Page 4 of Twisted Bonds

“We are not lost,” they say together. Bobble shifts slightly from one foot to the other, the movement making his muscular thighs flex.

“Why do you think we aren’t? As far as I can tell, we’re going in circles. I swear I’ve seen that rock before.” I actually have no idea if I’ve seen that rock before, but it sounds good when I say it. Sunder makes a noise of protest, but I wave my hand to ward him off. “I know why you think we aren’t lost, and I trust that bullshit approximately zero percent. You, I trust,” I point at Bobble. “So. Spill. Why aren’t we lost?”

“I have made a mental map,” Bobble proclaims proudly. “According to it, we are going in the right direction.”

I roll my eyes. Bobble and I watched a documentary on cats ages ago back on Earth, before all of this. One of the things they said was that cats create mental maps of their territory that are remarkably accurate. They mentioned all kinds of cats, including a Scottish one that essentially had a schedule for visiting different elderly ladies during the day as he roamed the streets of Edinburgh. According to them, he never missed a visit. Bobble has apparently internalized this very deeply and likes to often point out that his need for sleeping seventeen hours a day in sunlight is in order to rest his prolific navigational capabilities.

“Fine. You have a map. But to where? I can’t get a straight answer from either of you about where, exactly, we’re going or why you think this apprentice will be there.”

“I think, my Mira, that you should trust us,” Sunder says, his gaze drifts to the horizon as if there’s something waiting for him there. Something unreadable flickers in his eyes. I’m still not good at reading him, despite our time together. His defenses can be so thick sometimes, and our bond only gives me a vague impression of his emotions.

Of the two of them, Sunder is the one that has pride and arrogance in spades, but I’ve seen the rare vulnerability beneath it. When their initial soul, Dan’thiel, was split up, each aspect got a little bit of his personality.

He must have been a hell of a guy. Arrogant and princely, sweet and caring. I’m so curious about what the other two Shards of his soul are like. Wherever they are.

So curious, in fact, that I’d like to find one of them instead of wandering through this creepy landscape seemingly aimlessly. I’d also like a bath before I meet the next one. It’s bad form to meet one’s fated mate while smelling like mud and trees, or so I’d wager.

Bobble looks at me, hurt clear in his eyes. “Do you really not trust us, Mira?”

Now they’re ganging up on me for a guilt trip. Damn it.

It’s working.

“I trust you,” I say hurriedly, hopeful that Bobble won’t turn back into a cat and sulk for a week. “I just… I’m tired. And cold. My feet hurt. I really want a bath. And I just want to know what’s next.”

My voice nearly breaks with frustration on the last word.

“First, is there not a town nearby where we can find somewhere for Mira to bathe?” Bobble wraps around me, comforting and soft, and I sniffle and inhale his clean yet somehow musky scent.

I hear Sunder rumble from somewhere behind his shoulder. “I suppose. But it will delay us from finding the others.”

“The others? I thought we were looking for the apprentice.” My voice is muffled in Bobble’s shoulder. I peek over the smooth curve of his muscles to look at Sunder, who has a very un-Sunder-like expression on his face. Narrowing my eyes, I pull back from the cat-man’s embrace. “Sunder? Do you have something you want to share with the class?”

He frowns. “What is the class?”

“It’s an expression.” I wave my hands at him dismissively. “You look guilty as fuck, so I want you to say what’s on your mind. Instantly. Right now,” I add, so that he can’t somehow weasel a way out of my command.

Looking alarmingly bashful, Sunder glances at a spot in the distance over my shoulder. His lips move, but he mumbles before looking back at me. My hands go to my hips. “Use words I can hear.”

He huffs out a breath. “Fine. Well. Ever since our… all three of us bonded.” He trails off, eyes glued to the leaf-covered ground like he can’t quite mention the amazing threesome that began our bonded life. “I can… I feel…”

He looks away, but I step forward, concerned at the sudden gravity in his tone. My shoulders tighten in anticipation. “You can feel what?”

Rubbing his chest, he looks away again. “I don’t know exactly. That’s why I haven’t mentioned it. It’s… unfamiliar. But…I think I can feel the other Shards,” Sunder spits out the last few words until they run together in a jumble. I take a moment to unravel the sentence.

Both Bobble and I blink, a pause hanging between us as we digest these words. Bobble is taken aback, genuinely offended by this failing of communication. “You did not think to tell me this?”

I, however, am pissed. In my exasperation, my hands flail wildly in the air. “That’s why we’re aimlessly walking for weeks on end? You’re following some kind of strange internal compass you didn’t care to tell Bobble and I about? No wonder we’re lost!”

“We aren’t lost!” Bobble and Sunder shout together.

Their voices bounce off the surrounding trees, creating an echo that seems to reverberate through the entire forest. I stare at each of them, hoping my angry gaze conveys exactly what I think about this.

“Sunder, how can you be sure that what you’re experiencing is the other Shards?” I ask, my voice barely trembling. “It could be a trick of Yurghen’s sorcery…or even worse, what if it’s-” I pause, unable to bring myself to say her name.

Malicryn.

The sorceress, or enchantress, or fairy princess, whatever she is, who split Dan’thiel’s soul into four separate parts. I can only imagine that she’s still somewhere out there, and based on what I’ve gathered, she doesn’t seem like the type to let go of a grudge.

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