Page 29 of Forging Bonds: Part One

Neith frowns, "If it were Dimitri, surely he would have just gotten HID to give me to him as soon as the interest in what happened died down. I was at HID to keep me safe from him and his retaliation."

Reed

"Which means that if we're right, then HID may be dealing directly with the blue fucker, or we might be dealing with two separate things. Dimitri could be involved with HID but not connected to the blue fucker," Raiden says. He looks at Neith, concern darkening his expression, "I don't like that it could mean that the blue fucker is the one interested in you." "No, I don't either. I would like to say that Dimitri wouldn't be working with someone like the blue fucker, and there was once a time that I could say that, but now, I am really not sure," Neith replies, her expression darkening like it always does when she talks about Dimitri. Having said that, she does sound far too calm in the situation. "The fucker is very unlikely not to watch the Choosing, right?"

Ty nods, "Right."

"Well then, he's going to know that something is up because I'm not dead, and it was reported to him that I was dead. He may blame HID for not testing that I was actually dead, but he's still going to be suspicious, and his interest is still going to be renewed," Neith points out.

She is being extremely careful about how she words things so that Ty doesn't realize that she was actually killed by HID, and I'm not sure if it's habit or if the voices or her instincts are telling her not to explain to Ty exactly what happened, but as always we will follow her lead and if she isn't mentioning it and telling Ty the whole story then we won't either.

I must admit that knowing Ty was the second in command of Trieneliea's armies is making me see him in an entirely new light.

It's no wonder that he can run SID with such ease. In fact, I wonder if he finds it boring, going from training armies and supernaturals that need to deal with the threats that Trieneliea face to training a police force in a realm that doesn't have the significant threats, or at least not to the same level that Trieneliea did, is quite a difference and I imagine that he may get bored. I think I probably would. Of course, SID agents are now being sent to the other realms a lot more regularly than they have been, so that's probably a bit more exciting and on a similar level to what it was.

One thing is for sure, and that's that he is incredibly good at what he does.

Chapter Ten

Reed

"She has a point," Ransom replies, responding to Neith's words and effectively bringing me out of my thoughts. "There isn't anything that we can do about that. He's going to see her. So if we were to tell her that she can't use any of her supernatural side when she is already at such a disadvantage, then it would pretty much ensure that she will get seriously hurt or die."

Ty nods, "Agreed. As far as Neith is concerned," he looks at her, and starts to talk directly to her, "you need to use everything at your disposal, that includes anything more than human that you already experience and anything that may appear during the trails," he pauses and frowns, "actuallylet me amend that. Use it to your advantage if any more of your supernatural side appears and is fairly typical. If anything more unusual appears, try not to use it unless you have absolutely no choice."

Neith narrows her eyes, "Because my mother was an extinct supernatural."

Ty's expression tightens, and his head nods only once. I imagine that the silencing spell is ensuring that he can't say anything else.

"That makes sense," Evander replies. "The rest of us are all keeping various things hidden anyway, so we can help Neith do the same if something does come up. Plus, it's the best way to keep her safe. We will just have to deal with any problems that come from the blue fucker realizing that Neith is still alive."

"You'll have a backup as well, and I imagine that the blue fucker as you call him, will realize how well-protected Neith is the moment that he sees her in the Choosing," Ty replies.

"That's a really good point too," I say.

Neith's eyes widen slightly as she seems to realize something, "Of course, if we are right and Dimitri is working with the blue fucker then there is a really good chance that he already knows that I'm still alive. Dimitri knows."

"Fuck," Raiden curses.

"How the fuck could I forget about that?" Ransom says, shaking his head.

Ty raises his eyebrow, "Does someone want to explain?"

Evander quickly explains to Ty how Dimitri knows that I'm alive.

Ty's frown is deep as he shakes his head, "That's really not good, and Neith is right, if they are working together, then the blue fucker already knows that Neith is alive. You need to be really careful in the weeks leading up to the Choosing. You will be safe as soon as you are there, and I will work on a plan here to ensure you remain so when the Choosing is over.

"Thanks, Ty," Neith replies gratefully.

"Of course. Something else that you should know is that before you get called into the pocket realm, it will be announced that you are taking part at some point in the next couple of weeks," Ty explains.

"Does it have to be?" Van asks.

Ty nods, "Yes, it is a requirement for it to be announced."

"Does it have to be announced sooner, or can we leave it until the day before we go in? That way, we have less chance of the blue fucker doing something before we get into the Choosing if he doesn't already know. I don't think that we should risk just assuming that he already knows she's alive," Raiden asks.

Ty seems to think about it for a moment, "I don't see why not, and it would certainly make more sense from our point of view if we don't announce it until the very last moment. It's a requirement that it's announced, but there's nothing in the rules about when it has to be announced."

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