Page 7

Neith

L ast night was interesting. We found out quite a few things, although I don’t think we really got many questions that we had answered, or at least if a question was answered then several more were asked from that one answer.

It’s added to the things that I want to research today, and I know for a fact that I am not going to have enough time to do it all today. As I choose my comfiest clothes and start putting them on, I go over the list of the things that I want to research, in no particular order than that’s how I remember it.

Okay, so there are the kelpies, the Choosing, which I had almost forgotten about, but our trip to the training academy coming up tomorrow has brought it back to the forefront of my mind. I still want to be as prepared as I can be because it is still a very real threat. I also want to look into Leusidious, the place where the imps sent me, and see if there is any reason why it was that place. Oh, and I want to look into Asael, my sword, and see if I can find it in any of the history books and what that may tell me.

I am sure that I have forgotten some things that I wanted to look into, but honestly, I think that list is pretty extensive and enough for me to start with, at least. Knowing me, I’m going to get stuck on one subject at some point and not get around to doing the rest anyway.

Walking out of my room to get breakfast, since it is most likely going to be the only meal that I remember to eat today unless someone reminds me, probably more than once, my eyes land on Betty and Asael. It would probably be a good idea if I took Asael to the library with me so that I can make sure that I am looking for the right sword. I haven’t seen Winston since we closed up the ward, so I haven’t been able to ask him if he managed to find anything or even what he meant the last time that we spoke. Picking up Asael, I feel really bad that I’ll be leaving Betty behind again since I haven’t actually taken her out for ages. It’s relatively normal for us, since I couldn’t take her on most jobs that I did for HID, and I couldn’t just walk around with her, she’s not exactly a subtle weapon.

Still, I feel bad leaving her here all by herself, so I pick her up as well. I must look pretty ridiculous striding out of my room with a sword resting on one shoulder and a shotgun resting on the other.

“Whoa, preparing for a war we don’t know about?” Doc asks with a smile as soon as I walk into the kitchen.

I grin, “Always. No, I want to see what I can find out about Asael, and I felt bad that Betty was going to be all by herself again.”

“Makes sense,” River replies with a shrug as he continues eating his cereal.

“I’ve ordered a grocery delivery, so that should be coming today,” Evander says.

His words prompt the guys to all start telling everyone what they are going to be up to today, and it’s a mixture of working out, napping, and lesson planning. That last one was Doc, and honestly, I was so intrigued by it that I almost asked him if I could go with him and see what he was planning, but then I remembered the library, and quite frankly I think I have been more than patient enough in waiting to be shown the library and I don’t want to wait any longer.

We all tuck into breakfast and coffee, and I probably eat more than I should, but they’ve got these chocolate pastries again, and they’re still warm, and I just can’t help myself because I’ve got no self-control when it comes to chocolate and pastry.

I mean, really, does anyone? If they do, they are far more adulty than I ever want to be. That is definitely not a level of adultness that I ever hope to achieve. I’m happy with my semi-adult, semi-definitely not an adultness.

“Neith, I think you’ve just had a delivery,” Ransom says, pulling me out of my weird thoughts about adultyness, I’m pretty sure that’s not a word but then again, if you use a word that makes it a word, does it not? Or does there have to be some kind of ceremony for a word to be considered an official word?

Wow, I am on top form today.

Shaking my head to hopefully get rid of my ridiculous thoughts, I frown, momentarily confused, as I try to remember what Ransom said before I went on a detour, and then my frown deepens because why would I be getting a delivery here? “Oh, shit, my clothes and stuff.”

“I’ll go grab it for you,” Doc says, and he disappears before I can say anything else.

“Hey, you’ve still got your magic free,” I point out, grinning at Reed, who looks far more relaxed than he usually does.

Reed nods, “Yeah. It’s really strange. I have told the guys to tell me if they feel weird or anything like that.”

“Do you guys feel odd?” I ask and then add, “To me, Reed’s magic feels a lot steadier, like it's now a steady presence, whereas before, it has been fluctuating all over the place.”

Raiden’s eyebrows rise, “You know, I don’t think I will ever get used to how you can read our magic, it’s really impressive, and not many supes can do it, and not like you can. We can feel power spikes, but not like you seem to be able to, and most supernaturals have a problem with narrowing down exactly where it is coming from. I’m not at all surprised that you are a supernatural. It makes so much sense.”

“I think it’s instinct as well. I have been around supernaturals my whole life. I was raised with Van and his family, and then I was with Dimitri, too. Not only is he a strong supe, but so is everyone that he associates with. He doesn’t do weak. I don’t like not knowing what I’m up against, so I made sure that I knew. I’m not saying that there isn’t a supernatural element to it because it clearly goes beyond just instincts, but I think that is probably why it is as strong as it is,” I explain the theory that I have been thinking about for a while now.

The guys are all frowning at me, I know they don’t like that I have been in dangerous situations, and with someone who is so well known for being as dangerous as Dimitri is, but there isn’t really anything that they can do about it. To be honest, although a lot of it was hell, not all of it was. Some of it was really fucking fun. Not only that but the really bad shit that I went through, the stuff that has left physical and emotional scars. That shit came before Dimitri, he actually saved me from that, and I will always be grateful that he did. Even though, in some ways, it was like I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Being with Dimitri was great until it really fucking wasn’t, then it became hell.

Some of the skills that I have developed because of my time with him are pretty fucking awesome. I don’t think there is much about my past that I would change.

“That actually makes sense,” Raiden is the one to reply. “You needed your instincts to be sharper so that you could protect yourself, and although your supernatural side wasn’t out, it helped you the best way that it could.”

“Exactly,” I smile. I’m glad that he understood the point that I was trying to make.

“It’s a unique gift,” Griff adds.

The mood immediately lightens when Doc comes back from picking up my parcels from the gate. I can’t help but laugh at how much he is carrying, “Whoops, it, erm, didn’t look like that much when I was ordering it.”

Doc chuckles, “There’s more. I couldn’t carry it all. I think everything got delivered at once.”

I grimace slightly, “I used the same company to get everything shipped on a Sunday.”

“Do you want some help?” Griff jokes, a smile on his face.

Doc seems to think about it and my eyes widen as he says, “Yeah actually, that would be great.”

“No way!” I exclaim as the guys all burst out laughing at my shock.

Raiden grins proudly, “You deserve to get yourself nice things, Neith.”

It’s like he can tell that my mind is spinning and already thinking about sending some of it back just because it's so excessive.

“I guess,” I reply, aware that I still sound unsure.

“Seriously,” Raiden starts, “I bet you didn’t even make a dent in the total on the card, did you?”

I shake my head with a smile, “No, actually.”

“Well, there you go. Not that it would matter if you had. Just enjoy it,” Raiden says.

I nod. He’s right, it just shocked me slightly since it really didn’t look like this much online. I guess that is definitely one danger of online shopping. Standing up I start to pick up the packages that they have already brought in, so that I can take them up to my room.

“We’ll help,” Van offers as he hops up, and so do the other guys. “It will take you forever to get all of this upstairs otherwise.”

Doc and Griff pop back in just as we are leaving the dining room with all of my stuff, and they simply follow us up to my room and put the things down where I ask them to, which is pretty much the middle of the room. I know it's probably not a great place to put it all, but if they put all of the stuff at the edge of the room, then it will most likely stay there, and I’ll just go through it when I want certain things. If I leave it in the middle of the room, I’m more likely to organize and put things away. I don’t know why I work like this, but I’m thirty now, and I figure there is no point changing something that I know works or pretending that I’m not like this.

“Do you want to sort all of this out and meet us in the library?” Raiden asks.

I shake my head, “No. This is going to take me hours to organize. I think it’s probably best I just do it when I have some time later tonight.”

An alarm sounds throughout the room, and I freeze, wondering what the fuck has gone wrong now before I notice Doc looking down at his watch with a frown.

“They need me in at headquarters,” Doc explains.

“Something to do with the hybrid case?” Evander asks.

Doc shakes his head, “No, there was a murder in vamp territory, but it wasn’t a vamp kill, and the circumstances are suspect. They need me to see what I can find.”

Evander nods, “Okay. Let us know if you will be back for dinner.”

Doc’s eyes dart in my direction briefly, before he replies to Van, “I’m going to head out tonight actually, so don’t wait up.”

“Alright, man,” Van replies.

“See you guys tomorrow for the trip to the training academy. Let me know if you find anything interesting though,” Doc says.

“We will,” I reply for everyone. “Don’t work too hard, and remember to eat.”

Doc grins, “Yes, Ma’am.”

As soon as he disappears, I turn to look at Raiden excitedly, “Can we go now?”

He chuckles, “Yeah. Come on. We can grab Betty and Asael on the way past the kitchen.”

“I guess we will see you guys later,” River says and then adds, “Actually, I will come and get you when it’s time for lunch.”

“Good idea,” I grin.

We all make our way downstairs, and I grab my weapons before Raiden, Griff, and I split off from the other guys and head into a part of the house that I haven’t explored yet. I am beyond excited to get into this library. I know that Raiden loves his research and his books, so I can only assume that the library is extensive, and quite frankly if it’s not, I’m going to be very disappointed, and at this point, I have built it up, so much in my mind that I don’t think I will be able to keep the disappointment off my face.

Something horrifying occurs to me, and I blurt out the question before I really think about it, “Oh my god, if you are about to lead me to a room with computers and tell me that the library is actually online, then I’m going to cry.”

Raiden and Griff both stop and turn to look at me. Griff looks really confused, while Raiden looks horrified, which, strangely enough, is somewhat reassuring.

“Fuck no,” Raiden says. “I have a proper library, and I do the majority of research using books. I will say that the Internet has its place with research, but as far as supernaturals are concerned, we have been extremely careful not to let all our real information and histories end up on the Internet. So using a computer in this case would be absolutely useless.”

“Thank fuck,” I reply, relieved as we continue to move forward now that we’ve got that sorted out.

“I’m not entirely sure what just happened, but I know that it was important to you two, so I’m really glad that we’ve gotten that sorted. Good job,” Griff says.

I burst out laughing, “Hey, my giant grumpy friend made a funny.”

Griff chuckles and rolls his eyes, “I can be funny.”

“Apparently so,” I tease, bumping him with my shoulder, although it’s like bumping a brick wall, he is literally solid.

“We’re here,” Raiden grins as he stops outside a set of enormous double doors.

Double doors that’s a really good sign.

Raiden pushes open the doors, and I practically run inside,I stop in the middle of the vast room and turn in a circle. This is more than just a library, this is fucking insane. Books are stacked on beautifully carved shelves, two stories high, with a staircase in the corner that leads to the balcony that runs around the entire giant room so that you can access the books on the second floor. There are comfortable chairs and couches dotted everywhere, as well as a big table with a few lamps on it. This is where Raiden heads.

“I thought we could set up on here since the table is pretty big, and we can each spread out and research the things that we are looking into,” Raiden explains.

“Sounds good to me,” I reply with a massive smile.

“I’m good with that. Where are the books on the water supes again? It’s been a while since I’ve looked for any information on them,” Griff asks.

“Second floor, and it should be on those shelves there,” Raiden explains as he points up.

“Got it, thanks, man,” Griff says.

“Do you want a coffee?” Raiden asks him.

Griff nods, “Yes, please.”

Raiden smiles and turns to look at me, “Neith?”

“Erm, we literally just got in here. I don’t want to go all the way back to the kitchen to get a coffee. To be honest, I don’t think that I am ever going to want to leave.”

Raiden smirks, “We don’t have to go to the kitchen.”

He walks over to the half bookcase, half cabinet nearest the table, that has knick-knacks on it and only a couple of books. He pulls out one of them, and my jaw drops as the two shelves that are above the cabinet part of the unit turn around, revealing a high-end coffee machine and everything that you could possibly want in order to make the perfect coffee.

“No fucking way,” I grin. “In that case, yes, please.”

Raiden’s smile widens at my reaction as he starts to prepare us coffees, “I spend a lot of time in here, and that tends to mean a lot of late nights. I didn’t want to go all the way down to the kitchen every time I needed a coffee.” He explains and then winces, “Plus, I have a habit of getting so into what I’m researching that I get a little bit annoyed if people try to talk to me.”

Griff scoffs, coming back with a stack of books, “A little bit? Dude, the last time I interrupted you when you were in full research mode, you threatened to take my soul on a trip to the underworld.”

“I was going to return it,” Reaper replies feebly as he looks at me like he’s worried about what my reaction will be.

I burst out laughing.

“That is fucking brilliant,” I exclaim, making Raiden grin. “I’m sorry but I’m using that from now.”

“One problem,” Griff grins, “you can’t actually take one of our souls on a trip to the underworld.”

I smirk, “Nope, but I was planning on saying something like, ‘Leave me alone, or Raiden will take your soul on a trip to the underworld.’ I feel like that will work better than anything that I could threaten.”

“I’m okay with that,” Raiden agrees, his star-like eyes twinkling.

“Great, I’m sure the others will be thrilled,” Griff teases, “we now have two of you, and you are both using the same pretty terrifying threat.”

Raiden and I simply share a look and then shrug as Raiden hands me my coffee and then gives one to Griff, too.

“Alright, well, now that we’ve gotten that cleared up,” I tease with a smirk. “What is everyone else looking into?”

“Well, you know that I’m looking into the kelpies,” Griff starts as he gestures to the pile of books that he has stacked on the table. He continues, “I want to know how to bond with them in the best way so that we earn their trust and friendship as well. I want to make sure that we do it right and give them the respect that they deserve.”