Page 17 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

My head aches horribly, all stuffed with cotton and thorns rolling around without a care.

My mouth feels like a dentist sucked out every bit of moisture I once had.

I try to lift my hand to check if I fell asleep with my mouth open, but it won’t move.

Actually, I can’t feel most of my body. What’s going on?

I think back to what I had been doing before I fell asleep and come up blank. The annoying intermittent buzzing sound I’ve been pushing back breaks through the fog and begins to make sense and have a cadence. Someone is speaking.

I feel my stomach churn as trepidation fills me. Something isn’t right with this, any of it. Why can’t I remember anything?

Kimi’s insane laughter cuts through the buzzing, bringing sharp pain and clarity.

I remember now.

This didn’t go well at all. How could we fuck this up so badly? We’re in deep shit right now, so I follow instinct and the Old Man’s training. Lying still and keeping my body relaxed, not that I have much choice right now, I force myself to listen to what’s happening around me.

There are pacing footsteps to my left and Kimi’s voice, mocking whoever is talking in a high-pitched, whiny tone.

The rattle of something metal familiar to me from the cells at the penitentiary.

Chains and bars are being shaken. Soft breathing.

All coming from my left. My face is angled towards the sounds, but I don’t dare open my eyes yet, trying to locate where people are.

Wait, I don’t have to use just sound anymore.

“Help me , ” I ask the spark as it flutters in a panic within me. It’s trying to counteract whatever they used to knock us all out. How did they manage that? And how was Kimi the only one who noticed something was wrong?

I let it focus on healing me and return to the movements around me. I can ask it again when it’s done fixing me up. I’ll have to have my wits about me for whatever happens next.

I’m down half my mental capacity because I’ve gone insane. We’re doomed.

“Yes, we have them all,” that’s GV’s incessant buzzing voice. “I can’t kill the freak or the Immortal. The rest are doable.”

Okay, so this is bad. Like, worse than I thought it would be bad.

“Why?... Do you actually believe that? There’s no way -” she stops speaking. A phone call. I thought she was talking to King, wondering if this was an evil monologue, but the tone is wrong.

“I can bring her, but I can’t guarantee her survival…

Because she’s a Human , whether you think so or not.

Her body is fragile, and I don’t have time to babysit…

Deal with it, there’s too many other variables…

I have control of them… No, not him , but he’s insane, so I can’t tell…

You don’t demand anything. Do you know who I am! ?”

There’s the distinct sound of something hitting a wall and breaking to the accompaniment of Kimi’s hysterical laughter.

“Oh no! The boss doesn’t respect you? Have you thought about giving a two weeks’ notice?” Kimi is beside himself. I can picture him holding his stomach because the sustained laughter has to be causing him pain by now.

“Shut up! Gas him again, now ! But go easy on it. He comes back faster from dying. Mal is already unconscious, so you won’t have to use as much,” GV grits back impatiently.

Shit, the gas killed him?

“Since when are you such a little bitch boy, King?” Kimi haltingly asks through his laughter.

The pacing increases, and there’s the soft sound of someone walking farther from me. They must have been standing right next to me. With the distraction, I chance a quick look around me without moving my head.

I see King’s back as he walks away and GV pacing in front of Ben and Mal. They’re both in separate cages with shiny new bars. I can just see Ben’s back rise and fall with his breathing. Mal’s is a little less obvious, but he’s alive.

Mitri is slumped in some kind of throne off to the side of the cages, manacled in place at his ankles and probably his wrists.

However, I can’t see from this angle. His head is tilted to the side, baring his neck, which is covered by a silver metal band.

It’s a very familiar collar, and I can feel my heartbeat starting to drum in my chest. I slam my eyes shut and try to keep my breathing steady and even.

The scientists used collars just like it.

They kept some of the people in the lab under control, unable to use their powers.

It never kept me from returning to life when I died but slowed the resurrection process somehow.

I didn’t get the ability to pop until after it was removed, so I don’t know if it would have worked on that.

No, I couldn’t pop at the jail either. Mystery solved.

Speaking of mysteries, why the fuck didn’t I just pop everyone in??? What is wrong with me? We could have skipped all of this bullshit! Even if it weakened me, it would have been worth it.

A metallic dragging sound pulls me from my thoughts as Kimi continues laughing and mocking GV’s apparent dislike of her job. Then, the sound of a faint hiss, probably what Kimi heard before.

“What is that? Does it have a name?” Kimi asks.

He sounds like he’s grinning, and the chains rattle again.

“I recommend calling it Stink Snake. It has a marketing strategy all over it. Wait, does that say carfentanil? Did I say that right? Hey! That has a skull and crossbones picture on it… that’s bad… for… me…”

A thump follows the last word, and I imagine Kimi falling over fast asleep.

At least, I hope he’s just sleeping. I hear squeaking as a valve is closed and a metal canister is set aside.

So, no magic at all. This is straight Human interference.

But what are they doing teaming up with TGT or the Delegates? Isn’t that a little contradictory?

“What are we doing?” King’s calm voice asks.

Yeah, what are you doing? Don’t leave me in suspense. And here I thought GV would be innocent and King would be a mastermind. They’re in this together from the sounds of things, but she’s the boss. Poor Mal.

“Why are you talking? Shut up, let me think,” GV snaps back at him, and the silence is only broken by the steady pacing to my left.

Kimi woke up before I did. He had to have heard what was going on. If he could hear the gas in the hall, he had to be able to hear whoever was on the other line with her. Now, if only I could get him to tell me without losing my mind or my heart.

The silence continues as I contemplate exactly how I will get out of this mess. All the heavy hitters of this ‘team’ are now unconscious, chained up, in cells, or all three of the above.

I take stock of myself and find I’m healed of any last vestiges of the gas. I can feel my body and wiggle my toes in my shoes as a test. I have feeling in them again, so we’re good to go, which means I can have a little help in this situation.

I explain to the spark that we need to lock them down and get everyone out of the cages, trying to be clear and concise.

I keep my eyes closed and picture the lifelines leading to King and GV, allowing it to pan out to encompass their bodies. Then I take hold of every muscle I can and tighten them into place, holding them stiff. GV shrieks before her jaw clenches shut. King makes no sound at all.

I sit up quickly and look around me, keeping my main focus on the two bodies frozen in place.

We’re in some kind of torture room that isn’t Mitri’s. I guess he didn’t know about this one.

I can see Kimi’s chest rising and falling rhythmically, so he’s at least asleep and not dead. Silver linings, I guess.

King stands beside Kimi’s cage, body tensed painfully and teeth grinding. His eyes are on me, but I avoid looking at his face, just in case. I’ve already screwed up too much on this one. I can’t afford to keep doing it.

GV is facing away from me, and she’s jerking as she struggles against her own muscles to get free.

I can’t see an opening in the cages, but I get up to try and find a way to get them out.

I go straight to Ben and reach through the bars to stroke a hand through his hair.

He has his normal cool temperature and he’s breathing evenly, but he shows no signs of waking any time soon.

The cage is a small box with him curled onto his side to fit.

I don’t see any kind of door to open or a padlock.

A glance at the other cages confirms they’re the same.

Mal is hanging by his shackled wrists, head slumped in sleep and on his knees. Kimi is displayed similarly, but Ben isn’t shackled at all.

“Ben, get up,” I snap my fingers in front of his face and tap his cheek but get no response.

Mal makes a deep rumbling sound, and I slide to his cage. Reaching through the bars, I cradle his face in my hands and tilt his chin up. His eyelids are fluttering, and a scowl is beginning to form on his slack features.

“Oh yes,” I grin in delight. Who would have thought I would be so excited for the raging dragon to wake up in a bad mood? “Mal? Talk to me.”

“ Alsamt ,” he snarls at me. I’m not sure if he’s just making sounds or if it’s a language, but I take it as a good sign.

“Hey, grumpy,” I sweet-talk him like a small child. “I need you to wake up for me, okay? Nap time is done. Now it’s jailbreak time.”

“Said… silence ,” he groans, his eyes opening a tiny amount. His pupils are wide enough that the gold of his irises is almost eclipsed.

“I know you’re not feeling great, but I need you,” I beg shamelessly. “Please wake up.”

“ Waha fi hajat li ,” he chuckles a little, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen him smile. It’s tiny and kind of a smirk but still an upward tilt of his lips. I didn’t think he was capable of it.

I smile back hesitantly, “Yeah? You're gonna wake up for me?”