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I didn’t notice, but Ben had already lifted me up, and I instinctively curled into my Ben carry ball, legs ready to kick out at anyone coming at us.

Ben stands still, watching the berserker as well.

We all stand or hover, frozen for a moment. Then Kimi’s eyes meet Ben’s, and they both do a synchronized nod. Seriously, when did they become besties?

Drasorin’s legs stop kicking, and I hope he’s just unconscious.

“This is a neutral establishment,” Alzghoul grits out, but I notice he has his baseball bat clutched in his hands. The faeries are all in the air in various stages of aggression. The other berserkers from the table are hunched with rage-filled snarls and eye twitches. Everyone is paused in place as if we’re all afraid to move.

The berserker takes a deep breath and shudders before he releases Drasorin’s arm.

Ben backs away two steps, taking me with him.

Kimi’s tail curls in the center and ripples out, flinging the fully grown man out the swinging saloon doors as if he were flicking a fly.

“He fell,” Kimi insists in a voice so filled with menace I can’t even muster up a laugh.

“Kimi?” I whisper in concern. The ease of that tail throw scares me. Just how strong is he? My only consolation is that he’s only half an inch taller than me, which is why I couldn’t see him stalking behind the guy.

My spark, meanwhile, is rubbing up on the bridge and chain connecting me to Ben and Kimi like a cat in heat, praising them. Then it goes over to a new thread and rubs on it.

What the hell? Where did the bright-colored one come from? It’s like a woven ray of sunlight with hidden stars nestled inside that ends at the berserker in front of me. As my spark cuddles the cord his big body shudders again.

His shoulders settle as he cracks his neck, still facing away from me, watching the doors as if he’s hoping Drasorin comes back inside for round two of his beat-down.

“That’s it, you’re grounded! Stop that and get back in bed!”

It ignores my angry thoughts and flows down the new line and back again, taunting me. I notice the black ribbon is weak and getting farther away. I guess he lived.

Ben tilts his head against mine, rubbing his face over my hair and Kimi watches me intently.

Could they feel the spark? If they could, then that means thistotal stranger I’ve never met beforecan feel it, too. How embarrassing.

Is there a law about binding people without their permission? I can already feel the jail time coming.

“I hate you so much right now.”

Sparkysettles back in my chest, allowing the bonds to fade into the background and building some kind of smokescreen to block the new one out. It did learn a little something from Mitri, after all.

Notenough,apparently.

I’m fully connected to the berserker guy, like I was with Mitri. The other bonds are dull and lifeless, so maybe I haven’t activated them.

The berserker turns to me, and I babble, “I’m so sorry!”

The guy looks younger than me, maybe twenty-three, and Human. As a matter of fact, all of the berserkers look Human instead of ridiculously handsome. Not that this guy is a slouch by any means.

He seems a little rough, like he hasn’t slept in a few days, with the beginnings of a beard coming in. His shoulder-length black hair is all over the place, and sunglasses cover his eyes. He’s as tall as Ben but bulkier like Mal. As I stare, his muscles shrink until his t-shirt is no longer straining at the seams. I can feel his stare even through the opaque lenses and wince.

There's nothing like defending a stranger and getting tied to them without your permission. Hurray.

“We can break it,” I try to reassure him, and he falls back a step in surprise, clutching defensively at his chest with one hand.

“She doesn’t understand it’s a gift. She was raised as a Human,” Ben says calmly and slowly loosens his arms, giving me time to get my feet under me so I can stand. “She thinks she mentally molested you.”

“Consent is a thing!” I’m practically screaming, but I’m facing the berserker when I do it, and he takes another step back with a frown.

“She doesn’t like the thought you had no choice,” Ben ignores me.