Page 15 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

“Erm, that’s a really good question,” Griff replies with a slight frown as he tries to work it out, and since none of the others are immediately chiming in with the right answer, I’m going to assume that none of us have any idea what day it is and how long we have been here.

Doc frowns, “I think we’ve been here for two days, this is the third day, so we’ve got two trials left after today, and then Saturday is a rest day, and then it’s judgement day, and the scroll telling us that Neith is going to be on our team.”

“And whatever else comes with that, Ty said more magic, which is pretty fucking cool,” River grins.

“I love how confident you all are that I’m going to be on your team,” I say.

Immediately, I have seven guys frowning at me.

“You don’t think you will be?” Griff asks curiously, his head tilted slightly to the side.

I think about my answer carefully, wanting to make sure that I word it right, “I hope that I will be, but Kylen has proven himself to be more powerful than he should be, look at the way that he’s able to control Coen. You guys know Coen, surely you know that he’s stronger than he should be?”

They share a look, and I know that they all agree with me.

“Yeah, you’re right, and that’s why it’s so worrying that Kylen has managed to get him under his control. I agree with that, but he won’t be able to do that with you,” Evander says.

“One, you don’t know that, and two, I’m not actually worried about that, I don’t think that Kylen has any desire to control me,” I reply, as my mind moves back to the first task and how he behaved.

“What do you mean?” Raiden asks curiously.

“I think he wants to kill me,” I reply bluntly. “I am also not entirely certain that it was his idea.”

“You mean that someone has got to him and is using him to try to kill you?” Reed frowns, anger flashing in his eyes.

I nod, “Yeah. To me, it’s the only thing that really makes sense. He’s not trying to get me on his team, in fact, by not helping me in the first task, he pretty much ensured that the scroll wasn’t going to put me on his team, and he shouted and told the creature where I was.”

“Unfortunately, I agree with you,” River replies. “It does make sense, and let’s face it, we know that Kylen is capable of some horrific things. If someone offered him something that he wanted and all he had to do was to kill the human, who was important to the team that he has a long-standing rivalry with, then yeah, I totally think that he would do it.”

“He’s supposed to protect supernaturals,” Griff frowns.

“He is, but he has always had a cruel streak a mile wide, and it would appear that’s turned into downright evil,” Doc points out.

“We need to keep you safe and make sure that you are never left alone with them,” Ransom says, his eyes running over me like I might disappear at any moment.

“That would be great, but we’re in the Choosing and there’s a really big possibility that I am going to end up on a trial with them again in the next few days,” I point out, making their frowns deepen even more. “I am really good at staying alive, even when I technically die.”

“You can’t die, in front of all of the supernaturals watching, hell you can’t die just in front of Kylen, that would be a really bad idea. It would put you in more danger than you are already in,” Ransom says.

I frown, “Shit yeah, you’re right. I know that, it just slipped my mind.”

“That’s okay, there’s been a lot going on,” Reed reassures me.

“Surely he wouldn’t try to kill me during a trial, when we’re being filmed right?” I ask. “There are rules against it and that would be a really fucking stupid thing to do.”

“She’s right,” Doc agrees. “It would be much easier to kill her off here while she’s at the castle and we aren’t being filmed. Also, while she is separated from us. He knows that her room is separate from ours, and that at some point we’re going to go on a trail and she’s most likely going to be left here without us.”

“Fuck,” Van curses, running his hand through his hair.

“I have Castle, so I might even be more protected here than I am anywhere else. It wouldn’t let anything happen to me and I’m pretty sure that it can do some damage if it wants to,” I try to reassure them.

“That’s true, but I still don’t like it,” Raiden says, with a heavy frown.

“Don’t forget Mabel and the others, they’re a lot stronger than they look and part of their job is to make sure that the contestants remain safe in the castle, if I mention to her that I’m not, then I’m sure she’d have more guards around, like at dinner,” I add.

“Yeah, definitely do that, and if you’re okay with it I think it might be a good idea for us to stay with you for the rest of the time that we’re here,” Evander suggests looking at me.

“I am completely okay with that, but I think that it might be a better idea if I stay in the room with you guys instead, there’s more space there for everyone, and we need to make sure that we’re getting enough rest between trials,” I reply.

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