Page 40 of Honey, I'm Home

Don't know why we even bother having town borders if we can't keep actual trash out of Trash Haven. Clearly there's a weakness in our border that somebody's been ignoring for some reason or another, but you better believe it's gonna get fixed after this. I'll make sure of it.

I catch myself standing there, frozen, and simply watching the enormous bee stomp her way right over to Arbor, who is closest to us.

Then I snap myself out of it. What's one thing that bees do not handle well? Fire. Well, smoke, but they go hand in hand.

I grab a dry branch from the ground and tap into the enormous tidal wave of anxiety riding me to summon the energy needed to create a spark. I'm so focused on carrying it though that I forget to watch where I'm walking, and I trip and watch in horror as the small flame leaps to the beautiful dais we were standing on and erupts into a much bigger one. I mean, it will definitely produce more smoke which is good for me, but...fuck. This isn't a regular dais, is it? This guy is like our town mascot. I willnotbe known as the woman that killed him off.

“I've got this, go!” my mother says as her and my dad start smothering the flames on the dais with a tablecloth from oneof the tables. Confident that they've got that under control, I proceed much more carefully now to Queen Bitch.

There is a group of townspeople trying their best to protect the guys, linking arms and circling around them like they're protesting trees being cut down by a bulldozer; but one shake of that honeybee’s giant stinger and their resolve fades.

Not enough to get them to flee completely, but enough that it grants the princess an opening to push her way into the circle and to address a paralyzed Arbor.

Desperation closes in on me, wanting to do anything I possibly can to keep my mates’ will from being stolen from them in any way. I search within myself for the bond Arbor and I established that day in my family's treehouse, the one that connects us for the rest of our lives.

I've never had reason to use this metaphysical link before, so I am surprised to find it's easy for me to grab a hold of it. I imagine it linking me and the three guys like honeycomb, and I push my intention toward it, instantly detecting their numbness from whatever paralysis they’re being affected by.

I call forth that energy again that I used to light the now smoldering stick, and I push a big shock of it down the bonds to the guys, hoping it'll act like a jump start for a car battery.

I definitely have no idea what I'm actually doing, because bonds are so different between every type of supernatural beings, and we haven't exactly had reason or time to explore what our bond is capable of yet, but this feels like a great time to run some tests. It can't hurt anything, right?

I send another jolt, and to my surprise, I get back amusement from Hawthorne, who seems to find it funny that I think the princess will have any effect on them. Maybe it is in their nature to search for a queen bee, but the three bees I'm mated to aremaking it pretty damn clear that they've already imprinted on me, and that no the queen can tempt them away.

I get an idea. I have no idea if it will work or not, but desperation calls for a bit of creativity.

Unfinished don’t get a lot of super impressive powers other than the ability to sense danger and go invisible when they’re desperate enough and need protection, but I’m super juiced up right now and feel as if there’re a lot of impossible things I could do.

I jump in front of the princess and halt her progress towards my mate, refusing to just let her take him.

I make sure I get her eyes to lock onto mine, and I pour energy out of them, hoping to snag her mind away from her previously single-minded focus.

She has a tiny connection to my mates since she’s claiming to be their queen, so therefore she has a tiny connection to me.

I search within my psyche desperately for the thinnest of chains that might be easy to overlook, searching out something that doesn’t belong there.

This is the part that’s been picking at me all night, warning me of danger, and as soon as I focus on that aspect, it gets stronger.

The chain feels as if it could snap in two with a rough exhale, but I need to do better than that; I need to protect these bees from the way this princess wants to use them.

Maybe I yank too hard on the chain; I use a gentle but firm grip to pull it toward me, and it seems to be hard to pull at first. But as soon as I put enough good intention behind it, it starts to make some progress towards me, like an invisible game of tug of war.

She’s not happy with what I’m doing, her eyes widening and her wings snapping out aggressively, but there’s more than just my pride at stake here.

I imagine everything that the guys told me happens when bees fall prey to a queen bee and a colony, everything they’d be suffering if she managed to take them with her, and I use that anger to fuel my metaphysical battle.

I dig in my heels and take a deep breath, determined to win.

I’m sweating and exhausted by the time I think I’ve got the lion’s share of the link, and I reach for her mind. What the fuck was this woman’s name? Tara? I follow the link to its end, snagging her mind and a bunch of lights that are hastily forced onto it. I sever them, the pressure I’m pushing towards her creating a vacuum and calling them to my side. I don’t have time to worry about them right now, though.

I’ve got Tara’s mind in the palm of my hand to do with as I wish, and while I don’t want to be cruel like she is, I definitely need to make sure that she’s going to leave my men the hell alone.

Time seems to be fraught with kinetic energy as it surrounds me and Tara, and I’m strengthened when my mates eventually find their way to me, wrapping a hand around my ankle.

That gentle touch fortifies my win even more, and I’m able to do what I set out to do. I have the power of guarding the town behind me as well, so this should be very permanent.

A preposterous song springs to mind, and I’m humming it before I can think twice, but it feels right. The strings start to back me up like the magical musicians they are, my voice amplifying as a microphone is thrust in my hands.

Then, I start singing. With my whole damn chest. “I found myself a baby princess bee, won’t my mommy be so proud of me? I found my self a baby princess bee…ouch! She stung me!”