Chapter Fifteen

“D ick,” I reply with a smile.

He smirks as he uses the majority of his strength to move Reaper’s arm around me. As soon as there’s enough space to do so, I jump up and move off the bed.

“I’m sorry Farren, you’re going to have to be quick. He clearly doesn’t like it,” Mayhem says worriedly, as Reaper starts to move restlessly, still fast asleep, he’s rapidly getting more upset the longer that I’m not there and I quickly make my way toward the bathroom, doing my business and then taking off my weapons and tight trousers so I just have my shirt on, it’s long enough that it reaches the middle of my thighs and it’s better than nothing, it's also better than sleeping in tight clothes.

When I walk back into the room, Reaper is thrashing around on the bed, still appearing to be deep in sleep, and Mayhem is standing as close as he can without being hit by flaming appendages.

“Oh, thank god. Nothing I’ve said is working, and I can't get him to wake up,” Mayhem says as soon as he sees me. As I rush to the side of the bed, he adds, “Careful, he’d be absolutely devastated if he accidentally hurt you.”

I pause in my advance, “Good point. Maybe talking to him will help?”

Mayhem shrugs, “It’s worth a shot. He’s already calming slightly, and you just said one sentence.”

“Reaper, it’s Farren. I’m coming back, but I can’t get close while you’re thrashing. It would be best if you stayed still,” I tell him firmly, and shockingly even in his unconscious state, he listens and lies still. I quickly make my way over to him and lie back down on the bed next to him. He immediately wraps me in his arms and settles back down, slipping into a restful sleep once again.

“Thank fuck for that. I had no idea how to help him,” Mayhem mutters, watching us in relief.

“I’ve got this. Why don’t you go and get ready for bed? We’ve got a big day tomorrow, and I’m hoping that Reaper is going to be awake and ready to be involved.” I suggest.

“Yeah, he’s going to be pissed if he misses it,” Mayhem smiles and then heads off to the bathroom.

I try to stay awake, but it turns out I’m more tired than I thought I was, and my eyes drift closed as I sink into sleep.

I can’t have been asleep for very long, although the room is now dark, and I can’t figure out what woke me up until soft lips touch my forehead and Reaper whispers, “Thank you.”

I think I mumble something in reply, but I have no idea if it’s coherent or not, and as I turn over, Reaper follows me, his arms wrapping around me, and I hum happily, a sound I’d be embarrassed to make usually, as I fall back to sleep.

**********

The next morning, Reaper, Mayhem, and I all walk into the kitchen to grab breakfast, finding the others all awake. They greet Reaper warmly as we all take our seats.

Once we’ve all finished breakfast, Grey pulls out a roll of paper, clicks his fingers to clear the table and then lays it out so that we can all see.

“Alright, this is the layout. It should be the same as it was when I was the last there. She’s a vampire; they like their consistency.” He starts to explain.

“Is the entire faction made up of vampires?” Loki asks.

Grey shakes his head, but I reply, “No, that’s not how it works here, there’s no separation, and the factions are a mixture of all kinds of supernaturals. They’re just made up of those who have accepted their protection and the benefits of being in the faction.”

“Okay, well at least there’s that.” Storm replies.

“Great, I’ve already prepared the spell,” Mayhem says, pulling a small vial from his pocket.

“When did you do that?” Reaper asks curiously. We caught him up on the plan on the way here.

“When you and Farren were fast asleep,” Mayhem replies.

Reaper looks at me, and I shrug. I had absolutely no idea that he did that, but then again I had the best sleep of my life last night, so I wouldn’t have noticed anyway.

“Do you need us to do anything?” Rival asks his twin.

“No, just step back. It’s going to flame and burn the map until it narrows down the location,” Mayhem explains.

We all stand up, moving away from the table slightly but keeping it within our eye line; we’re all curious. I just hope this is going to work; if not, we don’t have any way to identify the object that’s controlling them, and we have no way of stopping the princes from finding out what we’re up to.

Mayhem spills the potion over the very detailed map of Temperance’s main house, within the stronghold of the walls, and then says one word. Nothing happens for a second, and I start to open my mouth to question him when it looks like the whole thing starts to burn and a different worry crosses my mind, what if it burns the entire map? I suppose Grey could always draw another one, but I can’t help but feel like we’re running out of time.

I shouldn’t have worried because the flames start to glow purple as they lock in on the object, and they start to burn with more precision until they finally stop burning.

Mayhem taps the small piece of the map left, “There, the object is in that room.”

“How do we identify it once we’re in there?” Killian asks.

“Dark magic gives off a very specific signature. You’ll be able to feel it,” Grey replies.

“Alright, give me ten minutes to arm up, and I’ll get going. It shouldn’t take me too long to get to the object and un-weave the spell, but I am going to keep watch for a while first,” I announce.

“What do you mean? You aren’t going by yourself,” Loki is the first to reply, but no one else looks happy about my suggestion, not that it was a suggestion.

I raise my eyebrow and cross my arms over my chest, “Of course I’m going. This is what I do, what I have been doing for years. Granted, I’m used to murdering things, not finding objects, but it’s not much different.”

The guys share a look as Killian says, “I don’t like it, but I know that you are capable of this.”

“Fine, tell me your plan though,” Storm insists.

I nod, appreciating that they aren’t arguing with me or trying to say I’m not good enough to handle it; that would make me mad as fuck. “Well, I’ll play it like one of my usual jobs. So I’ll make my way through the warding using a spell so I don’t alert anyone of my presence but also because I’m not entirely sure of the effects that the lockdown has on the Void, which means I don’t want to risk using it and it going sideways. I will only use it if I absolutely have to.”

“Okay, that sounds good so far, but what about once you’re inside?” Zev asks.

My smile is sharp, “I’m very good at keeping myself in the shadows and travelling unseen. There’s a place that’s not the Void but not on this plane either, where I can see and hear everything, but no one can see me. Then I’ll keep an eye on the castle, the comings and goings, the guard patterns, everything. As soon as night falls, I’ll head in to find the object and unravel the spell while in that in-between place so the Princes can’t see me and then find the box using the spell from Mayhem.”

It's silent while they all think over my plan, and then Storm asks, “And there’s no way that I can convince you to take one of us with you?”

I shake my head, “No, and not because I don’t want to but because I can’t take anyone else into the in-between space between the Void and here.”

Rival frowns, “So we’ve just got to sit here and wait?”

I’m not used to having someone concerned for me when I go on a job, let alone several someone’s, and I have no idea how to reassure them that I’ll be okay. I don’t know how to ease their worries.. Killian’s gaze becomes understanding, and he tucks me under his arm and squeezes tightly.

“She can use the bonds with Loki, Storm, and I to keep in touch, sending us feelings associated with what’s going on,” Killian suggests and then looks down at me and asks, “Can you still talk to me through the bond? I only ask because when your magic did that weird thing, you didn’t try to contact me, and what we were feeling from you was really muted.”

I shrug, I actually haven’t tried since then, and now that the idea I could’ve lost that has been put in my mind, I start to panic that I’ve lost the ability, I love being able to communicate with Killian like this, and I’m sure that as my bonds with the others strengthen and grow that I’ll be able to do the same with them as well. Although I’m not entirely sure of that because I have no idea how I’m bonding with them in the first place, there’s no information on it, so there’s no way of finding out any information about how they work.

Quickly reading the panic on my face, Kill squeezes me tighter and suggests, “Why don’t you try now and see if it works? Before you start freaking out anymore.”

I give him an unimpressed look and open the bond line between us both more. I usually keep them all relatively muted because no one wants to know what someone is feeling all the time, especially when it changes so quickly and is often layered with other emotions, which makes misunderstandings more likely.

“Smug bastard,” I mutter down the bond line to Killian, and he immediately bursts out laughing. I grin, “So it worked; you can still hear me then?”

“Yeah, Darlin’, it works. It must have had something to do with that weird glitch that your magic had.”

“Great, so if you need backup, you tell Killian. If, for whatever reason, you can’t get through to him, you send emotions to all of us,” Storm orders.

I automatically salute him and smirk but add honestly, “Don’t worry, I will. I promise.”

“Good,” Reaper replies for him.

“I’ll take one of the horses to get me just outside the wards and then send it back. I’m going to be gone for a while; I need to study the house so I know the best time to enter, and I won’t enter until it’s dark. Everything is better under cover of darkness.”

They throw out a few more half-hearted grumbles of protest, but they all know I can do this, and instead of finding it annoying, it’s actually kind of cute.

Grey interrupts them all as he says, “You better go and get ready. We want to make sure that you have enough time to gather the information you need to make it in safely.”

I nod and head out of the door while Loki calls after me that they will all meet me in the courtyard. When I make it back to my room, I pull on my armour that’s spelled to protect me and as many weapons as I can. I have to admit, as weird as it may be, I always feel naked if I don’t have a certain amount of weapons on me and by that, I mean at least ten. I mean, I’m always armed, but any less than ten and I feel vulnerable. It’s a testament to the guys that I feel comfortable enough with them that I don’t feel the need to be armed with ten.

It takes me no time at all to be ready, and as I leave my room, my excitement grows. I’ve been going through so much change and so much new stuff, and it’s good, great even, but I’m not used to it, and this is what I’m used to, hunting and doing things by myself. I feel like my feet are on solid ground, and although the other things are good, I need this to feel more like myself.

“Farren?” Zev asks, stepping into my path just before I head out of the doors, and I pause.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask.

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair as I see conflict grow in his eyes, “Look, I know you know that I saw your past yesterday, but I don’t want you to think I’ve hidden things from you, so I wanted to let you know that I saw all of it.” He pauses as his eyes flash with dark and deadly anger. Instead of saying sorry or pitying me like I think he would, he gently takes my hands in his and ducks slightly so that he can meet my eyes, “You are so incredibly strong, most people would’ve buckled and let it warp them, if they went through even a fraction of what you’ve been through. I think you’re fucking incredible.”

His words knock the breath out of me, and it takes me a few seconds of swallowing back my emotions before I can reply, “You know you’re probably one of the only people that would think that.”

He shakes his head rapidly, moving a step closer so my head has to tilt up to see his face as he looks down at me, “You’re wrong, the guys, they’d feel exactly how I do, I understand that you’re not ready to tell them yet and I’m not suggesting that you do, but I do know that they would feel like I do and I also know that it’s a damn good job that you killed your father because they would’ve fucking tortured him.”

I smile, “I know that, but like you said I’m just not ready.”

“That’s fine, and I can understand that; if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here.”

“Thanks, the same goes for you. I don’t need to be able to read the past or future like you can, to be able to know that you’ve been through shit. You’re in good company. We’ve all got shitty pasts.”

His eyes search mine, and he nods, “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. Come on, let’s get this done. I’m excited,” I smile, and as I start to take a step back, he stops me. My breath stutters in my chest as his hand moves to cup my cheek, and I couldn’t make myself pull away even if I wanted to, and I definitely don’t want to. His lips meet mine in a soft kiss, and I find myself not being able to hold back; I thought I was starting to develop feelings for him, but it turns out I was just kidding myself. I have all the feelings for him, the same as I feel for the others, and it took him kissing me, his tongue expertly moving with mine, for me to realise just how much I like him.

His smile is soft when he pulls back. He clears his throat as he steps back, “We should get out there, they’re waiting for us. Remember what I said though? Any time that you need to talk, I’m here.”

I nod, no doubt looking ridiculous since it goes on for longer than it should, and he smirks, as we head toward the doors, and I pull myself together. Well fuck, I’ve never reacted to a kiss like that before, and I’m not mad. Slightly confused, sure, but not mad. It was one hell of a kiss.

All of the guys are in the courtyard, and Grey has one of the horses ready to go. Flying fae horses take a lot to get used to riding. Fortunately, I have some experience with it, and it shouldn’t take me too long to get used to it again.

“All ready?” Rival asks, nibbling his bottom lip, which does unexpected things to me, despite the fact that I just kissed Zev.

“Yep, I’m looking forward to this,” I grin.

Kill shakes his head with an affectionate smile, “Of course you are.”

“Zev, Kill, have you seen anything that she needs to be aware of?” Reaper asks.

Killian shakes his head, “No, nothing, but then again I haven’t had a vision since we were back at the school. Zev?”

“Give me a second, and I’ll see if I can encourage something,” Zev replies. His eyes immediately flash white, and he frowns. This vision seems to last longer than the others he’s had here, and I start to worry about what he’s seeing.

When he comes out of it, his frown is even more pronounced as his eyebrows dip together, and his eyes move to me, “There’s a spot on the left wall close to where the main house that’s weak. You should be able to pull the spell apart easier so that you can save your strength for pulling apart the spell on the object.”

“And?” Loki asks, his eyes narrowed as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Zev sighs, “And I couldn’t pick up anything else but a foreboding feeling. I’m not going to try and tell you that you shouldn’t go, but you need to be even more on your guard.”

I nod, “I’ve got it. I will be, and I will call if I need you guys.”

“I don’t like it.” Storm frowns, his horns starting to spark slightly.

“I know, but this is our best chance,” I reply.

“I get that, and I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying that I don’t like it,” Storm replies.