Page 29 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

Beatrice doesn’t look at him as she nods in confirmation. “He was shot… a lot. I thought he wasn’t going to survive. I couldn’t just leave him there.”

“You could have,” Kimi’s faint reply is lost under Mal’s growling.

“What happened?” Mal insists but settles back against his chair, no longer struggling.

“The reports of Humans encroaching into our side of the divide were correct,” Mitri says without fanfare.

“What reports?” Mal looks at me accusingly.

“I do not know,” I frown, trying to cast my mind back into the blank fog I’ve dwelt in for so long.

“A diversion,” Mitri comments.

“To what purpose?” I ask him.

“A setup for capture,” Beatrice murmurs to herself.

Several eyes turn to her in surprise.

“Divide and conquer? Separate and annihilate? Is this thing on?” She makes her hand into a fist and taps it as if she’s holding a microphone.

She rolls her eyes with a put-upon sigh and continues, “Mal’s alone in the house.

King is watched by GV. Kimi does what Kimi does, which is whatever he wants.

Mitri is left alone. It’s not rocket science, people. ”

“Who do you believe the victim was meant to be?” I ask contemplatively, trying to follow her convoluted mind.

“I don’t know, I’m not a supervillain,” she shrugs and winces, touching her shoulder softly. I’m sure a firmer touch would be even more painful.

“Who would you pick?” Mal asks with a huff of laughter.

“Not Mitri,” she rolls her eyes mockingly. “He’s a death machine walking.”

“But he would be the most likely to retaliate,” I argue.

“Hmm, point taken,” she agrees with a single nod.

“If I recall correctly you were supposed to be at the den as well,” I raise a brow.

“And I bounced as soon as you guys left. Good thing if it was me she was after,” she smirks, unrepentant.

“The real issue is why did she want you guys? I mean, manipulating all of you would have been a much better use of her time. TGT spies, mindless and under her direction. Hello, power trip.”

“I’m sure that was the plan until you arrived,” I raise an eyebrow and smirk. She has no idea the damage she did to Iris’ plans simply by existing in our presence.

“Again, what did that matter? I don’t get it,” she says as she tries to piece the puzzle together.

“Baby, you have a presence whether you like it or not,” Ben’s voice is a dual-pronged assault of fear that freezes me in place. I think I preferred him shy.

“What do you mean?” She looks up at it with disbelief born from a lack of confidence.

It moves to hover beside her and she tilts her head as though listening to him. After a short pause she stares at it blankly and asks, “What does it feel like? ”

“Comforting.” The dual voice croons with pleasure.

“A sedative,” Kimi says flatly.

“I relax people enough to put them to sleep by being in the same room. Awesome,” she deadpans. “There goes my sex life.”

She holds both hands out, palms up, and treats them as scales as she weighs her options. “Power,” one hand goes up, “celibacy,” and the other falls below the table.

“Anyway,” she shakes off the thought with a forlorn sigh and turns back to me. “My mystical mojo started affecting you guys, and I didn’t even know it.”

Her head jerks to take in Mitri with wide eyes. “That’s why she was harassing you in the office that day! I thought she was trying to get in your pants.”

“She was trying to reassert control because I had begun to act outside her normal standards,” Mitri’s eyes drift in thought, and Beatrice’s eyes drop to the gun still held in her hand.

“Is that why I got a headache whenever she was around?” Beatrice wonders aloud.

“Yes,” it may not have been an actual question for me, but I answer regardless. “My headaches began soon after you arrived.”

“Huh.” She appears dumbfounded at the knowledge. “What did she want? A mindless boy band?”

“To control and position us in a way that left the territory vulnerable.” A plan she was successful in doing.

“Vulnerable to what?” Beatrice asks.

“The Delegates,” I sneer.

“So they figure out you’re spies and then manipulate you?” Beatrice shakes her head. “That makes no sense. They should have killed you.”

“Some of us won’t die,” Mal points out with a glare at Mitri.

I lean towards her with a glare of my own.

“It makes perfect sense for Delegates who have aligned with Humans. Scientists to piece together how to defeat us with technology. They would use us to be a patsy for whatever occurs here. None of us have led a life of virtue. It would be easy to see us fall from grace. Or they would make us experiments.”

“No,” she chokes, and her gaze drops to the table, hiding her expression.

“They want the old ways back,” Mitri’s head tilts slightly as he focuses on me.

“They’re using Others for testing and building an army of Human hunters with the weapons to defeat us,” I can remember that much from the endless conversations I had overheard, but not much more.

“Humans to be the patsy,” Mitri rolls a shoulder in an unconcerned shrug.

“They want another war?” Ben scoffs in an echoing tone. “A useless waste of good meat. Again .”

“War will be an end result, yes,” I consider the blank spots in my memory as I reply. “The Delegates plan on being the victors. When they win, Humans will be slaves once more.”

“ Nyet ,” Mitri argues. “They will be prey.”

I look at him, confused about how he came to that conclusion.

“You have not thought back far enough,” he continues in a monotone. “Before, Humans were in the minority and hunted for food. They were considered no better than intelligent cattle.”

My mouth parts in surprise. I had not heard this before.

“How old are you, Mitri?” I ask with a frown. He typically refuses to answer anything.

“Yeah, Kostya ,” Mal smirks at Mitri. “Did you witness the first rise of Humans?”

He doesn’t answer, eyes drifting past us to see something we will never witness as his mind wanders.

“What do you mean, we become food?” Beatrice shudders with revulsion as sweat begins to bead on her forehead.

“Not you,” Mitri swipes his hand in a negative motion as his eyes refocus on her with brows drawn. “You are not Human. You never were. I am not weak. You will not be retaken.”

“Screw the world because Mitri doesn’t care,” Mal shakes his head, resigned.

“What do you mean, again ?” Kimi’s eyes narrow.

Ben stands behind Beatrice’s chair, and smoke settles on her shoulders.

“They will not be able to affect the change worldwide. Do not be foolish,” Mitri paces around the table to stand on Beatrice’s left, watching as the monster curls around her as if it wants to comfort her.

“Why not?” Mal asks. “Stranger things have happened.”

“ Nyet . Not enough followers. If they can amass power in this land, it would be possible. If they are overtaken here, it will not happen. This is the largest spread of territory with many varied cultures. This is a fool’s errand.”

“Sit back and relax? Is that what you’re suggesting?” Mal says, voice heavy with a mixture of sarcasm and disbelief. “Did you forget that we were almost caught to be used as guinea pigs ourselves?”

“The good guys are bad guys,” Beatrice mutters as her eyes slide closed. “I say fuck them, they’re now on the menu, Ben.”

It makes an odd, ear-grating sound in apparent delight.

“Mass homicide?” I raise an eyebrow mockingly. “And what of the innocent?”

“I will question them,” Mitri picks the gun up from the table and turns as if to leave.

“No,” Beatrice puts a hand out, and he halts abruptly. “Not wholesale slaughter. We need to be more subtle than that, or we become the bad guys. We need evidence before we start killing off anyone. King said she had a ring. Can one of you go back and get it?”

A small pool of silence surrounds the table as our eyes turn to Mitri. As he can’t feel guilt or remorse, he stares back at us impassively.

“Anyone?” Beatrice, who hasn’t opened her eyes, asks in resignation.

Her head turns toward the monster for a moment.

“Yeah?” She asks from between gritted teeth.

“What?” She gasps with surprise, and her eyes squeeze shut tighter, her head lowering until her chin rests on her chest. “What the fuck do you mean blown up ?”

“Mitri threw a temper tantrum,” Mal says drolly. “All your precious evidence is gone.”

“Oh, Ben, your car,” she whines. There’s a brief pause as she listens again. It eerily reminds me of Mitri’s frequent wandering attention.

“Rubble? Like, nothing is left? Mal, your gold,” Beatrice sounds as if she’s about to cry, which I find surprising. How did she know about his hoard?

“It’s fine, probably sunk further into the ground,” Mal’s teeth grit as he fixes Mitri with a malicious gaze. “Wait, how did you know about my hoard?”

His eyes slide to Beatrice as he bears his teeth. A dragon’s hoard, whatever treasure it would be, is sacred. Not just anyone would be shown it.

“I saw it,” she gestures vaguely in Mitri’s direction. “When we bonded, I could see what he showed me.”

“You broke into my vault?!” Mal lurches against his bonds, snapping his teeth at Mitri, his wings straining to snap out.

“Bonded?” Kimi’s eyes narrow on Mitri intently.

“Impossible,” I scoff at her. “Immortals can’t bond.”

“All of you, shut up! ” Ben follows his bellow with a sharp howling noise that causes my body to shudder, and I cower.

What is he to cause such an effect on my mind? I have never displayed fear like this before. I try to focus my eyes on him, but they roll away sharply, my stomach curling with nausea.

“Ben,” Beatrice says as her shoulders stiffen up close to her ears and her eyes water. “Who cares what they think? Let them focus on their petty bullshit, we have bigger problems. You said Tremaine has a ring. I need to get it.”

“A simple ring won’t be enough proof,” I try to follow her train of thought and find it impossible. She can’t even follow her own thoughts, much less I.

“We take it to the Artificer, confirm what it is and who made it, if he didn’t make it himself. Track down who all purchased them-” she chokes off with a grunt, and a sound emits from under the table.

I’ve been in on enough torture sessions to recognize when a bone pops sickeningly out of place. Then she continues with her jaw clenched as if it were nothing.

“We also need to keep talking to the people who had someone go missing and get them on board with watching each other's backs. If the witches are being used, the rest have specialties to be exploited, too.”

“If you tell them about the Delegates,” I begin to caution, and she interrupts me.

“They’ll kill them all, and then the normal villains will be set up in their place, I know.

Mab already did it when she set up an entourage in the Delegates as soon as a position or four became available.

But we become untrustable allies if we try to keep them in the dark about this.

I’ll try to keep them focused on finding the missing, but they need to be told. ”

She has a plan. And so quickly.

A new cracking pop sounds, and she winces, lowering her head so no one can see her reactions to the pain. I do not like the thought that she is so familiar with pain that she thinks little of it. Little enough to keep speaking, even though she should be resting.

“We’ll have to split up. Ben, if you take care of the interviews, I’ll take care of Tremaine.” The words are punctuated by a series of snaps that flow up her spine, straightening her in her seat with a small gasp. “She won’t be able to control me.”

“We can discuss it after you rest,” I assure her.

“Yeah,” she agrees, tilting her head to the left with another crack. “I’ll need to be back to full strength.”

“I’ll settle for not being in pain,” her guard growls.

“It’s normal,” she dismisses.

“What about us?” Kimi asks head tilted and frowning at her.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Ben, you decide what to do with them.”

She quickly amends, “ After you eat something. From the fridge only .”

“Are you sure?” Ben’s gaze traps mine, shrouding my thoughts in unrelieved hunger.

“Yeah. The last thing we need is Delegates to come looking and have a reason to arrest us. I don’t know about you, but prison wasn’t that much fun.”

Are we to be spared for political reasons? My eyes narrow on her huddled form with a scowl. It isn’t as if we haven’t earned her disdain. I suppose I simply assumed she would feel the same pull towards me as I do her. I know very little about menders. Perhaps her pain is muffling it.

“Bed for me,” she mutters and slowly pushes herself to a stand. Her legs wobble precariously, and then she takes her first step, gaining more confidence as she moves down the hallway.

“You could ask for help,” Ben snarls as it follows with Mitri close on her heels.

We sit in silence as we wait for him to return and cast his judgment.