Page 51 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

Reed’s eyes light with a mischievousness as he says, “Well, yeah, there is that.”

Sticking my middle finger up at him as I laugh I change the subject, “How long has it been since RIbit left? She’s going to be okay, right? He can’t do anything to her?”

Raiden’s eyebrows dip over his eyes, “While there are some supernaturals that can affect the dead, Kylen isn’t one of them, so unless he has some sort of spell on him and activates it at the right time, Ribit should be absolutely fine.”

“I know that was supposed to reassure me, but Kylen is already doing things that he shouldn’t be able to do, Coen is proof of that, and it really wouldn’t surprise me if Kylen has something that meant that he could feel the dead if they’re around him, and something that means that he can do something about it if he did feel them,” I reply with a frown.

Raiden nods, “I get that, but I would be able to feel it if he had something like that on him. I can always feel death,” he stops mid sentence and his eyes widen. He shakes his head, “Damn it, that’s what I was feeling on the stairs, it was Ribit. I was so distracted by finding you, and I’m clearly tired, because it didn’t even register that that was what I was feeling.”

Reed claps him on the shoulder and squeezes once, “Don’t worry about it, we’re all really tired and running on empty by this point. It's been full on, emotionally and physically for a while now.”

Suddenly the door to the room glows red, in what I can only assume is a warning from the castle. Rushing to the door, I don’t even think twice as I pull them open, a shadow disappears down the stairs and I rush after it the guys hot on my heels. It takes me only seconds to get to the top of the stairway, but there is nothing to be seen and the doors at the bottom are still shut tightly.

“What the fuck was that about?” Doc asks.

“I think the castle was warning us about something,” Raiden suggests, sounding slightly unsure.

“Did you see something, Nene?” Van asks.

I nod, and turn back around, heading toward the room, “Yeah, I thought I did anyway. It was a shadow of some kind. It was moving really quickly, and by the time I got to the top of the stairs it wasn’t there anymore.”

“I saw it as well,” Reed says with a frown.

“What or who was it?” Ransom questions.

Once we’re back in the room, I look toward the fireplace, from experience with House it’s easy for enchanted houses and in this case castles to speak through fire, so that’s where I direct my question.

“Castle, can you light up the fire if there was someone listening at the door?” I ask and flames instantly flare to life in the fireplace.

“Well, that was a pretty definitive answer,” Griff says with a frown.

“That’s really not good,” Doc says, his eyebrows pulling down with worry. “What were we talking about? Was it anything that shouldn’t have been overheard?”

Chapter Eighteen

Neith

Ifrown, “I don’t think so. Not at that point anyway, but I guess it depends on how long they were listening for.”

“Castle, can you make the flames flare if they were listening for longer than five minutes?” Reed asks.

We all wait and watch the fire intently, but nothing happens, and the flames stay flickering gently in the grate.

“Okay, so I’m guessing that as soon as whoever was listening stepped outside the door, the castle let us know that they were there,” Ransom says. “Which means they didn’t really hear anything of any importance, just us talking, and that we’re all together this late, but I don’t think that will be a problem. There’s no rule saying that we can’t spend time with you.”

“Why do I feel like a teenager again getting caught in the girls’ dorms,” River chuckles.

“Get caught in the girls’ dorms a lot, did you?” I smirk, trying not to laugh.

River’s grin widens, but he refuses to answer, and I burst out laughing.

“Castle, was it someone from the other team listening in?” Reed asks and then adds when he realizes he forgot to make it a yes or no question, “Can you flare the fire if it was?”

The fire stays dim, and I frown.

“Okay, well, that wasn’t what I was expecting. Who the hell is listening in on us, and are they a threat?” Raiden asks.

“If it’s not the Draconian team, then I doubt that whoever it was is a threat to us, they were more likely just curious. Judging from the dust and things up here, not many people come here. It could have just been someone who works here who was curious about the noise up here,” River suggests.

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