Page 11 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

Mal’s level one scowl lightens before he says, “You’ve spent too much time with Mitri. It’s always, prepare this, prepare that.”

“That’s because he’s a tactical genius, not an emotional beast, Mal. Suck it up,” I slide into the seat with a sweet smile of innocence.

Who doesn’t do prep work before an assault? The Old Man would have cut Mal from a team just for saying that.

Mitri passes by him with a clap to Mal’s shoulder and forces me back into the middle of the bench seat. I glance at Ben with a grimace.

He pats my thigh comfortingly and says, “It’s not the cat, so I’m happy.”

The cat? Oh crap, does he mean Kimi? I guess what I’ve seen through my nightmares could be considered cat-like. Kind of? Maybe he just smells like a cat? I don’t know. If Ben’s standard form is viewed as a dog, I suppose Kimi could be a cat.

Ben and Mitri close the doors, and I try not to get claustrophobic at the proximity.

Peacemaker: “Hello again!”

“Hey,” I answer automatically, and both males turn to me .

“Uh, where would you like to eat?” I practically shout in panic.

No one is supposed to know he’s talking to me. Too bad I can’t get the hang of mentally talking to someone either.

I distract myself by reaching over Mitri to the glove box. I know I hid other snacks in the car. There should have been two bags of jerky, but both are gone.

“Did you eat both bags?” I ask Ben in concern. He needs to eat more. I’m surprised he’s not a grumbling mess at this point.

I lean over Mitri’s lap to reach between his feet for the bag of bones I hid under the seat.

“I did,” Ben chokes out and coughs a little. “I think you’re making the immortal uncomfortable.”

“Don’t be a baby, Mitri, I think I’ve got it,” I grumble and strain a little further down. The gun is digging into my stomach as I stretch and look at Mitri’s face so I’m not staring at his crotch. It’s completely blank as he watches me.

“Oh, I got it!” I grin at him and brace my hand on his stomach to push myself upright.

“Tada!” I show Ben the plastic bag, and his laughter sputters out as he snatches it from my hand and digs one out.

“We’re getting burritos,” Ben mutters, a bone hanging from the corner of his lips like a cigar. He crunches through it with a snap and swallows it whole. The bag isn’t going to make it to his favorite Mexican food place.

“Sounds good,” I agree and turn to Mitri. “You like burritos?”

“ Mne vse ravno, dorogoya serdtse ,” he replies flatly.

Ben laughs as I say, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“ Ty sobirayesh?sya priznat?sya? ” Ben asks with a grin, and I get confused.

I should have known that Ben would be multilingual. A Big Bad Evil raised him, so it tracks. Soon he’ll be chanting in Latin, covered in a black bathrobe, and holding a lantern or some shit.

I tune them both out and focus on what I might need to be prepared for the upcoming shitshow.

Peacemaker: “You don’t want to know what they’re saying? I can translate.”

“If they can’t be bothered to say it in a language I know, I’ll assume they’re planning where to bury my body.”

That thought is met with a disturbingly loud laugh that makes me startle. Ben and Mitri are so into their one-sided conversation they don’t notice.

Ben’s the only one speaking, but Mitri is focused on him. I reach for the music, change it to something I know, and turn the volume low so I can try and concentrate.

Problem one: will the rings work? It cleared them out of the influence, but are they infallible?

Ben said controlling his kind is difficult because he’s from another dimension, but he got influenced by one Delegate.

Same with Kimi in the mansion of bullshit, despite his denial.

Even if it’s for a little bit, either one of them could do some severe damage before they snapped out of it.

Peacemaker: “Kimi is more vulnerable due to his already unstable mentality. Just having you with us going back in is an ace in the hole. I think the rest will be fine, though we haven’t risked it.”

Maybe I should go in alone. I don’t know if I’m now immune to all mental persuasion or just King’s. If not, how long will it take me to build that immunity? Would everyone wait for me to come back ?

Peacemaker: “Your immunity adapts? Mitri has a ring for you as well.”

“I’ll wear it as long as I can confirm that’s what it is.”

I’m not trusting anyone but Ben right now.

Peacemaker: “Rude. He’s already killed four people for you, five if you include Kimi.”

“Kimi is alive. We just saw him.”

Peacemaker: “He is for now. Mitri got bored with it because he just comes back.”

“He’s immortal?” Fuck my life, man. Ok, setting that crap aside before my mental seesaw takes a downswing.

There has to be another way for me to locate hexes. I’m stronger now, but the manor is huge. Letting the spark wander all over the place to find hexes is going to wear me out. Especially if I have to heal someone or two someones.

Peacemaker: “What spark?”

“Shh, I’m thinking, and it’s complicated.”

That’s three floors to search, possibly four. I know that maze of a basement will be a nightmare, but I can’t leave any stones unturned. I wonder if the Delegates know the layout of the place. Have pictures. If Laverne had access to anything she could attach a hex to we might be screwed.

Peacemaker: “Hold on, I’ll ask.”

Mitri turns to face the front windshield as Ben continues speaking in whatever language that is. Maybe Russian? The Artificer did say he became a Czar . The dots are connecting. Huh. Mitri is Russian.

Peacemaker’s voice returns quickly. “He thinks they know everything. It was built before he came to America, and agents already lived there. One was married to a Delegate. There was some remodeling to make the den below. We aren’t sure if that’s recorded. ”

“Great, just great.” So we have to assume they know all the hiding places, just in case. Can they just move, and Mitri can set the place on fire?

Peacemaker: “Make a path directly to them and drag them out. The less influence they’re under, the better. Outside we don’t have to worry about reinfection.”

I try to keep my suspicions under wraps, but the damn gun is too quick. I don’t manage to conceal the thought well enough to hide it.

Peacemaker: “If King is the one doing this, he’ll still be weaker outside of the hex’s influence. We have our own suspicions there.”

I’m glad I’m not the only one, but I feel guilty for thinking it.

Peacemaker: “Why? He makes his own choices.”

“And Mal? What if he had no choice?”

I turn in my seat to see Mal and Kimi in the vehicle behind us. Mal is using one of his wings in the cramped space to keep Kimi in the backseat.

Kimi is leaning out the back window, yelling things to the people we pass. From the pedestrians' reactions, I think the maniac is propositioning them.

Peacemaker: “Then he makes his choice now. He’s the only one with control over that, not you. Besides, he strangled you.”

“So what?” He’s not the first, and I doubt he’ll be the last.

We need something that can locate the hexes without burning energy and get rid of them.

Peacemaker: “Amulets and incense can clear hexes. But those Witches are experts. They’ll have their hexes perfected and not easily removed. We don’t have the time if you want to go in now.”

“How long would it take?” I’d like to get this done and wipe this off the things to do list now. But if we can do it safely in a reasonable timeframe, I’m all for it .

Peacemaker: “About a month, and that’s if it even works the first time.”

And nevermind. Mal isn’t going to go for a month without King.

Peacemaker: “Amulets would be better, but they can only help one individual, not a group. A dispel artifact can only remove one hex at a time as well, and it takes focus.”

Which would leave people vulnerable during the downtime. If we need to sneak in spending twenty minutes removing one hex every two feet would be ridiculous.

Fuck, the spark it is. Maybe I can focus enough to erase it directly.

Peacemaker: “What is the spark?”

“I don’t know how to describe it.” I check in with it to find it hanging out on Mitri’s shoulder. When I glance over at it, it hops on the gun pressed into my thigh.

Peacemaker’s voice turns wary: “What is that?”

“You can feel it? It’s me, I guess, or a piece of me.” Probably the only good thing left.

Peacemaker: “I can feel it. It’s warm. And happy? Soothing.”

“Yeah.” I watch it wind itself around the gun happily, spitting sparks everywhere. Mitri is oblivious as he stares out the windshield.

Then it bounces to the other gun and does the same thing. For some reason it makes the tiny hairs on the back of my neck rise in dread.

What is it doing?

It bounces back and forth like some crazy form of hopscotch, creating a string leading from one of the guns to the other. It braids the two pieces intricately as it turns a shade of green that reminds me of Mitri’s eyes. It gathers the strand and bounces onto Mitri’s chest.

I start to sweat .

“What are you doing?” I stare at Mitri’s chest in trepidation. I get Mitri’s attention for speaking out loud but I don’t have a chance to try and cover for myself.

Peacemaker responds like I was speaking to him. “It’s tightening our bond with Mitri. I don’t know why. We’re solid, practically one person.”

It adds a neon green strand from Mitri, blending it with the other two, and zips back into my chest. It roots out the gray thread of my line and starts braiding it in.

“Wait,” I choke out and slap a hand over my breastbone as if I could stop it.

Sparky keeps going, ignoring my rising panic.

I feel something inside me shift, connecting with the line. Like my organs are a broken puzzle and a piece just snapped into place, sealing up a jagged edge.

I have a split second to marvel over it as the spark finishes.