Page 14 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

“You know, for a strategist, you’re pretty lackadaisical about the planning portion of this type of thing,” I tease with a soft huff of laughter.

“Who said I was a strategist?” Is the silky reply.

Whoops, that’s something I was told, but I have no basis for the assumption. My acting skills have deserted me ever since I went to crazy land, so I cringe and turn to weakly smile at him. “Educated guess?”

He gives me a raised eyebrow look in return without answering.

I return to the front windshield and watch the mansion get closer. The dread in my stomach begins to churn the closer we get.

“Repelling ward?” Ben asks and glances at Mitri.

“No,” Mitri looks at Ben with his expression wiped clean.

“Then why do I feel sick just seeing this place?”

He doesn’t answer, just tilts his head to confer with the guns. Something that I can hear this time.

Peacemaker: “I never noticed anything.”

“I feel it, too , ” I interject.

“Have you felt this the entire time you were housed here?” Mitri asks.

I think about that before I formulate a reply. “I don’t think so? It’s hard to tell. My problems could have overshadowed this.”

Peacemaker asks in a tense tone: “What does that mean?”

“I have anxiety. Panic attacks sometimes.” I try to brush off the touchy subject, but Mitri has questions because he always does .

“What triggers them? ”

“Let's not discuss this before we go into another stressful situation.” I can already feel my chest tightening as we get closer.

“Nyet. We need to know how to keep you from having them,” Mitri insists.

I look into his eyes with a frown. “I can’t avoid this. All sorts of shit triggers it. Sometimes, I don’t know what it will be until it happens. The only one I can think of right now is the stairs going into the den. Kinda hard to avoid that. I just need to get through it and keep moving.”

He stares at me without speaking or thinking anything. He’s just a blank slate waiting for something, and I have no idea what it could be.

Peacemaker sounds horrified: “You’ve been tortured the entire time you’ve been here?”

I snort a laugh out loud. I can’t help it. Out of all the things I’ve had to endure in my life, this seems like a barely there drop in the bucket. “That’s not real torture. It’s building up a tolerance so you can function… “

“...under pressure,” the Old Man stands at the top of the stairs to the basement as memory overtakes the present.

I’m crouched on one of the steps, waiting for him to move to the side so I can slip past him. The fear hasn’t paralyzed me yet, but it’s getting closer the longer he stands there. I focus on the light behind him, wishing I could take it with me.

“You need to learn how to handle yourself in any given situation. An enemy will take any advantage they have over you. You endure this now, and you can endure it after. You can’t let anything stop you.

Rule two. Your only goal tonight is survival.

If you find a way to escape, I’ll consider it a pass in this test.”

As he finishes speaking, he shuts the door, and I watch as the light becomes darkness again. I start screaming.

“Ktoetobyl? Ya nadeyus?, chto on mertv.”

“ Uh, hello? No hablo espanol? I don’t even know what language that is.”

Peacemaker: “They call it Russian now. That’s Vendetta. He refuses to speak English even though we all know he can .”

“ What did he say?”

“ It is inconsequential ,” Mitri replies.

Vendetta: “Poshelnakhuy.”

“Since he’s too dumb to speak a language I know, I’ll ignore him. Welcome to the silent treatment.”

Peacemaker gives a short laugh before sobering again. “So we can’t keep you from the things that frighten you. You don’t want that because it will keep you from living your life.”

“Yes, that, exactly!” It’s such a relief to be understood!

Vendetta: “ Bezumiye.”

“That had a negative tone, and I’m done with your bullshit. Sit in your corner because your time out starts now.” How strange is it that they have more emotion when speaking than Mitri?

The vehicle comes to a stop directly facing the front door. Mal pulls up next to us, not bothering with the garage.

Mitri loosens the fist on his thigh, and I pull my hand back. Before he slides out, he grabs it and intertwines our fingers, pulling me out behind him. He doesn’t release me as he begins walking towards the mansion.

“Does anyone else feel like puking right now?” Kimi’s strained voice sounds behind us, and I dig in my heels.

“Yeah,” Mal clears his throat and shakes his head sharply.

“Oh good, I thought I ate some bad nachos. I should have known they’d never betray me,” Kimi sounds relieved.

“Ben?” I turn back to him and find he’s rubbing his stomach with a grimace.

Peacemaker: “Ty vidish’ eto?”

Vendetta: “On voobshche ne tuman.”

Mitri: “My vidim to zhe, chtoonavidit.”

I look at Mitri, and he stares intently at Ben before glancing at me and rolling a shoulder.

“Well, Mitri and I are fine.”

“Of course, the sociopath is fine.” Mal glares at Mitri.

“And you adapt, Bees,” Ben adds in. His voice draws Mitri’s attention sharply. It makes me nervous how hard he’s looking at him.

Peacemaker: “We can hear him.”

What, was he not paying attention before? Slacker.

Ben continues without any idea of the danger he’s in. “You’re already used to the effects going on. There’s a ward around here. If we can find the focal point, we can get rid of it and keep going without it slowing us down.”

“That makes no sense,” I look to Mitri again in confusion. “None of you felt like this whenever you came back here before. Right? Kimi?”

Why am I asking him? He lies as well as he breathes.

“Excuse me,” Kimi waves a hand and goes behind Mitri’s car to be sick. The sounds make my gag reflex work, and I turn away from him so I don’t sympathy vomit.

“Do your thing,” I tell the spark, and it gets to work.

My eyesight changes as a wave of golden light pulses from my chest, hitting the manor and reaching beyond it. Where is it?

Mitri is stiff at my side. He’s trying to be still so I can focus. That’s nice of him.

The light bounces off the fence's boundary and rolls back like a tide before ramming it again. If it can’t pass, then that is where the barrier starts.

“Ben, how far can a ward project from its focal point?”

“Find the edges; it should be in a central location.” He winces and crouches down, darkness beginning to leak from his eyes.

Peacemaker: “What are we seeing here?”

“Quiet,” Mitri intones and steps towards the gates. I stumble behind him, trying to stay focused on the light. So much for staying still.

He studies the gate in front and turns in a slow circle, looking at all the posts around the fencing. He lets go of my hand as he steps away from me and hesitates.

“I can only see if we are in contact, dorogoya serdtse, ” he says, offering me his hand. I take it in confusion, the light wavering at my lack of attention.

“Focus again,” he looks down at me, and I nod, trying again. The light becomes brighter and steadier.

“Close your eyes and walk with me,” He holds my hand and wraps his other arm around my waist. “I will guide you. All you need to do is whatever you are currently doing.”

“Walking blindly through the yard, yippee.”

I close my eyes, and all I’m left with is the light shining through. I can’t see what I’m physically touching, just the gold glow and Mitri’s string leading to my chest.

“I will not let you fall.”

“Bees, hurry,” Ben says through gritted teeth, and I feel a cold dread infiltrate the warmth of the glow. He'll become ravenous if he starts getting sick and his stomach empties. He’s warned me repeatedly that he’s dangerous in that state. I’m not in the mood to get eaten today.

I bring the spark back and tell it, “ Find it now. Ben’s suffering.”

It jolts into motion as it listens to me for the first time ever .

Mitri stays silent and continues leading me through the grass. I allow myself to relax in his embrace and let him take charge, only altering direction when the spark starts bouncing. I’m not sure what he can see through me, but following it is instinctual.

“Very good,” he approves, and the spark flutters before becoming a beacon to a specific spot. He guides me to it and bends to pick something up.

I open my eyes to see Mitri holding a tiny glass ball in his hand, covered in little symbols. He drops it back to the grass and pulls one of the guns to shoot it, causing me to jump in surprise. My ears ring at the sound, and I stare at Mitri in disbelief.

“A little warning next time?” Am I yelling? I can’t tell.

Mitri replaces the gun and presses his hand back to my lower spine, guiding me to the others.

Mal pops his neck and nods to himself. Ben straightens from his crouch and takes a deep breath in and out. Kimi jumps onto the car's roof and screams, “I’m back, baby!”

So, everyone seems much better, and now everyone else knows we’re here. Between the missing ward, a gunshot, and Kimi yelling like a lunatic, that is. Stealth, thy name is not TGT.

“So sneaking in is out,” I comment, and I still can’t tell how loud I am because of the tinny sound in my ears. It’s not like we could have kept our arrival a secret with the plan to burn incense all over the place anyway .

“Okay, that’s it,” Mal growls and marches to Mitri’s vehicle. I think he’s going pull Kimi onto the ground, done with his antics and ready to rage quit. Instead, he simply reaches inside and grabs something to hold above his head.

“Hey!” He shakes it like a Human about to play fetch with a dog. It gets Kimi’s attention as Mal walks over to where Mitri and I have stopped by Ben.

It’s the giant ball of duct tape Kimi was carrying around with him yesterday. Mal’s hand is so big his fingers and thumb almost touch as he grips it.

“Oh!” Kimi lithely jumps down to hop over to Mal’s side. “I almost forgot you, Mitri the Second!”