Page 25

Neith

The guys all look just as confused as I am.

“I have no idea, but as I said when we were at the lake, the imps are behaving oddly too,” Evander says, “That’s obvious since I can count on one hand when I have seen them around the property and by that I mean in the woods, they never come up to the house, and they never interact with us. Yet, they spoke to you and sent you on some weird kind of mission.”

“We still don’t know the reason why they sent you or even where they sent you when they made you do that task,” River adds.

“Actually, I spoke to Winston just before Raiden and I left this morning, he said that it sounded like the imps sent me to a place called Luesidious, I have no idea if I am pronouncing that right. Have any of you heard of it?”

“I’m back,” Doc says unnecessarily as he pops back into the front room with all the food.

The guys quickly get up to help him, and the conversation is momentarily forgotten as we all work at unpacking the food, spreading it out the table and getting plates and cutlery. It remains quiet as we all start eating, before Reed picks the conversation back.

“So, we know where the imps sent you,” Reed starts.

“We do?” Doc questions, having appeared after I told them the name of the place.

I nod and repeat, “Luesidious. Do any of you recognize it?”

Unsurprisingly, everyone shakes their heads.

“No, I’ve never heard of it before,” Griff replies. “Did Winston tell you anything else useful?”

I shake my head, “Nope. He pretty much told me the name of where they sent me, and then said leave it with me and disappeared.”

“Well, that’s helpful,” River mutters sarcastically.

“We’re going to look into it when we get some spare time to go to the library and look into everything else,” Raiden tells them.

“Good idea.”

After that, the conversation changes and moves on to lighter topics. The guys splitting off into different groups to talk about different things and we just enjoy the meal together.

As soon as we are done eating, I find that I am unable to stop myself from yawning repeatedly, so I decide to head up to bed. I have the poker game with Sully tomorrow, and Reed mentioned getting a start on my sword training as well, so I’m going to need as much sleep as I can get. Especially since today has already taken its toll, and my body has had a damn good workout and is going to be sore as hell tomorrow as it is.

I say goodnight to the guys, and head up to my room, while they stay up and mention something about watching a movie.

They have actually had a somewhat relaxing day. Shopping or sorting out their garages. I envy them, honestly, because apparently, it’s my fucking destiny to get attacked at every single opportunity that could even remotely present itself. I mean, I have always been pretty accident prone, and because of the whole dying and coming back to life thing, I often put myself in extremely dangerous situations, usually for a case. But the last few days that I have been with the guys have been really insane, and I’m just hoping that it calms down.

Even if it’s just for a day, at this point, I will take a day where nothing actively tries to kill me.

As I trudge up the stairs, my legs feeling heavier with every step that I take, it occurs to me that I never asked the guys how they found me or even how they knew to come and look for me, although I’m assuming that some sort of magic played a part.

I am also starting to realize that the spirit guides must only show up for certain things because none of them showed up when the kelpies were trying to eat me. If I’m being honest, I have no idea why I have them or what makes them appear and help when they do. Frowning, I try to think back to when they have appeared and if there are any connecting factors that could at least shed a little bit of light on when they help.

They all showed up in the woods when I was on the way here, and they helped me get to the guys. Winston then showed up in my bedroom and scared the shit out of me, but I think that he was just saying hello then. I also get the feeling that Winston doesn’t tend to do what he’s supposed to do.

The next interaction I had with them was when I called them, so that doesn’t count. Then Winston showed up in the clearing after I died. I’m not quite sure what he did since I was entirely in the Darkness for everything until I woke up, but I’m going to assume that he told Ransom to put the golden bubble thing up around us. The following interaction was when we were still in the woods, but it was with Wallace who showed up and stopped me from collapsing. He also gave Raiden some sort of information that helped me and prevented me from dying again so soon after I had already died from being stabbed in the heart when I saved Reed.

I still don’t know what that was, and it’s niggling at me. Especially since if I really concentrate, I can feel Raiden’s magic. It’s a nice feeling. I like it, and it makes me feel closer to him, which is kind of nice, but I want to know why it’s there and what it means. Maybe I will bring it up when we have our library date. The worst thing that he’s going to do is tell me no. I can handle that.

I have managed to distract myself again, I force my mind to go back to thinking about the spirit guides and when they show up, trying to find the link. Pushing through my bedroom door, finally, I grin. They show up when I’m very nearly dying or just after I have died. Which means that either someone dropped the ball when I got attacked by kelpies, or I wasn’t really at any risk of being killed again.

So, if they show up and I haven’t called them, then we can assume that the situation is really fucking bad.

Although they show up in those situations, they don’t really do anything except offer advice and guidance. I guess that’s the whole point of spirit guides, I mean it’s in the name, they guide. But my point is they only seem to help stop the second deaths from happening. Winston didn’t stop me from throwing myself between the knife and Reed, but Wallace spoke to me and supported me when I nearly died again in the parking lot and gave Raiden some advice that clearly saved me from dying again.

I frown, my tired brain beginning to hurt, although I think that I am finally starting to understand the way that the spirit guides might work.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Winston asks, his voice making me jump. I glance up from the floor and see him lounging on my bed again.

I smile, “You guys, actually. I’m trying to figure out when and why you show up because you didn’t when I almost got eaten by kelpies.”

He tilts his head to the side and studies me, “We don’t interfere unless we really have to.” He levels me with a dry look, “We really have to with you, a lot.”

I wince, “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” His eyes twinkle as he gives me a little raccoon smile and nods. I figure that’s all he’s going to say on the matter, so I decide to try my luck and ask, “Is this a social visit, or are you feeling up to answering some questions?”

Winston levels me with a look that says, ‘nice try’, and then becomes serious, “The path ahead is difficult.”

I shrug, and barely contain my eyeroll, “So everyone keeps implying, although no one is willing to tell me why.”

“That is because most of us are unsure why,” Winston replies. “All we know is that it is going to be difficult and incredibly dangerous. It’s going to stretch you to the edge of what you think you are capable of and then push you far beyond it.”

“Great,” I reply snarkily. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be snappy with you, it’s just I’m getting a little bit fed up with all the non-answers. No one can even tell me what the fuck I am!”

Sympathy flashes through Winston’s eyes and my shoulders slump. I know that he’s not about to fill me in on what I am and give me an answer that I so desperately want. The thing is, until I actually hear the words or have solid proof, I still don’t believe that it's real and that I am, in fact, a supernatural. I just keep thinking that they have the wrong person. That all of these people think that I am someone that I’m not and that when they find out who I really am, they are all going to abandon me.

Whoa, okay, there was some proper deep truth in that thought, and like a grown adult, I’m going to pretend that I didn’t think that and instead file it away for my therapist, the one that I don’t have but should really probably invest in.

Winston sighs and gives me a look that makes me think that he may have just heard all of my inner ramblings. His look is so knowing that I can’t help but do a quick check of my mental shields to make sure that they are still up, and I only end up making myself feel confused when I realize that they are. The only things that are in my head are the voices buzzing away like they usually do.

“Neith, no one is telling you what kind of supernatural you are because we don’t know,” Winston says, finally giving me some truth and shocking the shit out of me at the same time.

“How can you not know what I am?” I ask, and then immediately follow it up with another question, “I thought you all knew my parents?”

“Technically, yes, the situation is extremely complicated, and I have already shared more than I should have with you,” Winston tells me.

I pinch my nose, trying to contain the sudden burst of anger that tries to make me say shit that I do not mean.

“Thank you for telling me. Once again, though, I am left with more questions than answers,” I reply.

“Your parents loved you,” Winston tells me.

It seems like a really odd thing to say, and I’m at a loss as to how to respond. Fortunately, the decision is taken out of my hands when Winston’s eyes land on something behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I ask, “What is it?” turning back toward him, I add, “Oh my fuckery is it a spider? I would rather go back to the kelpies than fight off a spider right now. I have very definitely reached my limit for what the fuck I can handle today.”

Winston doesn’t even smile at my completely inane ramblings, which makes me worry even more that he is seeing something that I’m clearly not; all I can see is Betty and my sword. So, it did come back after it helped me with the kelpies, and it is once again spotlessly clean. That is so fucking cool. I really need a name for it. It has saved my life twice now, and it deserves a name.

“Where did you get that sword?” Winston asks me, ignoring absolutely everything that I have said and hopping off of the bed as he moves toward the sword.

I frown, “I thought I told you. Although you did just suddenly disappear, so maybe I didn’t. You know I told you about that realm that the imps sent me to do that weird test? Well, I got it there. That’s how I was able to kill the backward knee creature thing. I found it under a bush. It’s enchanted and a bit grumpy, so I wouldn’t recommend touching it. It zapped Reed, and I had to tell it to behave before he could touch it.”

Winston’s eyes are still on the sword, but he’s stopped about half a meter away from it and is just staring at it. I move so that I can see his expression. Before I can ask him why he looks so shocked, he speaks.

His voice is full of awe as he mutters, “No. No, it can’t be?”

Then, just like that, he’s gone.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I can’t help but yell at whoever might be listening.

I am getting really fucking sick of shit like that happening. Why couldn’t he have waited around for an extra two minutes to tell me what the fuck was going on? Oh wait, let me guess, it’s because I can’t know yet.

I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down.

Bed.

That’s what I need, I need to get some sleep, put this day behind me and focus on the things that I do know, not the things that are out of my control. I will get the answers that I want, one way or another but not tonight, tonight I’m going to get some much-needed rest.

With this in mind, I don’t waste any more time as I strip off down to my underwear and snuggle under the covers. I love pyjamas, which is why I bought some, but I don’t like sleeping in them. They get all twisted up around me, and I fucking hate it and end up stripping them off anyway. Apparently, River’s shirt was the exception to that, but it smelled like him, and I loved that.

I really need to steal another one of his shirts. I’m hoping that I will eventually have one from each of them, although I am aware of just how fucking insane that sounds. Fortunately for me, no one but me can hear the thought. Well, the voices might be able to, but as I have never been able to communicate with them in any way, I’m just assuming that they can’t hear my thoughts.

If they can then I feel sorry for them, my mind is a messy, confused and dangerous place at the best of times and some of my thoughts are not entirely sane.

Okay brain, that’s enough random internal babble now is the time to switch off and go to sleep. The voices are a distant hum in my mind, which sort of acts like white noise and even though my brain never actually shuts up, I do find myself drifting off into what I hope will be a restful sleep.

My last thought before I fully succumb is that I really should find out more about kelpies if I am going to have one as a friend.

**********

The next morning, I wake up quite early since I went to sleep so early, and I feel surprisingly refreshed which makes a nice change. Another bonus is I didn’t shoot the wall, have a nightmare, or have any of the guys in here because I screamed and freaked out about something.

I frown, I really haven’t made a very good impression, have I?

Taking a quick shower, I then dress in something comfy since I am supposed to be training with Reed today at some point and realize that in the shopping trip yesterday, I neglected to pick up any workout clothes, so I’m going to have to make do with leggings and a tank.

Hopefully, I can grab one of the guy’s laptops today and order some more stuff. Including another phone and a laptop so I don’t have to keep relying on the guy’s ones.

As I pull open my door, I look down just in time to avoid stepping on a tray that holds a laptop, a chocolate pastry thing, and a still-steaming cup of coffee.

There is a note folded on top of the laptop, and I quickly pick it up.

“We have gone for a run around the property, didn’t want to disturb you since you need your rest after yesterday, and if I remember correctly, ‘running is the devils sport’, magic is keeping the coffee hot. Get what you need, and we will be back soon. If you need us Griff says to use his phone.”

I burst out laughing. I know for a fact that Evander wrote this even without him signing it. I told him many times about my distaste for running. I only run if I have to, and that’s usually because I’m running away from something that is trying to kill me or I’m running toward something that needs saving. I honestly can’t think of anything worse than voluntarily going for a run.

Yuck.

I know that people find it enjoyable and relaxing and that’s great for them, it’s just never really been my thing and Van knows that. I’m glad he didn’t try to wake me up to go for a run, I can’t imagine that would have ended well for any of them.

Picking up the tray, I turn back around and head into my room, closing the door behind me with my foot and smiling when I see Griff’s phone hidden amongst the stuff on the tray. It’s really fucking sweet that he wants to make sure that I can get hold of them if I need to.

I set everything on my bed, being careful not to spill anything, and then grab the coffee, taking a long gulp as I walk over to the desk and sit down, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper so that I can make a list of what I need to get. If I don’t, then I’m likely to end up with a whole load of shit that I don’t actually need and nothing that I do. I put phone right at the very top.