Page 25 of Bonded to The Boo Hag

I laughed as she let out a frustrated sound.

I stood, holding out my hands and hoping to stop Gemmy from coming over to kick my ass. Not an official ASL sign at all, but she did stop coming after me. “Don’t you think I should tell her first, not my bratty little sister?”

Gemmy squealed, throwing herself at me. I caught her and gave her another hug.

“I’m going to need you to keep your insider knowledge to yourself,” I said aloud with my cheek resting on top of her head.

She pulled out of our embrace, thwacking me on my shoulder, fingerspelling “duh,” her mouth going slack, accenting my stupidity.

“Besides, I could be wrong. You tell me all the time I’m an emotionally stunted dumbass.” I shrugged.

“Men.” She touched her forehead with her thumb, her other fingers fanned out, and arced her hand down to her heart while rolling her eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have grown up thinking that was a part of the sign.

“Women,” I signed back, smirking at her outraged face.

11

Palmer

Ihad been thinking dangerous thoughts. Gatlin made me restless. I wanted things I couldn’t want, yet I had done this to myself, and I was the only one to blame. All because of old memories, wishes my mother had for me, and loneliness.

Gods, I had been so lonely.

Gatlin and I sat pensively in the back of our black SUV. Neither of us talked, but he laced our fingers together and pulled me to rest on his chest like usual. And I loved it. I wanted more of it. I wanted as much of him as I could get.

I wanted to reveal myself to him so he could know the red of my skin, see the patterns marked there, and admire the silver of my hair. I wanted him to see me and tell me that I was beautiful, because he L––

“We’re here, baby,” he said, dropping one of the many kisses of the day on the top of my head.

I sat up, fluffing my hair and pushing my thoughts down. It was too soon. My mother said she fell fast each time; it was how we had evolved to adapt, she said. I needed to be cautious.

I slid out of the car after Gatlin, thanking Isaac and asking him to return in an hour. I took Gatlin’s arm, feeling the tension as he opened the door to the club.

I thought the amount of kisses today was overkill. He’s nervous about the meeting with Attwater.

"Pet,” I scolded as we walked towards the stairs to the VIP section and Nyxian Council chambers. “You are unnecessarily worried. If he tries to harm either of us, I will kill him.”

“I’m always betting on you, Palmer, you and that Hellhound guy.” He shuddered. “He scares the shit out of me.”

“You have good self-preservation instincts. Soros is one of the oldest beings in North America, with the power to match.” I gave his arm a squeeze. “But I am reasonably assured that he is on our side for most things.”

“Good to know,” he replied, stepping onto the stairs.

We walked the short distance to the council chambers. I stopped us before we entered. “Everything will go fine. Remember, they just want to present their findings, and then a decision will be made on how Attwater may or may not be reprimanded.”

“It’s the ‘may not’ part I'm having trouble with,” he admitted, getting the door for me and following me into the council chambers.

Councilwoman Sable Oxendine and Councilman Pyrrhus Soros waited in their seats; Council Enforcer Drake with his little brother, Council Enforcer Tristan who specialized in surveillance, sat off to the side. The only person we were missing was Attwater—the small table and chairs at the center of the room were empty. All of the witnesses to the event were in the room except two human women who were interviewed by the enforcers prior to this hearing. This was due to Attwater’s ability to quickly take humans under his thrall with the slightest of glances.

“Mer! Gatlin! It is nice to see you two, though the circumstances aren’t the best,” Sable greeted, rising from her seat. Once again, she had on her enchanted sunglasses, which protected humans from her maddening glare.

“It’s nice to see you too, Sable,” I greeted warmly, walking around the large desk to my seat and finding two chairs there instead of one. “Very thoughtful,” I noted, gesturing for Gatlin to sit.

“It was only right to give your partner a seat.” Soros turned in his seat, not a steely gray hair out of place and a dangerous gleam in his ancient eyes. “I saw the footage of you protecting your mate, son. Very impressive for a human.”

Gatlin paled. “I can’t take all the credit. My sister made me an anti-haint kit,” he admitted, then paled further, realizing what he said in front of five other haints.

Soros released a barking laugh, short and filled with humor, that had even me shivering in my seat.

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