Page 9 of Whispered Warnings: Part One

“Neith,” Raiden says as he gets within a few feet of me.

His voice sounds like he is at the end of a tunnel, and I frown. I have the overwhelming need to be in his arms, which is really odd because he hasn’t even hugged me.

“You are in a bad way child, he is a powerful reaper, maybe one of the most powerful that we have ever seen although he is not aware of that yet. He will anchor you,”Wallace says into my mind again.

I don’t need to be told twice, although I am already starting to forget what Wallace has told me, it’s like trying to grasp hold of sand in a sieve and it's not working.

Using the very last of my strength, I practically launch myself away from Wallace and have a fleeting moment of panic that I am going to land on my face, but I shouldn’t have worried, Raiden is there, I don’t know how he got to me so quickly, but he is there. He wraps his arms around me, his knees bending slightly as he lifts me. My head lands on his chest, and as soon as I hear the steady thump of his heart, I know I am going to be okay.

I know I am safe.

It is an unusual feeling.

Raiden

“Ihave you, Neith,” I mutter almost silently.

My eyes are on the spirit animal that is still standing near the van where Neith just was. I have no idea how I got to her as quickly as I did, but right now is not the time to question it.

“What’s wrong with her?” Evander asks, panic edging in his tone, as the others all arrive at the van too.

“I’m not sure but judging from the presence of the spirit animal, I’m not sure it’s good,” I reply, my voice tense as I stride toward the van. We need to get out of here, we need to head back home, we are too exposed out here, she is too exposed.

I don’t like it.

“Let’s get her in the van, I can check her in there,” Doc says, his gaze flitting around at the people still around us and getting on with their jobs.

At least, that is what they are supposed to be doing. A fair few of them are watching us and trying to be stealthy about it. Most of them have looks of shock on their faces, Neith voluntarily came to me, she reached for me, and I will be damned if my heart didn’t skip a fucking beat because of it. People don’t turn to me for comfort, they are scared of me, or they want the infamy that comes with being able to say that they fucked a reaper and lived to tell the tale.

It gets tiresome.

I am not letting go of Neith any time soon and I think that the guy's sense that because they aren’t trying to take her from me,despite how worried they all are. As I move to step around the moose that is still here for some reason, it nudges my arm.

My instincts tell me that it wants me to touch it, and although I have a sense of urgency riding me hard to get Neith in the van so that Doc can look over her and help her, I also know that it would be incredibly foolish to ignore the request. Spirit guides are extremely fucking rare and revered because of it. It is an honor that one of them wants to talk to me.

Yet, I still hesitate, the only reason I decide to pause is because the spirit obviously cares about Neith, and he was supporting her before I got to her, it might know something that could help her.

I stop, and keeping Neith held tightly against me, I manage to turn my hand just enough that I can touch his flank.

“Raiden,” the voice of the spirit speaks into my mind, strong and rich. It’s powerful and all-knowing.

I try not to let my surprise show when he mentions my name. “Can you help her?” I ask. I am aware that I probably should be more respectful in the way that I speak to him, I am sure that there was a title that I should have called him, but my mind has gone blank, the only thing that I can think about right now is Neith.

“I cannot,” he replies, and I feel my heart sink. “But you can.”

“What? How?” I ask. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

It occurs to me that the lengths that I am willing to go for Neith are extreme considering the amount of time that I have known her, and I can’t explain why I feel this way for her, I just do. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if there were a choice between my life and hers, I would choose hers. It terrifies me, but I can panic about that realization later.

“You need to be her anchor,” he explains. “Neith did not get the sustenance that she should have gotten when she came back from the veil, she is close to crossing over again, and she cannotso soon after being there. Simply hooking her up to an IV won’t be enough this time. She has gone back too soon after she was last there.”

“Fuck,” I mutter. I will come back to that later because that means that she died recently, and that definitely needs to be discussed, although I have a good idea when it was. Helping her and making sure that she doesn’t cross over again now is more important. “How do I anchor her?”

“Let your magic guide you,” he says, and then adds knowingly, “all of your magic.”

I gulp. Fuck. “It’s the only way?”

“Yes,” firm, and blunt is the reply that I get as the moose disappears.

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