Page 15 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

Just as he reaches up, as if he could reach it with Mal towering over him, Mal rears his arm back and throws it. After an impressive arc any football player would envy, it goes over the fence and out of sight.

“ NO! I’m coming, Mitri two!” Kimi cries out and begins running in the direction it flew.

Ben lurches towards it, even taking a few steps, before stopping to glare at Mal with a curled upper lip. He’s such a puppy sometimes.

Mal turns, leans down to be on eye level with me, and throws his hands out, yelling, “What is the plan here?”

My eyes widen as I yell back, “Why are you yelling at me?!”

“Because I’m pissed! ” He returns, and the snake pupils of his eyes expand and contract sharply. “ You babysit him for over twenty-four hours and be excited for the day!”

He has a good point.

“You keep going off and doing your own thing like we’re supposed to know what you’re doing!”

“Mitri knows,” I meet his level-four scowl with one of my own.

“ Great !” His giant arms fling up and drop down to his sides again. “The guy least likely to tell anyone shit knows what we’re doing. We can’t lose!”

“Well, I’m sorry!” I scream back as Kimi rushes up and holds the silver ball to Mal’s face with both hands.

“Apologize to Mitri two,” he snarls and practically jams it up Mal’s nose to emphasize.

“Of course,” Mal says calmly, snatches the ball back, and throws it again. I might be mistaken, but it looks like this throw was harder. It definitely goes further.

“ NO! BAD MAL! ” Kimi rushes back after it.

“Now,” he rubs his eyes in frustration. “Where were we?”

“I don’t know how much I can tell you,” I reply with a tense frown. “I don’t trust you.”

His hand drops from his face, and he looks at me with resignation. “I need to know we have a damn plan, Beatrice. All the preparation in the world won’t help if the entire team isn’t on the same page.”

That’s fair, damn him. Who knew non-manipulated Mal would be more than just a hulking beast. Double damn.

“I will use my power to get in there as fast as we can and drag them out here. If hexes are in the house, we’ll have a better chance of helping them out here.”

“Okay, and the stop we made?” Mal seems to agree.

“Sage. I’m thinking sage bombs down the stairs and waiting for some of the smoke to clear? Or we can each hold a bundle as we go in. Better than nothing, right? It was Mitri’s idea.”

“And he told you about it?” Mal’s teeth grind together audibly as he scowls at Mitri. The level-seven glare doesn’t have any effect. “You’ve known me for how long, and you barely even talk to me! ”

“You are experienced and know what we can expect. She does not,” Mitri’s explanation would probably be taken better if he actually used a little inflection behind them. And did he just insult me?

“Are you taking her under your wing?” He asks incredulously. “I don’t think a Mender needs to be hanging around a damn killer.”

Mitri’s blank eyes sharpen and focus on Mal in a way that makes me very uncomfortable.

“Can we just shelve this argument for later and focus on saving people, please?” I step between them desperately with my hands spread to push them apart if necessary.

“ Alqarf! ” Mal stomps away a few steps and rubs his face with both hands.

Mitri returns to the house and picks up the basket of sage Ben dropped by the steps.

“Well, we’re screwed.”

I jump away from Kimi’s voice coming from behind me. He’s holding the tape ball under one arm and shaking his head sadly.

“I never asked, do you have a will? I’m in it, right? I want your truck,” he says with a sweet smile.

“No. You never will be. And fuck no! Stay away from my truck!”

“You’ll be dead,” Kimi calls to my retreating form. “You’ll never know the difference!”

I look over at Mal as I pass him to join Mitri. “I’m never going to doubt your bad moods again. You deserve a raise.”

He rears back in surprise at the statement.

Mitri opens the front door and pauses on the threshold. “Show me where the hexes are.”

“Sure. No more shooting right next to my ears, though,” I grab his hand, and the spark returns to work .

The first level of the house doesn’t seem touched at first. Then, the spark bounces off the skylight, and I look up.

Directly on the glass is a colossal hex.

It looks as if someone shoe-polished it up there.

The sun’s rays cast a shadow that hits directly onto the table in the center of the room.

“Giant hex on the glass,” I tell Mal, pointing up as we walk around it. As long as it doesn’t activate, we should be fine. But how do they activate?

“If you walk in its shadow or touch it in any way, it will activate,” Mitri stares above us, studying the symbol.

“I don’t see anything,” Mal frowns as he looks up.

I’m not sure if it will work, but I offer him a hand as a kind of peace offering. “You might not see anything, but you can try what Mitri’s doing?”

Mal gives me a level-one scowl, “My touch will burn you.”

“No, it won’t, drama queen. I can hold a hot rock if I want to.” I roll my eyes.

He indignantly strides forward as if he’s about to prove himself right. He clasps my hand and seems surprised when I don’t start screaming. I was tempted to, but I don’t want to support his delusions.

His skin is hot, like an electric blanket set to max, and his hand is large enough to completely engulf mine.

He shakes off his shock and looks around. His scowl turns to a level three when he looks at the sunroof. “I don’t see anything.”

Well, shit. I thought I was giving him an olive branch of semi-trust but nooooooo . He thinks I’m insane now. Even though I am, and it’s obvious. Great strides in friendship, Beatrice.

“Sorry, I thought it would work,” I wince and roll a shoulder in a shrug. I try to take back my hand, but he doesn’t let go .

“Wait,” he barks out, and I freeze in place at the tone, preparing for the worst. “It’s right in the center of the glass? The shadow of it is on the table. I can see it now.”

“Oh, oh, I wanna see!” Kimi comes from around Mal and grabs my shoulder.

Ben immediately jerks him away from me and stands at my back with a snarl.

“What?” Kimi throws his hands up in a dramatic shrug. “Where’s my love? Mal choked her, you know. Bark at him.”

Ben ignores him and places both hands on my shoulders with a frown. “I don’t see anything.”

“No more delays,” Mitri says, setting the basket on the floor. He digs out a bundle of sage for each of us and lights them with a fancy silver lighter that looks old enough to be in a gallery somewhere.

I can’t help my snort of laughter, “If you were an exhibit in a museum, what do you think your nameplate would be?”

“Homicidous maximus,” Kimi quips back and juggles his sage as it smokes.

“Cursed doll,” Ben adds and holds the sage away from him with a grimace.

“ Almawtalsaamit ,” Mal grumbles.

“That sounds exotic,” I nod to Mal with a smile. His eyes narrow in return as if he isn’t sure how to respond when someone is being friendly.

I tried to be friendly. All that energy is gone now. I give up. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow after my social battery is recharged.

“Which do you prefer, Mitri? It’s your exhibit, after all,” I tug his hand as he pulls us all towards the doorway leading down. I belatedly notice that I didn’t get a sage bundle. Mitri and Mal both hold my hands like we’re all kids afraid to be separated.

“ Tvoya ,” he replies with no inflection. Mal’s language is more fluid, like a poem, while Mitri’s is rough around the edges. I would have thought it would be the other way around with their attitudes.

“Stop,” Ben snaps and pulls my shoulders back.

Mal and Mitri don’t let go, and I do a stumbling shuffle to keep my feet while I’m being pulled in two directions at once.

“ Nyet , no more delays,” Mitri doesn’t even turn towards Ben as he replies.

“Stop pulling her,” Ben’s voice gains that echo of danger, and Mal stops without turning. Mitri turns smoothly on his heel and gives Ben a blank look.

I suddenly understand what Ben is doing. He knows that part of my anxiety is being forced down the darkened stairwell. My gut churns as I think of the panic attack I just came within moments of having.

He’s right. They can’t touch me if I want to go down those steps without a freakout. This anxiety attack I want to avoid. Who knows how long I’ll be out of commission if it starts?

“Yeah, and where’s my wife’s ring, Mitri?” Kimi insists as he opens the door to the yawning pit of darkness beyond. He does some kind of ballet move that enshrouds him in smoke then bounces down the stairs lightly without a care.

“Can you guys let go? Just until we reach the bottom of the steps,” I ask awkwardly. No matter what, I’m sure I’m going to embarrass myself. The least they can do is let me have a smidge of fake privacy.

Mal lets me go immediately, but Mitri gives his version of a scowl. His eyes narrow the slightest bit, and one side of his lips curls down infinitesimally.

He digs into his pocket and pulls out a silver ring similar to the ones Mal and Ben are wearing.

Mitri pulls my hand up and slides the ring onto my thumb without asking.

It slides into place at the base, but I don’t feel any sparkle or electric feeling of magic rushing over me.

It feels like a regular ring, and I look at Mitri in confusion.

I know what it is. I’m just not sure if it’s working on me.

Either way, I just got a nice ring from Mitri.

“Let me do this my way,” I squeeze his hand before I withdraw mine and stare at the darkness with a wince.

“What’s the problem here?” Mal asks impatiently.

Ben walks in front of me. “Just like in the bowels, follow my voice. Close your eyes if you need to.”