I WAKE TO ATLAS’ stern voice, my brain taking a second to process exactly what he’s saying.
“Oli, get up and get dressed. The gates are open, the Shield is out, and we need to get moving right now.”
I jolt up out of bed as he hands me my clothes, his jeans on but still unbuttoned and his shirt tucked under one of his arms as he throws himself together.
Unfortunately, it’s not the worst joke Atlas has ever told because North’s voice floods my head in a demanding sweep. Stay where you are, Bonded. Stay there until we have this taken care of. Stay safe with Bassinger.
I wrench myself to my feet, stumbling a little on the blankets and stuttering over my words. “How? Someone had to let them in, have you called—”
He cuts me off, shoving his shirt over his head before he starts helping me with my clothes. “Sawyer and I both called North at the same time. The TacTeams are already mobilized. We just need to get dressed and be ready if we need to move out. You heard North, we’re staying put.”
It takes me a second to realize he’s heard North talking to me, that he is also a part of the mind connection I share with the other two, which is both daunting and a relief.
I like the connections, but he’s the most likely to argue with the other two about the things that they say to me using that form of silent communication.
The moment I’m completely covered, I follow Atlas back to the mouth of the cave to look back over at the town. If I had any doubt about what Atlas was saying to me before, I certainly can’t deny what’s happening right there in front of my eyes. We watch in horror as the Resistance pour through the open gates, dozens of trucks and more than a hundred armed and lethal Gifted soldiers here to kill, abduct, and maim.
Our Shield has betrayed us… or someone has taken them out. Either way, hundreds of enemy Gifted are here and the entire town are sitting ducks, sleeping in the early morning in the so-called safety of their new homes.
There’s children in the town.
A lot of the lower families who had come along were mostly Bond Groups with kids who were rattled after the last raids, none of them are prepared for this sort of thing.
“We can’t just… sit here and wait. I can’t do that.”
Atlas turns to me, but my eyes have already shifted to the black voids. My bond hasn’t fully taken over and it won’t unless I am in pain, but I’m not going to run away from this fight. No matter how much my Bonds would like me to.
Good girl, my bond purrs to me, and I feel all three of my Bonded have very strong reactions to that.
“Oli, if we go back to the town, you’re only going to be a distraction to your Bonds and Bonded. We need them all focusing on taking out the Resistance—”
“No. They can watch me do it,” my bond says, and I shake my head a little to clear it, my eyes shifting back so I can speak for myself.
“Sorry, I’m not going to wait around here while people die. If there’s one thing you should know for sure about me by now, Atlas, it’s that I’m not going to sit around and wait to be rescued.”
He doesn’t like that answer one bit, but he walks over to the bags that he’d brought out with us and pulls out the same guns that he’d been assigned when we were on the supply run. I have absolutely no interest or use for a gun, so when he tries to talk me into one, I just scowl at him and lift my hand up as though he can see the soul-sucking gift writhing under my skin at the prospect of the carnage we’re about to walk into. He nods without another word and climbs into the ATV, buckling me into it before he takes off.
“Can you do the net thing you do? Just to be sure they haven’t started scouting for us yet? My dad was the one who called this morning, there’s a good chance he’s here looking for me.”
Shit. Is now the time to talk about the fact that I might have agreed to keep his sister breathing… but his dad? Dead and gone the second I can get within gift usage distance, which is relatively far away these days.
When I mention this to him, he rolls his eyes and snaps, “Well, obviously, Bonded. Anyone who came here today is fair game, even my mom if she tagged along to work her diversion bullshit.”
With that shit out of the way, we get to work, him driving like a maniac and me scouting. North feels it the second I cast it out, thanks to his creatures and shadows already being spread out throughout the town, taking down Resistance soldiers like the good babies they are.
Tell Bassinger I will make his death a painful and messy affair.
I press my lips together to keep the giggle in. He can hear you. Also, he’s just doing what my bond told him to, can’t blame the man. It’s persuasive.
He doesn’t find that funny at all. When we get within a mile of the town’s edge, I motion for Atlas to park. Good thing I’ve been training with Gryphon for all of these months, because I can run an eight minute mile without completely dying, so we’re going to get into this town and deal with anyone and everyone we come across.
Stay with me, Oli. We’re doing this, but we’re doing it together.
I turn to look at him and hold out my pinkie finger, something stupid to break the tension out of the air. I feel calm about this for once. I’m not a liability or the one doing the harm here.
I’m going to save people.
He scoffs at me but links his pinkie with mine all the same, using it to tug me into his body to kiss me one last possessive time, and my body has a little flashback to the earth shattering orgasm from last night.
I was hoping for at least two more this morning, and that disappointment is enough to kill a whole army of Resistance soldiers.
Atlas keeps pace with me, and we make it three minutes into the run before we come across the first soldier. My gift net is still out and even without it, my bond flags the guy wearing black with blood on both of his arms as the enemy.
He moves to lift his hand, but before my bond can deal with him, a black mass the size of a bear appears suddenly out of the shrub and devours him, its jaws opening to the size of a small car and just swallowing the guy whole.
Atlas gets an arm around my waist and yanks me behind him, lifting me clean off of my feet, but I’m too busy trying to fight off a nervous giggle to be really worried.
The black mass turns to look at us, the form shimmering and folding in on itself until August is left standing there, his tail wagging behind him and a mysterious green liquid dripping from his jaws.
“Baby!” I whisper as I drop down to greet him, Brutus coming down from behind my ear to sniff at his brother while I give them both pets and scratches. Atlas pokes around the area like he’s expecting to find pieces of the guy left behind.
I already know there’s not anything to find.
Not there, anyway. But the group of four more soldiers coming our way need to be dealt with.
I straighten back up and step over to his side, murmuring quietly, “There’s more coming. I’m just going to deal with them and anyone else that comes our way.”
He straightens up and comes over to stand with me, just a little in front of me before he nods. “Do it. Leave no one behind, but let me know when you’re starting to tap out.”
I swallow roughly, his words rattling me, but not for the reasons that he would guess.
I don’t tap out. My gift never taps out.
The souls I take just give me more power.
I swallow again and reach out to kill the men, taking their souls without another thought, and my bond doesn’t attempt to eat these ones, thank God. The moment their bodies hit the ground, I tug on Atlas’ hand to get us moving.
We’re close enough now to hear the chaos and screaming coming from the town.
“Stay at my side, Oli, please,” Atlas says with the low level demand that I’m starting to read a little more clearly from them all.
They’ve figured out that I’m a do-it-my-own-way kind of girl, and they’re all alpha men who don’t really want to have to play along nicely with that sort of attitude.
In the mix of the gifts flying around, it’s hard to clearly pick out who is Resistance and who are the Tac personnel, especially since most of them are wearing civilian clothes, thanks to the dawn ambush. I duck behind an overturned car to dodge a giant ball of electricity that is thrown my way, and Atlas moves with me to cover, zigging at the last second to avoid being burnt by the retaliating stream of fire a Flame sends back. We’re separated, but only by a couple of feet.
It’s not so bad.
When another car goes flying, right towards a group of Gifted who are huddled behind a half-destroyed wall, he lurches up and catches it mid-air, as easily as you’d catch a tennis ball.
It’s fucking incredible.
I’ve got them, just focus on the net. Take them out, Sweetness. The faster you do it, the safer we all are.
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus, asking my bond to kick in just a little and help out with this, and even through the deafening sounds of the fighting, I hear the click of a hammer pulling back on a handgun a few feet away from myself.
I turn, but then there’s a hot spray of blood over my face as a bullet hits the woman directly between the eyes, instant lights out for her. It’s a little bit traumatizing, just a smidge, but only because the death I would’ve given her was less messy.
Harrison grabs my arm and jerks me out of the way. “If you’re not going to go full death demon on us, then you might want to go wait somewhere safe. Where’s Bulletproof Boy gone?”
Brutus stares up at him, waiting for my command to kill the operative for touching me, but August is a little more trigger-happy and snaps at his ankles savagely. I try not to giggle at the sound Harrison makes. He stays standing, apparently catching a bullet to his own head is preferable to crouching down closer to the pups.
I duck at the sounds. “My bond is very pro ‘death to everyone’ and I’m trying to make sure we don’t lose anyone to friendly fire. Where the fuck are the rest of my Bonds?”
I could just ask them with our mind connection, but I really don’t want to distract any of them and get them hurt. Plus, that would only get me my Bonded.
I’m also itching to know that Gabe and even Nox are okay and have backup in this freaking mess.
Atlas uses the hood of one of the destroyed trucks to barricade the Gifted into one of the houses, securing them the only way we can here, while I pick off the Resistance in this area of the town methodically. I’m careful, and with my bond’s help, I’m sure of my choices.
Harrison’s murmur of praise at my work as he watches over the truck reinforces my choices.
“Good work, kid. If only you were Bonded to someone other than Draven, you’d be a fucking massive asset.”
Atlas stalks over and helps me back onto my feet. “Draven doesn’t decide what Oli does. If she really wants to, then we’re here cleaning up. Now, where the fuck is Ardern? We’re going after him next.”
I like his choice, and I let them talk through town routes while I extend my nets, slowly reaching out and cleaning up more of the soldiers on the edges of where we are.
I feel Sawyer in the security room at the base of North’s office, the elevator going down to the basement there, and there’s no question that I need to get a look at those screens.
Could I use them and clear everything out? Maybe. It’s definitely worth a try.
We find Sawyer in an absolute mess in front of his computers in his underwear, blood still dripping from a gash on his forehead. He doesn’t look up as we walk into the room. He’s the one who opened up the security door for us, so he knew we were coming.
The moment we step into the room, my mouth drops open at the sight of the screens in front of us.
The town has been blown apart.
Either there’s been explosives used, or the Resistance has sent in someone with a truly destructive gift, because there are entire buildings with holes in the side of them and paths with giant craters in them, as if a bomb had gone off.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, and Sawyer doesn’t look up from his keyboard to answer me.
“North is clearing out the first five zones, his creatures have it under control. I’ve never seen someone last this long but every time it looks as though he’s flagging, something happens and he gets a kick back.”
Atlas glances at me and I raise a finger to my lips.
I already knew it was happening, I could feel it. The more souls I take, the more power there is for me to send his way.
“Gryphon and his TacTeam are moving through six to ten. Nox is with them, but he’s in full Draven nightmare mode and torturing everyone he comes across.”
I nod and step forward to stand right behind him. “And Gabe? Where’s he holed up?”
“The schoolhouse. He got out of the house early, grabbed everyone he could, and got them over there. He’s protecting at least a third of the town population there. North and the others have been finding people and sending them over to him, escorting when they can or just getting them to make a run for it. We’ve had casualties in the civilians, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Kieran found Sage early on and has her holed up in one of the trucks, and Felix is barricaded in the medical rooms.”
I take a breath, a deep one, and then he finally looks at me. “Oli, I need you to find Gray. Everyone else is accounted for. I can’t see him, but he was in the kitchens helping out with the changes with the water supply, please just find him—”
That I can do. Sawyer has been here the whole time keeping my men safe, there’s no way I’m leaving family behind. “I’ll get him here, don’t worry about it. Sawyer! You keep my Bonds safe, and I’ll get your man here safe, I swear it.”
He looks at me for a second longer and then nods, turning back to the computers and putting on his earpiece again to listen in to the Tac chatter there. I know he’ll keep everyone as safe as he can, but I also know that he’s going to prioritize our family.
Our family, because that’s what we do.
So now I have to get Gray back here safely. I already know he can hold his own, but the Resistance only ever sends in their biggest and best fighters, so he needs some goddamned backup.
Atlas, who is standing at the door, cursing under his breath, mutters desperately, “Oli, please stay here with Sawyer and let me go. This place is a fort and you can just guide me—”
Absolutely not. “No. I’m the biggest weapon we’ve got. I’m not running scared anymore.”
Atlas scoffs and lets his head drop back against the wall behind him, muttering under his breath, “You never did. You never fucking did, Sweetness.”
Atlas grabs another gun from the cabinet next to Sawyer, and throws the holsters over his shoulders. There’s a full Tac uniform in there but it’ll be too small for him, and I refuse to change now. I don’t need the superhero outfit, I need the range for my arms, but I do take an earpiece. Sawyer does too, shoving an extra one in his pocket, and then we get our asses out of there.
I keep the net out and kill every Resistance soldier that I come across the second I hit them. Word that I’m here and that I’m hunting seems to spread quickly, and through the comms I hear comments of Transporters making speedy exits. They haven’t taken anyone with them so far, but we’re on guard nonetheless.
We get through the debris and corpse-filled streets easily enough and find Gray in the kitchens, exactly where Sawyer had last seen him, holed up in one of the walk-in fridges along with the chef and half a dozen other kitchen staff. Atlas gives him the spare comms and then we all regret it when Sawyer cusses him out very openly and unabashedly for daring to be somewhere that wasn’t covered by the cameras.
I have no doubt that North will be finding room in the budget for more in the very near future.
We make the choice that Gray is safer here than us trying to move him, and with a way to get intel from Sawyer and a gun from Atlas, he’ll be able to protect himself and those with him.
He’s also Telekinetic and could for sure kill a man if he needed to, we have no doubts.
I take the risk and open up to call out to my Bonded, praying that I’m not going to get either of them killed.
We’re going to find Gabe now. Do either of you need anything?
Gryphon answers first, Come grab Sage and get her over to the schoolhouse. She’s a distraction for Black, and he’s useless to me with her here.
Easily done, I definitely want her out of the firing line anyway. On my way.
North takes a second longer to reply and I feel the tendrils of guilt in my stomach at his words. Should I expect my power to go on forever? Or just until the Soul Rending is done? Exactly how strong are you, Bonded?
Atlas glances at me again and shakes his head, more than happy for there to be secrets for only us to keep. I already know we can’t live like that.
There is no limit. Or at least, I’ve never found one.
Atlas curses under his breath again, but I move forward, taking all of the right turns towards zone six. I might be freaking horrendous at directions, but my bond is good, and it can follow the invisible strings that connect me to my Bonded easier than breathing.
It almost becomes soothing, the sounds of the bodies dropping to the freshly poured pavement. I become completely numb to the meaning of it, my bond quietly pleased as we take the energy and funnel it to our Bonded. Atlas’ skin begins to glow softly next to me, but he’s too focused on protecting me to notice it.
The moment we get to where the last of the fight is, I let my eyes flash to the voids and trust my bond to take out the last of the Resistance soldiers there. I can see the relief on half of the TacTeam there, all of them looking a little haggard and worn out.
Except, of course, for Nox, who looks up from the corpse he’s now holding in place of the man he was creatively questioning and sneers at me.
Great.
He stands up in a rush, beating Gryphon to me, and Atlas pulls me back into his arms like he’s trying to get me away from the Bond.
“Why the fuck are you risking yourself out here? Do you want the Bond Group to fucking implode just because you’re bored and don’t want to sit somewhere safely for an hour while we sort it out?” he snarls at me, shoving his gaiter down his throat so that all I see on his face is the significant rage thrumming so clearly through him.
“Because it’s my fucking fault! Do you think I’m going to let them take other people just because I escaped? They were killing children the last time.”
Nox snorts and my eyes snap up to meet his. There’s a ring of black around them, his bond sitting just below the surface, and the smirk on his face is savage and mocking. “You think this is the first time they’ve killed children? Well, I suppose usually they just grab them. Half the Resistance is made up of stolen and brainwashed kids. Davies started taking them thirty years ago. Those Gifted you killed today are those kids… they’re just old enough now that you didn’t think twice.”
My stomach drops so quickly that I think I’m going to puke all over Atlas’ shoes, my head spinning and my moral compass once again taking a hit.
Gryphon’s temper snaps and he gets right up in Nox’s face, crossing the invisible lines that they usually leave securely in place. “Don’t fucking say that shit to her! If you’re worried about what’s happening, then deal with it. She is not your fucking punching bag. North won’t save you this time.”
Atlas’ arms tighten around me, and I realize I’m shaking. I killed all of those men and women. I killed them. Without thought, I just ripped all of their souls out of their bodies. They could have been anyone.
Children and parents, siblings, every last one of them have family somewhere, and I just… didn’t fucking care.
I really am the monster they all called me.
I’m the fucking monster.
Gryphon pulls me around again and cups my chin. “Go find Gabe. We’ll finish off here and get the gates secured again. We have another Shield on the way. You go to Gabe. Ignore all of this shit, Bonded. It’s all just bullshit that doesn’t matter anyway. They came here to kill us all, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
