Bonds That Break (The Havoc Chronicles Book 3) by Brant Williams Page B

They stopped their conversation as we approached and looked at me with undisguised curiosity.
    “I would like you all to meet Madison Montgomery,” Nakai said. “She is the newest Binder... and Berserker.”
    The looks I got made me want to check a mirror and make sure I hadn’t sprouted horns or a second head.
    “Uh, hi,” I said. I looked over to where Rhys and my dad were, but they were trapped in their own conversations. I wasn’t going to get any help from them to escape my awkward situation. 
    “My, my,” said a pretty brunette woman with a melodic French accent. “A Berserker and a Binder. How... unusual.” She gave me an appraising look that made me even more uncomfortable than I already was.
    Nakai nodded in the direction of the French woman. “Madison, this is Yvette,” she said.
    Yvette gave me what had to be the coldest smile I had ever seen. “A pleasure to meet you, Madison,” she said, but the tone in which she said it clearly told a different story.
    Much to my relief, the awkwardness was quickly interrupted by another Binder. “I’m Onaona,” said the other women. She had long dark hair pulled back on one side with a large flower tucked behind her ear. Her perfect skin, flawlessly white teeth, and gorgeous figure made me think of some sort of Hawaiian swimsuit model rather than a Binder. She was by far the youngest of the women here – besides me, of course.
    “Onaona,” I said, making sure I repeated her name correctly. “That’s a beautiful name.”
    Onaona wrinkled her nose, obviously disagreeing. “As long as you don’t speak Hawaiian,” she said. “It means sweet smell.” She made a pretend gagging motion and smiled.
    I liked her already.
    Nakai then introduced me to Dagmar, a very tall Swedish woman with long blonde hair and Kamiko, an older Japanese woman who was one of the tiniest women I had ever seen. Standing between them gave me the very strange feeling of being both short and tall at the same time.
    By this time Rhys had broken away from his conversations and had come over to see me, which made me feel much more relaxed. We made semi-awkward chitchat for the next few minutes until Sunee began circulating through the crowd asking everyone to take their seats as the meeting was about to begin.
    We all wandered over to the pods situated in front of the stage. Rhys showed me mine in the second row, next to the aisle. Apparently each Berserker-Binder pair was assigned a separate pod and during these meetings would sit together – a reminder that they were tied to each other. Even the Berserkers of the seven were connected to a single Binder each and when they died, that Binder would die with them.
    In some ways, the pods reminded me of the private boxes at sporting events. They were designed for viewing, but they also had all the amenities you needed right there with you. Granted I hadn’t ever been in one before, but we had once sat close enough at a Blazers game that I had been able to peek in.
    Inside the pod was a desk with a large monitor and a laptop connected to the internet. Atop the monitor was a high-end webcam, presumably for when they didn’t have everyone here and needed to do some sort of video conference.
    In the back of the pod was a small table set with a pitcher of water, glasses, and various fruits and snacks – all mild and designed to appeal to a Berserker’s over-sensitive pallet.
    There were also two doors in the back of each pod – one leading to a small restroom, and the other to a small room with two twin beds.
    Apparently these meetings were not short.
    A loud thud followed by a mechanical whirring, signaled that the main security door had closed and we were now completely secure.
    Or trapped, if the threat were inside.
    Dad and I each sat down in large leather chairs, and Rhys went into the pod directly in front of ours. Technically, since I was his Binder now, he should be sitting with me. But since we hadn’t told the Binders yet, we