Page 15 of Whispered Warnings: Part One

“That gun just came out of nowhere. There was no build-up of magic, nothing,” Griff says. He narrows his eyes, “Didn’t you say that you didn’t have any bullets in her when you managed to shoot that hole in the wall in your bedroom?”

I wince, “Yeah, I’m still sorry about that, by the way.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve already fixed it,” Ransom says, waving away my concern. He focuses back on Griff, “You’re thinking that Betty isn’t a normal weapon.”

“Where did you get her?” Van asks me.

I frown, as I try to think of where I got her, I know how long I’ve had her, but the details on how I got her are a little bit fuzzy, a hazy memory finally manages to push to the forefront of my mind, “I think I got her from a little antiques shop in a town that I was staying near at the time.”

“You think?” Raiden asks.

I nod, “Yeah, my memory is a bit hazy. I just know that I have had her for a decade.”

“She showed up just after I got into the magical academy?” Evander asks, quickly connecting the dots and the timeline.

I nod, “Yeah.” Looking around at all the contemplating faces I ask, “You guys think that she is an enchanted object?”

“I’m not sure whether I would say enchanted, but I think she might have magic of her own,” Ransom says.

Reed shakes his head, clearly in disagreement with Ransom. “Not necessarily. It might be Neith. We have no idea what kind of supernatural she is. She could be making the bullets for Betty, and she could have called the gun to her a moment ago. She could have even put some kind of protection on it without even realizing that she had done it simply because she feels protective of it.”

Ransom nods, his eyes narrowing slightly as he thinks over Reed’s alternative option, “You know I would be more inclined to believe that than I would to believe that Betty herself is enchanted. An enchanted object is rare, and I don’t think I have ever heard of a gun being enchanted before.”

“I think you guys are focusing on the wrong thing right now,” Raiden says, “I mean, it’s fantastic that Betty is back, and it’s weird because she was definitely in the magical fire and should have been burnt to a crisp, I get all of that, but Neith just told us she got blown up with a bazooka and died.”

“It fucking hurt,” I mutter.

The room becomes so quiet that you can hear a pin drop, and they all stare at me, absolutely horrified.

“You felt it?” River asks, his voice a whisper.

I shrug and nod, “Yeah. Just because I come back doesn’t mean that I don’t feel the pain of dying.”

Reed’s magic flares, “You . . .”

He shakes his head, anger flaring in the depths of his eyes before he storms out of the room. I look around at the guys in confusion.

Van shakes his head, “Don’t worry. He just isn’t used to people putting him above themselves.”

That is all the explanation that he gives, and I am pretty sure that is all I am going to get no matter how much I ask, that’s fine I will just ask Reed what is wrong when he gets back.

“Is there anything else that we should know?” Doc asks, concern etched into his features.

I shrug, “Probably, but I don’t know what.”

He smiles, “How are you feeling? We nearly lost you again, and the moose led us to believe that would have been very bad.”

“Wallace,” I grin.

His eyebrows raise, “Wallace?”

“The moose,” I explain, my smile widening.

Understanding flashes across his features, “Ah, okay. You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Whatever Raiden did worked well. I actually feel better than I did last time after I came back,” I reply, only just catching myself from saying better than I usually do.

Raiden winces, “I’m sorry that you can feel it. You aren’t supposed to, but then you don’t quite conform to any of the usual rules, so I should have guessed that it would affect you differently. If it weren’t a life-or-death situation, I would have asked.”

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