Page 40 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

My eyes widen as I stare at him. I mouth the words, “We’re being filmed.”

His eyebrows draw down over his gorgeous eyes, which I temporarily get distracted by, and he mouths back, rather comically since he looks so confused, “No, we aren’t. We double checked when we left the castle to come and find you.”

“But this is a trial?” I ask. “Or did it stop being broadcast after I helped the unicorn?”

“The what?” Raiden exclaims, excitement and disbelief filling his eyes.

“Come here,” River says, as he reaches for me and pulls me into his arms. “I just need to hold you for a moment, we couldn’t find you, and my kitsune, alright, I did not handle that very well.”

Once again, I melt into his arms, as he turns me so my back is to his chest, and I can still see the others.

“Wait, what do you mean that you couldn’t find me? Didn’t you watch the trial?” I ask them.

They all shake their heads, looking just as confused as I feel.

“No, there wasn’t a trial,” Griff begins to explain. “When we couldn’t find you, we did the spell that brought up the screen to watch the trial, but it wouldn’t work. We checked everywhere and then finally found Mabel, who told us that there were no trials scheduled for the rest of the day and that since you had already done one, you wouldn’t be doing another one anyway.”

My frown deepens, “But I was definitely in a trial. I was rushing down the stairs from the fourth floor, after watching you guys in your trial.” My eyes widen as I remember, and I derail the conversation temporarily as I ask, “Are you guys all okay? That was fucking insane.” Glancing up at River over my shoulder I add, “You were fucking amazing going all alpha on those lava snake things, it was hot as fuck. Is it going to get you in trouble or something though? I suppose Ahren already knows and I can talk to him anyway, but it’s not really Ahren that you have to worry about, it's his asshole beta that would cause problems if he noticed. Ransom you were fucking amazing too, making out that it was you that was controlling the creatures, that won’t cause you any problems will it?”

The guys just stare at me for a moment as they try to catch up, before Ransom replies, “No, it shouldn’t cause me any problems at all. There are ways to explain how I did it without giving away how strong I am. Even if they did think that I did it with no extra help from potions or spells, it wouldn’t cause me as many issues as it would cause River, but you already know that.”

River’s arms tighten around me, “Don’t worry about it too much. We will deal with it if it happens. We have other things that we need to be worrying about now.” He grins and raises his eyebrow slightly when I tilt my head back so I can see him, albeit upside down, “You were telling us why you thought you were on a trial?”

My eyes widen, “Oh shit yeah. Sorry, so,” I begin and then realize that they didn’t answer one of the questions, so I ask again, “Wait, are you guys all okay? All healed?”

Doc nods, “I healed those of them that needed it, and they’re all good.”

“Oh good,” I reply.

They all look at me expectantly until Van chuckles and says, “You were telling us why you thought you were in trial.”

I roll my eyes, “Shit, sorry guys, I’m really tired and lots of stuff has happened and my brain is not braining the way that it’s supposed to.”

“I fucking love the way you phrase shit,” Ransom chuckles, making me smile.

“Why thank you,” I reply, blowing him a kiss just because I can, and because I adore the way that his eyes heat up when I do. “Right, where was I in my explanation? Oh, that’s it, yes. So I was on my way to find you guys, and make sure that you were all okay, and as I opened the doors leading from the fourth-floor stairs, I got pulled through a portal and ended up in the middle of these woods. There was no obvious clue as to what I was supposed to be doing out here, but thanks to the portal, I assumed that it was a trial.”

I go on to explain in as much detail as possible what happened, and the guy’s eyes get wider and wider the more I explain about what happened.

“So then the unicorn rested its head on mine, you know like Mael does, and I felt it’s magic wash over me and boom,” I hold up my bracelet covered arm for them all to see, “I had a new pretty tattoo, or whatever the fuck it is and then the pretty leather cuff appeared to cover it. The unicorn didn’t explain anything, obviously, and just disappeared, and then I used my gift to find the way back to the castle. Oh, and I made up a marching song with dance moves thrown in, so actually I am incredibly glad that it wasn’t a trial, and everyone witnessed it,” I finish explaining. The guy’s stare at me with amixture of shock and amusement which is pretty much standard now, so I add, “Do you want to see it?”

All of their smiles widen at my offer, but River spins me around in his arms and grins, looking excited as he bounces on his toes.

“Definitely. Show me the dance,” he replies, his eyes lit up with excitement.

Now it’s my turn to start bouncing as I ask, “Seriously?”

He nods, “Yeah, come on, beautiful, show me what you’ve got.”

My smile turns sultry, “Maybe later, first I’m going to teach you the marching dance and song.”

The guys all burst out laughing and I barely resist the urge to pat myself on the back for such a quick comeback. I never normally think that fast on my feet. It’s usually a couple of days later when the perfect comeback comes to me, and I end up cursing myself that I didn’t think of it sooner.

“Alright, so the song is to the tune of the left, right march thing, do you know it?” I ask even though I’m pretty sure the majority of people know it. He nods with a smile, so I continue, quickly running through the words with him, which make him, and the others laugh again, mostly due to the number of curse words I threw in because I was thoroughly fed up with walking and mad at the lack of a portal to take me back to the castle. Although the lack of a portal makes sense now that I know that it wasn’t a trial.

Chapter Fifteen

Neith

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