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“I think you need to lie down,” I say cautiously. I don’t know what’s going on with him, and my spark is back to fluttering after healing Mal, so I’m hesitant to scan him.

“What do you mean?” He asks, and I get a déjà vu feeling as my eyes widen.

“Uh, Bees?” Ben interrupts our stare off.

“Yeah?” I continue looking at Mike warily.

“Do you remember me telling you that I have an effect on people?”

“The fear and insanity thing?” I have yet to see this in action. He just wants to be a badass, and I support him 100% in everything, so I just go with it.

His eyebrows rise, and he gestures towards Mike as if he’s on a game show, showing me what I’ve won.

“Bullshit,” I start cracking up.

I notice Mal and King staring at me with mouths open in disbelief. My laughter tapers off as I watch them give hesitant glances in Ben’s direction behind his back.

“It’s bullshit… right?” I ask them, and they both shake their heads no.

“You were serious?” I breathe out in dismay.

“Of course I was,” he angrily scowls at me. “Did you think I was lying?”

“No,” I deny quickly and start shaking my head adamantly. “I just thought you meant in your other form…” I trail off with a wince.

Ben pulls himself up straight and waves a hand at me, thoroughly irritated. “Let him go.”

“What?” I hate when he’s mad at me. It makes my stomach sink, and my eyes burn like I’m about to cry. My anxiety begins to churn up again.

“Let him go.” He suggests and crosses his arms over his chest.

I look back at Mike, worried now, and release him.

Mike looks just as confused as before.

“Look atme, Human, not her,” Ben says in his normal everyday voice.

As soon as Mike turns with a frown, his expression changes to absolute disgust and horror. The screaming begins again. This time, he cowers behind me and grabs my shoulders, pressing his face between my shoulder blades and chanting, “It’s not real. It’s not real, Mike!”

I stand there frozen, staring at Ben in shock.

He gives me a mocking ‘I told you so’ look and a grim smile.

“ButI’mnot scared of you,” I defend myself with wonder and a tiny bit of unease.

“I know,” his arms drop to his sides as he says it, anger fleeing his expression and replaced by resignation. His shoulders droop a bit as he stares at me.

“Mitri isn’t scared of you,” I gesture to the blank-faced immortal leaning casually in the doorway.

“He’s a sociopath. He doesn’t know what fear is,” Ben glares over his shoulder.

“He knows what fear is. He just doesn’t feel it,” I grumble back. That is a little frightening on its own. I digress.

“Kimi isn’t afraid,” I hurry to press on.

“Yeah, I don’t know why,” Ben’s frown transfers to Kimi, who stares blankly back.

“He’s a good guard dog,” he says flatly as if that explains everything.