Bonding Berserkers, page 13
I gape at him as my mind spins down with thoughts of just how bad that could be. “Are you saying that she could lock me up in Mitri’s head and I wouldn’t be able to get out?”
“You’d have to have your bonds completely blocked for it to work,” King speculates and shrugs helplessly.
“And she can do that now.” I begin rubbing my temples again.
“I’ve always been a lucid dreamer,” King comments. “And I have seen quite a few of your memories already. I will know a false trail as well as Ben does and change it. Even without my power I would be able to help.”
“What does that mean?” I ask in confusion. I’ve never heard the term before.
“He’s able to change what he sees at will. If he’s having a nightmare he can break out of it or even change the dream to be more pleasant. They’re the worst,” Ben glares at King as his stomach gives a rumble.
“You need food,” I comment and give him a pointed look.
“Can he not wait?” Mal asks impatiently. “This is important.”
“Hangry takes on a whole new cataclysmic meaning when he’s hungry, Mal. It can’t wait.”
Ben chuffs in aggravation and picks me up off his lap. “I’ll be right back.”
“Do not eat any of the brownies or the faeries,” I glare at his retreating back.
“He wouldn’t,” King smiles gently at me and picks up his tea. “They’re important to you.”
I give him a flat look in return. “If he is hungry enough he would eat you and Mal, even knowing you could help me. Then he’d eat this table, the drapes, the chairs, possibly the walls. The only thing that matters at that point is filling his stomach, do you understand? Logic doesn’t mean shit.”
“Would he eat you?” Mal asks and he seems to be more concerned about that thought than any of the rest of what I said. They don’t understand just how dangerous my little sunshine really is.
“He thinks it’s possible,” I shrug, unconcerned. “I don’t. We agree to disagree and keep him well fed so we don’t fuck around and find out which one of us is right.”
They both stare at me as if I’m insane.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not terrified at the thought, guys. I’m not impervious to emotion. I just have it compartmentalized as a risk and reward scenario and move on. You would have the joy of watching me freak out while it was happening if I’m wrong.”
That didn’t seem to help my ‘Ben is ok’ cause at all. Moving on.
“He’s right. Your ability to adapt to abnormal things is frightening,” King mumbles behind his tea cup.
“My first reaction to anything is purely based on emotion. I can’t help that. But if I calm myself down enough I can see the different angles and know how to confront it. It took me a lot of hard work to get to this point so don’t be a dick about it. I used to be a paranoid, depressed mess. Then I went insane and I’m getting better. I think.”
“You were trained to set that aside?” King asked with a frown.
“Yeah,” I shrug as I think about the Old Man. Funny how it took his illness for me to really appreciate the man and stop fighting him on everything.
“This is why Mitri is obsessed,” Mal nods to himself. “It made no sense before but now I see it.”
“Did you plan out setting Mal and I up this morning?” King asks slyly with a raised brow.
“Everybody keeps telling me that Mal’s an animal. Not entirely true, by the way,” I point a finger at the dragon man and his scowl softens a little. “An animal is ruled by instinct. If I got Ben to chase me around this place and play hide and seek it would be the ultimate foreplay for him. He’d find me because, let’s face it, I can’t shut up to save my life and his hearing is off the charts insane, and one of two things would happen. What would those two things be, Mal?”
His response is to chuckle and get a faraway look in his eyes.
“Uh-huh,” I grin at his expression. “If logic fails and emotions fail, there’s always instinct. Everyone has it, you just have to find the right trigger. If he hadn’t chased me I would have just figured something else out. Kudos to you for nearly making me piss my pants coming after me, though.”
His eyes slide to me in surprise as he starts laughing and I join him because in hindsight that’s pretty hilarious.
“It isn’t funny,” King glances between us with a frown. It makes us laugh harder at his disgruntled expression.
“At least you had pants on,” I sputter out between laughs, “It would have been absorbed. I’d have left a trail.”
Mal’s bark of laughter gets so loud it echoes throughout the room as my eyes well up with tears and my side gets a stitch.
“You’re both damaged mentally,” King gripes, yelling to be heard over the cacophony.
As we settle back down with King muttering obscenities the whole time, I sigh.
This is something I’ve never had in my life. Comfort, friendship, even being myself around someone without fear of reprisal. I’ve spent most of my time being an adversary to the people I met out of fear. Sure, I laughed with the Old Man, but it was rare. We butted heads too often for any kind of true comradery to settle between us.
Or maybe that’s just how I viewed things, and it was totally different from his point of view. I’ll never know, and the thought sobers me.
He wouldn’t approve of me getting so close to them. He would have strangled me over the bonds and shot me over being on this side of the divide.
“Hello?” King waves a hand and I come back into focus. “Where did you go just now? You look sad.”
“The Old Man would hate what I’ve chosen to do with my life,” the words just fall out of me, and I shake my head to toss the thoughts away.
I’m mid head toss when I’m slapped with a heavy sense of gravity getting denser around me. My chest begins to feel tighter as breathing gets more difficult. It doesn’t feel like a panic attack. My heart starts racing anyway, adrenaline pumping through me as I glance at Mal and King. Neither one of them seem affected by the feeling. Is it GV2 coming back for round two?
“Sparky!”
The sound of its name causes it to startle and start scrambling around aimlessly.
“What’s happening to me?”
It bounces out towards the wall facing the driveway. There aren’t any windows on that side so I can’t see what it does. I can feel something though and it’s coming towards us with an oppressive weight that lowers my shoulders.
“Beatrice?” Mal asks, quickly standing as he prepares to grab me.
“Something’s coming,” I grit from between my clenched teeth. Hopefully my words are understandable. “I can’t concentrate.”
“Where?” King leans forward with his hands braced on the table.
I helplessly point towards the wall with a trembling hand.
Sparky races down the lines to knock on Ben and then Mitri for their attention. I feel them both start to move towards me without pause but I don’t know if they’ll reach us in time. If this is an enemy we’re screwed.
“Sparky? More info?”
I’m presented with three life lines. One neon pink, another electric blue, and the third a neon orange. It’s an 80s mini rainbow in that group. How are they this terrifying?
Sparky begins to roll backwards, closer to King as their presence advances. As if they know right where we are and there’s no hurry to reach us. The overwhelming weight of the force enters the castle easily. Because no one locks their doors!
“Three people, coming this way.” I keep it brief as I whisper, forgetting that they may not have Ben’s bat ears.
King straightens to take off his overshirt and toss it my way. I stare down at it stupidly until it clicks that I probably have drool and blood all over my boob and I’ve blanked it out. I slide it on quickly and belt it closed as King puts a chair between him and Mal.
“Come sit down, quickly. We need to present a united front.”
“A united front of sitting ducks?” I hiss back and he raises an imperious brow.
“You’re more vulnerable on that side of the table. Your back is to the entrance,” he sits and lifts his tea cup to take a casual sip.
Ugh, he’s right and I’m almost out of time to decide. I round the table and have just sat down when three males walk through the doorway. I’m expecting evil grins or determined violence. What I get are two sunny smiles and one level five scowl.
“Yo, Yo, Yo!” The one in the middle says with a salute. His blue hair is standing straight up in complete defiance of gravity, brown eyes contrasting nicely with his wild hair. The black eye really accentuates the vibrant color too.
“I’m assuming you’re all Mitri’s allies?” The one on the left gives a sultry grin as he takes us in. Continuing the bright color theme, his hair is orange and sexily unkempt as if he just got out of bed with a woman. He has two scars, one on each cheek, which are a darker orange than his hair. He gives me a thorough once over and licks his lower lip in one of the most seductive moves I’ve ever seen. “You’re a female though, and Mitri doesn’t ally with those.”
He makes it sound like Mitri thinks most females are a pesky nuisance. He’s not missing the mark with that assessment.
“If they aren’t allies, they’re dead,” the last one looks us over warily before his pink hued eyes dart around the room, marking exits.
I recognize that look from my training. It’s interesting to see someone so powerful use a tactic I learned from a Human.
His black hair is mussed more in a running his hands through his hair in frustration way. There’s a mark over his left eye that looks like he tattooed a diamond there, including his eyelids. Ouch. He looks like he could use a stiff drink.
My stomach does a slow roll of unease as I take the last one in but I’m not sure why. Maybe because of his complete hatred of everything he sees here. Mal would be the same way and I wouldn’t blink an eye. What makes this guy so special?
“We’re allied with Mitri,” King says calmly and Mal bristles on my other side, his scowl moving to a level seven. It’s a scowling competition, who will win? My money is on the new guy. “And you would be?”
“Awesome,” Blue says with a grin and slams a fist into Pinky’s chest with a loud thump. He doesn’t seem to notice the hard hit as his eyes continue taking everything in. “No death for right now. So, I heard there would be food.”
He rubs his hands together in anticipation, eyes glazing over as he daydreams about eating, I guess. Orange gives him an impatient roll of his eyes and introduces himself.
“I’m Kisseai,” he bows his head slightly and winks at me, “it’s a pleasure to meet you. This is Zamma,” he gestures to blue, who is still daydreaming. “And Thorfen,” Pinky's eyes flick to him in annoyance.
King returns the slight bow, seemingly unconcerned with the sudden arrival of powerhouses that increase gravity or some shit. “I’m King, this is Beatrice, and Mal.”
“Beatrice?” Kisseai says with intrigue as he saunters to the table and takes the seat directly across from me. “How old Earth. Charming.”
Old Earth? Who are these guys?
“Food?” Zamma looks around, seeming a little desperate. It’s the same expression Ben gets when he’s reaching a mental breakdown point with his hunger.
“Can we get some food in here?” I call out in a rush and Thorfen’s glare settles on me with a sneer.
The brownies hurry in with platter after platter filled with food, lining them along the table with plates and utensils. My eyes widen at the extreme amount piling up, but Zamma takes a seat next to Kisseai, not waiting for them to finish setting things down before he starts eating, ignoring the plate.
“Poison?” Thorfen asks mockingly as he paces the room.
“Delicious,” Zamma sighs happily and continues eating.
He doesn’t look like one of Ben’s kind. I take a glance inside him just in case. Nope, he has all the proper organs in the proper sizes for his body. Really he looks like a Human with dyed hair. The way he’s packing in the food on the other hand, is total Ben.
The room is filled with silence, other than Zamma eating, when Aodhan comes in followed by the werewolf and the necromancer from the barn with two fully armored guards, the Aldric fae guy with a looming shadow behind him, two people I don’t recognize, then Mitri, and finally Ben. When did all these people get here and why didn’t I notice? I could kick my own ass right now.
King settles a hand on my leg, and I lean away from him to glare with a whisper, “Are you insane right now? Hands off.”
He gives me an irritated glance and removes his hand.
When Aodhan sits at the head of the table I keep my expression locked down. Something is up. Mitri takes the spot to his right without pause, another red flag. The rest of the seats get filled in evenly with guards standing behind their respective leader’s chairs, leaving King, Mal, and myself at the other end, unable to hear what’s being mumbled about between the group. How irritating is that?
Ben stands casually with his back against the wall near the entrance, foot propped up as he watches everyone. I seriously hope he had time to eat something.
“I don’t remember calling the three of you,” Aodhan frowns at a pacing Thorfen before looking at Kisseai and Zamma.
“We were advised to arrive by other means,” Kisseai smiles smoothly as he takes in the new additions with unveiled interest. He even looks over his shoulder at Ben and wiggles his fingers in a wave. I’m not sure what anyone else sees when they look at him, but the guy looks totally unaffected by Ben’s influence.
I glance at Mitri. “Did you call them?”
“Nyet.” After he gives me the reply he blurs me out of his thoughts, focusing on the people around us.
Everyone begins to eat, the silence broken by the mumbles of the group at the head of the table. I look down at my plate, keeping the new arrivals in my peripherals. They’re all smiling and laughing as if they don’t have a care in the world so I can’t tell if they’re all good guys or bad guys.
I think that term is becoming relative. Maybe are they bad or morally gray would be better.
Speaking of morally gray.
I lean over to Mal to whisper, “Have you seen Kimi?”
“No,” he leans towards my ear close enough I can feel his breath. “I haven’t seen him since we arrived yesterday. I thought he would be with you.”
“I haven’t seen him after that either,” I pull back to give him wide eyes and his scowl goes to a level eight. I swallow hard and lean towards King to ask him the same thing.
“I haven’t. He went into his room and hasn’t come out as far as I’m aware.” King mutters back, keeping an eye on everyone else present.
Do I trust that? Not one little bit. Do I dare bail out on this impromptu dinner and go check? I don’t think that would be wise. Luckily, I have my lovely assistant here with me.
Sparky bounces across the table to zip out of sight in search of him. Zamma pauses his eating as his shoulders tense and then continues undisturbed. It’s like he sensed it pass by which is weird. No one has any idea that Sparky is here. Right?
I’m derailed from my thoughts as one of the guys I don’t recognize clears his throat loudly and gives me his full attention. He looks to be in his forties with silvering hair and a full beard. He gives me a wide smile that comes across as scummy to me. I keep my expression calm but inside my spine is tensing up. This guy is giving off all red flag vibes. And not in the fun facts way.
“It’s so pleasant to have a female be in her proper place,” he comments to me. What place he thinks I should be in I have no idea. And I don’t care. I don’t bother responding.
Not content to leave it alone, Kisseai asks idly, “And what place would that be?”
He doesn’t hesitate to share his opinion with the group. “Quietly waiting to be spoken to.”
Huh.
Wow.
That’s all I’ve got.
Silence descends over the table as everyone gives him the attention he seems so desperate to have. He continues gracing us with his wisdom as his grin gets wider. “In the current times women are so outspoken, as if they have something important to say while men try to get real work accomplished.”
Is this a test? I can’t see any reason for this otherwise. Maybe it’s a joke? He doesn’t look like it is though. Who sits here and lets comments like that pass without handing out a few black eyes and broken teeth? Oh yeah, people with restraint.
King’s foot nudges mine in some kind of warning. I’m not really sure if he’s trying to get me to speak or keep my mouth shut. Either way I have my own ideas of what to do.
Instead of rising to the bait, I focus on my plate again without saying anything. He’s not really worth my time and quite simply means nothing to me. His opinion is a fart in the wind and the smell hit me for a second as it passed. I need to eat something if I want to get through this bullshit without saying something horrible.
I reach out to serve myself and feel a tug on my shirt. It’s gentle but insistent. I glance down to see one of the brownies hiding under the table with a pensive expression. I don’t bother trying to be ladylike as I lean down to whisper, “What’s wrong?”
“You cannot eat what we provide right now!” The brownie looks about ten seconds away from fainting.
“Why not? You guys are the best cooks ever,” I hiss back in confusion. The red flag clears his throat again. Oh shit, did they poison the food!? Everyone else is eating it!
“The beast says you may not partake, or he will eat us. Only he is allowed to provide your food.”
I tilt my head to see Ben standing against the wall from over the table. It takes everything in me not to yell at him. Instead of looking concerned, he lifts his chin and sets his jaw, going into stubborn mode. King’s hand pauses with his tea halfway to his lips as he winces. Good to know someone feels like a mistake is being made here.
I look back at the brownie, placing my hand over theirs comfortingly. Yeah, I’m pissed but that has nothing to do with an innocent little brownie trying not to get eaten by an irrational jerk. I’m so yelling at him for this later.
