Page 43 of Bonding Beasts (Bonding: The Ultimate Guide #3)

I look around the doorframe and see Mike huddled in the corner, bawling his eyes out. He meets my gaze and lets out a helpless sound.

“You’re the only one that makes me not afraid,” he stumbles over the words and buries his head in his arms.

How messed up is it that the man whose arm I just broke is hiding with me in an abandoned bedroom. He doesn’t even notice the break in his panic-induced crying jag.

I can’t just leave him like this. Fuck, I hate myself sometimes.

I don’t say anything as I crawl over to him, screw walking. I sit a little distance away, propping myself up against the wall with about a foot of space between us, and mimic his knees-to-chin, arms-crossed posture.

The spark takes care of his arm and the gash on his calf that’s becoming infected. In all the drama, I didn’t even notice that he was hurt before getting here.

He keeps saying he’s sorry over and over. Nothing’s really his fault, though. He got pulled into this miasma of bullshit just like each one of us did. We just have to deal with it.

“What happened there?” I ask in a tired voice to get him to stop saying that. I don’t really care. I just want him to snap out of it. Totally hypocritical of me. I haven’t snapped out of it yet.

“Huh?” He lifts his head, and I take my first honest look at Mike. He’s average in every way. Not a jock, a nerd. A general person with brown hair and plain blue eyes. It’s a relief after all of the Others that have been around me.

I didn’t realize I missed my life with the Old Man and regular people whose biggest concern is deciding what to have for dinner or if their alarm is set for the right time.

“I-” he hiccups, and his watery eyes meet mine. “I tried to go over a fence and got stuck. I thought I was being cool or something.”

“I do that stuff,” I commiserate and lean my head back to stare at the blank wall across from us. “I cut my hair off with a knife once.”

“Seriously?” He rubs his arm under his nose and blinks at the healed bone in surprise.

“Yeah. Zero of five stars. Do not recommend.”

He chuckles a little and eyes me for a second. “I bet it was cool.”

My lips curl in a tiny, unwilling smile. “Yeah, but I still have bald patches.”

He chokes on a laugh and seems shocked about it.

We settle into silence for a bit.

“Were you happy? With Wullf, I mean.”

“The Old Man was an ass, but he stuck with me. He had my back,” my voice wobbles at the end, but I remain firm on the no more crying stance.

“That’s it?” He sounds surprised. “No affection?”

“He was always yelling at me, being a drill instructor. But he never hurt me. He trained me to not be afraid all the time. To hide. He gave me food when I was hungry and blankets when I was cold. A place to sleep. What more could I ask for?”

“A hug?”

“No,” I scoff. “I’ll hold your hand, but no hugging.”

“You hate it that much?”

I look him straight in the eyes. “It’s not bad when Ben does it. He’s comforting. To just me , apparently. He’s… my person, you know? I guess I just don’t like anyone else very much.”

“Connection,” he nods to himself like he’s assembling a puzzle.

“What?”

“Menders fail when they don’t have connections,” he tells me earnestly.

“How would you know?” My eyes narrow on him, but I don’t have the energy to get into a physical fight. I could just sit here and let him kill me. Laziest death ever.

“Others and Reforming Bonds.”

“Say what?”

“Others and Reforming Bonds. The college course? I took it a few years ago before I dropped out.”

“Are you telling me they talked about Menders in some college class anyone could take?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yeah, and a whole bunch of different races, too. Like dragons.”

I was suspicious of a studious nerd. Way to make friends and influence Others, Bea.

“What else?” I can’t help asking. Mike probably knows more than I do, and it’s a little shameful.

“Demons of all kinds, immortals, interdimensional beings, artificers, mages, witches, berserkers, nullifiers, you name it,” he relaxes back with a smile. “It was the best course I ever took. The Professor is the one who convinced me to quit school.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” I frown. What teacher doesn’t want their student to thrive?

“He said I was meant for something else,” he defends. “Something bigger. He claimed he could see the future.”

“You believed him?” I’m not sure how to feel about that. A fortune teller Other hiding on the Human side of the Divide to give this Human advice? Mike is really gullible.

“I dunno,” he looks away, embarrassed. “He was really convincing.”

“Sounds like it,” I pretend to sympathize.

“He let me take all sorts of books with me on the last day of class. It was epic. That class was where I met my ex. The bitch.”

“That bad?”

His eyes roll over to see me from the side, “I caught her banging a vampire a couple of nights before Windsor got in touch.”

“Vamps,” I sigh.

“Right? Like, dude, you could literally have any chick. Why?”

“Because I’m a cold, unfeeling douche canoe,” I lower my voice to sound manly.

We both laugh, though mine sounds weak.

“He told me that menders went extinct because they didn’t have connections. People to remind them of what they’re fighting for. He said nine out of ten Menders committed suicide because they couldn’t see a point anymore. That’s the reason they went extinct.”

“Huh.” That's all I can think to say. It hits a little too close to home for me.

“He also told us that if we ever met one, we should make sure to build a connection. Be a friend and help. Weird stuff like that.”

“That sounds oddly specific,” my eyes narrow again.

His eyes meet mine, filled with surprise and awe. “Yeah… maybe he wasn’t full of shit when he said he could see the future.”