I manage to get through dinner without stabbing any of my Bonds or the giggling nightmare that Nox had brought with him, which in itself is a miracle because after we finish the main course, there is an elaborate spread of desserts brought out by a horde of North’s household staff.
Everything looks amazing and anything chocolate is an absolute must for me but on principle, I once again attempt to refuse.
North fills me another plate to the brim.
I don’t know if this is just him trying to prove his dominance over me or he’s trying to say something about all of the extra curves I have compared to the gorgeous, rail-thin women he likes. Okay, I’m generalizing a helluva lot here because I’ve only seen one of North’s hookups and you can’t pick a man’s taste from a pool that small, but there’s something about him that screams ‘fussy, pushy billionaire with a taste for models’ to me.
I eat a little of everything.
The chocolate torte is a religious experience and I have to smother a moan of delight because there’s no way I want any of them knowing just how much I love it. I realize I must make some kind of noise because Gabe startles next to me and shoots me a look like he’s never seen me before.
Interesting.
“So, Oli, I heard you have no gift. That’s gotta suck.”
There goes my chocolate high. I turn in my seat to look at the giggling groupie who’s staring back at me like I’m a bad smell in the room. Gryphon is blatantly ignoring her, talking with North about new training programs he’s starting with the TacTeams, and Gabe is focused entirely on the plate of dessert in front of him. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen him eat something that isn’t super healthy and he’s scarfing it down like it’s his last meal on death row.
Nox stares me down from across the table like he’d enjoy nothing more than picking the meat from my charred bones.
Maybe he’s a shifter, because the look in his eyes is all predator.
I stare the girl down as I shrug, keeping my voice casual and unaffected, “I’m not losing sleep over it.”
She giggles again and I swear the sound of it is going to haunt me. “I just can’t believe it, being the Central Bond to these guys and having nothing. How shameful. No wonder they all get around, no one would stick around for a defect like you.”
My hand clenches around my fork again, but this time I can’t hold myself back from snapping back at her, “What’s your gift? When I stab you with this fork, will you heal straight away, or can you only do something shitty, like talk to pigeons or shit gold?”
Gabe snorts and then slaps a hand over his mouth like he’s been caught cavorting with the enemy, glancing at North like he’ll get grounded. I roll my eyes but I know how to take my wins where I can and I lean in to mockingly whisper, “She looks like the type of girl who can change her nail color at will.”
Gabe clears his throat and replies, “Ashlee is an Elemental. She can conjure water but only enough to fill a jug.”
I burst out laughing. I might look like a bitch to them all right now but I was always taught to not start fights, just be sure as shit to finish them. “Wow, that sure makes me envious of you, Ashlee.”
Her eyes flash at the sarcasm dripping from my words and she snaps back, “Big words from a girl with nothing. Do you really have no shame for being such a disappointment?”
It might be stupid but I shrug. “I guess you’ll never know.”
Gabe pushes the plate away from himself and clears his throat. “I’m heading back to the dorms. I’ll drop you back, Fallows… unless you want North to?”
Fuck no I don’t.
I try not to look as eager and relieved as I am as I push up from the table, gritting my teeth as I choke out a terse, “Thank you for dinner,” to North so he can’t accuse me of being a brat again.
No one else acknowledges that we’re leaving, so I turn my back on them all and practically run after Gabe. He might be an asshole to me at Draven but right now, he’s my only ally since he’s getting me the fuck out of here.
I barely take in any of our surroundings as we weave our way through the giant maze of a house. My phone vibrates in my pocket as I step out into the sprawling garage, just barely pulling my attention away from the millions of dollars’ worth of vehicles stored here. As I follow Gabe over to one of the motorbikes, I dig my phone out of my pocket.
I miss you, Oli.
I have no idea how to even answer that. No freaking clue at all, and then when I remember that North is reading all of the messages, my stomach sinks like lead a little more.
I shove my phone back into my pocket just in time to see Gabe grab a helmet from one of his packs and hold it out to me. I stare at it and then up at him, but he smirks and shrugs back.
“If you don’t want North or Nox to drive you home, then this is it, Fallows.”
He makes a great point.
I take the helmet and pull it out, fumbling with the strap a little to tighten it. He watches me, looking like he wants to reach over and help, but restrains himself, and once I’m set, he climbs onto the motorbike, holding an arm out to help me on as the garage door opens in front of us.
I haven’t been on one for years.
I can’t think about my father and his love of dirt bikes right now. I can’t think about being six years old and sitting in front of him on one, my long dark hair whipping around us both as he drove around the tracks. I remember feeling as though we were going so fast when we were probably only going a few miles an hour.
There’s still a moment of déjà vu as I slide into the seat behind Gabe, hesitating for a second before wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing myself against his back as the engine roars to life underneath us. He kicks the stand up and away and then we’re off, flying out of the garage and down the paved driveway without a care for anyone around us.
Gabe drives like he’s ready to die and that’s something I can get behind.
Even after years of being on the run and doing everything I could to survive, there’s some deep and dark part of me who hears the call of messy vehicular death on the asphalt and desperately craves it. I wonder how badly my Bonds would hate me then, to know that I’d choose a grisly death over being forced to stick around the lot of them.
Imagining their reactions keeps me busy the entire ride back to the dorms.
Gabe kills the engine the second we pull up, but he doesn’t move from the seat as I swing off. I hand him the helmet and clear my throat a little, awkward as hell now that I have to acknowledge him helping me out.
He saves me from trying. “Ashlee is a fucking bitch but you should be prepared. Nox is going to bring someone every week and you can’t threaten them all. Crystal is a Flame and she’ll singe your eyebrows off the first second she can. Also, Yasmine is a living Voodoo Doll and she’ll stab herself without a second thought.”
I scoff and adjust my bag on my back. “Of course he fucks crazy, he seems like the type.”
Gabe shrugs and looks out over the street so he doesn’t have to look at me as he replies, “You can’t blame him, you’re the one who ran away and ruined everything.”
WHEN MY ALARM wakes me the next morning, I feel a pooling of dread deep in my gut.
I lay there in the pokey bed to try to figure out why my entire body feels like lead, why the thought of climbing out of this bed fills me with the icy tendrils of fear, but there’s nothing, no reason for me to be dragging my ass today.
So I push the feeling away and get up.
The communal bathrooms are busy and as much as I hate being in there, I never actually got to shower after the mess that was the TT class yesterday and my legs are still covered in dirt, so it’s a nonnegotiable.
The longer I’m here on campus, the better I’m getting at blocking out the shit these petty girls have to say to me. Most of them have taken to pretending I don’t exist, like the crimes I committed by running away mean that I’m not worth a second of their time, so they’re all shunning me.
I can handle that.
It’s the four or five of them who are petty, mouthy assholes that make living here a nightmare. I scrub down as quickly as I can and dress in the stall. I’m not dumb enough to walk out in a towel because even with the campus-wide rules about appropriate gift usage, I wouldn’t trust any of them not to mess with me while I was vulnerable like that.
By the time Gabe arrives at my door to walk me down, I’m too busy fussing with my bag full of assignments to take much notice of him or the fact that he’s absolutely seething with fury.
It’s not until we reach the cafeteria that I find out that the entire student body is subdued. I’m not used to standing in line without there being nasty jibes in the giggles of ridiculous gossip following me. But all of that is missing now.
I glance back and finally spot the mood Gabe is in.
‘Something happened? I just thought you hated being around me, but now it’s pretty clear that it’s not just you,’ I ask hesitantly. I’m fairly certain that even with me leaving him on read last night, Atlas still would have told me if whatever happened was big enough for news to hit the East Coast. This must be local.
‘You know that some of the Bonds and Bonded are going missing now, right? Well, three more were taken last night. A fourth person was found dead.’
He sounds miserable, so I leave it for a second, until we’re both seated at our usual table, and then I ask, “Did you know the person who died?’
He shoves his plate away from himself and rubs a hand over his face with a sigh. ‘He was on the football team with me. He was one of the seniors, but he had taken me under his wing because he was shifter too and he knew how hard it is to control the change in such a violent game.’
Right.
I can’t even enjoy the fact that he’s just told me his gift, because bile is creeping up the back of my throat. The Resistance was here last night, they took people and I, for one, know exactly what’s going to happen to them.
It takes a second for me to be able to choke out, ‘I’m sorry. I know what it feels like to lose someone like that, I’m really sorry.’
The words are too revealing, the shock making me less careful, but he’s too distracted to see it. He just shakes his head as if to clear it and says, “Brayden was a good kid; he didn’t deserve it. It’s pretty obvious that he was killed because he was trying to stop them from taking the others. The Resistance aren’t after shifters. One of his Bonded was taken, and I’d like to get her back. I know he’s dead and it doesn’t really matter to him anymore, but for his memory, I’d like to get her back.’
A fine tremble starts in my fingers at the thought of him getting too close to those people after everything I’ve done to keep them away. Even if he had noticed the changes in me, he’d have no clue that’s why I’m so shaken.
A few of his football buddies walk past and they give him a slap on the shoulder as they go. He grabs his plate again to try and eat something and once he is no longer folded over in misery, I find myself able to eat as well. I’m so lost in my thoughts about the Resistance and how desperately I need to get out of here, that I don’t notice when Sage approaches until she pulls the chair up beside me and takes a seat.
‘You heard about Brayden, then?’ she murmurs, and I nod my head.
‘Is Riley okay? I know he lives over in the boys’ dorms.’
Sage grimaces. ‘He is living at Giovanna’s house at the moment. He has been for months.’
Gabe pegs her with a stern look. ‘They’re Bonded, he’s supposed to want to live with her.’
Sage flinches, but it’s only really noticeable to me because I know what it looks like when you’re trying to hide it. My fingers start to tremble with something that isn’t fear. ‘Do you have to be such an insensitive dick about it? It’s not like she was saying she was pissed off about it.’
He smirks at me. ‘Oh, so you’re a bleeding heart about your girlfriend but don’t give a shit about your Bonds? Maybe Nox is right and you really are a lesbian. That would explain a lot.’
Fuck, I wish I was. I bump Sage gently with my shoulder and give her a little smile. ‘I’m glad he’s safe and I’m sorry you guys are still… struggling.’
Sage smiles at me and shrugs. ‘It is what it is. I’m glad he’s safe too, as long as he’s alive I guess there’s a chance we can work things out.’
Gabe winces a little. ‘Sorry, Sage. I didn’t mean to be a dick about it. I’m just… fucked up over Brayden and my own mess of a bond.’
Ouch.
I ignore it and give her a smile back instead. ‘Do you want to hit up the library this afternoon? I’d love some help with the Econ assignment we both have. You’re like a freaking genius with that stuff.’
Sage giggles and shrugs, but it’s clearly forced. ‘I’m really not. Plus, you’re doing so great catching up. There’s no way I would be where you are if I’d dropped out freshman year of high school, you’re amazing.’
Gabe’s eyes snap up to mine. ‘You dropped out of high school?’
I squirm in my seat. I’d assumed North had told him and the rest of my Bonds but apparently not. ‘I was on the move too much to still attend. I spent a lot of time in libraries though.’
I don’t know why I’m even explaining myself to him. It must be something to do with the raw look in his eyes after his friend’s death, but I should’ve known better.
‘You were that fucking intent on escaping us all that you dropped out of high school? Fuck, Fallows, you’re a real fucking bitch.’
He shoves his plate away, still half full, and storms off. I rub a hand over my face and finally give up on my own plate. What’s the fucking point?
‘Sorry. I just keep getting you into trouble with him, I need to learn to shut my mouth,’ Sage mumbles, and I want to hug her to me to get rid of all of that self-loathing she has trapped inside her. It’s an echo of my own but I’m better at hiding mine around everyone.
‘If it weren’t you, he’d just find something else to take out on me and you know what? I did run away from him. He’s not wrong about that part, so I guess I deserve his anger.’
Sage stands and grabs her book bag, waiting for me to do the same, and then walks with me to our Econ class. ‘I’ve only known you a few weeks and already know something else must have been going on, Oli.’
I give her a side-eye and she shrugs again. ‘I’m not asking for details, I know it must be really bad if you don’t want to tell your Bonds and get them off of your back. I just want you to know that I believe you’re a good person, no matter what they say.’
I must be hormonal or something because that makes me want to bawl my eyes out in the bathroom for a few hours. Instead, I link my arm through hers and whisper back, ‘You’ll be the first person I do tell. If I ever can, that is.’
Sage and I spend two hours after our classes let out for the day at the library together and it is honestly the most peace I have felt since arriving at Draven University. The panic I was feeling about my assignments starts to ease once she has walked me through her previous assignments with our Econ teacher and I know what to expect. I have a decent outline and a plan on how to get it done, I’m going to freaking kill it!
I can’t wait to see North’s face when I bring home an A. That’ll teach him to assume I’m some brain-dead dropout.
My stomach rumbles loudly and I check my watch and notice that my curfew is only a half hour away. I sigh and give Sage a self-loathing smile, pissed that I’m going to have to flake out on her once again. ‘My jailer will be pissed if I’m not locked up back in my tower soon. Sorry, I’d really love to stay for a few more hours if I could. This has been so great.’
Sage chews at her lip for a moment and then gives me a shy smile, her dimples flashing. ‘How do you feel about margaritas and tacos?’
My smile brightens. ‘I feel amazing about those things. We have to do it in my room though; North knows exactly where I am, so I can’t even use the common rooms at the dorms.’
Sage winces. ‘That doesn’t seem very… normal. I think your Bond might be a possessive dickhead.’
I burst into laughter. ‘Yeah, I sort of get that feeling too. If you don’t mind my boring-ass room, I’d love to hang.’
She looks so happy and shocked that I’m down that I wrap my arm around her shoulders to give her a little squeeze. She’s so freaking broken, so much more than me.
Or, I guess, she just wears her damage where we can all see it. I bury mine as deep as I can, as far down below my skin as possible, so I can pretend it’s not killing me slowly, painfully, constantly. Even now, just thinking about the fact I have damage, not even what that damage is, makes my blood run cold. Fuck.
I shake it off as I try to hand Sage some cash, what little I have left from my time out there in the world by myself, and she shrugs me off. ‘My treat this time. I know North won’t let you get a job, so it’s the least I can do.’
I roll my eyes at her. ‘You’re the one who is helping me out. I should definitely be buying dinner.’
She giggles at me as we both stand and start to make our way out of the library together. ‘Oh, yeah? How good is your fake ID to get us those margaritas?’
Damn. I forgot about that. I sigh dramatically, lifting my hands up to the sky like I’m imploring some benevolent god in the sky. ‘It was fantastic, but then North got a hold of it and now it is no more.’
Sage laughs and threads her arm through mine. ‘Yeah, I guessed that. No worries, Riley hooked me up with a good one.’
The smile slides right off of her face at the mention of his name. I kind of want to meet him just so I can see if he is as great as she thinks he is underneath all of this drama.
I’d also like to chew him out a bit for her, just tear into him for not seeing how freaking amazing she is.
I squeeze her arm. ‘Ok, rule one for the night: no more talking about our idiot Bonds. Let’s stick to the important stuff, like what color I should dye my hair next. I’m thinking lime green streaks.’
I don’t add that I’m thinking lime green because I’m sure that will piss North off the most, because I’m serious about keeping the conversation away from the guys. I haven’t had the chance to hang out with other girls my age since I was fourteen and my whole world changed, so I’m so freaking excited about having the chance now.
Plus, Sage is a really great person. An A plus, amazing human being that doesn’t deserve the piles of shit Riley and Giovanna keep heaping on her.
They should count their blessings that I can’t use my powers, otherwise they’d both be royally fucked.
We have to part ways outside the library so I can make my curfew and Sage can grab our food. She jumps into her cute, rundown little VW Bug and I take a quick photo on my phone at how freaking adorable she looks in it. I save the photo on her contact in my phone and grin at it a little more. Shit, having a friend is so much better than I remembered.
Mostly, my pre-teen friends were all about the drama. We used to fight over clothes and boys, none of the other girls were Gifted, so they didn’t understand why I insisted on crushing on like twelve guys at once.
I remember one of the girls saying I was going to be a whore like my mom and that she’d seen guys coming in and out of our house all the time. My mom was the Central Bond and I had three dads. I can’t remember why we lived amongst humans, I feel like it had something to do with my mom’s job, but they tried their best to be discreet about it.
I kind of blew it that day when I told Alexandra Hargraves that all three of my dads could kick her scrawny dad’s ass if she didn’t learn to shut her petty gossiping mouth.
My mom was not happy with me.
I got three consecutive high-fives from my dads though.
Worth it.
The memory keeps me happy and warm inside the entire walk back to the dorms.
