I almost skid to a stop when I realize that at some point I changed direction, and I’m already heading in the direction of a portal that will take me to the country where the compound is.
The fact that I’m being steered this way is making me nervous, but I’ve never backed down from a challenge.
I just hope that River has had time to let the portal operators and the people at the compound know that I’m coming.
My people skills are a little rusty.
Who am I kidding? My people skills have always been rusty.
Neith
The drive home is quiet, all of us worrying about Rana. The thing is, I know that if she needed help, then she would ask me, and I can’t do anything until she gets in contact with me.
The only reason why I’m not calling Kar and getting him to trace her is that she specifically warned me not to, and I don’t want to compromise her safety any more than it has already been compromised.
So I’m going to have to wait until she calls me.
“Oh, your bikes are here,” I say as I get out of the car, inside the garage, and see Raiden’s bikes, and several other vehicles that I remember seeing in the guy's garage back at their place.
“Yeah. House has all of our toys here and some new ones that I can’t wait to play with too,” Raiden replies with a smile as he strokes one of his bikes.
“Do you think that all of our stuff will go back with us when we go back to the other house, or do you think that House knows something that we don’tand we’re staying here longer than we think we are?” River asks curiously, making us all pause.
Doc shrugs, “That’s a really good question. I guess we aren’t going to know the answer until we’re able to leave here and go back to the other house.”
“I like it here,” Ransom adds thoughtfully. “I don’t think I would mind if this became our permanent address. I like the fact that it keeps us further away from work and all the shit that it brings. It brings another level of safety that I’m finding that I really enjoy.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I definitely feel more relaxed here, but I hadn’t realized that I wasn’t relaxed at the other place, if that makes sense,” Reed replies.
“Getting to work would be difficult though, we would still need to go to the Training Academy regularly, we have classes to teach, and we would need to go for our assignments and to check in and all of that,” Van says, his eyebrows dipped slightly as he tries to work out the logistics of living here permanently.
I have to admit, it makes my heart happy that they love being here as much as they do.
I would live here permanently in a moment if I could.
“That’s true. It would be a bit of a ballache if we had to go to Naimh’s place every time we needed to go back, which would be almost daily. Plus, it wouldn’t be a good idea for her to know our comings and goings. That’s never a good idea,” Griff adds.
We’re all silent for a moment longer, and then Coen gets distracted from the previous conversation.
“This is so cool,” Coen grins, eyeing a couple of dirt bikes. He glances at a grinning Raiden, “Do you think you can still beat me?”
“There’s one way to find out,” Raiden grins. “It’s not raining yet. Let's go and see if we can find a trail through the woods, and then we can race.”
I grin as they both grab helmets, and Raiden throws a set of keys at Coen. Within moments, they’ve both taken off.
“You know what?” River asks, as he goes back to our previous conversation, “I bet that Ethel knows of somewhere nearby where we could portal from. Where we wouldn’t be at the risk of having our movements logged, or even a way to use Naimh’s portal without her necessarily knowing where we’re going or how often we’re using it.”
I grin, “There’s only one way to find out. Let’s go and ask her.”
The guys all nod, and we head inside and into the warmth, heading straight for the kitchen since that’s where Ethel likes to be.
“Hello, kids, how did it go?” Ethel asks.
“It was a success, and we met someone new and sent him to his new pack,” River replies with a grin as he jumps up onto the counter.
“Good, I’m glad to hear it,” she replies, a smile in her voice. “Now, I’m assuming that you had something to ask me?”
My smile widens as the guy's eyebrows rise in surprise.
