Page 36 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

When I open the oven, I freeze again. On the pan is every one of Ben’s favorites, from beef burritos to a half roast of ham, perfectly cooked and still sizzling with juices.

I take two steps back, brow furrowed in confusion. On impulse, I step to the upper cabinets and jerk two of them open. The only things inside are six plates. Ben, the bachelor, only had four.

I open the utensil drawer. Enough for six people: knives, forks, and a single spoon. When I cautiously open the fridge again, a small bowl of yogurt with grains sits on a platter with a side of fruit.

I gasp, hands going up to my chest to feel my heart pounding in excitement. I bounce on the tips of my toes and try to contain my squeal, but it slips out.

“What’s happening now?” Mal asks with a disgruntled sigh.

“She’s as insane as Kimi,” King notes aloud.

“I forgot,” Kimi says flatly as he stares at Mitri, “You just brought the love of her life to her.”

Mitri’s head turns slowly until he’s looking down at him, blank expression unmoving. “You won’t win.”

“You did this?” I spin towards Mitri and rush him, slamming into him so hard that he teeters back a few steps before I wrap my arms around his waist in a stranglehold. “Your service, Mitri! You’re amazing!”

He makes the mistake of leaning down slightly, and I take the opportunity to go up on my toes and kiss both of his cheeks. Asexual be damned. If he’s letting me hug him, I can at least kiss his cheeks. Right? Or is this rude ?

I release him and spin back towards the kitchen. Everything I opened is now firmly closed again. I use the opportunity to skip to the fridge and hug it. “Oh, how I’ve missed you. The only shining spot in that cursed mansion of doom.”

“That’s a little dramatic,” King frowns.

“How is this a good thing?” Ben snarls from directly behind me. I guess I never told him about my illicit love affair with the kitchen at the agent’s house. I try never to bring up food around him, so it isn’t surprising.

“Ben, it made all of your favorites,” I practically squeal and reopen the oven. I grab the platter from inside to hold out to him.

“Beatrice,” he snaps and grabs the plate from me, tossing it onto the stovetop before holding my hands and inspecting my fingers.

“What?” I ask in confusion. “I thought you’d be excited.”

Ben glares up at me from underneath a swath of dark hair. “Do not grab something from the stove without oven mitts.”

“It’s lukewarm at best,” I roll my eyes and pull my hands from his to heft the platter again. “See?”

I skip past him to take the plate to the table, and suddenly, the severed hand isn’t stomach-churning anymore. Everything is looking up today.

I sigh with contentment as I realize that all the place settings are already done, breakfast steaming from several plates. The dishes with the toys and the hand are set up in the center like some messed up decorations, but I don’t even care.

I set the platter in front of Ben’s usual spot and pull out his chair to pat the seat with a grin as I look back at him .

“Give in, sunshine. You’re about to get spoiled,” I bounce in place again, unable to contain my glee.

Ben sighs in resignation. “You adapt too quickly for my peace of mind, Bees.”

Everyone takes a seat after eyeing me for my crazy behavior. Kimi is next to Ben, then Mal. Mitri sits to the left of my place setting and then King.

I squeeze Mitri’s shoulders and lean down to kiss his cheek again. I can’t help myself. His jaw is like iron, his hair is way too soft to be real, and he smells delicious.

Ben watches, keeping his expression under lock and key, and Kimi stares with a knife clutched in one hand.

I feel bad for giving Mitri so much attention without noticing everyone else's efforts, so I round the table and kiss Ben’s cheek with a quick hug.

After a brief hesitation I lean over to kiss Kimi’s cheek as well and whisper, “Your service, Kimi.”

Where did my fear of him go? How cheap am I that I got brought to the dark side by cooking?

Oh, well. That kitchen makes the best food ever.

I take my seat and clap my hands together over my yogurt. “Breakfast and question time.”

Everyone digs in as I turn to Mitri, “Why do you think that Humans will be food again? It’s a big leap, and I’m having trouble following the logic.”

“I would be pleased to tell you,” He lifts up a perfectly cut slice of ham and chews thoughtfully. “When you replace the bond.”

I frown at him and hold my spoon to point, “You know I’m going to do that when I regain my strength, so you don’t need blackmail.”

He continues calmly eating without looking up.

“You actually bonded? How?” King asks incredulously .

“I have no idea,” I shrug and refocus on Mitri. “The point is I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s curious. Mal asked us all to communicate more, and it’s a fair ask. He’s an ally, isn’t he? A friend? Letting him know what’s going on in your brain will help him to help you.”

Mal’s eyebrows rise as he watches me gesturing around with my spoon. Then he looks at Mitri with a scowl, obviously not expecting this to work.

“Please,” I tack on quickly, just in case.

Mitri continues eating slowly, and my shoulders sag in disappointment.

“Three of this territory’s delegates are of the old world,” he speaks between bites like a gentleman, focusing only on his plate.

“What does that mean?” I ask and start using my spoon for its intended purpose, subconsciously keeping pace with his bites.

“They are of a time before records,” he explains. “It is no secret to any of the ancients that they miss those days. I can see this being their aim. The rest are young and foolish. They do not understand what they will bring about.”

“If they aren’t puppets,” I argue. “We can’t just assume everyone is in on this conspiracy.”

“I have to agree,” King nods. “Whatever purpose is housed in that ring is powerful. Very few could resist.”

“And now?” Mitri asks. “Would you be able to fight it, given your current condition?”

Current condition? As in, maybe immune to it now? I lean back to see King better with a frown on my lips. Panic begins to build as I take in the full scope of Mitri’s meaning.

King leans back as well, eyes meeting mine with one eyebrow raised. The faint wrinkles around his eyes are gone. He appears youthful and vibrant, and I swallow hard as my breathing accelerates .

I sit back up straight and stare at Mal.

Does he have more red scales than before?

He definitely looks bigger and more muscled now that he has my undivided attention.

Even if he had been hitting the gym since I healed him, he couldn’t achieve that kind of bulk increase.

I look at Mitri but can’t tell any difference in his age.

My eyes meet Ben’s from across the table, blood draining from my face. He sits up fully and turns to keep Mal and King within sight. It doesn’t escape my notice that his eyes also stray to Mitri.

I gently place my spoon beside the barely eaten yogurt and hide my trembling hands under the table. I never grabbed a weapon when I dressed, and I curse myself internally for the oversight.

“I’m not sure. We could test the theory with the ring,” King replies smoothly.

“If you couldn’t do it before, why would you be able to do it now,” Mal’s lips curl back to reveal his teeth as he stares accusingly at King.

I don’t take my eyes off of Ben. He’ll know when to attack or flee, and I’ll take my cue from his posture. Sometimes, I think the time we spent together in the prison was worth all the pain just to be able to read him so well.

Mitri has finished eating and leans back against his chair. Why would he draw attention to this? He doesn’t know about my life before all of this nonsense, but I did ask him not to tell anyone about me.

I shouldn’t be surprised that he noticed it first. He’s brilliant, a fact that I’m beginning to not like very much, so what is the purpose of drawing attention to the fact that King is obviously younger?

“Beatrice has returned my youth to me,” King is frowning now as if he’s angry Mal didn’t realize he cut his hair in a new style.

“What!?” He rears back in surprise and studies King closely. He really didn’t notice? I figured they would have a happy reunion and all that romantic crap. Well, they were kidnapped for torture, which may factor into it. Did they spend all night tied up?

After a lengthy perusal, Mal slowly lowers his attention to his hands, holding them out to inspect his black claws. He swallows and looks towards me with a level six scowl. “You didn’t think to mention this before?”

Why would I? Before this, I had been firmly restricted from healing anyone, for good reason.

I could have kept the Old Man as a youth forever if he had allowed it.

He refused, saying it was unnatural and a waste of time.

That he would die when it was his time with no regrets.

While I envied him and his convictions, it didn’t stop the pain of being something ‘unnatural’ to him from taking root.

Ben’s shoulders tense, and I tilt backward in my seat. I nudge the spark sharply to force it awake, but it’s still not very strong. I won’t be much help if he attacks.

My eyes meet his, and I barely shake my head, letting him know. He tilts his chin in acknowledgment and returns his stare to everyone else.

I’ve placed buttons in several different locations, including the Pub. It would be easy to get out of here, and I know Ben could track me down. But I refuse to leave him behind, facing the odds without backup. I guess I should have told Scilla we were in trouble after all.

Mitri reaches towards me, and I shy away from the touch, putting my weight on my foot in case I need to jerk away.

His hand stops in midair as he looks at me. “I did not call attention to this for nefarious purposes.”

I don’t take my eyes off of Ben. It comes down to who would be faster. Mitri grabbing, Ben lunging, or me running .