16

They disappeared into the grass. I kept my teeth in as I kept on snarling at him. I'd felt this kind of dislike before. This man had the air of a killer. The same as Savannah's father.

Ethan showed an obvious dislike to him as well, but that little show of power I'd just done would keep him off my back for now. As soon as I was out of his line of sight I rolled my jaw. The hit had hurt about as much as being socked in the face should. I didn't know how long I was going to have to deal with that big far liar.

{Don't leave Jax alone with that man,} I glanced hesitantly at the door.

Ethan knew exactly what I was talking about, and started using my connection to mentally track Jax. My eyes widened slightly when I realized what he was doing. I hadn't realized he could do something like that. I'd kept my bond wide open since Ethan's bond had advanced, but I didn't expect him to be able to do something like this. Having him rifling around in my head the way he was should have been creepy, but somehow it wasn't because I'd let him in.

Ethan withdrew once he was sure of what information he wanted. A thin tendril of his mind was thoroughly attached to the space around where my bond to Jax rested within my mind. I wanted this man to go away as soon as possible, but Jax wasn't going to want him to leave until he answered a few questions. I knew that he wouldn't answer those questions. That would be giving away his advantage.

This reveal had stunned him, but Jax hadn't been surprised. I trusted my instincts, and they told me that those two weren't anywhere near related. I hoped that Jax would come to a conclusion similar to my own. Once he reached a conclusion he would either decide to sever our bond or stay with me as a bonded. If he severed our bond then I would cut ties with him completely.

Severing our bond meant he was choosing that man. That liar. I didn't know how I would feel around him after the bond was gone. If I responded to him hostilely it would be better for him to be as far away as possible. My muscles tensed slowly.

I didn't want to lose a bonded. I still only knew so much about the man so it was kind of surprising that I had already grown so attached to him. Our bond hadn't formed in the normal way. I smiled as I looked around the warehouse. It was nice to have friends in the world.

I wished I could be sure of how he would react to the man, but he had raised him. I wanted him away from the man. There was only so much I could do, and controlling him wasn't something I wanted. How was I supposed to help him get the truth without harming the mana? I found myself looking down my list of skills.

My eyes lingered on one in particular for a few seconds. Hypnotism. The skill wasn't all that useful since it only worked on my bonded, but that didn't mean it would stay that way. I stared at the long forgotten skill. What if I could level up the skill until it didn't just work on my bonded?

I recruited Savannah for the task. Ethan was busy keeping an eye on Jax so it had to be her.

"Hell no," Savannah swore, "Why the fuck would you want to hypnotize people, and why the hell do you need to hypnotize me first?"

"I want that guy to tell Jax the truth," I frowned, "Right now I can only hypnotize my bonded. If I hypnotize you enough times I'll figure out how to do it to other people through practice."

"Why the hell would I let you do that?" Savannah made a face.

"How would you know if I did?" I smirked.

"Don't even joke about it," She snapped, "Why don't you ask Ethan? I'm sure he'd love to do just about anything you ask."

"I've already got him keeping an eye on Jax," I snorted, "He can't do two things at once."

"So I'm the guinea pig because he's busy," she snapped.

"Yes," I snorted, "Is it really a bad idea for me to gain the ability to hypnotize people?"

"It's not as if you're not already terrifying enough without the ability to hypnotize people," she scowled at me, "Why would you want to gain another ability to terrify people?"

"Why wouldn't I want to gain another ability to make myself stronger?" I smirked, "Look the ability only works if I'm looking someone in the eye. I won't get many chances to use it. I just want that guy to tell Jax the truth when he asks."

I could feel her caving slowly. It wouldn't take much more.

"Would it really be that bad for me to draw the truth out of people?" I snorted, "I'll ask your permission before I use the ability each, and every time. That way I'm not using it on people just cause I feel like it."

She tilted her head to the side slowly as her barriers fell.

"Fine," She sagged as if defeated.

I held back a smirk. She could already feel my giddy excitement as I started hypnotizing her. I kept doing it over, and over again. Asking for her to do minor things over, and over again. Nothing embarrassing.

Just dumb things like lifting her arm over her head, and clapping her hands. She didn't know she was hypnotized until after she'd done what I asked. She was slightly irritated with me, but it didn't take all that long for me to hypnotize her each time. I kept on doing it over, and over again. I spent hours doing it over, and over again.