24.3

"You make it sound like a bad thing," I laid down slowly.

"Ethan changed completely after you advanced his bond," She threw her hand out casually before crossing her arms, "It's as if he's a completely different person."

"He's just more confident," I shrugged as I laid down in the grass, "I doubt there would have been much change at all if he'd had any confidence before."

Savannah opened her mouth to say something, but closed it a few seconds later as she realized the truth behind my words.

"Is it painful?" she finally asked after a bit of silence.

"Very," I stilled as I remembered how bad it was for Ethan, "But I can help by taking some of the pain. I can't take it all so don't think I can take all the pain away."

"And you think this pain is worth it?" Savannah creased her brow as she looked at me.

"Yes," I didn't need to hesitate.

"What makes you so sure?" the skepticism was obvious in her voice.

"Ethan," I smiled, "I know you've seen the difference in strength, and ability."

She thought about it for a long time as I swept aside the snow, and grass so I was left with only dirt. I started carving the magic circle I needed into the dirt. Placing the cup to the side as well as the ten cores I needed. I could feel her weighting her options slowly. I slowly started to open my connection.

It was slow, and hesitant. I didn't know if I was ready to open my bond completely. Not for her. She hadn't opened up for me yet either. Her eyes slowly turned to me when she realized what I was doing.

Her expression was somewhat surprised as she took in the memories I was giving her access to. I only held back on the memories of one specific thing. If she wasn't going to let me in then I wasn't going to let her know about the system. She looked down then back at me. She thought about what she was going to do for another long while before her own mind began to open up to me.

What memories came through showed me a regimented childhood that looked more like time in the military academy then a real life. She was taught to fight, and expected to perform throughout her childhood. She'd never been allowed to act like a child her entire life. Not until she became one of my bonded. Her life lit up after I came into it.

She'd had more fun since the chaos that was my life became part of her boring black, and white world. I flicked my tail as we both mentally agreed to let it all out. I had been placing the crystals for the solution around the magic circle. I'd already placed the cup at the center ready to add the blood.

"You have some kind of system helping you get stronger," Savannah frowned at me, "Is that why you keep treating life like it's a game you idiot?"

I was a little taken aback. Ethan had just taken it all in.

"I'm not Ethan," she snapped, "Of coarse I'm not going to just accept it as if it's no big deal. I don't care if you've got some sort of video game system in your head. I don't care if it can reward you. You're alive, and you sure as hell better behave like you are. This isn't some game world that you can just level yourself out of."

Having her in my head was far different then Ethan. Then again Ethan tended to enable me a lot more then she did.

"Why would I enable a suicidal idiot with anger problems?" she kicked me.

She'd been closing the distance between us the entire time in her angry rant. She wasn't strong enough to hurt me so I'd let her. The painful throb that went down my own leg told me that she'd broken her toe, and I probably should have stopped her.

"Do you want to advance your bond or not?" I asked as I healed her foot.

She went quiet again. Staring off into space for a while as the thought through all the positives, and negatives. It took her a good long while to decide. The only negative she kept going back to was the pain. Eventually she leaned toward the positives of gaining strength, and accelerated healing.

"The stronger the bond the harder it is to break, right?" she looked at me with a sad expression.

"Yes," I knew she was leaning toward advancing the bond.

The last thing holding her back now was what her dad would think.

"He'll hate you for it," I flicked my tail, "But I'm pretty sure he already hates you for helping me in the first place."

She laughed quietly.

"You're good at pep talks," she was joking.

She thought I sucked at pep talks, but she caved anyway. I cut my finger, and let the blood fall into the cup at the center of the circle.

"Did he really drink a cup of your blood enhanced with magic?" she cringed as disgust rushed across our bond.

I picture how Ethan had chugged it in a few short seconds. She cringed again.

"Don't try to help when," she shook her head thinking about how she didn't need to know the answer to every question.

I hid all the overlapping male thoughts from myself, and Ethan at the back of my mind. It was the same as throwing a curtain in front of them. She could pull aside the curtain if she wanted, or she could just pretend that none of those very male thoughts existed. I knew she'd get curious eventually, and take a look, but a well disciplined woman like herself was unlikely to fall for such an urge anytime soon. It didn't take long for the cores to meld into the cup of blood.