I nod, “Yeah, it really is.” I pause and then add, “I have a confession to make.”
“Uh oh,” Raiden teases as he glances at me, raising his eyebrow.
“I’m not actually sure if there is a lake on House’s grounds or even where the kelpies would put their lake if there wasn’t already a lake here that they could add to.”
This time, both eyebrows rise with surprise, “You have never explored the grounds here?”
“I didn’t really get the chance to. If I were here, it was because I was running or hiding from someone, and that meant that I didn’t really feel safe enough to leave House and explore the grounds. I don’t even really know how much land House has, although I imagine that it’s a fair amount considering how big House is and the uninterrupted view from the back.”
Raiden nods, “That makes sense. We can add it to the fun to-do list. That’s where I’m putting the things that I want to do, but that we don’t have time to do.”
I grin, “It would be nice to explore a bit. Especially since this place is actually legally mine.”
“Let’s head into the woods, that’s as good a place to start looking for the kelpie lake as any.” Raiden suggests and then switches back to our previous conversation, “How crazy is it that this place is yours and has been for far longer than you’ve been alive? I didn’t even realize that was possible.”
I shake my head, “Me neither.” Eyeing him with a smirk, I add, “How badly do you want to research that?”
He grins, “About as badly as I want to research everything else that I don’t seem to have the time for.” He runs a hand through his hair, “I still haven’t managed to get a good look at the unicorn stuff, and that really should be higher up the list. I mean fucking unicorns.”
Chapter Twelve
Neith
Iglance down at the bracelet that’s covering the mark on my wrist and frown. “We do seem to be getting hit with a lot at the moment. I mean, we find out something new and amazing, or threatening, and before we have the time to process it, let alone deal with it, we’re thrown something else. It’s got to slow down at some point, right?”
“It must do. Otherwise, we’re only ever going to have questions and no answers, and I think that would drive me insane,” Raiden says with a frown as his expression darkens. “Although I do think that the majority of the things that we’ve found out are all connected in some way, which should hopefully mean that when we answer one of the questions, it should answer several of the other questions too.”
“That would be nice,” I agree. Suddenly, I become more aware of my surroundings. “Does it sound quiet to you?”
We pause, and Raiden puts his hand on the hilt of his sword as he answers me, “Quieter than it should be, considering we’re in the middle of the woods, and a moment ago the wind was howling through the trees.”
My eyes scan the surrounding area, looking for anything that’s out of place. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if a damn yeti walked through the woods.
“Oh my fuck, are yetis real? Why did I never ask anyone that growing up? That’s seriously important information,” I exclaim, only just remembering to keep my voice quiet in my excitement.
Raiden glances at me incredulously, but answers anyway, “Yetis are just Bigfoot shifters that live in the colder climates where it’s always snowing. So their shifted forms have a different fur color.”
“Bigfoot!” I exclaim. I shake my head, “I am so disappointed in myself. Why have I never heard of them?”
“Because they’re ridiculously rare and like to keep to themselves,” Raiden shrugs. “I’ve never met one.”
“I have,” a familiar and somewhat unwelcome voice drifts through the trees.
“Flinotive,” I growl. I made a point to remember what his voice sounded like. I’m still pissed that he sent me to an unknown realm where I could have died simply by breathing the air, forget all of the other shit I went through there.
Raiden looks at me, “The imp? What has he got to do with Bigfoot and yeti shifters?”
It’s then that I remember that he can’t understand the imps language, and apparently didn’t hear anything speak.
Before I can give him a heads up that Flinotive is about to appear, the little shit, and two of his friends drop from the branches. Asael is in my hand immediately, and Raiden has a sword pointed at them as well.
I’m not going to lie, there is a part of me that wants to ask about what he knows about Bigfoot. I’m using that as the plural because Bigfeets sounds wrong, and I’m not sure about Bigfoots, which also sounds not quite right, but now isn’t the time to be asking for clarification on the plurals.
Or for talking about Bigfoot in the first place.
“What do you want?” I ask with a slight bite. As I mentioned earlier, I’m still a little bit salty about the whole sending me to Luesidious, where I got attacked by the backward knee things, found Aseal, that was actually a good thing, but it was the only good thing then I got bitten by something and almost trapped there indefinitely while the guys had no idea where I was or what was going on.
The image of that shocked, super-hot supernatural that I winked at also replays fairly often in my mind, not just because there was something alluring about him, but also because of the utterly horrifying way I winked at him, it’s damn good job I’m never going to see him again because thinking about that makes me physically cringe.
