Everything comes back to Riley and Giovanna.
Sawyer tracks every last second of our morning, even when Atlas wants to murder him for all of the snide comments he makes about the two of us spending the night together out in that cave. That now feels as though it was a million years ago, but we find nothing out of the ordinary.
Sage woke up in her bed super early, said goodbye to each of her Bonded as she went on her routine morning run, and then made her way over to one of the wall security outlooks.
Then she killed our Shield.
There’s nothing else there for us to pull apart, no one approached her or injected her with some mind altering substance. She woke up and… chose murder?
“It has to lead back to Giovanna. She’s the one who is into mind control and fucking us all in the ass with a fucking cactus for the Resistance. We’ve let that situation stew for too long, and now they’re using the only in they have with us,” Sawyer rants, his fingers a little more frantic as they fly across the keyboard than they normally are.
Gabe pulls a face and leans back in his seat, still frustrated at how little we’ve figured out in the time we’ve been stuck here. “Could Giovanna really do that? Do you think she has enough power to go through Riley to Sage, even though they’re not Bonded? That’s… a lot of power. A lot more than I ever thought that manipulative bitch ever had.”
I glance at Sawyer but he doesn’t look away from his screen. “She’s always masked how much power she has because she was using so much by messing around in Riley’s head. I’m not ruling it out. Someone needs to go after her, rescue Riley, and drag her back here until we can rule it out. If it’s not her… I’ll keep digging.”
Atlas side-eyes me like he’s sizing me up and figuring out exactly how I’m going to react before he adds in, “And what are we going to do if it turns out that Sage is a turncoat? I don’t want to believe it either, but someone needs to say it.”
I shift in my seat uncomfortably, mostly because it’s been the one thing circling in my head this entire time, and the guilt might just eat me alive.
Sawyer, ever the unpredictable sass-master, shrugs and snaps, “If she’s evil, then I guess she’ll be dealt with. I’ll also need to hand myself in for being the most gullible and blind dickhead in the entire Gifted Community for not seeing it, so you’ll lose us both in one fell swoop. Oli, make sure you take care of Gray for me.”
Gray shoots Sawyer a dry look, like he’s a little insulted, but Sawyer just grins back at him. It’s not a proper grin, a little tense around the edges and it definitely doesn’t reach his eyes, but I can appreciate his effort to fake it until we get out of this mess.
I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. “Okay, so we just need to convince North and Gryphon that moving in on Riley and Giovanna is the only priority moving forward so that it happens right now, at the latest. That can’t be that impossible, right?”
Gabe grimaces next to me, pulling a face, and Sawyer smirks at me. “What do you mean ‘we’?”
And that’s how I find myself heading back over to North’s office.
It’s not the easiest thing to do, but I managed to convince Atlas and Gabe to let me walk over there by myself. I’m sure they only do it because Atlas is in my head the entire time talking to me and joking with me. Plus, with Brutus and August padding along silently next to me, there’s not really much they can say about my level of protection.
No one would ever attempt to approach the shadows, especially not immediately after the carnage they’d just wrought all around us. Even knowing they’d done it to defend us and drive out the Resistance from the Sanctuary, I’m sure the other Gifted are practically shitting themselves over my precious babies as we walk the streets together.
The offices are only a few hundred yards away, but the walk over is good to clear my head a little from the conversation with Sawyer and Gray. The streets are still bustling with people clearing away the debris or heading to the dining hall for something to eat. It’s good to see that they’re all resilient enough to get on with life once they’ve been given the all clear. I try to memorize the faces around me, to remember the people who have a backbone around here, but there’s too many.
I smile softly to myself and take a second to pause, tipping my head back and letting the warmth of the sun overhead soak into my skin. There’s a tiny whisper of a breeze that flutters my hair just a little, but it barely touches against the bright rays falling over my face and neck.
I take a deep breath, then another one for good luck.
Everything feels like a mess and completely overwhelming, but there’s also a part of me deep down inside that relishes the opportunity to finally do something in this fight.
Being stuck on the sidelines, coddled and protected as though I am some precious, breakable possession of my Bonds, has been incredibly frustrating. Especially with my own bond whispering dark and blood-soaked plans at every opportunity. I already know I’m the greatest weapon that our side has.
Now I just need to convince North and Gryphon of that.
Brutus butts his head against the back of my legs in a play for attention, so I crouch down a little to scratch him behind his ears. August had come to a heel a step in front of me when I’d stopped, always putting himself between me and any potential threats. Both of his ears are standing straight up at sharp points and as he looks around, I’m struck with the thought that it’s not often that I’m reminded that they aren’t actually puppies but that they are shadows made from my own Bonds. The stillness in him is an echo of the deadly calm in North.
It’s eerie and comforting at the same time.
You should hurry up and get to the office, Atlas sends directly to me, and before I can answer him, mostly with snark and attitude, North’s words trickle into my mind.
I can see her from where I am, Bassinger. She’s perfectly safe, for now. If she needs a minute alone, then now is the best time for it.
I duck my head to hide my grin, burying my nose into Brutus’ soft fur and taking one last deep breath, and then get back to walking down the rest of the path to the offices.
Everyone I come across gives me a wide berth as I pass them, not at all surprising, with a few mumbles and glances of fear. But there’s a lot more smiles and quiet acknowledgments than there were before, mostly from the Lower Tier families and, God, do I hate the way that sounds even more now.
They were all far more competent in the fighting than the Upper families. Gabe had told me about the people he’d helped hide in the school, about the Shields who had worked together to offer their families and community what protection they could… I will never have respect for the others who just cowered and ran, all while holding ten times more power than the others who chose to stay.
Never.
I smile and wave back to them all trying to look docile and not at all like the killing machine that they’ve all just witnessed me being, but I don’t attempt to approach any of them or stop to have a chat. I don’t want to push it. And honestly, I need to get this conversation with North and Gryphon out of the way.
I don’t think it is going to go well.
There are three TacTeam personnel standing guard at the office doors, but none of them attempt to stop me or speak to me as I walk past them with the shadow pups. Again, not surprising, and I’m sure if North had spotted me out of his window or on some big security camera of his, then he’d have warned them of my arrival.
Actually, I’m sure Gabe called ahead.
I stupidly left my key pass behind at the house, but one of the personnel is nice enough to swipe his to get me into the elevator up to North’s office. When I thank him with a smile, he gives me a curt nod back, one hand resting over the butt of his gun subconsciously as though even knowing we’re both on the same side he can’t help but reach for it in comfort. I won’t hold it against him.
It seems strange to me that the elevator has music. Such a normal and boring thing to have while the world around us burns.
“That’s a little dramatic, Bonded. There’s barely any scorch marks out there,” Gryphon drawls as the elevator doors open, his hands reaching in to grab a hold of me and drag me out into his arms. It feels a little desperate, a little bit too eager for my calm and sure TacTeam Bonded, but I accept it without a word.
It’s been a shit day.
“If you haven’t already figured out that I’m a little dramatic in the supposed privacy of my own head, then that sounds like a you problem,” I grumble under my breath, but my arms are just as tight around him as his are around me.
I take a moment to let myself soak up some of his strength, leaning on the solid weight of him as he just lets me melt into him without a word of complaint. He’s been my safe place since he showed up at my shitty dorm room and manhandled me into the bed to take away my horrible period pains, even when I couldn’t accept it or admit to it.
I need him desperately.
It’s also as though seeing the images of Sage’s supposed betrayal and all of the bullshit that had come after that fucked-up moment has sapped the last of my energy away from me.
It’s a strange feeling, because the entire time my bond was in control and using so much of my gift, I didn’t feel as though I was using up my gift or running out of power. I never feel as though my gift is going to run out. But usually, when my bond slips away and I find myself back in control, I have no energy left, as though I have run an ultra-marathon.
This time has been different.
Whether it was because of my other Bonds and the way I had been passing energy on to them, or if it was the Gifted soul that my bond consumed, it was only after hearing about Sage that the bone-deep exhaustion took over. I’m pretty sure that’s been more of a defense mechanism than something that is really affecting me physically.
I give myself a full minute of squeezing Gryphon back as hard as he’s clutching me before I move to pull away, stepping back and taking a look around.
North’s offices look far more untidy than I have ever seen any of his spaces look before. The couch is still half made up from where Nox tends to sleep on it, blankets and pillows and his ever-present pile of books stacked there, waiting for his return. There are files and boxes of paperwork littering the floors everywhere and a computerized white board has been set up behind his desk, blinking away with all sorts of information.
My eyes finally land on North himself, looking older than he had just a few hours before, the toll of the day weighing heavily on his shoulders. The first stirrings of my bond start up in my chest. I don’t like to see him under such pressure. I can’t stand to see the ways that it’s affecting him to be at the helm of this community and be responsible for so many lives.
How he’s still standing is beyond me.
“We’ve moved Sage into one of the more comfortable cells in the underground bunker here,” Gryphon murmurs quietly, and I glance back to him with a curt nod.
It’s now or never, I guess. “I’m here to talk with you both about her. I can’t believe that she did this… I won’t believe she did it.”
Gryphon shares a look with North over my head. And even though his mouth is downturned, he nods slowly. “We don’t think she’s a spy either, Bonded, but there are only a few explanations that we can think of.”
North cuts in, his tone soaked with frustration and exhaustion, “And we can’t risk leaving her in the general population until we know exactly what happened and how to stop it from happening again. I need you to promise me, Oleander, that you’re not going to attempt to get her out. This isn’t about your friendship. This is about keeping people safe. I need to know that you are going to work with us on this.”
For the tiniest of moments I want to be insulted, but I have to remind myself that I have walked into a burning building for that girl and they both know it, so instead I look Gryphon dead in the eyes and say with complete honesty and surety, knowing that he will be able to feel it through my words, “I am going to find out what happened. I am going to save my friend. I am not going to risk anyone’s lives unnecessarily while I do so.”
There’s a small pause and if I didn’t already know that my complete honesty was a turn on for Gryphon, the heat that fills his eyes would be a dead giveaway. He doesn’t make a move to act on it though, now isn’t really the time, instead he just nods to me slowly and lets out a breath.
Nothing else really matters though. I’ve never been so serious in my entire life as I am when I say those words. Sage would never turn her back on me, and I’m not going to turn my back on her now.
Whatever it takes, I’m clearing her name.
“Riley and Giovanna are staying at Daniella’s lake house, about an hour away from Draven. Riley’s headaches and nosebleeds have been happening more frequently, so they decided to spend some time out there for him to rest and recover,” North says, tapping at the screen on his tablet. The computerized board starts to show a GPS map and photo images of a traditional style lake house that looks as though it costs at least a couple million dollars.
Gryphon had been called out for some issues that had cropped up in the town clean-up. North had taken one good look at me before insisting that I sit with him to go over my plans.
The room is dark around us, the curtains drawn so that all of our focus can be on the information lit up on the screen. I’d teased North about the board when I’d first seen it. It had seemed like such an unnecessary luxury when the Sanctuary was still only half built, but I can see the appeal of it now. With a few simple taps, he can send anything up there for us to look over together and discuss. Maybe this whole ‘richer-than-sin’ thing isn’t so bad.
I wiggle a little in his arms, settling further into his chest and enjoying the way his arm tightens around my waist like he’s trying to get me even closer as well. Hell, I think I’d burrow into his skin at this point, just so I could make sure no one could ever keep us apart.
My eyes stay glued to the board though, the information up there is both concerning and vital to figuring this all out. There are timetables and delivery schedules, appointments they have booked and daily routines. Giovanna is definitely that type of psycho who takes a morning run, willingly and on her own volition, every day at six a.m.. Everything we could ever need to show up there and kidnap them both is up there.
It had been my idea to be in his lap, mostly because I needed him close to me, but also a small part of me is hoping that it’ll soften him up enough to let me do what I need to here.
“I want to forbid you from going. I want to insist on keeping you here in this room with me and send Gryphon out to do this for us all,” North murmurs to me, as if he’s reading my mind.
I tip my head back onto his shoulder a little to whisper back, “But? There has to be a but here, Bonded.”
He chuckles quietly, his legs widening a little so that my body settles even lower onto his lap until I can feel his dick hardening under my ass. “But… my bond wants you to do it. My possessive, jealous, murderous, and malevolent bond who has writhed in fury over the very mention of you being in harm’s way is telling me to let you go there. Why exactly do you think that is?”
The grin that tugs over my lips is an easy one with a little flirty edge to it. I rock just a little against the hard line of his cock, a purposeful tease. “Because he trusts me? He knows exactly what I’m capable of? Maybe he loves me more than you do.”
The words are out before I even really think them through. Before I can curse myself out or try to take them back, North tosses the tablet onto his desk and manhandles me until he has me turned around in his lap, now straddling him and facing him dead on as one of his hands cups my jaw and forces me to look directly at him.
“Impossible. There’s no one, not my bond or any of the other Bonds you’re tied to, who loves you more than I do, Oleander. I will argue that point until I die, vehemently and with great pride. You’re the reason my heart beats, and even if I don’t deserve you, I’ll go to my grave doing everything I can to be the man you do deserve. I know I’ve done a shitty job of it so far, but I’ll prove myself to you.”
I swallow roughly and nod slowly, leaning forward just a little to press our lips together softly. “You’re already doing a great job proving it. I love you too. All of you; your bond and your shadows too. None of that stuff scares me or worries me. I’m proud to call you mine… even if we’re both terrifying monsters.”
He scoffs at my teasing and leans forward to give me a proper kiss this time. “Your bond is the only reason I’m agreeing to your little trip outside of these walls. I know I can trust it to not hesitate.”
I deepen the kiss, ready to lose myself in him and maybe escape from the chaos in my head for a minute. Then his computer chimes and he groans against my lips, a frustrated sound that has nothing to do with the searing heat of his dick straining through his pants.
I pull away and duck down to press my nose into the crook of his neck, breathing him in for a minute. “I’m guessing that’s not one we can just ignore? Are there any we can ignore?”
He presses a kiss into my hair and then wraps his arms around my thighs, standing up and taking me with him as he moves back over to his computer. I don’t attempt to fight it; I already know he’s strong enough to haul me around. If he’s happy to lug me around while I cling to him like my life depends on it, then I’ll let him.
I might not be able to fully explain how off-center this has all made me, but I think my actions are clear enough.
I don’t bother trying to look at what North is doing. I don’t really want to know about what bullshit the council and Top Tier families are up to right now, so I keep my face tucked into his shoulder.
“Sometimes it’s very clear to me that being a monster and using our gifts without so much restraint would make life a lot easier,” he mutters, and I huff out a laugh.
“I’ve already offered to kill your enemies. That’s still on the table if you need it.”
He scoffs back, one hand absently rubbing down my back in an action that I’m sure is just as much a comfort to him as it is to me. “And while I’m grateful, I also know that neither of us could stomach the thought of killing non-Gifted people just because they’re ignorant fucking idiots.”
Non-Gifted?
I lean away from him to catch his eye. There’s a tension in him that wasn’t there before. “Why would you be worrying about them? I know you do charity work in their community, but why would that have you dealing with idiots?”
His lips are in a hard line and his eyes stay glued to the screen behind me for a second longer before he finally meets my eye. “The Resistance amping up and making a mess of things has caught their attention. Now there’s a lot of… unpleasant publicity about the Gifted community circulating. I’m now being subpoenaed because a particular group of non-Gifted have banded together and are taking legal action against the council.”
Unease trickles back into my gut and he spots it straight away, one of his hands moving to cup my chin. “Don’t worry about it, Bonded. It’s a pain in my ass, and the worst timing, but there’s nothing for you to worry about. I will sort it out and keep you safe. Nothing is ever going to separate us again, any of us. I swear it.”
