Page 10

Neith

“S o, that’s not really what I had planned for today,” I start. “I’m an extinct supernatural and can hear the dead, but I’m not a reaper,” I look at Raiden as something else occurs to me, and in true Neith style, I start to ramble, “I’m trying not to panic, but I can get the voices back right? I know that sounds weird, but they have been a constant throughout my whole life, and although I want to be able to silence them occasionally, I don’t want to silence them permanently. I understand that I probably should have asked you that back at Sully’s before I just repeated the words, but in all fairness, I was overwhelmed. I mean, wouldn’t you be?”

“Neith!” Van exclaims with an amused smile. I glance at him, “In order for Raiden to answer your question, you have to stop talking.”

I smile sheepishly, “Whoops.”

All of the guys chuckle, and my smile widens. I am so glad that they are behaving normally with me. Although we now know that I hear voices because of the kind of supernatural I am and not because I'm crazy, they still treated me normally when the reason that I heard the voices could have been because I was crazy.

“All you need to say to hear them again is voces audire,” Raiden explains to me.

I repeat the words, and the familiar sound of the buzzing voices return. I don't think I ever thought that I would be relieved to hear them, but I really am. They’re almost a comfort to me, which I know is probably an odd thing to think. Something occurs to me though and I roll my eyes.

“Are you telling me that Latin was the fucking secret this whole time?” I ask him.

He nods, with a wince, “Yeah. You know Latin?”

“Not enough, apparently,” I admit with a grumble. Turning to Reed, I ask, “Can I see the book?”

He immediately hands it over, and all of the guys move from their various places dotted around the kitchen and come to stand behind me. I open it and turn the pages, immediately noticing an issue.

“Of course,” I mutter, “The book is in another language and not one that I even remotely recognize. I don’t suppose any of you know what language it is?”

“No, sorry, Neith,” Griff is the first reply, quickly followed by the others.

“I have no idea,” River says and then adds, “Raiden?”

Raiden leans closer over my shoulder, and I have to resist the urge not to lick his face. That would be weird, right?

Fortunately, before my thoughts can become actions, Raiden speaks.

“It’s vaguely familiar to me, but I can’t understand it,” he says, and I slouch in my chair.

“Damn it. Nothing is simple,” I grumble again.

“I’ve got loads of books on language in the library. If I recognize it, then the chance is that the book is in there,” Raiden replies.

“Can we go and check it out now?” I ask.

“Of course,” he smiles.

“We’ll come too. I’m curious now,” Van says for everyone.

Doc clears his throat, “I’ve actually got to go back to work. I kind of left in a panic.”

Raiden winces, “Shit, I’m really sorry about that.”

Doc chuckles, “No problem. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss all of this anyway.”

“You’re going to be back late tonight, right?” Griff checks.

Doc nods, “Yeah.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow for the trip to the training academy then,” Van grins.

“Don’t forget to eat,” I add.

“I’m getting a bit of deja vu,” Doc chuckles, he nods his head and then just disappears.

“Can we eat first?” River asks, his stomach growling loudly.

“Good idea,” I reply.

Thankfully the grocery order arrived while Griff, Raiden, and I were in the library, so we all load our plates up with whatever we can find, and sit back down at the table.

“Something has been bothering me,” Raiden starts, and we all look at him curiously and wait for him to continue. He looks at me, and I try not to look like a deer caught in headlights. “When the imps sent you to that realm, they told you that you had to find the door, right?”

I nod and relax because I can answer questions about the realm trip easily enough. I don’t want to answer questions about how often I have died. It occurs to me that out of the big things, that is probably the last big thing that I have to tell them.

Huh.

There is obviously shit from my past and all of that fun stuff, but the whole dying multiple times thing is probably the last really big thing to tell them.

Raiden continues talking, so I tune back into the conversation, “How did you know where the door was? The one that you needed to find in order to escape.”

“Oh, it’s kind of a thing that I can do, but it’s a bit temperamental. It’s how I found this place,” I reply and frown, “I swear that I told you about that?”

The guys are all staring at me in a way that tells me that, no, I definitely didn’t tell them that.

River smirks, looking a lot more amused than the others as he replies, “You told us that you found a sign and that you knew where Van lived because you stalked him.”

“I did not,” I reply indignantly, and then shrug, “yeah okay, I did.”

Most of the guys laugh, while a couple just shake their heads with smirks on their faces, at least I can amuse them.

“So, you didn’t find a sign?” Ransom prompts, trying to get me back on track.

I shake my head, “No. I lied. So, sometimes, as I said before, it’s really temperamental, but sometimes, if I set my mind to something, I can find it.”

“Why do I feel like you are oversimplifying that?” Raiden asks.

I shrug, “Probably because I am.”

“Why don’t you explain how you found the door when you were in that realm that the imps sent you to,” Griff suggests.

“That’s probably the easiest way to explain it, actually. So, I was understandably panicking because I didn’t want to be trapped forever in the realm, and you would all think that I had run off or something. Before I could panic too much though, my gift, I suppose you could call it, kicked online. It showed me a map of the area and where I needed to go. I have a really good memory when it comes to this gift, so once I’ve seen the map and the right direction, I don’t tend to have to look at it again, but I can if I need to. It’s like having GPS in my head.”

“That’s incredible,” Raiden mutters.

“I haven’t heard of a tracking ability manifesting like that,” Griff adds. “For most, it feels like a very strong feeling, and I have heard of the odd few getting an image of where something is but not how to get there. Trackers rely really heavily on instinct.”

I nod, “Yeah, I can do that too.”

“But it doesn’t work all of the time?” River asks.

I shake my head, “No. I have no idea what makes it work, either. It’s not fear or desperation because there have been times when I have desperately needed it to work, and it hasn’t.”

The guys frown.

“Maybe it can only work sometimes because there are times when your magic is closer to the surface?” Reed suggests.

I nod, “Maybe. It helped me enough with my job at HID that it pissed them off and made them think I was supernatural.” I pause, “Which I guess they were right about.”

“And you found this place the same way?” Evander asks.

I nod, “Yeah. Although, I did know the address because I found it when I was stalking you. That part was true. The part about me seeing a street sign wasn’t.”

“How did you get here without being seen?” River asks and then frowns, “I feel like we should have asked these questions before.”

I shrug, “A lot of shit has happened since I arrived. To answer your question though, the map made sure that I stuck to the woods, back roads, and places that weren’t well traveled by other people.”

Raiden nods, “So, your ability also protects you as well. It’s not just showing you how to get to what you want, but how to get there safely.”

I nod, “Yeah. Pretty much. I know you are all intrigued, but can we go back to the library please, and see if we can at least find out what language this book is in so that I might be able to begin to narrow down what kind of supe I am.”

The guys all nod immediately, and we clear up the stuff from lunch and make our way back to the library.

Raiden wasn’t kidding, the size of the language section is huge and after an hour of looking, even with the guys helping, we are still no closer to being able to find the language and I resign myself to the fact that once again this task will be a marathon and not a sprint.

We’re sitting around the huge table, all of us with books stacked in front of us, with a big blown-up page out of the book we are trying to translate that Raiden printed out in the middle of the table. It’s actually nice in a strange way that I can’t quite explain. It just feels nice to be doing this together and not having to try and find answers by myself.

I’m the first one to break the silence that has fallen over all of us when I remember that I wanted to ask Griff a question.

“Why could I hear you?” I ask, with absolutely no other information.

“Hear who?” River asks with a confused frown.

I realize that I started the conversation halfway through because that’s where I was in it and that I need to go back to the beginning to explain to the guys what the hell I am talking about.

“Sorry,” I mutter, and look at Griff, “I heard you. On the night that I got scratched by the hybrid, just before you came into town. You silenced the voices and told me to run.”

“You heard that?” Griff asks with shock clouding his features. “I was really invested in the vision. I don’t get them that often at all, and seeing you get chased terrified me on a level that I didn’t think was possible for a stranger. I wanted to warn you that you needed to fucking run, and I shouted.”

Ransom nods, “He scared the shit out of us. You really heard him?”

I nod, “Yeah. I also heard him when that guy at Bobby’s grabbed my ass.”

Griff smirks, “Yeah, I remember that. I had to remind myself that he was human, and I couldn’t rip his head off his shoulders for touching you.”

I grin as desire thrums through me, making my clit pulse. Why do I find it so hot when guys get violent for me?

“Maybe it’s got something to do with your precog?” Raiden theorizes.

Griff frowns, “Possibly, but my precog isn’t a strong gift of mine, and I only really get two, maybe three visions a year. Plus, I wasn’t having a vision when she heard me the second time. The first time, I remember feeling panicked that the woman with no face was just walking slowly when I could sense the danger rapidly approaching, so I yelled run.”

“Like I said, River and I heard you and wondered what the fuck was wrong,” Ransom replies.

“Exactly, but I wasn’t having a vision the second time. I was just pissed that he was touching her.” Griff looks at me, “Have you heard me since?”

I shake my head, “Nope.”

“So how do we figure it out then?” Van asks.

Griff shrugs, “I would probably need to ask my family. They still have all of our lore.”

“Awesome, can you call them now? It would be nice to get one mystery crossed off without adding another one,” I ask.

Griff shakes his head, looking apologetic, “My family are old school. They don’t have phones, we would have to go and visit them.”

“Where do they live?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not going to be a thirty-minute drive to get to them.

“Scotland,” Griff replies. “So, not an easy task to complete. Sorry, Neith.”

I grin, “Honestly, don’t worry about it. It’s not a concerning thing that we need to figure out, and we can add it to the list of things that we need to figure out eventually.”

“I like Scotland,” Reed says.

“Me too,” River adds.

Evander looks thoughtful for a moment, “Maybe we should plan a trip when everything calms down a bit.”

“Sounds good to me,” Griff agrees. “I haven’t been back to see my family for a long time, but it’s probably about time I went and visited.”

“I would love to meet them,” I say with a smile, and he nods.

“Has anyone found anything yet?” River asks, changing the subject as he stretches and reveals a strip of tanned and very toned stomach.

Yum.

My gaze moves up, and I find him already looking at me. He winks, and it is far fucking hotter than it should be. I just smile. There’s no point pretending that I wasn’t checking him out because I obviously was.

“Nope, nothing,” Ransom says. “I keep thinking that I have found things that look the same, but when I put them near the actual text, it looks nothing like it.”

“I’m going to get a snack and stretch my legs,” I say as I get up. “Does anyone want anything while I’m up?”

The guys all reel off things that they want me to get and when Ransom sees the slightly panicked look on my face he grins.

“Would you like some help?”

I nod rapidly, “Yes, please. Not only am I not going to remember all of that, but I’m also not going to be able to carry it all.”

He smiles and stands up, “No problem. I could use a break anyway.”

We leave the library and head back to the kitchen. This house is so large that it’s going to take a while to get there, so my mouth obviously starts to run away with me.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” I ask in the silence and completely out of the blue.

Smooth Neith, really fucking smooth.

Ransom glances down at me, a sexy as fuck half smirk on his face, “No girlfriend.”

“Oh,” I reply just as smoothly as I asked the question. I figure since I am on a roll, I may as well continue. “What about the others?”

Ransom’s half smile widens, “We’re all single. Why Neith? Are you interested?”

His blunt question throws me a bit, and to be honest, my mouth takes over, “Who wouldn’t be?”

“In all of us?” he asks, something in his eyes that is telling me that my answer is important, but I don’t know why.

“Well, I . . .”

A knock at the front door interrupts what was sure to be a lengthy and rambling confession about how much I do like them and that despite the fact that my vagina wants them all, it’s probably not a good idea and that I have to tell myself that at least five times a day. Oh, and there’s the small issue that I am currently more human than supe, and having a relationship with supernaturals who are as strong as they are is not a good idea.

“Did someone just knock on the door?” I ask as soon as my brain catches up with what just happened.

Ransom nods, “I didn’t feel the wards trip.”

I sigh, “Oh, for fuck sake, another breach? At least they are polite this time, I suppose.”

Ransom chuckles, “No, nothing can get through the wards without me knowing. Which means whoever is at the door is someone from inside the wards.”

“Oh,” I say, as we both just stand there and look at the door. After a moment, I add, “Maybe one of us should answer it?”

Ransom jolts forward, “Shit yeah.”

His reaction makes me laugh and I follow him to the door. When he pulls it open though there is no one there.

“What’s that?” I ask as I point to a small box that looks like it has been wrapped in leaves and then secured with plant vines.

“It looks like a present,” Ransom says with a frown. I start to bend down to pick it up, but he stops me, “Don’t touch it. One, we don’t know who it’s from, and I know Winston said that the Scavengers were the only things to come through, but he might have been wrong, and I want to make sure we know who it’s from before you touch it.”

I nod, “Okay, that makes sense. What’s the second reason?”

“Accepting gifts from certain Fae creatures means that you are in their debt forever, and that is not something that we want,” Ransom adds.