Page 25 of Forging Bonds: Part One

"That's a good way to look at it," Doc agrees. "There's no point in getting yourself worked up about something that is so far in the future and may not change anything anyway."

"Exactly," Van replies. "I do want to go and talk to my parents though. Sooner rather than later, if that's possible, with everything that we've got going on."

"Well, they know about the Choosing. They were helping Sully try to get me out of it, so I imagine that they're going to want to see you anyway," I point out.

"Oh shit. The Choosing, how the hell did I forget that they knew about that?" He grimaces. "Mom is going to be going crazy. I'm surprised she hasn't called me already."

"You put your phone on silent when we were at House," Reed says, the slight tilt of his lips showing that he's amused and well aware of the kind of freakouts that Calia has when she's worried.

Evander's eyes widen, and then he shakes his head, "Yeah, nope. I'm not even going to think about that right now. Besides, I'm mad at them for not telling me they were fucking royalty, so they can wait until tomorrow for me to talk to them."

I chuckle, and the others look at me curiously. I tease, "Real mature. You know as well as I do that you are going to text them either when we get to SID or when we get home. You are definitely not going to leave it until tomorrow and risk your mother's legendary wrath."

The guys immediately burst out laughing at my assessment of the situation while I sit there smiling, and Evander narrows his eyes at me and tries not to smile because he knows that I'm right.

"I'm not going to do that," he retorts somewhat halfheartedly.

"Dude, she's not wrong, and you know it," Doc chuckles, raising his eyebrow and daring Van to argue.

Doc's words trigger a full verbal sparring match between all of the guys, and I end up laughing so hard that I know my stomach muscles are going to be sore tomorrow. The more I laugh, the more it seems to encourage them, their smiles widening and happiness lighting their features.

Eventually, they calm down as we pull through the gates of SID. It's heading into the evening now, but it's not late enough that the place is empty, and it's still teeming with life and even more busy than it was when we arrived during the day last time. I would have thought that it would be the other way around, but then again, all of the students live here and have free time in the evenings, whereas in the day, they're in classes.

As soon as Evander parks, I double-check that I've still got the flash drive and haven't somehow lost it, and then follow the guys out of the van.

"We need to be on our guard. I forgot to check if the Draconian Team is here. If they are and we run into them, don't let them goad you, and we all need to behave like nothing has changed when it comes to Coen," Evander explains.

We all nod in agreement.

"I'm happy to avoid them at all costs," I grin, and then frown slightly as I add, "except Coen, I would kind of like to check on him."

"Yeah, me too," River agrees. "Although, I do agree that right now it's probably best that we avoid them."

"Agreed," Doc says.

With that settled, head up the giant steps and inside the vast and impressive building.

I'm going to hate having to keep my mouth shut or, more likely, keep my knives in check if we do run into the Draconian Team. Hell, I would happily test out my connection to Asael and try to call on him. I would enjoy cutting their heads off. Actually, that's a really good point. I should probably try to call on Asael just in case I need him at the Choosing. Who am I kidding? I am definitely going to need him at the Choosing. He seems to know when I'm in danger, but what if, for whatever reason, he doesn't realize that I'm in danger and I need him? I would like to know with absolute certainty that he's going to come if I call for him, just like with the kelpies.

I'll add that to my training schedule. The next couple of weeks are going to be a bit intense. I have to make sure that I'm in top physical form so I don't die. I can't die in front of thousands of supernaturals and then pop back up asking for some form of junk food. That would definitely raise questions, and since in my research, I never found a supernatural that actually died and then came back to life, not as many times as I have anyway, and the guys haven't mentioned that they know of a supernatural who dies and comes back. I'm assuming that I get it from my mother who was an extinct, and I'massuming a forgotten kind of supernatural. Meaning that it's super rare and I definitely shouldn't be doing it in front of thousands of supernaturals who could possibly want me for nefarious reasons.

Fun. Not.

Rare supernaturals are wanted supernaturals. Look at River, he's a kitsune with six visible tails, that makes him rare and therefore hunted. If it was known that he had nine, then the hunt for him would be relentless, and he would always be looking over his shoulder and waiting to be attacked.

"Can we stay for dinner?" River asks as we pass the dining hall, and his nose lifts into the air.

I don't need a supernatural sense of smell to know that whatever they are eating in there smells absolutely divine and makes my stomach growl.

Van chuckles at the sound and answers River. He glances down at his watch. "If the dining hall is still open when we finish talking to Ty, then we can eat here."

"Awesome," River grins and then picks up the pace so that I have to rush in order to keep up.

Stupid guys and their stupid long legs.

We go through all of the same checkpoints that we went through the last time that we were here and run into a couple of people to whom the guys say a quick hello, but fortunately, we don't see the Draconian Team. Thankfully, when we get to the hall where I heard Rebecca, I don't hear any more blasts from the past, and the voices stay at the murmuring level that they like and don't rise in warning, which I am relieved about.

Reed knocks once on the door at the end of the hallway and then opens it, allowing us all inside first before he follows in behind us.

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