Page 18 of Whispered Warnings: Part One

Understanding flashes across his expression, “Yeah, I get that. Do you want some company?”

I shake my head, “Not this time, but put a pin in that, I definitely want to take you up on that at some point.”

“Deal. The grounds surrounding the house are completely secure, apparently the only people who can get past the wards and all the security we have is a beautiful women who has a penchant for dying and who brought half the forest worthof animals with her when she arrived,” River replies with an amused smirk.

Beautiful. That’s what he called me. What is it with these guys and making my heart skip a beat?

“Are you sure that you are going to be okay?” Raiden asks, looking worried.

Normally, I would come back with something snarky, but it must have been pretty traumatic watching me die, and Raiden has saved my life, I know that on an instinctual level. I am also aware that he is being cagey on exactly how he has saved my life, but if he doesn’t want to tell me, then I’m not going to force it, I am just grateful that he did whatever he did.

It's for all of those reasons that I react without my usual snark, “Yeah, I don’t know what you did, but it has worked, and I feel almost back to normal. I promise that I won't go off the property, and I can shout really loud, so if something happens, you will hear me.”

Griff frowns, “Why would you need to shout? Can’t you just call one of us?”

I chuckle as I stand up, “Well, my grumpy friend, I could if I had your numbers or a phone.”

“Oh,” Griff replies with a frown and then pulls his phone out of his pocket, “take mine. All of the guy's numbers are in there, if something happens, or hell, if you just can’t be fucked to walk back and want one of us to come and pick you up, call.”

My heart skips a beat, and I move over to him, taking the phone and then wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. His arms wrap around me, holding me close as his cheek comes to rest on the top of my head. I close my eyes and allow myself to enjoy the moment. I am quickly coming to realize that Griff gives the best hugs. They make me relax, and I could honestly stay here, cocooned in his arms for hours, and not feel the inclination to move. My need to move and walkhas calmed, and my mind has quietened. It's like magic, but the reaction that Griff’s hug causes in my body, the safety that I feel in his arms, is not good. It’s not what I should be feeling for my teammate and, hopefully, friend.

I reluctantly pull away and tilt my head up to smile at him, “Thanks, Griff.” Handing him Betty, I add, “Look after her for me.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything. Instead, he takes a seat in the big armchair and rests Betty on his lap.

“We will call you when your dessert comes,” Evander adds.

“If you eat it, I will cry,” I reply, and then with a sharp smile, I add, “while beating you violently.”

“Why was that hot?” River asks, looking around at the rest of the guys.

“I have no idea,” Raiden replies, his heated eyes skimming down my body and leaving a trail of heat in their wake.

I tuck Griff’s phone in my pocket and then turn on my heel, heading for the front door and leaving them to it. I should probably go shower and change. My shirt is covered in dried blood, and I am still wearing River’s shirt over the top, which he is absolutely not getting back. However, my need to escape is really riding me hard, and it has quickly become my most important need. As I open the front door, cold air blasts me in the face, cutting through River’s shirt and making me shiver. My leather jacket is all the way up in my room, and I really can’t be bothered to go all the way upstairs to grab it. This house is enormous.

To avoid having to go up the stairs because I really am that lazy, I glance around the entryway to the house, grinning when I see a row of jackets hung up. I pick the one that looks the warmest, hoping that whoever it belongs to doesn’t mind that I have borrowed it, and pull it on before I step outside.

It's huge, but the wind is cutting, and as I zip it up all the way to my chin, I am extremely grateful for the extra warmth that it provides me. Glancing from side to side, I decide to head to the left of the house and the forest that stretches beyond. The trees should provide me with some shelter from the wind, and I definitely need that.

My eyes quickly adjust to the darkness, and I shove my hands into the deep pockets, trying to keep them warm. I allow myself a moment to enjoy the peace. I have always felt at home in the dark, and it has always comforted me. I guess that it’s probably because of the Darkness, my friend, and my safety, and it does keep me safe in situations where I definitely wouldn’t be otherwise. I know that it is a bit of an oxymoron that somewhere where I go when I have died keeps me safe, but it does, and it has proven that time and time again.

Even before my first introduction to the Darkness, I loved the dark. Evander always said that I was crazy when we were kids, but I was always more comfortable in the dark than I was in the light.

The forest quickly swallows me, the light from the house disappearing, and I take a deep breath. The voices have clearly gained their strength back as they are at their usual volume, but even they become a hum rather than a nuisance as I move further into the woods.

This is what I needed, somewhere to think, and just like that, the thoughts pour in.

I have spent my entire life wishing, hoping, and practically begging any one of the gods that happens to be listening for magic. For a supernatural side. My whole life I have felt out of place, like I don’t belong, I have needed magic or something more, so many times in my life and now I’m told that I am a supernatural and have been all along.

Told by someone that I see as family.

Anger tries to rise at that thought, but I bat it away, there is no room for that, I know Sully, and if he could have told me, he would have. It does no one any good being mad at him for something that he had no control over.

It does pose another question though; Sully is a strong supernatural, and yet someone managed to put a strong enough spell on him that he couldn’t override it. That makes me wonder why. What kind of supe am I? Where are my parents? Sully kept referring to them in the past tense. Does that mean that they are dead? A part of me hopes that they aren’t, and yet there is another part of me that thinks it might be easier if they were, as awful as that sounds. If they are alive, I have to face them, ask them why they abandoned me, why they gave me to Evander’s parents.

I would have to ask them why they didn’t love me enough to keep me.

My barriers slam closed; I am definitely not ready to think about that.

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