Bonds of the Mazza

by Blake Blessing

  “My lovely, you never had to sneak around as a child did you?”

  I jumped and twirled around, throwing the cloth over my shoulder.

  “No. I lived with two very elderly people, so there was no need to.” I sniffed. John and Dana Smith weren’t really the observant type. Not when they were in bed before seven at night. Hell, I could have waltzed in the front door after a wild night of debauchery and they’d have slept right through it. Yunez could suck it.

  Instead he slouched against the door, smiled slyly and looked to each person.

  “It’s time. We need to be out of here within the hour. I have made preparations for us once we cross over to Fennina. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to stay together. Nato and Egan, you two will be going to Halfei to scout out the surrounding area of the Wasaeris. You are to lay low and observe. What you are looking for are people who blend into the shadows so well, you almost missed them. From seeing who the culprits are after the attacks, I know we are looking for people who are the best at being unassuming. You’ll want to watch for pairs. The attacker is almost never alone. Rand, Sage, you both will be taking Isolde to Louniva. Aamori has agreed to let you stay in her city, as long as you report your findings directly to her. She doesn’t want it spread around town that there are investigations going on that are not being run by her own personal guard. She thinks it would be bad for her rep.” His tone said she already had a bad rep.

  “Did we have impromptu meetings with the Hellfei leader and I slept through it?” My fast beating heart finally calmed.

  “Hall-fee. Not Hell-fi.” Sage corrected me.

  I cut my eyes to him and dared him to say it again. His eyes widened innocently but he—wise man—chose to remain silent.

  “No, we did not. Ange is an old friend, so we never had any issues there. I will accompany Nato and Egan until they are settled, and then Jari, I need your assistance elsewhere.”

  Jari straightened up and sent Nato a confused look. At some point, Nato lost his alpha status and it was passed to Yunez, who had no qualms about laying out the plan and how it was to be executed.

  Nato turned to Yunez. “I don’t like this. I think we’d all prefer to stay together.”

  “It’s not about staying together at this point, Nato. We have a short window to learn as much as we can before news of Isolde spreads like Levan fire. When the general Fennin population finds out there is a known Mazza among us, chaos will riddle the streets. I’ve hand-selected each of you for your different talents to solve this case. For now, this is the only way we will make any traction.”

  The weight of his words settled in the room, shackling me to the floor with his intent. His speech was ominous and shed a light on just how much forethought had gone into his strategic planning and the effort he exerted to place all the pieces on the chessboard just so.

  The reality of being the Mazza set in. Up until now, it hadn’t penetrated the fog of my brain. More like I’d gone on some crazy vacation with random hot guys who wanted me. Well, if you normally ran from people and got kidnapped, then this was just like a crazy vacation. But Yunez gave us a real life mission, and the pressure could potentially crush me. I mean, the Fennin believed the Mazza would either save both realms or destroy them. Of course the whole idea freaked me the fuck out. Hopefully, I covered any doubts I had.

  Yunez glanced at the clock and tapped his fingers on his forearm. “We have forty minutes before we leave. We’re going straight to the portal and then on our merry ways.” He twirled a finger in the air as he exited the room.

  I looked to my left at Jari, and then right to Egan and found the same baffled expression I had to be wearing.

  “Do we know what just happened here?” Jari scratched the back of his neck.

  Nato sighed. “That was Yunez taking the reins in typical Yunez fashion. We better hurry. He never does anything without a good reason so if he’s saying we need to go, we better get a move on.”

  Several sets of footsteps followed behind me to the bedroom I’d claimed. Inside the bathroom, I grabbed my toothbrush and rooted around in the drawer for a holder. Luckily, there was a spare that wasn’t too crusty and hopefully never used. I would say fuck it and just leave it here, but I was afraid wherever we went, there wouldn’t be proper hygiene habits with hygiene supplies.

  Turning around, I held up the case and chirped, “Ready.”

  Nato and Eagan were searching the room, for what, I’m wasn’t sure. When I spoke, they looked up and Egan erupted into fits of laughter.

  “Only you, Issy girl, only you.”

  The drive was uneventful as gangster rap played softly from the speakers. Nato drove and Yunez rode bitch. I called middle in the first back seat, surrounded by two of my bond mates, then Rand and Sage took up the second back seat. I discreetly glanced at them to see they were literally the farthest distance from each other, basically smooshed up against the windows on either side. The way they acted made me smile a small secret smile. Such weenies.

  It was pitch black by the time we reached an old dirt road—maybe a generous description for what amounted to two dirt tracts. Thick patches of grass grew along the center and speckled the tracks, betraying how unused the road was.

  “I thought Fennin traveled freely from Fennina and Earth? This doesn’t look like anyone has driven down here in years.” I scooted forward to poke my head between Nato and Yunez. Both Jari and Egan lightly stroked my back as if they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to touch me.

  “That’s true, but we don’t maintain this road for that very purpose. We want people to think there’s nothing out here. If this were a paved and well-manicured road, people would often travel down it to see what’s out here. Perhaps even looking for property for sale. This way, it’s mostly wayward teenagers that no one would believe even if they did see something. And we can generally catch them before they get too far anyway. You see, there’s nothing to see if the portal isn’t activated.” Yunez leaned his cheek against mine in affection.

  Without warning, Egan reached around the outside of the front seat and jerked Yunez away from me by the collar of his shirt. He was a hair from banging his head on the window.

  “Egan,” I quietly admonished.

  Yunez chuckled and shrugged him off. “You’re so easy to rile. Did you ever think that may be the reason I’m so free with my affection? It definitely livens up my evening.”

  Not amused, Egan sat back and tugged me into him. I landed on his chest with one of his arms banded around me, the other must have pulled Jari into us because he fell unceremoniously onto my back.

  Jari didn’t miss a beat and added his arms to this hot man hug. They both nuzzled my neck on opposite sides and I sunk further into them.

  When did I become so easy to manipulate with affection? Oh, I know. When the Lusty Legion came into my life. Their possessiveness wasn’t the most conducive behavior, but it secretly gave me the warm fuzzies.

  The trees thinned, opening up more and more, until we reached a small clearing. There was no moon out, so as soon as the car and headlights shut off, we were in complete darkness. Even when the doors opened, there were no lights. What was it with these guys and turning off all the car lights? The first time I jumped into their car, the clock on the dash was the only thing illuminating the small space. Maybe they just liked the mystery of it all, making them feel more badass.

  “This way,” Egan took my hand and pulled me over to a large tree. “This is the portal that takes us to Fennina.”

  I could barely make out another large tree about five feet to my left, but other than that, I couldn’t see anything.

  “I expected something that glowed. Or maybe a chimney to walk through. This just looks like a field. And two trees.”

  “That’s because we haven’t opened it yet.” Egan let go to pull something out of his pocket—a knife. With a snick, he sliced over his hand and slapped his bloody palm against one of the trees. Shocked, I braced for something to happen, but disappoin
tment crept in as the same darkness remained.

  “Nothing happened.”

  A kiss landed on my cheek as Jari strutted between Egan and me. He snatched the knife from Egan’s hand and made the same cutting motion. “That’s because we haven’t completed the request to pass.”

  Jari spread his legs wide and slammed his hand over the other tree, his head falling down, adding a bit of dramatic flair. The silence of night dropped away and the world hummed around us like someone just turned on a big ass refrigerator. A dim glow appeared and gradually brightened until it looked like there was a glow in the dark saran wrap pulled tight between the two trees. The glow was ruby red and the film slightly distorted the trees in the clearing behind it.

  “The fuck?” I shuffled a little closer.

  “You’ve bonded to three Fennin, so you’ve had a chance to witness first-hand how important our blood is. When we created the realm where the seat of our people now reside, we used blood, so every time we need to activate the portal, the two pillars need to be smeared with Fennin blood.” Rand explained as he moved next to me.

  “Does it have to be activated by two different people?”

  Nato responded, amusement strong in his voice. “No, Jari was just being weird.”

  We made a semi-circle facing the portal with me in the middle. The light highlighted the faces around me, and illuminated their expressions and the wide spectrum of emotions. Nato was calm, while Egan and Jari bounced with excitement. Rand and Yunez seemed indifferent, as if they were making a pesky trip to the grocery store, but it was Sage that caught my attention.

  He was on the very end and his hands were twitching wildly. His head rolled from side to side and his nervousness screamed. He never acted like this. An ass, sure. But not openly apprehensive.

  We locked gazes for a span of a breath before his darted back to the portal, never sliding my way again.

  “Before I go through this thing, I need some assurances and I just realized, outside of some preparations being made,” I air quoted preparations, “I have no idea what I’m getting into.”

  I babbled as I stepped backward, shaking my head. Sage’s emotions must have been contagious.

  What the hell am I thinking, running blind to another world?

  What if I couldn’t get back? We didn’t even know if I had actual Fennin blood. I mean, I should right? But the Lusty Legion hadn’t been aware of me, and they knew all the Fennin in the area. If I was legit Fennin, someone would have known about me, right?

  Nato broke the line and approached me. He linked his fingers with mine and tugged me flush against him.

  “Iss, it’s going to be fine. It’s an easy passage through and once we are on the other side, Yunez has some people meeting us with supplies and transportation. You’ll travel with Rand and Sage to Louniva, and the rest of us will travel to Halfei. Easy peasy. We’ll meet back up before you know it. We just need to see if we can discover anything that can help.” He lifted a hand to caress my cheek with the back of his fingers. “We need to save our people from these pointless attacks. We need to do everything that we can to find out who is causing the attacks, and why. This is a necessary step, baby. That’s all.”

  Somewhere during his speech I got a little lost in what he was saying, mesmerized by the rich tone of his voice and the glow casting his features in shadow. It felt like he attempted to talk me into going, which was never an issue. I only wanted confirmation of what to expect, but I couldn’t deny how much I enjoyed his reaction. I loved how he immediately tried to reassure me and offer comfort.

  I nodded my head and gave him a hug for just being him.

  “So no pain?”

  “None, I promise.” He locked his arms around me and rested his head on top of mine.

  I inhaled a deep, calming breath for courage, and removed myself from his hold. All eyes were on us, waiting for me to be comfortable enough to proceed.

  “What about the Earth government? Shouldn’t we try to stop them first?” Panic welled up inside of me like a bubbling geyser at the thought of Rainer succeeding.

  “If we can prove where the attacks are coming from, we’ll have the power of Fennina behind us. Without supporters, Rainer won’t have the balls to follow through.” Rand was so unemotional. If I didn’t know for a fact Rainer was his father, I would have thought he was talking about a random acquaintance.

  I acknowledged his words with a chin and dip, then motioned toward the glowing trees. “Let’s go. But I won’t be the first to cross. Yunez, you’re the old man, so you go first. That way if it’s a trap I’ll still have my Lusty Legion with me.”

  “That wounds me, my lovely.” He thumped his palm over his heart, but with a feral grin he backed up until he disappeared through the portal.

  I gasped and sprang forward before I realized what I was doing. He was completely gone. Through the film, the clearing was empty, as if Yunez was never there at all. Not even a trace of light where he stood.

  Jari strolled up to the portal next and craned his neck in time to wink, then he was gone too. One by one, each man walked through until it was only Sage and me left. Sweat dotted his forehead and he pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes. Poor guy, he was barely holding it together.

  “You all right, man?” I tossed out flippantly. Even if I was annoyed with him, I didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t have real emotions around me. Because wasn’t that what happened when people are ridiculed and picked on for being themselves? They hid the pieces that make up who they are from the world. I didn’t want that for Sage.

  “Dandy.” He sneered.

  Ah. There was the Sage we all knew and loved.

  “You want to go last or would you like me to bring up the rear?” I cautiously stepped closer, but I didn’t make other movements.

  “You go on, I’ll follow behind you. They would kill me if I left you on this side by yourself.”

  Miffed as I might be he thought he had to take care of me, I couldn’t argue with him. At the end of the day, I had no powers and I couldn’t be trained. Until I selected on a Janer mate—and we all knew I wanted love and not just a political arrangement—this would have to be the norm.

  The warm glow of the Wasaeris drew my attention and I left Sage behind with each step, until I was nose to nose with the film. Standing so close to it brought a soft heat that tickled my face. I sucked in a sharp breath, closed my eyes, and pushed through.

  Everything was different. The world was bright beyond my eyelids, and filled with whimsical chirping overhead. The air even felt and smelt different, heavier and more floral.

  I cracked one eye open to see Jari smirking at me. But what I found beyond him left my jaw dropping.

  The sky was light lavender and the grass, leaves, and foliage were such a deep green, a blue hue tinted it. And the trees… gone were the Christmas trees, replaced by ginormous, thick-trunked trees with wide swaying leaves. The world around me was lush and so vivid, it made my heart burn. In a good way.

  The Lusty Legion had congregated by a cart being pulled by coal black horses.

  Wowzah. When Nato said there would be transportation, I assumed some kind of plane, train, or automobile. Hell, even a spaceship would have been awesome. A horse drawn cart made the road ahead seem very long and slow, not to mention bumpy. The end in sight magically stretched out a little farther.

  Standing in front of the horses, a young man with bright orange hair and pearly white skin turned to face us. My first instinct was to run when hit with his luminescent-eyed gaze.

  There were some damned pretty eyes out in the world, but to be unnaturally bright like that… It freaked me out like I was in some kind of vampire movie. When I realized he wasn’t about to attack me, I relaxed. If luck was on my side, none of the guys would have noticed my reaction. The last thing I wanted was to be the clueless person, jumping at something that could be perfectly normal in Fennina.

  The man beamed and walked toward me, wiping his hands on some
kind of cloth. Before he got too close, Yunez moved in front of me and touched my Zien mark with his thumb.

  “To help us stay incognito a little longer,” he whispered as he maneuvered me to his side, hanging an arm around my shoulders.

  “Ruk, meet Isolde. She’s to accompany Rand and Sage to Louniva. Think you have room for her in the back of the cart?” Yunez was jolly and overly friendly. I would say it was strange, but everything about Yunez was strange.

  Nato appeared on my other side, and his mark had completely disappeared. Yunez had the ability to influence others to the point they saw a completely different person when they looked at him, so masking a mark or changing the color was child’s play. Unless Nato took care of it on his own. Being a member of the House of Zien, maybe he had that ability too.

  “Yes, I think we can find room.” Ruk shoved the cloth in his belt.

  Even his clothes were different. More simple than what I was used to, with just linen pants and a linen shirt.

  I bowed my head into Yunez’s neck and whispered, “Is this a joke?”

  He laughed softly under his breath and squeezed me tighter, “No, no joking here.”

  Jari and Egan pried me from Yunez and we walked a decent length away from Ruk. Their touch was chaste and when I glanced back, Nato trailed behind. Nato wasn’t watching us but his head was angled toward the Wasaeris. Concern was etched in the lines of his face.

  “Did you do that or did Yunez?” I ask quietly, pointedly looking at his missing mark.

  “I did. I’m not without my own tricks, although I’m not sure I could have done yours with any lasting effect without being in your presence.” He raised his hand to my face, but dropped it before he could touch me. First, he looked to Yunez occupying Ruk, then landed on the portal again.

  “Sage was just shy of freaking out, I almost made him come through first. Should we be worried that he isn’t here yet?”

  “If he doesn’t come through within a few minutes, I’ll go through and grab him. Poor kid. I didn’t even think about this being his first time back into Fennina in years. When we went to the Earth realm, he never wanted to return. He said he had no reason to.” Egan turned toward the Wasaeris.