Page 26

Evander

S he looked so shocked that Raiden kissed her in front of the rest of us that I had to fight the urge to pull her into my arms and do the same. I know I’m not the only one, either. I think it was really telling that River didn’t react at all. If anything, he wanted to join them, having the same reaction to her kissing Raiden as the rest of us did.

I am sure that there is a reason behind his reaction, but I have no idea what it is at the moment, so I’m just going to go with it and trust that everything happens for a reason.

My eyes stay glued to Neith. I know that I have to bring up the next thing, but I am entirely unsure how she is going to handle it. Fortunately, she is still wrapped under Raiden’s arm.

“He mentioned that Dimitri was involved,” I say cautiously.

Neith tenses slightly but nods, “Yeah, he did. I guess it’s a good job that we’re in Ireland and can go get the flash drive. There is enough on it to put him away, and if for some inexplicable reason he manages to squirm his way out of it, we will at least have enough to bring him in and question him.”

“Can we get it now?” River asks her.

Neith looks out of the window at the dying light. I can’t believe how long we’ve been here for.

She shakes her head, “It’s probably not a good idea to go now the light is fading. It’s near the coast, so it will be dark by the time we get there, and it’s not exactly easy to get to either. We’re going to need the light.” She then adds, “Also, I think that it’s more important that we drop in on Libby’s place on the way back to mine so that we can tell her how brave he was and that he’s now with his parents.”

I nod, “Yeah. That’s a really good idea. She seemed like she was quite close to him. Especially since she knew about this place, she said that he hadn’t been up here since his parents died, so she obviously knew him for quite a while.”

“What do we do about the body?” Reed asks.

I pull out my phone, “Let me just message Ty and fill him in. Then Doc, do you think that you would be able to transport the body back to your lab?”

Doc thinks about it for a moment and then nods, “Yeah, I should be able to do that. So long as Ty can make sure that there’s no one in my lab. I don’t particularly want to explain how I have transported myself and a body all the way from Ireland.”

I nod, as I type out a message. Ty replies almost immediately and says that there’s no one in Doc’s lab anyway. He also says that he will make sure that he contacts the hybrid’s family. I’m not sure how he’s going to explain that the body is in Ireland, but I’m sure he will figure it out. He’s not the head of SID for no reason. I tell Doc and the others what he has said and Doc nods disappearing with the body.

“How long will it be before he pops back?” Neith asks, a slight shiver running through her despite how many layers she’s wearing. The temperature has dropped considerably along with the sun.

“I’ll text him and tell him to meet us at the van,” I say, pulling out my phone and doing just that. Once that’s done, I look up, “Let’s start heading back. It’s probably going to take him a moment. He’s going to have to prep him and all of that sort of stuff. He can’t just leave the body in the lab.”

Neith pulls a face, “Yeah. That wouldn’t be good.”

Reed pulls the door open again, the wind having shut it at some point, and then curses.

“How is it possible that the weather has gotten even worse?” he asks.

We all peer around him.

“I don’t want to go out there,” Ransom says, shaking his head like that will help.

“We have to if we want to get home,” Griff points out.

We all just stare at the howling wind that is going to whip the rain into us and feel like tiny freezing razor blades on our faces.

“Come on,” I say. “The sooner that we get through it, the sooner we can get dry.”

“House will light the fires for us,” Neith says.

As we all step out of the door, I realize that the wind is a lot stronger than I thought it was, and as irrational as it seems, I suddenly find myself worrying that Neith is going to get knocked over, blown away, or some shit. So, I pick her up, and we all pick up the pace as well. I know that she was struggling with fighting against the wind when she doesn’t protest at all and instead buries her face in my neck, her cold nose making me jump slightly and pull her even tighter against me. I love that I can hold her like this. I also love the fact that we are all interested in Neith. Some of us kissed her, and yet I don’t feel jealous. I don’t begrudge them their time with Neith, and honestly, watching Raiden kiss her was hot in a way that I didn’t expect it to be. She clearly has feelings for all of us as well.

Strangely enough, it feels right.

Relationships like ours would be, are not uncommon in the supernatural world, but it is not something that we have never discussed or even considered before. I have a feeling that we may have to have that conversation at some point. Although everything is so new at the moment that we can wait a while before we do. It’s like I said to Neith: just go with it. That’s what I think that we should all do. There is no pressure at the moment, and it’s just falling into place naturally. I think it needs to stay that way. If we start to add expectations or pressure, then it could fuck everything up.

Moving quickly, the van comes into view far quicker than I thought it would, and I am incredibly relieved. We all practically throw ourselves into it and nearly crush Doc when we find him already sitting inside and waiting for us.

“Right, Libby’s,” Neith says, as she immediately turns on the heat and gets the engine going.

“Did everything go alright back at your lab?” I ask Doc once we’re on the way again.

He nods, “Yeah. I’ll do the usual autopsy on him when we get back, but look specifically for what could be different about him to allow him to be so coherent for so long. Ty met me there and helped me get him up on a table. He’s going to get my assistants to prep him.”

“Great,” I reply, “hopefully we will be able to get some more answers, and maybe even a better idea of what he’s using to try and create the hybrids in the first place.”

“If we can work that out, then we should be able to reverse engineer a cure or something that can help them,” Raiden adds.

“You can do that?” Neith asks.

Raiden chuckles, “I can’t but we have some really amazing scientists that work at SID and they should be able to combine magic and science in order to make something that might be able to help them.”

“That’s really cool,” she replies.

It’s not too much longer and we’re pulling up outside the small house where Libby lives. The weather has gotten even worse, the rain now coming down in sheets and darkness has fallen quickly. We’re all still wet from our trek across the moors, and it occurs to me that not all of us need to get out.

“I’ll be right back,” I say as I pull the hood on my jacket over my head and open the van door.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Neith asks.

I shake my head, “No, it’s okay. You stay here and keep warm. This shouldn’t take too long.”

She smiles, making my heart beat faster which is absolutely ridiculous, I mean all she did was smile at me. Pushing out into the weather and slamming the door behind me, I grimace as the rain smacks me in the face. It’s so fucking cold it stings, and I am not a fan at all.

When I get to her door I knock a couple of times, and it takes her a moment to answer the door. When she does, she looks pretty much the same as she did yesterday but I can hear voices in the house, so I know that she isn’t alone which is a good thing. No one should be left alone when they have experienced something like she has.

“Sorry to bother you,” I say, as it occurs to me that she may not want to know that he is okay, well, that he’s at peace. She saw him do something horrific, and not many people would be able to move past that, even though we told her that it wasn’t really him.

“Did you find him? Is he okay?” she asks, immediately dismissing the fears I had.

I nod, “We found him. He was in really bad shape, and unfortunately, he didn’t make it. He was reunited with his parents and was no longer in horrific pain.”

Tears flow freely down her face, “He’s at peace?”

I nod, “Yes, he’s at peace in the spirit realm.”

She nods, “Thank you for telling me.”

“Of course. Is someone here with you?” I double-check.

She nods again, “Yeah, my best friend.”

“I’ll leave you with them then. I’m sorry for your loss and everything that you have been through,” I tell her. She gives me a shaky smile, and I turn back around, heading to the van.

I hate doing things like this. I hate giving bad news, and saying I’m sorry for your loss always seems so hollow.

“Did everything go okay?” Raiden asks as I settle back in my seat.

I smile, “Yeah, she took it well and was worried about him. I think it gave her some closure.”

“Good,” Raiden smiles.

“Oh, I forgot to say, I gave Ty as much information as I could on my quick trip back. He said he’s going to inform SID here that we’re fairly sure that it is an isolated incident. He is giving them a list of things to look out for just in case and tell them to get in contact with us if anything comes up,” Doc says as we head back to Neith’s house.

I nod, “Thanks, man.”

When we get back to the house, it greets us with all of the fires on. The house is amazingly warm. I know she says that she doesn’t own this place, but after everything that she has said about it changing to suit her, and its reaction when she said that it didn’t belong to her, it’s very clear that it considers itself hers. It looks after her. It’s weird as hell, but I’m starting to come to expect this sort of thing when it comes to Neith.

After we’ve all showered and warmed up, we make some food and then end up watching a movie together and all falling asleep in the front room. Neith is in the middle of us and regularly switches between who she is cuddling. I don’t know if it’s on purpose or not, but none of us felt like we were missing out. It seems to come so naturally to her, and I’m hoping that she is open to exploring this kind of relationship eventually.

Neith

W e got an early start this morning since where I hid the flash drive is quite far away. Dimitri knows about Niamh and most likely about this house by this point, so it would be stupid to hide it here even though I know that House would protect it as well as it could. I didn’t want to risk the house getting severely damaged in the process, and it just felt safer to hide it where I did. No one will find it, and I’m pretty sure that if the guys tried to come back after today, that they wouldn’t be able to.

“It’s here?” River asks, sounding confused since we’re parked on the side of a back road, and we have only seen maybe one other car since we first turned down this road.

I shake my head, “No, this is just as close as we can get with the van.”

“I don’t see a path,” Ransom adds, looking around.

So far, the weather is holding up, and it’s dry, but looking at the clouds, it’s not going to be for much longer, and since we’re near the coast, the wind here is especially cutting. We’ve all clearly learned from our experience yesterday though because everyone has scarfs or something that they’ve fashioned into a scarf pulled up over the bottom half of their faces.

I shrug, “It wouldn’t be very smart to hide something that important on or near a pathway.”

Ransom smirks, “No, I guess not.”

“We’ve got to walk through a few fields and then follow the coastline for a while before we get there,” I explain as I glance at Betty and decide that actually it’s probably better to leave her in here.

Moving to the back of the van, I pull open the doors and start grabbing that stuff that I put in there this morning while the guys were still eating breakfast.

“What’s with the climbing gear?” Doc asks curiously as he follows me.

I grin, “Well, I wanted the flash drive to be really safe and not easily accessible.”

“It’s in a cliff?” River asks, catching on before anyone else seems to and looking excited about it.

I nod, “Yeah, sort of. It’s in a cave near the bottom of the cliff.”

“A cave?” Reed clarifies.

I nod, “Yep.”

“Does it flood?” Doc asks.

I nod, “Yeah when the tide comes in. But not entirely, so the flash drive is hidden where it's drier and in a waterproof bag, in a waterproof box, and in another waterproof bag just in case it does end up flooding that high. We’re going to need to repel down the cliff to get to it.” I pause, “Well, I am. I haven’t got enough climbing gear for everybody, and I know where it is.”

“One of us can fly you down if you would like?” Reed offers, gesturing between him and Griff. “It would save you from carrying all of this stuff there.”

My eyes widen, and I barely manage to contain my excitement, “Wait, really? I get to fly with you guys?”

Griff and Reed share a look before both nodding, although there were no words shared between them.

Griff nods, “Yeah. One of us will fly you down, and the other one can fly you back up.”

I grin and put everything back in the van, slamming the doors and replying, “That would be awesome.”

River frowns, “I want to go and see the cliff cave.”

“We can fly you guys down too,” Reed says and then glances at me, “Which way?”

I nod, “We need to go through that gate and then we just keep going until we hit the cliffs and then walk until I recognize it.”

“Why does that sound like you’ve forgotten where it is?” Van asks, a knowing look on his face.

I try not to look guilty, “Erm.”

“Really?” Ransom asks, looking like he’s about to burst out laughing.

I wrinkle my nose, “I’ll know it when I see it, and if not, I’ll see if my finding thing will comply, and I’ll find it that way.”

“I would be interested to see that actually,” Raiden says, as we climb over the gate and walk in a straightish line for the gate on the other side.

“You know you can fly too, right,” I point out to him.

His eyes widen as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him, “Oh shit, yeah.”

“You’ve never flown before?” I ask.

He shakes his head, “The wings came with the other side of my magic being released. I didn’t even realize that I had them.”

“Wow, okay, that must have been a surprise,” I reply. “There’s no one around, so why don’t you test them out?”

Raiden looks hesitant.

Van smirks, “You may as well man, we already know that the Reaper council would have felt when you took the hybrid over.”

Raiden nods, “Yeah. I was actually supposed to start practicing anyway. River suggested that it is probably a good idea to do so in case they call on me.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” River grins, bouncing on his toes.

Raiden’s smile widens, and in a burst of magic, his wings release, and I realize that his magic must have somehow made his wings smaller when we were in the cabin with the hybrid because they are fucking enormous and would still be even if they were folded against his back.

“Dude, they’re fucking awesome,” Van says, looking impressed.

Raiden grins, a lightness in his eyes that I really fucking like.

He looks at Griff and Reed and asks, “Okay, so how do I do this?”

Reed surprises us all when he drops his glamor as well and grins widely as he stretches his leathery wings behind him.

“Well, if everyone is doing it,” Griff says and then shifts so that he just has wings and isn’t in full gargoyle mode.