wards around this room to make sure that nothing can get in, supernatural or otherwise,” Ransom offers.

“Good idea, man,” Evander says.

I watch in awe actually as they all work like a well-oiled machine to search my room and make sure that it’s safe. It’s easy to tell that they’ve been working together for a long time and know each other exceptionally well. It also quickly becomes apparent that there really isn’t anything for me to do, and I go and sit on the bed, my eyes feeling heavy as I watch them do their thing.

“Neith?” someone says softly, and I open my eyes to find all of the guys staring at me with soft smiles.

“Shit, sorry,” I grumble as I sit up, thankful that I clearly hadn’t been asleep long enough to drool.

“There’s nothing in here,” Evander says, trying to reassure me.

“We’ve thoroughly checked the entire room. Both physically and using our various magics, there’s nothing here,” Griff adds, his eyes kind.

I look over to Raiden, my gaze questioning, he obviously understands what I’m asking because he says, “Whatever I thought I sensed isn’t here anymore, and there’s absolutely no trace of it, I’m starting to think that I imagined it.”

I nod, “Okay, thank you guys. I appreciate you checking even though you think that I’m seeing things.”

That gets a chuckle out of all of them and makes me smile too.

“I also put up some extra wards around your room against creatures and anything of the supernatural nature too,” Ransom adds.

“Thank you,” I tell him, and can’t help but stifle another yawn.

“No problem, get some sleep. We’ve got some stuff to go over tomorrow,” Reed says.

I nod and curl back under the covers as everyone starts to leave before they go, and more importantly, before I fall asleep, I clap my hands to turn the lights off and giggle as I think about the conversation we had earlier. I don’t even hear the door shut behind them as sleep drags me under.

**********

That has to have been the best sleep that I’ve ever had, and I’m holding on to the remains of that sleepy happiness even though I need to pee. I stay in the blissful half-asleep place as I listen to the sounds of the house; there’s not much, just what I’m guessing are footfalls on the wood floor of the landing and then just the silence of the room. It’s been a long time since I just got to enjoy being in bed without worrying about getting up for work or anything else really.

It does occur to me that perhaps I should be worrying about things. There are some pretty complicated things that I need to be thinking about, but right now I want to stay in a happy bubble, listening to the sounds of the house with my fingers running through soft fur.

It's all very comforting and peaceful. Although, knowing me, it won’t be long until . . . wait a fucking minute, fur? My hand freezes; I can definitely feel fur. What the fuck am I supposed to do in this situation? The best course of action would probably be to see what exactly I have my hand on. I have no doubt that it’s the same furry thing that tripped me up last night.

Which makes me wonder how the fuck it’s here, Ransom put up extra wards so nothing should have been able to get in, supernatural or otherwise. The only explanation would be that it was already inside the wards when they were put up, but that would mean that whatever this furry fucker is, it managed to escape detection from some incredibly strong supernatural’s and that doesn’t seem likely either.

I’m stalling, I know I’m stalling, but I’ve got images of a giant rat or some sort of creature that will definitely eat my hand off and is just waiting to terrify me before it eats me. I know that there are some supernatural creatures that feed off fear, so it's entirely possible that’s what it's doing.

Alright, enough is enough.

I peer one of my eyes open, but I’m at a really weird angle, and I don’t want to move too much in case I spook it and cause it to attack. Of course, as soon as I see the greyish fur, all sense leaves me, and I freak the fuck out. Jumping up from the bed, I scream and then scream again when the furry lump on the bed reacts, jumping up, turning to face me, and a voice that sounds far more human than it should, for an animal screams back.

This, of course, prompts me to scream again, because what the fuck is happening right now?

My scream makes him scream again, and this continues until my door bangs open, and the guys all come crashing through. I really hope this isn’t going to become a thing.

“There’s a raccoon on your bed,” Reed says, utterly confused.

I’d find his look adorable if I weren’t still freaking out about the raccoon on my bed.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Evander asks, looking at me like he thinks I’ll know even though I was the one that was screaming like a damn banshee.

The raccoon gives us all the stink eye and then says, “I was fast a-fucking-sleep before Neith started screaming.”

Indignantly, I retort, “Hey! You were fucking screaming too.”

“You screamed first!” he shoots back, but I swear he sounds amused.

“What the fuck is happening right now?” River asks.

“That’s not a normal raccoon,” Raiden frowns, looking confused.

“No shit Sherlock, you’re a smart cookie,” the raccoon shoots back, and I try not to show my amusement. The little furry dude is funny.

“Explain yourself,” Reed demands, and a wave of what I'm now beginning to recognise as his power floods the room, and although he’s got the brunt of it aimed at the raccoon, it has the other guys all gritting their teeth as well.

It doesn’t have any effect on me, but I’m assuming that’s because I’m human.

Instead of showing any signs that Reed’s power is affecting him in any way, the raccoon just chuckles, “That has about as much effect on me as it will do on Neith.”

“How is that possible?” Reed asks, and at this point, I’m unsure whether he’s asking about me or about the raccoon. We both seem to be confusing him.

“He’s a spirit guide,” Raiden speaks as he walks closer to me and the Raccoon and bows his head slightly in respect, “excuse me, sir, but you kind of caught us off guard.”

The raccoon sighs and eyes Raiden like he knows something the Raiden doesn’t, which he probably does actually, since he’s a freaking spirit guide, I’ll just stand here and silently freak the fuck out.

“I’m sorry it’s been a long time since I’ve been in this situation,” the raccoon states, and then adds, “I’m Winston.”

“Winston?” Griff interrupts with a wrinkled nose.

“Something wrong with my name, boy?” he asks, but I’m close enough that I can see the teasing glint in his eye.

This time, I don’t bother trying not to laugh at him calling Griff, the giant gargoyle, a boy.

“Erm, well, I just expected you to have a more mystical name, I guess,” Griff very bravely replies since he’s already put his foot in it once.

“My spirit name is far too complicated and long winded, so I prefer to go by Winston.” He explains.

I shrug, “Seems fair to me. Nothing worse than repeatedly having to correct someone on how to say your name or ending up accepting the wrong pronunciation just because you can’t be bothered to correct them anymore.”

“See, Neith gets it,” Winston replies.

“Great, but why are you in her room?” River asks an edge to his voice that contradicts his relaxed demeanour.

“Wait, are you the same raccoon that helped me get here?” I ask him, interrupting whatever he was going to say to River.

He glances at me and nods his little furry head, “Yep, that was me, along with the others. I was the one that was sent to watch over you and help you when it was deemed necessary.”

I swear he rolls his eyes at that last bit, like he doesn’t agree with the reasoning behind it.

“Why?” I ask and then add, “Better yet, who sent you?”

Winston’s eyes twinkle as he lifts his arm and looks at his wrist like there’s a watch there, only there isn’t, “Oh, would you look at the time I must be getting off, Neith dear, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”

With that parting sentence, and before any of us can stop him, he disappears in a flash of golden magic, completely gone, and I do a quick check just to make sure.

“Erm,” I start, I have no idea what to say or where to go with what just happened. The voices are practically buzzing with what I think is anticipation, but as usual, I can’t understand anything they’re saying, and I’m bloody lucky that I can get a vibe of how they’re feeling. It’s completely useless trying to understand them, so I just leave them to it and tune them out as best I can.

“Why don’t you get dressed, and we’ll go and have something to eat? You’ve been asleep for nearly twenty-four hours, and I’m sure you’re hungry,” Doc says, his eyes running over me, but not in a wow, you’re hot way, which is a shame. No, he does it like he’s checking I’m not injured again, even though I haven’t left the room and couldn’t possibly hurt myself in here.

Of course, I did wake up with a spirit guide, one that shouldn’t have been able to get in here, so on second thoughts, I think his worrying gaze is justified.

“Hold up, twenty-four hours?” I ask when it sinks in. They all nod, and I add, “Well, that explains why I need to pee so bad and why my stomach feels like it’s seconds away from eating itself if I don’t feed it.” I quickly make my way to the bathroom where I left my leggings and yell back over my shoulder, “Give me five minutes, and I’ll be down.”

“You got it, Neith,” Eveander calls back and then adds, “We’ll be in the kitchen; follow your nose, I’m sure it’s still as good as it always was when it comes to food. If you get lost though, yell, and someone will hear you.”

“Challenge accepted,” I shout back and smile as I hear them all chuckle and leave the room.

After I’ve peed and put the leggings on, whacking my hair up into a messy bun, I stare at myself in the mirror for a moment. There’s no denying that ever since Ransom, Griff, and River walked through the door to Bobby’s my life has changed, quite drastically actually, and now with the interference of Winston, who is a mother fucking spirit guide, I think there’s even more change heading my way.