I already feel as though the walls are closing in on me, and the sound of the explosion just has my heart trying to beat out of my chest in a panic.
I’d never realized that I had any issues with small spaces.
I definitely have been in smaller enclosures than this before, but the heat of the concrete and the stagnation in the air has me gasping for breath, my lungs screaming in my chest as though I’m not getting enough oxygen, even though I know I am.
I have no freaking clue how North and Nox spent months here as children, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the trauma in Nox’s past, because I am feeling particularly traumatized right now.
Where is Oleander?
North’s words are stern, bordering on desperate, and even though he’s using our joint mind link, he is definitely not speaking to me.
Gryphon gets an arm around my waist and sends back, We’re all still in the library. Oli is safe. Where are you and do you have eyes on what just happened? It feels a lot like Unser.
I almost want to huff and stamp my foot in frustration.
I still have never gotten a clear answer from anyone over who the hell Unser is and what he’s capable of. His name is just dropped into conversation randomly by everyone around me, as if he’s some urban legend. When I glance up at Gryphon to demand to know what the hell that means, there’s another explosion, this one big enough that I feel a little sick from the motion under my feet.
This time, Nox takes a step towards the little boy.
Gryphon starts shoving the books into his bulletproof vest, which is a smart way to get his hands free and protect the ancient tomes of knowledge that is otherwise lost to time. “We need to figure out if there’s any damage to the Hail Mary before we go out and neutralize it—“
“I’m not leaving the kid,” Nox says, cutting Gryphon off, and Joseph’s eyes flick over to him.
I have to admit, it looks as though the kid has been put through the wringer, and the softness that Nox is treating him with is a little bit of a surprise. I didn’t know he was capable of it. Even North gets treated with a wary sort of disdain by his brother.
Gryphon sends through again, North, do you have eyes on who is out there and what is going on?
North finally replies, harried sounding, We do. It’s Silas Davies himself, along with at least eight Shields and a whole group of the Resistance’s Top Tier Gifted. I recognize most of them, but I was unaware that they had a Trigger.
“Fuck,” Gryphon says out loud, and I can’t contain myself any longer.
“What the hell is a Trigger? And who the fuck is Unser?”
Gryphon stalks towards the opening of the library, still shoving the last of the books into his clothing as he looks down the hallway. I’m not sure if he really thinks he’s going to see a giant hole hole in the thick concrete walls, but there’s been no change in the air pressure, so I’m not worried about it yet.
Surprisingly, Nox answers me with none of the usual sarcasm or vitriol in his voice. “A Trigger is a living bomb. It’s a Gifted whose power is literally an explosive. Usually, it’s a one time thing. In teenage years, something will ‘trigger’ them and when their gift kicks in, the use of it kills them, as well as anyone close by.”
My gut sinks, and I’m sure my face is horrified, but Nox just keeps laying out the facts. “Unser was the first Gifted to have two abilities, the Trigger itself, and the Regeneration. He’s a living bomb that can go off more than once, though his recovery period is a few weeks, so he has to be used in a very strategic way.”
I glance over at Gryphon and then back to Nox. I can’t help but state the obvious, terrifying truth. “There were just two explosions.”
North is quiet again in my head, which raises the panic in my chest a little more, but I try to focus on what Nox is saying because it’s important.
He meets my eyes, and that same worried sort of calm is in him as he nods at me. “Which means that the Resistance has a Trigger who has a Regeneration period that’s only a few minutes.”
Fuck.
I swallow the bile creeping up my throat. “Do you think I’ll be strong enough to take him out?”
Gryphon looks back over his shoulder, glancing at Alistair for a moment before deciding that whatever he’s about to say, it’s worth saying in front of him so that both Nox and I hear it. “My bet is that if the Bond Group was complete, and you were Bonded to everyone, then yes. Right now? I’m not so sure.”
I suddenly want to look anywhere but at Nox. It feels like more of a call out for him than it is for me. I’ve proven myself to be willing to figure things out between the two of us, whereas he has not been shy about how much he loathes to be around me. What a freaking mess.
There’s another explosion and my palms begin to sweat.
Outside of these walls is my worst nightmare and a bunch of his friends, who I doubt will be easy for us to deal with. I was hoping to somehow make it through all of this conflict without ever having to see that man again. Naive, I know, but I’d kind of gotten attached to the very secret hope that North or Nox’s shadow creatures could somehow devour him for me.
Stupid girl.
They’re trying to turn the Hail Mary into a Wasteland. That’s why they brought the Shields, they want to take it away from us by having it turn into a battleground.
Gryphon’s eyes flick over to Nox, and I know he’s sending that information from North through to him as well.
I glance over to Alistair where he’s clutching at the wall and looking as though he might vomit. The moment our eyes meet, he blurts out, “You can’t take my Joseph with you. They’re not going to get through the walls. He’s the safest here.”
Nox’s head whips towards Alistair and he snaps, “He’s not staying here.”
Jesus Christ, I think we’re about to kidnap a kid.
Am I okay with that? Shit. I think I am. The Sanctuary has to be a better option for him, right? Fuck. My morals certainly have shifted lately.
I send through to North and Gryphon, We’re stealing this kid, right? If the guy won’t give him to us, then we’re taking him. There’s no chance that we are going to get out of here without all of our powers. If Nox refuses to move without the kid, then we’re stealing a kid.
Gryphon looks at me and nods, but North is silent in my head. Another trickle of panic runs down my spine and my bond decides that now is definitely the time for her to make a permanent sort of appearance.
My eyes shift to black again, and though I can still see what is going on around us and I still have control of my body if I choose to, I let my bond take the reins.
Enough of this childishness. When we get back, we’re completing the bond. Whether you do it, or I do it.
Oh God.
She then takes control of the situation, walking past Gryphon and out the doorway until she is stalking back towards where we had left North. I send him one last message before I let go completely and let her keep us all safe.
Help Nox grab the kid. We need to get out of here.
Oleander’s bond
The Neuro man who dared to harm me and the girl has returned for us.
This time, I’m ready for him.
Not only has he come here for us, but he has dared to attack this hell-forsaken place that currently houses our Bonded. There is no part of me, not the god living inside this meat-suit nor the girl who I spend my days with, that is going to allow him near those that belong to us. We just need to get out of this prison first.
We find my Dark Bonded in the large chamber we had first moved through. There’s a small group of men with him, all of whom turn and get one look at me before freaking out. I enjoy the look of terror on all of their faces, but their training is such that while they shift on their feet, standing more at attention than they were before, none of them actually flee in terror.
Disappointing.
When the Dark Bonded one sees me, his shoulders roll back and his eyes flicker down to where one of his shadow creatures walks beside me. They’re very well trained, both of my little gifts from my Bonds, and as I approach, he says, “We aren’t going to open the doors until we have a clear plan. Are you able to work through the solid concrete, or do you need to be outside with them?”
I tilt my head to one side as I consider what he’s saying. “The concrete does dull my senses, but I can still feel those outside.”
I would be surprised if his shadow creatures couldn’t walk through the walls themselves and deal with the people outside as well.
He shakes his head. “I’m not as accurate through the concrete. I can send my shadow creatures out there, but I can’t control what they do as well as I can normally. If they have any Gifted hostages, there’s every chance that I could accidentally kill them as well.”
A minor inconvenience. “I don’t care all too much about the casualties.”
There’s a lot of nervous looks around me as the men all take in that statement, but the Dark Bonded one clicks his tongue at me, shaking his head. “You might not care, but the girl does, and you said that you protect her and keep her safe. Keeping her safe by killing innocent people is not doing a good job, Bonded.”
A burning sort of indignation ruffles my feathers, and I find myself pulling at the bond living within him, not wanting to deal with the man anymore. The man with morals and values and a million other useless things.
He gives me a curt shake of his head and turns away from me. “You can’t have him, not right now. There’s too much at stake.”
One of the men murmurs quietly under his breath, “I always knew that Draven had balls of steel, but I didn’t know that arguing with her was also in his repertoire. You couldn’t pay me enough. She’s fucking terrifying.”
I turn and focus on the man for a second, watching him gulp as he falls fully under my attention. “He’s my Bonded. I would rip your heart out of your throat without a second thought, but Bonds cannot hurt one another. He was made for me, perfection incarnate… even when he’s being difficult.”
There’s footsteps behind us, and I glance back to see my Bonded and the Damaged One walking along with the two Gifted that we had been stuck in the library with. The older man is holding the little boy’s hand, clutching at it as he sweats profusely.
“Alistair and Joseph are coming back with us. We need to clear a path to get them out.”
The Transporter stalks over from the mezzanine floor that he was standing on, startling for a second as he sees my eyes, but dipping his head respectfully in my direction. “I can’t get us out of here unless we’re outside, so we need to figure out what the fuck we’re doing, and fast, because that Trigger is not letting up out there.”
I shrug and step towards my Dark Bonded, placing my hands on his chest, irritated that there is a bulletproof vest in the way. “Take me outside. I’ll fix it for us all.”
He looks down at me, and then his eyes flick over to my Bonded. “What are the chances you can get a gauge of them from here?”
My Bonded steps forward and stares at the TV screen that shows the enemy all outside working towards breaking their way into the building. “I can, a bit. I don’t think that she’s going to be able to deal with Silas Davies yet… and I don’t think she’ll be able to sort the Trigger out. The rest of them should be fair game. The Shields are strong, but none of them are even close to what Dara or Franklin were. If we can get rid of everyone else, hopefully that spooks the other two enough that they disappear, for now.”
North nods slowly. “That means leaving the Transporter for them alive as well, so they have a way to get out of here.”
The Damaged One steps up, still glancing back at the child as though he’s ensuring that he isn’t going to disappear the moment he looks away. “So, our plan is to scare them away? She isn’t the only weapon we have, brother.”
The Dark Bonded one nods slowly and raises his palm until more shadows start leaking out of him in various different forms, falling round his body like a cloak of inky night until he really looks like death incarnate.
We were truly made for each other.
I smile as though the sun has come out from behind the clouds and is warming my face. I love them just as much as I love all of my Bonded. I see the serpent fall artfully to the floor, and my smile shifts into a manic grin.
It slithers over to me and wraps around my legs affectionately. I pet its head as it nuzzles my palm, and there is more disbelief and horrified chatter around me at the sight of our affection.
“The snake… she’s petting the snake,” one of them says and gets shushed by the men around him.
“Bonded, your job will be to take out everyone except Davies, the Trigger, and the Transporter. Do you think you can be that accurate?”
I ripple with frustration at them questioning my abilities and their insistence on keeping the men alive.
I am a god living among them, and they should know better.
I nod. “Of course. I could kill everybody in this room and out of it, if I wanted to. Everybody in this state, if I really felt like it.”
My Bonded reaches out and takes hold of my wrist as though he is trying to calm me down, but it has little effect on me. They’re all being irritating today, and I’d rather we just got to the killing part.
I want to go home to the fucking part too.
The Dark Bonded One looks to his brother. “We leave everyone else to our Bond and we focus on the other two. Everyone else is just there as a backup in case they have snipers or something hiding from the cameras.”
It’s as easy as that. He’s given his directives, and all of the men fall into line around us, finding that their backbones are still encased within their bodies after all. It’s a surprise, especially since they’re surrounded by nightmares and gods who walk amongst them.
We step out into the chamber and I find that a ring of men has formed around the man and the child as they follow along with us. The men give my Bonds and me a wide berth, clearing a path for us to lead the charge.
The Damaged One refuses to leave them in the building while we deal with the situation, insisting that he can keep them both safe and protected for long enough for the Transporter to get them out.
The moment we get to the fourth vault on the way out, I start picking off the Shields. Their souls are weak and unsatisfying to me, but I funnel the power through to the Dark Bonded one anyway, watching as the extra kick of power simmers underneath his skin. His chest expands as he takes it all in, and his eyes darken until, eventually, his bond wins out and takes him over as well.
“Just what we fucking need,” my Bonded murmurs under his breath and glances at me. “If he loses it, you’re going to have to talk him down, because none of the rest of us are going to be able to.”
I move towards the Dark Bonded one as I work my way through the rest of our enemies outside, one by one feeling their bodies drop to the ground, even though I can’t see it. I send back to my Bonded, Why would I get in the way of greatness? He was put on this earth to wipe it clean of our enemies and those who might try to hurt us. Why would I stop him from doing so?
There’s no answer to that, and I smile up at the Dark Bonded one, happy to see him here with me at last. The man has kept him locked away for too long.
Then we move to the last vault, everyone shifting around us as they move into position. They’re nervous but hiding it well enough, none of them sure of what all we’re capable of.
There’s no need for fear.
Our enemy is nothing in the face of my Bonded. Each and every one of them.
The outer doors open with a grinding sound, and the gloomy day is blinding after an hour in the building, but only for a moment before the shadow creatures consume the light as they move forward, working their way towards their targets.
Our Transporter immediately pops out of existence, taking the man and the child with him, and the Damaged One steps forward, his mind now fully on the work in front of us. As his shadow creatures fall around us, I fight the urge to reach inside of him and pull his bond out, to have the three of us reunited here together on this battlefield, and watch as our gifts blend together to seek out our victory, but my Bonded is still very nervous about what’s going on.
I’ll show him that there’s nothing to be concerned about.
Instead of worrying about the trivial concerns of mortals, I continue my work of picking out the souls of the lesser Gifted around us, churning up their life essence into pure energy and funneling it through to the Dark Bonded one until I’m sure he’s invincible.
There’s another explosion to our left, the force of it knocking us all from our feet, and he catches me, one arm banding around my waist like a steel bar as he steadies my feet. His shadow creatures snarl all around us, advancing towards the group a few hundred feet in front of us, and I have to wait for the smoke to clear enough to get a look at them.
Pathetic, the lot of them.
They might be stronger than I am right now, but I have only been in this reincarnation for a fraction of the time that they have walked this earth, all of them fully Bonded and at the peak of their abilities. We still have so much further to go, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that we get there.
Before I can continue working my way through the pathetic Gifted in front of us, the shadow creatures strike, hundreds of them swarming and killing indiscriminately as they work toward the back of the group where the enemy is waiting.
Screams of terror and pain sound around us, the sounds of flesh and bone being torn apart filters through the rain to us, and a shiver of joy and excitement ripples through me.
They’re magnificent.
There are pops around us as enemy Transporters begin to bring in reinforcements, but I’m picking them off faster than they’re arriving, keeping the threat we’re facing at a very manageable level. I feel the inkling of a foreign being trying to reach into my mind, his talons digging into my skull, and I change my tactics.
I send power to my Bonded instead.
He glances at me in shock, but he gets my plan instantly, his Gift flooding me and shoving the man out of my head. I might not be strong enough, or practiced enough, to keep him out on my own, but my Bonded is, especially with the kick of power.
We watch as the grass turns red with the blood and gore of those who came here to harm us, and the stacks of bodies begin to pile up. Occasionally, there’s the sound of a gun firing, but mostly, the carnage comes from my Bonds and me.
It only lasts for a few minutes, a retreat is called in quickly when it’s clear that they’ve underestimated who they were dealing with and what we’re capable of, and then the pops become about getting people out of here.
I make eye contact with the man who loves knives, the one who cut and hacked at the girl for years just to get to me, and right before his Transporter helps him escape his death, he smirks at me, dipping his head in acknowledgment.
It’s a promise.
A promise that now that the stage has been set, the war is coming together around us, and now that I have my Bonded, we’ll face each other until one of us comes out victorious.
