Bonding Spirits (Bonding - The Ultimate Guide Book 4), page 5
Vendetta: “Perhaps I was hasty.”
“Lynn Singleton,” I confirm and begin gathering my information together. “Walk with me.”
“No, I can’t be seen with you!” He hisses dramatically.
“Yet you risk speaking to me? I forgot how fleeting courage can be.”
“They’re on to me!” He grits out. “If I’m seen with a TGT agent, who is supposed to be brain dead, they’ll take me too.”
“Of whom do you speak?” I make a few notes of the books I must take when I leave.
Vendetta: “How does he know we were manipulated?”
“The headmaster and the delegates,” he says as if waiting for my shock to ripple out. Unfortunately, this news does not shock or sadden me, so he waits in vain.
“Did you hear me?”
I turn to face the male, noting his advanced age due to the silver in his dark hair and the fact that he is ragged with stress, lack of sleep, and an absence of personal hygiene. He was one of the librarians at the counter, checking out books to a younger female.
“I heard.”
“Do you not even care?” His shock at my lack of fanfare is familiar.
I stare at him patiently.
Peacemaker: “Try talking to him.”
Nyet. He has already given me a target to interrogate, and his knowledge of our manipulation has made him interesting.
Vendetta: “A target that would bring attention to us. This guy doesn’t look like he has a subtle bone in his body.”
I hand him the sheet containing my list. “You will bring me these books and act as if I have summoned you. When you are questioned, you will only remember a few of the titles, nothing else.”
“When I’m questioned?” The trembling of his voice and the sudden rush of blood to his face would be concerning if I cared.
“Go now.”
He gapes momentarily, snatches my list, and exits the room in a rush.
Peacemaker: “Nothing unusual in that, but he’ll know what we’re looking into.”
Vendetta: “He won’t survive long enough to be a concern. People fear us for a reason.”
I turn back to the archives to look up the headmaster before he returns.
Herbert Howard. High mage. 57 years old. Became headmaster within the last four years at Delegate recommendation. Not unusual in political schemes, but rare. A Doctorate in the study of reality warping.
If this person is assisting the Delegates, it will be easy to trail him. I would likely find a plethora of information in his home.
Peacemaker: “He’s married.”
Happily? Spouses can be pliable with the proper techniques.
I read through his list of accomplishments, then turn to find a list of the current delegates. I slip the small tome into my jacket pocket when I see it.
Peacemaker: “Stealing from the library?”
Vendetta: “As if this is the worst thing we have ever done.”
The male returns as I finish a fresh set of notes about the headmaster.
A glance proves that he has gathered all the materials I requested. He places them on a corner of the desk, farthest away from me.
“Speak.”
He glares for a moment, high on his confidence as a mage to take me on. I raise a brow and wait, hands on my weapons. When he looks down to note the action, he begins to pale, and a bead of sweat appears on his brow.
“My name is Solomon. I was working when Lynn went missing. She was a sweet girl who never harmed anyone. The best tutor we’ve had in a long time.”
Vendetta: “Ah, young love. Who cares?”
“She was just finishing up. I stayed late so I could lock up when she left. We walked out together. It was late, ten o’clock, maybe. The headmaster’s secretary met us on the steps and said he requested her presence. She told her that she was being accused of plagiarism and he needed to speak with her immediately. Lynn was furious and went right away. That was the last time I saw her.”
Vendetta: “Evidence, this is not.”
There is room for speculation. He mentioned the Delegates as well.
I twirl my fingers.
“I asked about it the next day, but the secretary said she had no idea what I was talking about. I went to the headmaster, and he said the same thing,” he begins to pace out his frustrations, pulling a hand through his hair. “She just vanished. Everyone said she left with a boyfriend. She doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
Vendetta: “He hopes.”
“Even her parents wrote her off,” he gets angrier as he speaks and becomes more agitated. “They say they spoke to someone with TGT, did they?”
I roll a shoulder. Even if King had spoken to them, the memory is either gone or there would be no pertinent information. Interrogating King about it later would suffice.
Solomon’s face darkens at my reaction, and his lips curve into a snarl.
“Yeah, I figured not. All of you assholes have been missing for years, and now you just waltz in here like you own this place and everyone in it.”
He carries on with his tirade, and I vaguely listen, waiting for him to calm to a point where I can receive more information. After five minutes, he does.
“That’s why I decided to do it myself,” he has wound himself down, his minimal energy used up with his rage.
Peacemaker: “He should learn to pace himself.”
“I’ve been sticking around the school grounds and putting out feelers to see what’s happening when I’m not around.”
I make a mental note to determine how high-ranked this mage is. Depending on his tutelage, his technique may have been found out. A feeler spell is difficult to cast and, if it is performed clumsily, easy to detect. His magical signature would be all over it. Perhaps this is why he is afraid of being hunted.
“How many?”
He pauses after I ask, not expecting me to speak.
“Seven.”
“Locations?”
I note where he says they are. Most are in the headmaster’s office, the secretary’s, and around the administration building. They are obvious places that he would have to be a master to hide his spell work. I make a note to have someone shadow Solomon. If they kidnap him, I will have a better chance of locating the lab. If they kill him, I will be informed.
“Can I tell you what I found out now or not?” His frustration peeks again.
I twirl my fingers.
“Headmaster Howard is having an affair with the secretary. They have some sort of deal with the Delegates to find certain types of Others and bring them to interview with them. The secretary was concerned about it because they weren’t being made delegates like she was told. They just disappeared. Howard told her to let it go because the more people they find, the higher the chance of becoming a delegate. He wants to take her with him when he goes. He said they wouldn’t get caught because TGT agents are all paid or manipulated to look the other way.”
“The wife?”
“She has seven other bonded males. You have to admit that could get old after a while. Who wants a female with a ton of mates?”
Vendetta: “We could kill him now instead of waiting.”
Peacemaker: “We need him right now.”
His eyes meet mine, and the defiance in them slides away to show a stark fear. I realize I’m smiling at him, but I do not stop. Let him see me as I am. As expected, he runs.
Setting up a few students low on funds to verify the locations of the spells is easier than expected. Many do not like the librarian, especially the females. They find him disturbing and overly interested in their lives. They delight in the knowledge that he could be found out as a spy for Headmaster Howard’s affair, none the wiser about the other heinous acts.
Two males come back to me as I stand near the outside of the library, assessing if I have everything I need, to let me know that the feeler spells are, in fact, obvious. They receive two silver apiece for the information and offer their services for anything else I may need, the knowledge of earning a healthy sum bright in their eyes.
Vendetta: “And thus, informants are born.”
“Watch him closely. I want to know who he speaks with.”
“Sure, man,” the first male nods, and they walk away.
Once my transactions are complete, I check the communications device for the time and see that King left me a missive one hour ago confirming that his lover is awake and severely angry, with no idea how he managed to be on the floor.
Peacemaker: “No surprise there.”
He has convinced the current Delegates that we are placed with the mender and seeking new housing closer to her to manage her time.
Peacemaker: “That won’t happen, but good play.”
I do not respond to the missive, wanting to gather more information in a face-to-face discussion instead of using the device.
Vendetta: “Now, to the club.”
Yes.
I make my way back to the vehicle, now conscious of the eyes upon me. I am not hiding my presence in the least. There will be some blowback from this. However, the risk is worth the rewards.
Vendetta: “They already have the assumption that things are amiss. They no longer have the hexes to rely on, a mender in play, and King may have informed them that Iris is gone. We can officially believe that the cat is out of the bag.”
Correct.
Driving to the vampire’s club at midday takes little time. While most will rest at this hour, the wolves will be out in abundance. Only the older generations can withstand the pull to sleep when the sun is up.
Vendetta: “An excellent way to find out who’s old and who’s a fledgling.”
I park directly in front of the doors, much to the anger of a few prowling wolves, and eye the empty parking lot. I have never seen it in the daylight and reassess it as if I were Human instead of an Other.
Vendetta: “Beatrice must have pissed her pants when she came here.”
It does look like a slaughterhouse.
I now see how this could be perceived as a more dire place.
I considered her an agent of TGT in our interactions, fully trained. Until things went poorly. I assumed that she could handle herself appropriately, and in a way, she did. In other ways, she is abysmal at guarding herself.
Vendetta: “Let’s get this done and get back to her.”
Peacemaker: “Text King to see if she’s back yet.”
She has the dog and Kimi with her. They will not hesitate to assist her in any endeavor.
Vendetta: “Kimi?”
Peacemaker: “The heart eater?”
As I walk into the now silent club, I rationalize my thoughts to them. No one stands in my way. However, none interact with me or open the doors. Surprisingly, the place is unlocked. It is asinine how lax we have all become about our security.
Kimi’s reality is currently broken. It is an event that happens rarely and never this severely. He has admitted to having what he terms as adjustment periods when he is confused. I would consider that a minor break. What he is experiencing now is a significant disruption.
Peacemaker: “Okay? How does this make him reliable?”
Because this fault line was created by the knowledge that he is the evil in his scenario.
Peacemaker: “What?”
In his own narrative, he is the hero of his story. A hero does not torment his enemy with a lifetime’s worth of torture and laugh about it, does he? No.
Heroes sacrifice all things that they hold dear for their cause. He has lost his family and his sense of self. He left behind all of the things he has ever known to hunt down an evil that he believed could return and harm his loved ones. He did all of these things willingly and with intent.
Vendetta: “Pathetic.”
Peacemaker: “How does this help us now?”
He failed to investigate where she came from. How she came to be on the road covered in blood. He assumed her guilt. He did not protect her, and he has a bond with her to guide his way. Now, he understands that he is the villain this time and will begin behaving accordingly.
Vendetta: “He will slaughter whatever stands in the way of becoming a hero again.”
Precisely.
Peacemaker: “When will he consider that accomplished?”
When Beatrice says he is a hero again. She is his victim, judge, and executioner if she so chooses. Only she can give him absolution.
Vendetta: “She would have to figure out what’s going on with him to be able to fix it.”
Peacemaker: “I still haven’t figured it out. Can you repeat that again, slower?”
Vendetta: “We may have to tell her.”
Nyet. At least, not yet. He is much more effective this way.
Vendetta: “How did you come to this conclusion?”
He killed me.
Vendetta: “Why are we not planning vengeance again?”
Peacemaker: “So what if he killed you? You’ve killed him a countless number of times in the past. I’d say you’re even.”
Of all the times I have killed him, how many times has he retaliated? When have either of you known him to be violent to our group as a whole?
Vendetta: “Never.”
A villain sacrifices nothing. What is his is his. No one will harm her under his watch without heavy penalties. Reality is broken and realigned.
Peacemaker: “So he’s made himself vengeance… like us?”
Nyet. He is now something altogether different. Something that the dog alone understands. A monster with a mate. A mate he has let down and left unguarded.
Peacemaker: “Umm, that’s not good.”
Precisely.
Vendetta: “Excellent.”
Peacemaker: “Uh, guys? That means he will kill you again if we make her unhappy. We are currently running at zero percent on her trusting us.”
I am willing to endure it. There is no risk and multiple rewards.
I have reached the office we were taken to previously and, finally, a locked door. I reach for a weapon and am interrupted in the action by the door opening to allow me entrance.
On the other side of the threshold, the red-haired werewolf glares up at me from his shorter height.
“To what do I owe the honor?” he growls, stepping aside to allow me entrance.
“You left your wife at home?” a vampire asks. He reclines back in a chair with his feet propped on the desk, head turned to see me with a smug grin. “After we gave you both sanctuary? One could take that as an insult, Deathless Wonder.”
While he sits facing the werewolf’s chair, the lack of respect for the wolf’s title as owner is fully displayed, and my eyes narrow on him.
Vendetta: “The wolf is not the boss here.”
Agreed.
Without betraying my thoughts, I watch the wolf pace back around behind the desk and settle in his chair. The second vampire from that night weeks ago is absent.
Peacemaker: “Younger than two hundred, then.”
“Or have you lost her already?” the wolf asks with a sneer.
“She did seem too good for him, didn’t she?” the vampire asks. “Maybe she would be open to a date?”
The wolf nods his thoughtful agreement.
“You owe her a boon,” I interrupt their chuckles.
The conversation halts abruptly as they look at each other and begin laughing. Once they get themselves under control, the vampire continues.
“We gave her sanctuary so you would stop trying to kill us all. I understand that the mistake was ours in allowing one of us to attack her. But that is much more than she should have been offered. Which reminds me, what is she? She smelled Human when she arrived but healed herself very quickly.”
The reminder of the damage she received in their presence does not endear me to them.
Peacemaker: “There are other ways to make them suffer without killing them.”
Vendetta: “Tell them the truth.”
They both laugh inside my head, and I agree with a smile.
“You allowed harm to come to my mender. You owe her a boon.”
Peacemaker: “Not ours yet.”
Vendetta: “Semantics.”
They stare at me in surprise. The wolf’s eyes widen, and the vampire ceases breathing.
“Bullshit,” the wolf starts laughing again.
I nod once and begin walking back towards the door.
“Wait,” the vampire stands from his seat. I turn my head to eye him. While his ‘employer’ is merry at what he perceives as a joke, the older gentleman is much more concerned.
“Why? He’s threatening us with a supposed healer.”
“No, he is not. Reread your laws,” the vampire grimly intones.
“Menders are extinct!”
I pull the phone from my pocket and dial a number, pressing the icon indicating everyone can hear the other end of the connection.
“What do you want now?” the Artificer answers immediately.
“Are menders extinct?” I ask and watch the males for their reactions.
“You have lost your mind,” his sigh crackles over the connection. “Aren’t you trying to seduce one as we speak? Is she there? Am I supposed to tell her how virtuous you are, Deathless One?”
“I simply need confirmation for a pair of nonbelievers. They allowed her to be harmed on their watch.”
“They what? Kill them and go home. I’m shocked they aren’t dead already. What breed of spineless Other hurts a mender?”
“Are you trying to claim that he’s speaking the truth?” the wolf asks. “What verification is it when we don’t know who you are.”
“I am The Artificer, you ignorant fool,” Aleks speaks slowly, allowing his words to sink in. He is well known worldwide, even to those who only hear stories of him. “You are currently testing the patience of one of my oldest allies. Something I normally don’t recommend. In your case, however, I say, please keep going. I’ll find out who you are through the obituaries.”
He promptly hangs up.
As they both stand in stunned silence, I dial again.
The ring sounds three times before the dog’s dark voice quietly sounds, “Now isn’t the best time. She’s a little busy.”
Peacemaker: “We should get her another phone. She never holds on to this one.”
