Page 8

Neith

“G ood idea,” I reply.

Raiden looks thoughtful for a moment before he says, “Since you are looking into the kelpies anyway, do you want to see if you can find anything about what Sully could have meant yesterday when he said, ‘only those who’ and then got cut off by that spell. If we can figure out who he meant, then that might give us a better clue about how we have ended up being bonded to them.”

Griff nods, “Yeah, absolutely. I can do that. What are you going to look into?”

“I was thinking of looking into the place that Neith said the imps sent her, and maybe the Warrior teams as well, to see if there are any that we could contact about the Choosing, just in case we need advice,” Raiden replies.

“That would be awesome actually, and covers some of the things that I wanted to look into. I’m going to see if I can find any information on my sword and the Choosing so that I know what I’m up against if it happens,” I reply.

They both nod, and Griff says to Raiden, “Don’t forget that you were going to look into what Ty said on the phone.”

I frown, “What did Ty say on the phone?”

“Shit, did no one tell you?” Raiden asks.

Griff shakes his head before I can confirm that no, no one did tell me.

He says, “We told her about the Choosing but then got really distracted by everything that came after that, and I guess no one brought it up. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it until right now.”

“Me too actually,” Raiden admits, he turns to me and starts to explain, “so while we were on the call with Ty and he was telling us about the Choosing, he sort of cut out mid-sentence, and in a voice that wasn’t really his said, ‘The darkness brews, the light pushed back, the voices whisper don’t fall off track, pain and sadness the pressure mounts, don’t lose sight of what counts. Death, death, death.’ He then just carried on what he was saying before, like nothing had happened, and it became pretty clear that he had no idea that he had said anything else.”

The voices get louder, agitated, and deafening for a brief moment. They get so loud that I don’t hear the rest of what Raiden says, and I have to try really hard not to show in my expression what is going on inside my head. Just as suddenly as the voices got louder, they quieten back to their usual background volume.

Shit.

I try to keep my reaction under wraps as I say, “Oh wow, okay, that’s super weird.”

“Yeah, that’s what we thought as well,” Griff replies.

“Well, I have no idea how you are going to research that. It doesn’t exactly give you a lot to work with,” I say, hoping that I sound casual.

Raiden frowns, “Me neither. I’m going to start with the other things and circle back to that, I think.” He changes the subject, “All the books on enchanted objects and weapons are in the back left corner.”

“Thank you,” I reply, as I place my coffee on the table and then head in that direction as Raiden heads in the other, while Griff stays sitting at the table.

My smile falls as soon as I’m out of sight of the guys. Am I crazy to think that the prophecy may have something to do with me? I mean, they were talking about me maybe being involved in the Choosing, and then there’s the fact that it says the voices whisper, not voice but voices, and that’s how I refer to my voices, plural, not singular. Plus, there is the voices reaction when he repeated it to me, they practically screamed at me. I obviously couldn’t understand them because that would have been really fucking helpful, but I can’t deny that they had a really strong reaction to the words. It also mentioned darkness, which could really be a coincidence, but considering I call the place that I go to when I die Darkness, Friend, I really think that I’m not being as dramatic as I was initially hoping that I was.

Safely cocooned within the shelves of books, I decide that enough is enough. I need to tell the guys about the voices, especially now that there is this weird prophecy or whatever the hell it is, and it specifically mentions them. It would be pretty shitty of me to let Raiden do the research into what it means and inevitably hit a dead end when I could have helped by telling him now.

My stomach is a mess of knots. I am so fucking nervous to tell them, but I figure that they deserve to know. More importantly, the prophecy thingy mentioned death. It seemed to really like that word, and although death doesn’t really bother me, it will if it’s a permanent death, and it will definitely bother me if it refers to the death of the guys.

I can’t risk that.

My voices switch from their angry buzzing to something that sounds a lot happier and more content. I guess that means that they agree with me. I am entirely unsure if that’s a good thing or not, although they do seem to always have my best interests in mind, and they have now helped to save my life twice.

Although, did they save my life when I nearly got eaten by that hybrid near my house or was that Griff?

My eyes widen with the realization. If that was Griff, then that means that yesterday, when I heard the voices say danger, that was actually the first time that the voices had spoken to me because it would also mean that when I heard them in Bobby’s when the guys were there, that was also Griff, not liking the fact that the guy got handsy. I barely follow my own thought process, but there is no point in trying to slow down now.

If that is true, then it poses another question: why can I hear Griff? I haven’t heard him since, only in those two situations. Of course, I can’t ask him about it if I don’t tell him about the voices. He has no idea that I heard him.

With a deep frown on my face, I walk back out of the shelves and toward Raiden and Griff.

Raiden glances up with a smirk, “You know, researching works better if you actually have the books that you plan to use to look shit up.”

“What’s wrong?” Griff asks immediately as he picks up on my expression before Raiden does.

I start to wring my hands together, which is a nervous habit of mine, and then I pick up Betty, instantly feeling braver with her in my hands. Griff and Raiden share a concerned look.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?” Raiden asks, “Shit, did you hear the books talking? I should have warned you that I’ve got a couple that do that, and they are the worst gossips. They’re completely harmless though.”

My mouth drops open, “Wait, there are talking books here, and you are only now mentioning it?”

Raiden shrugs, “Well, yeah.”

“Neith, what’s wrong?” Griff asks, reminding me that I really need to stay on track, especially for this.

His question makes all the nerves that had dissipated when Raiden mentioned talking books, come flooding back.

“Could one of you call the guys and ask them to come here, please? I need to tell you all something,” I say.

There’s no turning back now.

Raiden nods and immediately pulls out his phone and starts typing a message. I cradle Betty closer to me and take a seat.

Doc suddenly appears in the room, and my eyes widen. He looks me over, worry in his eyes, as he strides toward me.

“What’s wrong?” he asks urgently.

I look at Raiden, who winces and says, “Whoops. I guess I could have phrased that better.”

Doc looks between Raiden and me and then asks me, “You’re okay?”

I nod, “Yeah, I just need to tell you guys something, and it’s not really something that I wanted to repeat so I thought I would tell you all at once. You didn’t need to come back from work though, we could have just called you.”

Doc shoots Raiden an accusing look, “Well Raiden, sent a message saying ‘library now, it's Neith.’ I’m surprised that the others aren’t . . .” There’s a crash outside of the door, and Doc pinches his nose, “Never mind.”

The other guys all rush in, worried like Doc was, and ask me loads of questions before they shoot, scathing looks at Raiden when they realize that I just need to talk to them.

“For fuck sake, Raiden,” Van mutters.

Raiden chuckles and repeats, “Whoops. I promise I will phrase it better if this situation ever happens again.”

My smile is huge by this point because not only is it really amusing that they’re all mad at Raiden, but I’m touched by how much they care about me. I just hope that they still feel the same way when I tell them what I am about to tell them.

Just like that, the smile falls off my face.

“Alright, now that we have adequately verbally berated Raiden, what’s up?” Ransom says with a smile as his gaze moves back to me.

“Can you all sit down, please?” I ask.

I don’t need them to sit down. I’m just trying to stall. They share a look again, all of them looking confused and slightly worried.

River sits next to me and gasps suddenly, clutching his hand over his heart and asking dramatically, “Oh my god, are you breaking up with us?”

I can’t help but giggle, his actions making me smile. I shake my head, “No, of course not.”

“Thank fuck for that,” River exhales dramatically, and I giggle.

“Alright, Nene, stop stalling,” Evander starts, “what’s wrong?”

I take a deep breath. I need to do this, I know I do, and underneath all the fear and anxiety, I know that this is the right thing to do. Just because I know that, doesn't mean that it is any less scary.

“So, Raiden told me about the thing that Ty said and that he didn’t seem to know that he said it,” I start.

“That’s what this is about?” Griff asks.

“You don’t need to worry about that. We’re going to figure it out,” Reed adds.

“Can I finish, please?” I ask, giving them a raised eyebrow look for interrupting me.

The guys' relieved expressions drop into frowns again as they realize that’s not what I want to talk to them about. I wish it were. It would be a lot less scary.

“Yeah, of course,” River says.

“We won’t interrupt again,” Doc adds.

I nod, I really hope that he means that because I don’t think that I’m going to be able to get through this if they do keep interrupting. The voices stir at my thoughts but quickly settle again when I start talking. They clearly think that it’s important that I tell them too.

“I think that I know what it’s referring to, or at least the part that refers to the voices,” I say, and then pause because I don’t really know how to phrase this next bit. Maybe the best thing to do is just to come out and say it. “For as long as I can remember, I have heard voices. They are always there; they get louder sometimes, but I can never understand them. They never say any definitive words. Except for yesterday, when they said danger when Mael came to get us. Mostly, the voices just murmur, they whisper.”

“The voices whisper, don’t fall off track,” Raiden mutters.

I nod.

“Why didn’t you tell me when we were kids?” Van asks, looking slightly hurt.

“Because a human that can hear voices in her head is crazy,” I reply bluntly. “If I’m being honest, I am still not convinced that I am not crazy and that the voices aren’t because of that. However, since what Ty said specifically mentions the voices, I thought that I better bite the bullet and risk you all thinking that I am insane.”

“We don’t think you are insane,” Reed says.

“You don’t?” I can’t help but ask.

River shakes his head, “No, of course not. It is curious. I can’t think of any kind of supernatural where the voices behave quite like you are describing. What about you guys?”

Raiden starts to open his mouth but clearly thinks better of it and just frowns instead.

“I’ve done a lot of research, granted in human books, so I could be very wrong, but I haven’t managed to find anything that could explain exactly how they behave. They aren’t people’s thoughts because I hear them even when no one else is anywhere near me, and it’s just indistinct noise. It’s not actual words.”

“Sort of like white noise?” Doc asks.

I nod, “Yeah. Except they have opinions.”

Evander frowns, “What do you mean?”

I try to think of the best way to describe what I mean, “So, it’s kind of difficult to explain, but when Raiden told the prophecy, they got louder and buzzed in excitement like they knew it was about them.”

“Huh,” Raiden says. “That’s really interesting. Does Sully know what they are?”

I pull a face, “I actually haven’t told him.”

“What? Why?” Ransom asks.

“Because I thought I was crazy,” I repeat. I need them to understand that I’m not just saying that as a flippant thing. I was, I am, genuinely concerned that there is something wrong with me.

“How do you feel about asking him now?” Raiden asks me, understanding in his eyes. “I only suggest it because he knows a lot about you and your past, things that you don’t know. He also knows who your parents were. He might know, or at least have a very good guess, about what the voices are and how to make them clearer so you can understand them or even stop them.”

I think about his suggestion. He’s not wrong, Sully does know a lot about me. Of course, there is a chance that even if he does know, he won’t be able to tell me because of that stupid silencing spell or whatever the fuck it is that physically stops him from telling me.

At this point though, I have already told the guys, and the chance that he might know something about them so that I don’t have to feel quite so crazy is too much of a temptation.

I nod, “Yeah, okay. Hopefully, he will know something.”

“Will he be at his bar?” Griff asks.

I nod again, “Yeah, he never leaves. He lives there too.”

“Come on then, let’s go and visit him now. The bar should be quiet, and he should be able to talk to us,” Doc replies as he stands up.

“Erm, okay,” I reply, somewhat hesitantly, because this is all moving really quickly.

I bring Betty with me as I follow the rest of the guys through the house and toward the front door, grateful that I left my shoes by the door and I don’t have to go and find them. I feel like if I wander off now, I’m just going to hide in my room and then I’m going to chicken out. The guys will find me curled up under my covers on my bed, and rocking probably.

“It’ll be alright, Neith. Stop looking so worried,” River says to me with a smile as he pulls me under his arm and squeezes me tightly before we get in the van.

“I hope so,” I reply.

Griff takes a seat next to me and surprises me when he takes my hand in his, “It will be fine. Hopefully, you will get some answers about what kind of supe you are.”

“I’m not going to hold my breath, but that would be nice,” I admit with a smile.

This is going a lot better than I thought it would. I felt for sure that they would be at least looking at me like I’m weird, but they aren’t. They listened without judgment, and now they are trying to come up with a way to get answers for me. I have to admit that it’s slightly strange. They are giving me total and complete acceptance, and it’s not actually something that I even considered would happen, which means I don’t know how to deal with it.

“We’re here,” Doc grins. He looks at Reed, “You’re going to need to pull your magic back while we’re out there, or everyone will hit the floor.”

“Will they?” Raiden asks, immediately getting side tracked, “Or is it like us and everyone will just get used to it?”

Reed frowns. “When Draith spoke to me, he said that it must be exhausting to keep a hold of it around everyone, but I didn’t need to lock it down when I was with the dragons. He then said, just like I don’t need to be around you guys. He didn’t realize that I didn’t know that you could get used to my magic, and I’m not even sure whether you have just gotten used to it because of exposure or if it’s because you are all as strong as you are, and that’s why you are okay with it.”

“Well, the best person to ask is probably Draith,” I point out. The distraction in conversation is giving me a welcome reprieve from what we are about to do and how nervous I am about it. I continue, “I have been to the keep. It’s fucking huge and in the middle of the mountains. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite places to be.”

River starts bouncing with excitement, “Do you think he would mind if we all came? The only dragons we know are the Draconian team, and they are assholes.”

I nod with a smile, “Yeah, I don’t see why that would be a problem. I will ask him about arranging a trip there on the next poker night.”

“Thank you,” Reed tells me sincerely.

I grin, “Honestly, I always look for an excuse to go to the keep. You’ll see why when you go. I can introduce you to a few people as well.”

Evander rolls his eyes, “Of course, you are friends with more than one dragon.”

I grin, “Well, it would be rude to be in their home and not make friends.”

Plus, they, or rather one in particular, saved my life, but that’s a whole other story and one that we really don’t have time to get into right now.