Page 88

Story: Bonding Beasts

Ha! His feelings. As if. I just don’t want to waltz out there fully naked and get the Mitri doll eyes of disdain. Picturing that look on his face cools things down considerably and makes my heart give a painful lurch in my chest. Damn thing must not be healed all the way. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

By the time I reemerge, all the blankets and pillows are gone. Crap, that’s a lot to move. How long was I in there? I glance over at Mitri with a frown.

“Did he just…”

“He did,” Mitri stands and walks up to me, extending his bent arm in a gesture so old-fashioned it takes me a second to realize what he’s doing. I hesitantly place my fingers in the crook of his elbow, and he smoothly begins to guide me towards the door.

A male treating me like a delicate flower? The world is ending, I’m convinced now. And no, I’m not blushing, and this isn’t nice, damn it.

We enter the dining space since it’s practically all one big room, and my feet stop moving. Mitri doesn’t for a moment, but when my fingers begin to slip from his arm, he pauses to glance back at me.

I stare at the various faces around the kitchen table and try to take in the extreme changes in expression as they all stare down at the plates laid out.

Kimi’s face is vacant of expression, which hits me in the chest with how wrong it is. Where’s the playful, fun-loving, life-manipulating villain I know?

Mal’s eyes are narrowed in a level two glower as he looks down with irritation.

King’s right eyebrow is raised almost to his hairline with surprise and pleasure. Why is his nose crooked? Is that a black eye?Twoblack eyes? His chin is swollen at its point, and his lower lip is jutting out in an unintentional pout. Did Ben do that?

Ben is currently leaning on the table with both hands, inhaling deeply over one of the plates and growling low in his chest. The darkness surrounding him has seeped to his elbows, so I can’t see his face. I know that growl, though. That’s the kill it and eat it, not necessarily in that order, growl.

“Ben?” I hurry forward, dropping Mitri’s arm to stand between Ben and King, placing my hand on his shoulder through the chilled miasma surrounding him.

“Tremaine,” his voice is echoing as he says it. He’s very close to shifting into his normal form, which is nothing but bad news in a room of people. I could be wrong, but I think both Mal and King flinch back from him, eyes straining for a place to look that isn’t directly at him.

“What about – oh,” I trail off quietly as my eyes finally take in the display on each plate.

The one closest to me has a pile of cooked bacon so big it’s overflowing onto the table. At least, I hope it’s bacon. I’m choosing to ignore that and make a mental note to not eat it, just in case.

The second has a headband with drooping rabbit ears, two tennis balls, a dog collar with a sparkly name tag I can’t read, and three rawhide bones.

But the third plate. Oh, man. That’s just…

It’s a silver plate, sans the utensils and napkins of the other two, with one item on it. A distinctly feminine hand wearing a gold ring with some kind of blue stone surrounded by diamonds. It’s so big it takes up the first digit from knuckle to nails.

Nice manicure. The burgundy color brings out the blue in the ring nicely. I digress.

I feel my mouth drop open in a mixture of surprise and horror, barely quelling the urge to laugh hysterically. Breakfast is ruined for me, that’s for sure.

My seesaw begins a downward tilt that I suddenly don’t mind at all.

I turn in a circle, stupidly looking for the rest of the body.

“Who did…” Maybe I can finish a sentence at some point in the distant future. So far, I’m batting two to three words with no hope of finding more.

To say the morning has gone a little sideways would be the understatement of the century. It’s such a lovely day outside, too.

“I did.”

I hardly recognize the voice as he speaks. As I look up, my eyes meet Kimi’s. But this isn’t Kimi. This is someone else inhabiting Kimi’s body.

Are pod people real, or is that a scary story? If so, I’m looking at one. He’s missing everything that makes him…him. No smiles, laughing eyes, mischievous wiggles. Nothing. His face is set in a blank expression I can’t read, reminding me eerily of Mitri. He isn’t even the Kimi in my nightmares right now. He’s a blank slate, watching me with an intense obsession that gives me chills of unease.

It’s like staring into the eyes of a predator and thinking, well, goodbye, cruel world.

He makes no move, holding himself entirely still and focused. He refuses to break eye contact, and I’m helpless to look away. Everything in my body is screaming to run, my knees shaking with the urge to flee.

“You did this?” I point feebly toward the plate with a shaking voice filled with terror.