Page 2 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

I clear my throat and stand straight to regain my authority. This is what it feels like to be a lawyer in a courtroom. I can do this. And be the judge and jury! It’s all about me.

I start pacing to really sell the performance as I cross my arms.

“ Kimi! ” I falter for a second. I haven’t said his name in forever and it’s a little weird. I shake my head hard to regain my thoughts. Kind of.

“When did you find me again? A lot of time has gone by, and I need hard facts,” I shore up my confused questions with a slam of my fist into my palm and stop to face him sternly.

“How much time?” Mitri asks in a dark tone.

“ Objection! He’s my witness right now. Pipe down over there. I never thought you’d be the impatient one, Mitri.” I give him a disappointed frown.

“I’m a witness!” Kimi exclaims with excitement. He sits in the grass and straightens to give a solemn nod. “I found you when you were a kid.”

“ Where? ” I narrow my eyes on him and lean forward.

“Some road in one of the Virginias. Why are there two? Couldn’t it be one big state?”

I think about that. “Maybe it’s a line of hate? I don’t know. People are shit. That’s my final answer.”

“Good answer,” Kimi seems impressed, and I smile.

“Bees,” Ben says faintly .

“No, I need to know how bad to hate him. Silence in the court!” I point an accusing finger at him, and he whines.

My hand drops to my side. I just yelled at my sunshine.

“I’m sorry. I’m wonky phonky right now, but it’ll get better.” I try to sound reassuring, but the laughter keeps getting in my way.

I start pacing again as I think about his answers. More questions keep popping in and out of my brain, but I can’t focus . I don’t want to talk about all my festering memories in detail. Or about Virginia. How do I keep this vague and passive?

“I’ve got it!” I pat myself on my back at my genius.

“Is it a bug?” Kimi asks in concern as he watches me flailing.

“Kind of. Questions are a lot like bugs. They scuttle out and then run when you see them. Anywho, did you know me before that?”

Perfect.

“No? Was I supposed to?” He looks confused as he rolls Mitri 2 in his lap. “Can I phone a friend?”

“Who did you have the Old Man watching me for?” I continue. I have to keep him on the ropes.

“Me. Even you don’t listen? What the fuck, wifey?”

“Is he lying, bailiff?” I turn to Ben solemnly.

“He isn’t,” Ben mutters with a head tilt. He looks like he’s getting hungry. I need to finish this up.

“Huh. Then I guess you’re innocent. You may step down. You’re free to go,” I give Kimi a low bow, and he bounces to his feet.

“Hear that? I’m the best there ever was guys! Innocent! My charges have been dropped. ”

“We need some decorum in this courtroom, sir,” I tell him with a raised brow of censure.

“Sorry, I’m just excited,” he looks contrite, and I nod.

“That’s understandable. Next up.” I turn on Mitri with a glare. He straightens subtly as he eyes me. His hands are away from his guns, which confuses me.

“Did you take me to that vamp club so I would be too weak to fight back when we got to the mansion of bullshit lies ? Was it a distraction? Pretend to help me so you could flatten me later?”

My rage suddenly takes a dive as I pout at him. “Like, literally. That hurt , Mitri. My body was an accordion. I went all.” I slowly collapse my hands together and clap at the end.

“You didn’t even help me up you raging jackass,” I finish helplessly.

“ What? ” Mal turns to Mitri with a low frequency hum of danger. “When did this happen?”

“Right?” I turn to the dragon with wide eyes. “Totally rude. Chivalry is dead.”

“ Nyet . I would not betray you.” He sounds absolutely pissed even though he isn’t emoting.

Join the club, buddy. We might bake cookies.

I turn to Ben for judgment.

“He isn’t lying either.” He sounds mad about it, too. We’re all mad, and we should be.

“How can you tell? He’s probably the best poker player there ever was.” I look at Mitri curiously, trying to figure out what he saw that I didn’t.

“His scent, baby,” he looks at me sadly. “Remember?”

“I…. Don’t remember that,” I mutter with a frown.

“What happened to her?” Mal asks in a horrified tone .

“Oh, drop the fake concern, TGT Strangler. No one’s falling for it.” I roll my eyes hard enough to spin around.

“I guess Mitri is innocent, too. I’m running out of people to be mad at, Ben.”

“No, you aren’t,” he says forcefully. “I wish you were.”

Kimi starts to step forward again, and Ben moves to block him. He’s intently focused on Kimi.

I forgot that Ben witnessed those nightmares with me. He is two seconds away from finding out if he can eat gold.

“You can’t eat him. He’s innocent,” I protest, grabbing his arm.

“I don’t care,” his voice gains that dual tone, and Mal winces back.

The dragon man recovers and bares his teeth threateningly. His wings snap in some kind of animal warning sign that’s cute. I won’t say that part out loud.

He’s suddenly glaring at me as if I did say it out loud. Level four scowl detected.

Red alert. He’ll figure out I’m crazy. Distract.

“We have to care, or we’ll turn into her ,” I begin to panic as I think that through. The seesaw struggles to rise. “I don’t want that, Ben. Please?”

Ben turns to watch my meltdown and places his hands on my shoulders. The touch brings me back to the present instead of murky nightmares.

“What was I talking about?” The seesaw begins to rise as he croons softly to me.

“She’s lost her mind,” Mal whispers, and I nod helplessly.

“She’s talking about the Goddess,” Kimi frowns as he watches me. “You aren’t her yet?”

“No, no, no,” I clutch my head in my hands .

It’s weird that I understand Kimi more now. He’s speaking to me on a wavelength he and I understand. Somewhere deep inside, I’m still trapped in that bitch’s body, watching horrors unfold around me that I can’t stop.

“Is this that stupid Goddess bullshit again?” Mal asks in exasperation. “That’s all in your head, you idiot.”

“And now it’s in hers too,” Kimi laughs and juggles the tape.

The seesaw goes up in a confusing wobble. They don’t believe him. They aren’t a part of Kimi’s plan to kill me at all. Where does that leave me?

Mal and Mitri look at me as I slowly begin backing away from them all. I keep them in my peripherals and Kimi in my main sight. Ben hops backward and keeps pace, covering me as I try to reach the fence.

“Are you kidding me?” Mal is at a level five scowl now. “How much more shit will be thrown our way before we get a break?”

I feel that in spades, dragon man.

“Delegate Tremaine,” Mitri interrupts the drama with a flat tone. “Is she a problem?”

His calm voice snaps me back into my right mind as he brings another problem into focus.

Ben stops and tilts his head back towards me, not taking his eyes off any of them. The faeries from earlier are subtly approaching as well. Forming a line spreading out behind Mitri and Kimi, weapons drawn.

“She mentally manipulated Ben to try and force him to have sex with her,” I answer him sadly. The seesaw dips. “We can’t let anyone else kill her, or Ben’s Mom will get mad.”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s a problem,” Mal swipes his hand through his hair and shakes his head. “What’s happening here? ”

“The confusion will pass,” Mitri tilts his head and frowns as he watches our retreat. “We, too, have been mentally manipulated for years to be more subdued.”

“What?” Mal snaps in surprise.

Kimi gives a theatrical gasp and says, “Nuh-uh! Not me!”

“I have a ring for you as well,” Mitri informs Kimi, and he smiles as he looks over at him. I stop in surprise at the emotion.

Usually, when someone smiles, it displays happiness or amusement. Mitri’s smile says, quite clearly, ‘This is going to hurt you, and I’m going to enjoy it.’

“Manipulation like that doesn’t work on interdimensional beings,” Kimi protests and then changes his stance to hold out his left hand to Mitri. “But if you put a ring on it, I’ll wear it, babe.”

“He’s right,” Ben says over his shoulder to me. “I don’t know how Tremaine managed it without help. She’s only a mid-level mage, and that’s not even her specialty. That's why I was taken by surprise.”

“The Delegates should be considered corrupted,” Mitri says calmly. “It would take multiple participants to control so many individuals simultaneously. None of the Delegates I have questioned remembered me or any other Agent. The question has become, are they at fault or puppets themselves?”

“You’ve been ‘questioning’ Delegates?” Mal asks. He makes air quotes with his fingers as he asks.

“Yes,” Mitri nods once.

“How many are dead?” Kimi grins and bounces on his toes as he leans closer to Mitri.

“At present, four. They all bore a symbol on their flesh in different locations. I do not recognize it.” Mitri says it so as a matter of fact that I can only marvel at his calm .

“What’s it look like?” Kimi shuffles closer to Mitri, and I notice they’ve all subtly been keeping pace with Ben and me.

Mitri reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a carefully folded handkerchief. When he opens it, several clean-cut squares of bloodied flesh are revealed, all bearing a familiar symbol.

“You are the gift that keeps on giving, bestie!” Kimi cries out and snatches a piece to shake it around in the air.

Ben stiffens, and I place my hand on his back.

“ You killed them,” Ben turns his head towards Mitri, but his eyes stay on the tiny scrap of skin.

“Of course,” Mitri agrees without inflection. “They held no useful information, and their memories were wiped of any pertinent event in my investigation.”

Ben and I digest that as Kimi dances and sings to the symbol.

“What was the investigation?” Ben asks, suddenly unconcerned about their deaths.

“To locate Beatrice. The records of her incarceration were not kept and I wished to know why.”

I’m surprised he’s sharing with the class.