The house shakes me awake.
I’m sure it’s an earthquake and I panic because I know exactly nothing about what the hell to do in an earthquake. Then I remember that I’m at North’s house and I don’t even know how to get the hell out of this place usually, let alone during a natural disaster. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
I turn my phone on, ready to start calling my Bonds until someone picks up and tells me what the fuck to do right now, only to find thirty messages from Atlas.
When the house rumbles again, I realize the shaking is absolutely related to my Bonds and I immediately hit dial on his number.
“Oli? Where are you? Which floor? I’m taking you home.”
I scramble out of the bed and stumble over to the window, yanking on the curtains until I can see out onto the street. Sure enough, there he is.
The gate is also rubble.
“What the hell— okay, never mind. The third floor, but good luck getting past—“
He cuts me off, “Fuck the Dravens. I will take the entire fucking house down to the ground if they try to stop me. That asshole North told me you’d be safe here and then he can’t even protect you from his own brother? I’ll kill the cunt.”
Jesus have mercy. “It’s not exactly like that, Atlas. Please just listen—“
There’s the sound of a key in my door and I almost drop my phone before I remember the maid’s words. Only North has a key, so at least it’s not going to be Nox storming in here to tell me again how worthless I am as a human and a Bond.
The door swings open and North flicks the light on, glancing at the bed and then around the room until he finds me. I’m too shocked at his appearance to say anything because I’ve never seen him out of a suit before and yet there he is, sweatpants slung low on his hips, and holy good goddamn. Are they all stacked? Who would’ve thought he was hiding all of that under the Tom Fords?
“Oli? Oleander, what the hell is happening up there?” I jolt at the sound of Atlas’ voice in my ear and North’s eyes narrow at me.
“You called him here?”
Before I can say a word, Atlas snaps, “Put me on speaker, Oli.”
There’s no way out of this without my reputation, sanity, and will to live being absolutely shredded, but I do as he says.
“Open your fucking door, Draven, because I’m not leaving without my Bond. And while you’re at it, tell your scumbag, rapist brother that I will kill him the second I find him.”
Oh fuck.
Oh God. I open my mouth but there’s nothing there, no words to give either of them as North stares me down. He looks furious, freaking fuming, and I flinch away from him when he takes a step forward. I’m not actually scared of him but my ego is too bruised right now to have someone else take a verbal swing at me.
His jaw clenches and then releases, his voice pitched low and a little warmer than it usually is when he says, “Come downstairs, Oleander. I’ll let Atlas in while I speak to Nox.”
“Hurry the fuck up,” Atlas snaps and then I hang up because I need to figure out how the hell to explain to the both of them that it— it wasn’t— fuck, it was definitely something that happened, but it’s maybe not the scenario that they’re both thinking.
Isn’t it?
It wasn’t. It definitely wasn’t.
Fuck.
“Grab a sweater, the house is cool overnight.”
I could argue with him for the demand because he’s once again bossing me around, but I have nothing left in me. No fire or fight, just the hollow shell trying to figure out how to say I made a decision tonight that I’m sure they’ll all shame me over even though I did the best I could.
Fuck.
I wish North would put a sweater on because the moment I follow him out the door, tucked up in the extra layers, my bond wakes up again. I’m furious at it for this ridiculous situation I’m now in so I shove it violently away.
Violently enough that North glances back at me with a frown, as though he’s questioning whether he actually felt the ripple of power that my frustration let out. I try again to say something to him, this time managing actual words.
“I can talk to Atlas and sort this out. I just need a minute, you don’t have to intervene.”
He presses the button on the elevator without looking at me. “No, I’ll be getting to the bottom of this mess before it gets out of hand. There’s too much going on for me to deal with, without adding a feud in my Bond to the list. I will deal with Nox if that’s what’s required.”
The elevator is too small to deal with all of my panic. Why am I so panicked? I didn’t do anything wrong… except that the Bond I hate more than anyone or anything kissed me, pushed me against a wall, encouraged me to grind all over his leg, and then added fingers to the mix until I came so hard it hurt me.
I also didn’t complete the bond.
They’re all facts, and I only had control over some of those things and certainly not the orgasm… so why can’t I just tell him that now before Atlas loses his mind over that stupid text I’d sent?
Of course he’d come here to get me.
Of fucking course, he’s always been protective and possessive, even from the other side of the goddamned country.
The elevator opens and North steps out, pausing to make sure I’m following him, and then he leads me out to the foyer. I try to make some notes about where we are but within a minute, I’m as lost as ever.
North’s driver is standing at the door with three other men, all of them staring out at the mess Atlas is making of the front lawn.
“I’ve called the authorities and the HOA, we’re on top of damage control, sir.”
North nods at his driver. “Thank you, Rafe. I’ll take it from here.”
I make a note of Rafe’s name, because I can’t just keep calling him the driver in my head, and then I watch as North stalks forward to open the door, his body blocking the way, but I can see just enough of the carnage out the front to wince a little over the damage bill.
I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. I should’ve never texted Atlas and confided in him.
The moment North steps aside, Atlas stalks into the foyer, clearly intent on pulling me into his arms, but I’m barely holding my bond at bay and I step away from him.
The mood in the room gets malevolent.
I realize what I’ve done immediately, and because the world is against me, Nox chooses this exact moment to arrive, walking out through the door from the garage, the smell of whiskey clinging to his clothes.
He glances up to look right at me, his mouth twisting into a sneer, and I instinctively lurch forward to grab Atlas’s arm. With one action, I probably saved Nox’s life.
The smirk stays put as he looks over Atlas, his entire body radiating smug dickhead energy, but it falters a little when he sees North standing there in all of his half-naked, sleep-rumpled glory.
“What’s going on?”
North glances over at me and this is the moment where I want to run screaming from the room and away from the shame of this moment, but still I can’t figure out how the fuck to explain anything going on in my head.
Atlas doesn’t wait for any of the careful family politics that is very clearly happening around us. “What’s happening is that you attempted to force a bond with Oli, and you think being a fucking Draven means you can get away with it. I’m going to torture you and then kill you.”
Well, fuck.
I cringe a little because I’m expecting an immediate scathing retort or for a punch to be thrown, if not some sort of gift use, but the room goes strangely quiet again.
North stares at Nox for a second and then says, ‘Did you do it?”
I’ve only seen them interact at the dinner table and North always just leaves him to tear strips off of me with his words, never once interrupting or telling him to leave me the hell alone. This seems… weird. He’s acting as though Nox is a broken man, kid gloves and calm words in his direction. That’s not at all the man that I know and loathe being around.
Nox smirks and raises an eyebrow back at him. ‘She didn’t say no. Not once. She came on my hand so no, brother, I didn’t rape her.’
Could the ground just open up and swallow me whole? That would be great, thank you. I don’t want to live through this at all. Nope, give me death’s sweet embrace because fuck this.
I’m expecting Atlas to turn some of his anger onto me, to demand an answer or just storm out of here, but he doesn’t. Nope, he takes a step in front of me until he’s covering me entirely, a very obviously protective move.
“You literally teach Gifted 101, we all know that you used her bond against her. You knew exactly what you were doing, and I’m not going to let you treat Oli like that. You’re not so fucking intimidating when you’re facing someone with a gift, asshole.”
A smirk stretches over Nox’s face and his eyes turn entirely black. “You sure about that? C’mon then, try me.”
My brain shuts down for a second because his eyes are black. Black. I’ve never seen someone with the same depthless voids as mine are, and then Atlas’ turn white and the danger of the situation finally hits me. I’m about to find myself in the middle of a fucking Gifted fight with no way to protect myself.
Atlas smirks back at Nox and I start to look around for something to hide behind or an exit to magically appear.
“If either of you throw a single attack at one another in my house in front of my Bond, I’ll be finishing this and neither of you want that.”
I glance over to North and almost pass the hell out, because not only are his eyes black, but his hand, which is outstretched and ready to throw whatever the hell he can do at them both, is slowly turning black too.
I really should’ve been more insistent about finding out what the fuck they can all do because… well, what the fuck is he threatening them both with that even has Nox hesitating? What other gifts would give them both black glowing eyes, so close to my own?
“Bassinger, you’re welcome to stay tonight with Oleander. We can discuss living arrangements tomorrow but for right now, we all have places to be in the morning.”
Even Nox can’t argue with that.
NORTH WALKS Atlas and I back to my room without a word and then locks the door after himself. I’m still writhing with shame over the entire ordeal, but Atlas just immediately strips down to his boxers and climbs into the bed like this is all very normal and not the worst night of my life since I arrived here.
I sleep like shit and every time my eyes open overnight, I find Atlas frowning at the ceiling, so I know he hasn’t slept a wink either. At six in the morning, I wake to a text from Gabe saying he’ll pick me up for our morning workout and I decide to just get up and start my day.
I take a quick shower, excited as hell despite myself that I have a private bathroom with no gossips to talk shit about me while I get myself clean. When I’m dressed and ready, I walk back into the room to find Atlas dressed and waiting for me on the bed, his face still solemn.
I panic a little and my mouth runs away from me a bit. “I’ve been working out with Gabe, it’s a brutal routine Gryphon put together, but it’s been helping out with TT. Vivian has been impressed with how far I’ve come since I got here. You’ll like him, he’s grumpy and tries to get us all killed in the basement maze, but I like the old guy.”
“I’m well aware of who Vivian Wentley is, Oli, but I’m more concerned about you at the moment. We need to figure out our game plan here because I’ve already spoken to my family. They want us to head back to Philadelphia, get some miles between us and the fucking Dravens until we have the chance to get to know each other a little better… You have a lot of options here, I don’t want them making you think that this is it. You’re not a prisoner. You’re not property that Nox can just abuse.”
I cringe and rub a hand over my face. “You heard what he said, it wasn’t what you’re thinking. I could have shoved him off and I didn’t. That’s on me.”
Atlas stands up and blows out a breath. “You heard what I said too, Oli. He knew what he was doing. You’re a Central, literally every fiber of your being wants the bond and he used that against you.”
I don’t really like what he’s saying because it’s making me feel like he thinks that I’m helpless to the bond within me and I think I proved last night that I’m not. I clawed myself back from the edge like a freaking machine and even if the aftermath wasn’t all that great, I’m pretty freaking proud of myself for it.
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Can we just… go to the workout and then decide everything else later? I’m just— I’m tired.”
He lets out another breath and nods, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck and holding out the other for me to take. It doesn’t matter if I’m a little sore over his words, I still take it because at least I know he’s trying to do what’s best for me.
No one else can say the same.
The moment the door shuts behind us, I realize I have no freaking idea how to get us downstairs but when I blanch, Atlas chuckles and pulls me along. “I memorized the way last night.”
I huff at him for being too fucking good with directions, but I’m glad we don’t have to call North and ask him to come direct us. When we get to the foyer, Gabe is already there waiting for us both, dressed in his workout gear with a frown on his face.
Atlas jumps on the offensive, always ready to fight with someone who isn’t me. “If you were hoping to have Oli on your own, you’re shit out of luck because I’m not trusting her with any of you after last night. Fuck no.”
Gabe’s eyes flick over to me but I avoid meeting them. Honestly, I just want to get today over with as soon as possible. I want to jump on a treadmill and get some alone time to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.
Should I go to Philadelphia with Atlas and start a new life there? Should I carry on with my plan to run away from them all?
Gabe doesn’t say a word to either of us, clearly he’s already heard someone’s version of what happened last night, and instead he walks back out to his motorbike and shoves his helmet on.
Atlas grabs my hand and leads me out to his car, opening the door for me and helping me in like the perfect gentleman. My head is a jumbled mess and I really don’t have it in me to make small talk with him this morning.
We listen to music on the way over, neither of us speaking, and it’s only when we get to the campus and find roadworks blocking the entrance that Atlas curses softly under his breath. “Do you know where else I can park that’s close?”
I direct him over to the other side of campus and we find Gabe already waiting there for us, as well as a dozen other cars.
The next hour is a special type of torture.
Atlas makes it his mission to beat Gabe at everything, the two of them snarking scathing remarks to each other the entire time, and I’ve never wished for headphones and loud pop music so badly in my life.
When Sage messages me to meet her for breakfast in the dining hall, I’m ready to kill them both and just take off by myself. They both follow me out, flanking me like my own scowling guard, but I don’t have it in me to attempt to lighten the mood.
Hopefully Sawyer is with Sage and he can pick up the slack.
We’re halfway over to the main building when my gift starts squirming in my gut, the early warning from within me that something is very, very goddamned wrong here. Both of the guys stop, grabbing my arms to get me to halt with them.
Atlas raises an eyebrow at me but Gabe’s eyes flash white as he looks around, using his shifting ability to enhance his eyesight, and then he curses viciously under his breath, his phone out in a second and his fingers flying across the screen.
“Run. We need to get to shelter right the fuck now.”
He doesn’t need to say it twice.
We take off for the main building, my sore legs unhappy at running again, but I’m much faster and more resilient now that we’ve been training for so long. I silently send Vivian a thank you for all of the time I’ve spent on the treadmill thanks to him. I can see Atlas forcing himself to keep pace with me, obviously he’s faster without me to watch out for, but Gabe is used to sticking with me. He grabs his phone out without missing a beat, tapping on it and then shoving it back in his pocket.
“North is on his way and Gryphon is already on the campus, we just need to get you to an evac point,” Gabe says, his voice pitched so only we can hear it over the pounding of our feet on the sidewalk.
Atlas nods at him, ready to follow his lead even after they’ve been at each other’s throats all morning because he knows more about this place than either of us do. As we make it to the dining hall, there’s an explosion on the east side of the campus, the sound so loud that my teeth rattle and Atlas immediately grabs me, pulling me off of my feet and curling around me like a human shield. I can’t breathe for a second and then Gabe is shoving us both off of the path and behind a building.
“Is this an evac point? I thought we had to get to the main building.?” Atlas snaps, but Gabe is barely listening.
“Dara? Fuck, I can’t see shit here, you must be around.”
He’s literally talking to a brick wall and I’m about to start checking his head for injuries when the air around us shimmers and then suddenly there’s a group of students standing there together, as white as sheets and murmuring amongst themselves about what the fuck is going on.
“Thank God! Ardern, where are Shore and the Dravens? We’ve seen at least eight groups of Resistance, there must be fifty or sixty of them here!”
Fuck me, I recognize the voice immediately and, sure enough, it’s fucking Martinez. I try to convince myself that now probably isn’t the best time to be holding onto grudges, but I also can’t help hating the guy.
“TacTeams are already neutralizing them, we just need to keep a low profile and wait it out,” Gabe says, his voice confident and clear. The change in the group is instant, some of the worry and panic easing like his word really does mean something to them all. I wish I felt the same, the fear is still coursing through me, but my head is still clear enough to see what’s happening around me.
That isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when another group of Resistance comes jogging past us dressed in riot gear. I seal my lips shut, smothering my own breathing in case I inadvertently make some noise and give us away.
Then the doors to the building across the courtyard open and students come running out in all directions. The Resistance turn and immediately move in after them, one of the guys in the front sending out a wave of fire and I have to look away because there’s no way I’m watching people being burned alive right now.
“Ardern, do not leave Oli’s side,” Atlas snaps, and then he’s gone, sprinting through the shield and heading right for the Flame just as the screaming of his victims starts up.
Gabe curses under his breath, glancing around at who else is in the group with us, but none of them are moving to help out. He looks at me again and I nod at him. “Do it. Go help him, I’ll be fine.”
He hesitates again for a second and then grips both of my arms. “Dara is the best Shield I’ve ever seen, no one will know you’re even here so long as she’s with you. Don’t move from this spot, Oli. Promise me.”
There’s another explosion sound and then Gabe is tearing his clothes off, kicking out of his shoes and shifting so fast I can barely say I’ve witnessed it. One second he’s standing there, all golden skin tight over his muscular frame, and the next there’s a huge wolf standing in his place.
I’ve never seen a shifter up close.
It’s fucking incredible.
I stand there with absolutely no intention of moving. I can’t, not without using my gift, and there’s no reason for me to do it right now. I can’t help the people burning, and I trust Gabe and Atlas to do what they can to stop the fighting. They’re both more useful than I am right now and I have to believe that the others are on their way to us right now.
Then I hear it, Gracie’s screaming coming from behind us.
“Oh my God, Sage! SAGE!”
No.
Absolutely fucking not. Over my dead fucking body am I standing by for something to happen to the one person who accepted me without any reason or expectation.
“Fallows, are you fucking stupid—” I don’t wait around for the rest of Martinez’s bullshit opinion, I leave at a sprint. There’s smoke everywhere but I follow the sound of Gracie’s screaming until I literally run straight into her, my vision completely impaired by the aftermath of the explosion.
“Oli? Oh my God, please, where are your Bonds? They’ve got Sage, they’re—”
I grab her arms and shake her, as if I can shake the information I need out of her. “Where, Gracie? Where the fuck is she?”
She doesn’t get to answer me because I hear a voice I was hoping to never hear again in my goddamn life call out, “Power surge! Grab that one.”
I already know that Sage is strong, I’ve heard stories about how she came into her power, and her elemental control is elite. It’s for this reason that I don’t immediately run away screaming as Olivia’s voice cuts through the chaos.
Olivia Turner.
The Resistance’s sniffer dog is here to find the Gifted worth taking, which means they’ve already gotten Sage and now they’ve found me. I can’t help Sage unless I let them take me too.
It’s stupid and reckless and I don’t give a fuck because she’s my best goddamned friend.
So I stand there, shoving Gracie away from myself as I snap at her, “Run,” and then I let them take me too. The smoke is too thick to see them until their hands are already closing around my arms and I thrash a little as if I want to get away as they tug me along. The two men holding me both have masks on, completely covering their faces, so they’ve come prepared for the exact warfare they planned today.
When we stop at the back of a convoy truck, I look up to lock eyes with an absolutely terrified Sage, bound and gagged in the back. Her eyelids peel back and she starts to sob at the sight of me. It’s not relief at having me with her. Nope, she’s freaking out that I’m in danger now too.
If I wasn’t sure before that I was doing the right thing, I am now.
“Get her loaded, the Dravens are clearing the courtyard and if we’re not out in the next thirty seconds, we’re dead.”
I duck my head at Olivia’s voice. Fuck, I hope she doesn’t get an eyeful of me right now, and then the men holding my arms get me trussed up and thrown in the back with Sage. One of them slides in after me and then we’re off, the truck taking off too freaking quickly, and we all bump and jostle each other as we attempt to stay upright without arms to balance or hold on with.
There’s another shout and then the truck swerves on the road, hitting a bump that almost sends us into a ditch, but the driver manages to correct and keep us all alive. I look back out of the opening to see Kieran sprinting behind us, a gun in his hand already, but there’s no clear shot for him to take, not without risking hitting one of the captives or causing the truck to roll.
The last I see of him is with the phone pressed to his ear.
