Trusted Bond

exhale of breath from above me. ―What are
    we gonna do?‖
    Edward was Laurent Bruyere‘s sylvan. David was Laurent‘s brother,
    and Sean was one of Laurent‘s oldest friends. The fourth man could have
    been anyone. I wished it had been his sheseru, Robert Kingman, Bobby,
    but they were smarter than that. If they invited their sheseru, he would
    have turned on them in a second. I had never met Bobby—he had been
    away when I met Laurent—but by all accounts, he was a good man and
    hardwired the same way every sheseru was, to protect and guard a reah.
    ―This isn‘t just another one? This isn‘t just some random guy?‖
    The fourth man had spoken, and from his tone I understood that the
    reality of his situation was just, that second, becoming clear for him. I
    understood too that Laurent Bruyere, who had once upon a time been kind
    and sweet, had turned into an abomination. I was not the first man he had
    tortured and planned to rape.
    ―Who—who is he?‖
    ―Jin Rayne.‖
    ―You—‖
    ―The missing reah?‖ The fourth man squeaked out. ―Ohmygod,
    Laurent, you kidnapped the reah that everyone‘s been—‖
    ―He‘s my reah! He belongs to me!‖
    ―Oh fuck me!‖ David, or Edward, it was hard to tell, cried out.
    ―You guys don‘t need to—‖
    ―Laurent, you stupid son of a bitch! You tortured the reah!‖
    ―He‘s my reah! He‘s mine to do—‖
    ―You can‘t do that to a reah! He‘ll be missed and—‖
    ―And Bobby‘s not here to clean it up!‖ David roared, his voice,
    when he was screaming, clearly recognizable.
    ―We‘ve never asked him to clean anything up—he doesn‘t know
    about what Laurent does, he can never know. He can‘t ever find out.‖
    ―He won‘t, okay? He‘ll never find out, but right now we need to
    figure out what the fuck we‘re gonna do with the re—‖
    92

    Mary Calmes

    ―No!‖ The word was yelled so loud it hurt my ears. ―My reah stays
    with—‖
    ―He‘s not your reah, you fuckin‘ psychopath! He‘s mated! He has a
    semel who he belongs to who‘s looking for—‖
    ―No!‖ Laurent screamed again, and it was awful and high-pitched,
    sounding desperate and terrified.
    ―Yes! He‘s—‖
    ―He‘s mated, you idiot!‖ David roared at him. ―Everyone‘s talking
    about it! You kidnapped a mated reah!‖
    ―You‘re insane! He can‘t be a mated to a semel, he‘s a man! Only
    a—‖
    ―Yes, he can! Yes, he is! You stupid fuck!‖ David lost it, his voice
    shaking with fear. ―You stole a fuckin‘ mated reah! You are so dead, and
    your tribe… your family… our tribe, my family, all of us, Edward, Sean,
    Eric, me, your own brother, we‘re all fuckin‘ dead, because we‘re here
    with you and… oh God.‖ He whimpered.
    There was a thundering silence, and all I could think was that the
    fourth guy‘s name was Eric. Why it was important, I didn‘t know, but it
    was. I wanted to know everyone‘s name.
    ―He‘s mine.‖
    ―Jesus Christ!‖
    ―That‘s all you have to—‖
    ―Don‘t,‖ Edward said, his voice deeper, harder, and colder. ―He‘s
    out of his mind. It‘s up to us. Everyone‘s dead if we don‘t act now… right
    now.‖
    ―You guys are insane,‖ Eric said, his voice squeaky. ―You don‘t just
    kill a reah. You die for touching a reah… I don‘t even know what happens
    if you kill one.‖
    I couldn‘t have spoken if I wanted to, but I was too scared to ask for
    help. No one would help, it was past the point of no return—anyone who
    saw me now and knew Laurent had only one choice. They would have to
    help shovel the grave. I wasn‘t stupid; I knew how things went when
    people were cornered. Sins were covered up. I would be covered up.
    Mercifully, the light went off, but the kick to my side made me feel like I
    had been dropped in hot lava.
    Trusted Bond

    93

    ―Don‘t touch him anymore! For crissakes, Laurent, just leave him
    the fuck alone!‖
    ―I will do whatever I—‖
    ―Laurent! We need to figure out what to do!‖
    ―What are you—‖
    ―We can‘t let anyone find him! We‘re all dead if anyone ever finds
    him!‖
    Many shoes shuffled across the floor, and then I heard the bang of a
    heavy door as it was slammed back in place. The quiet after so much noise
    was comforting. I listened to silence for as long as I could before I passed
    out.

    WARM breeze on my face, scent of dirt and the smell of flowers, but like
    at a store, that smell of stems and leaves in water, not the