Chapter One
Neith
My gaze quickly takes in the situation just to make sure that I’m seeing what I think I am, and sure enough, there is absolutely no mistaking that House is being attacked.
It’s pretty obvious that’s what’s happening right now.
What I’m not sure about is what is attacking House? Or hell, why? I don’t imagine that House manages to piss off that many people, considering it’s, you know, a house and can’t exactly go anywhere to piss someone off, at least I don’t think it can. I’m not actually one hundred percent sure about that since it’s magical, but logically speaking, House shouldn’t be able to go anywhere to piss someone off.
Of course, someone could come here, and House could piss them off, but we’re pretty far out, and it’s unlikely that anyone would just stop in for a visit, and certainly not a visit that would last long enough for House to do something to make them mad enough to want to attack it.
“What am I seeing?” Coen asks, sounding as confused as I feel.
“I don’t know,” I mutter honestly, my eyes still scanning the creatures attacking House as I try to make sense of it.
“Wait a fucking second. Are they ghosts?” Raiden asks incredulously.
River yelps in what I can only assume is excitement, and then clears his throat, “It certainly looks like it. They don’t look like Ribit though. They’re transparent and wispy around the edges, kind of like they’re slightly out of focus. I don’t think any of them are from the same time period either, or at least not many of them. They’re dressed in all sorts of clothes from various eras.”
“We can’t just stand here, they’re trying to pull House apart,” Doc says urgently, pulling us all out of our shock.
“Well, okay then. I guess we’re fighting ghosts,” Griff mutters, his eyebrows drawn down in a frown.
“It’s not the weirdest thing that’s happened today,” I point out, as if it will somehow make this situation make more sense or become easier to deal with.
We don’t waste any more time as we head out of the trees and toward the attacking ghosts. At first, I thought they were just human ghosts, but I was so wrong.
There are wolves, foxes, dragons, and a kelpie, and as I get closer, I realize that even some of the human-looking ones aren’t human at all. Some have pointed ears, some are clearly vampires, and some are either far too big to be a simple human or far too small. It’s an eclectic mix, and all of them see through, and all of them are charging or attacking House.
I think it’s safe to assume that this isn’t part of Casimir’s plan, he wouldn’t be attacking House, and this isn’t really his style of doing things anyway. No, this is something else entirely. Although I have no fucking idea what it is.
“Get the fuck away from House!” I yell as one of them manages to pull off a shutter.
The ghosts turn to look at us.
“Why do they look so shocked?” River mutters out of the side of his mouth.
“They’re ghosts, we’re not supposed to be able to see them,” I remind him, trying not to laugh.
This is a serious situation, but damn, River is fucking cute.
“Oh, I forgot about that,” he replies, making my smile widen.
We take advantage of the ghost's shock, and charge them. I call on my fire, and when streams of black flames wrap around my arms and Asael, I decide to just go with it, even though I’m used to seeing my pink fire, and it’s the only one I’ve really practiced with. I know that I have seen black fire in the past when I released my magic, and as far as I’m concerned, so long as it belongs to me, then it’s all good, and I’m going to use it.
As soon as my sword connects with one of the charging ghosts, who is definitely going in for the kill, I realize why my black fire is the one who has come out to play, because when the fire connects to the ghost, it wraps around the being and, for lack of a better word, consumes them. I then watch in absolute fascination as my fire pulls back, and a small ball of glowing white light is left behind. It dances happily in the air, leaving a light trail behind it before it dissipates in a twinkling rainfall of sparkles. Like a mini silent firework.
It's stunning.
I have absolutely no idea what it means, or what my fire did to the ghost, but it doesn’t feel like it’s a bad thing.
Unfortunately, I can’t enjoy the show for any longer, because the ghosts are now doubling down on their attack with renewed vigor, and standing here staring at the sky is just going to make me an easy target.
I am never an easy target.
Actually, scratch that, sometimes I have to pretend to be an easy target so that I can lure my target in and finish the job.
I pick up the pace, trusting that the guys are going to be able to protect themselves against the onslaught of ghosts who have now turned their sights on us.
