Every now and then, it hits me all over again that I’m here, with Van, with all of them, and despite all the shit that we go through, I have never been happier. I can quite honestly say I love my life. Late at night, when my thoughts turn against me, I think of the what-ifs. If I hadn’t chosen to come here after HID tried to kill me. If I had gone off on my own, then I could have missed out on all of this, and then because it’s late and late night anxiety thoughts are a bitch, I end upmaking myself really sad, then realize I’m being ridiculous, have the Voices snigger at me for being an idiot, and then go to sleep wrapped up in the arms of one of my men.
It’s happened more than I would care to admit.
Thinking back to when we first met, a thought occurs to me, something that I’ve been meaning to ask since that very first meeting with all of them at the other house, and since I don’t know when I’ll remember to ask the question again, I turn to Reed.
“Reed?” I ask.
He turns to look at me, his eyes no longer sad like they were that day, “Yeah?”
“The first night that we met,” I start.
River interrupts me, “That was not what I was expecting. Buckle up, guys.”
Chapter Nine
Neith
Iblow a raspberry at him and carry on talking to Reed over the sound of River’s laughter, “Anyway, the first night that we met, you tried to read my mind, and I put my shields up, and you seemed really surprised that you couldn’t get through them, but I haven’t seen you use that since. At least I don’t think I have.”
Surprise lights Reed’s eyes, “I’m surprised you remember that.”
“That night was the turning point in my life. I’m pretty sure it’s carved into my memory. I hope I never forget it,” I reply honestly.
Soft smiles cross the guys’ faces.
“Us too,” River answers for all of them.
Reed nods, “It’s not my favorite thing to do. I don’t like being in other people's heads, and I can only really do it with humans since none of them put up walls. Or at least the majority of them don’t, so it’s easier. We don’t really have that much interaction with humans, so there’s never been a reason to use it. Not recently anyway.”
I nod, “Ah, okay, yeah. That makes more sense.”
“Sorry, dude, that was probably really confusing,” Ransom says to Baz.
He shrugs with a smile, “You guys have history, and obviously I wasn’t there, I get it. I enjoy hearing about it, though.”
“Winston obviously thinks that Baz is going to be around for a while, but I’m not sure what we should fill him in on or not,” River says thoughtfully. “No offense.”
Baz chuckles, “None taken, I understand completely.”
“Well, we could . . .” Raiden starts and then stops when a breeze kicks up around Griff, and his eyes go completely black.
“What’s happening?” Baz asks as he tenses, getting ready to help in whatever way he can.
“He’s having a vision,” I explain.
Baz tilts his head as he studies Griff, “I don’t think I have ever seen someone’s eyes go black when they have a vision. It’s curious.”
“We haven’t either, we figure that it’s something to do with the new . . .” Ransom trails off as Griff’s eyes clear.
I have to admit that I’m nervous. When Griff has a vision, it tends to be something that we have to do right now, and it’s a matter of life and death, and quite frankly, it has been a long fucking day, and I am fucking tired. I don’t want to have to do anything right now.
He smiles, “Baz isn’t going anywhere. He’s one of us, permanently. We need to fill him in on everything.”
Coen grins and claps a shocked-looking Baz on the shoulder, “Well, it’s a slightly unorthodox way to gain a family member, but I can’t say that I’m surprised. You’ve felt like one of us since we met. Welcome to the family, man.”
“Family,” Baz says quietly, an array of conflicting emotions playing out across his expression.
Understanding crosses several of the guys' faces.
