I spend the entire evening with Atlas and Gabe, trying to play peacekeeper between them and failing miserably. It becomes very clear to me that they’ll only agree with one another when I’m in danger or they’re dealing with the other Bonds.
When we’re alone like this, they just bicker and pick at each other until I want to murder them both.
When I finally decide to pass out for the night, neither of them will leave the room and, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I don’t really want them to. Atlas takes a shower and comes out to climb into my bed in just his boxers.
Gabe strips his shirt off and makes a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor next to my side of the bed without a word to me about it. He’s had a hell of a lot to say to Atlas about everything all night but not a whole lot to say to me. I don’t know if it’s guilt or if he’s just waiting to speak to me alone but it makes me feel jittery and nervous.
Atlas is respectful about keeping his distance from me in the bed but his hand finds mine under the sheets before I turn the lights off.
When we wake up the next morning, I feel like I was hit by a freight train, but I keep that little nugget of information to myself because there is absolutely no way I’m staying in this freaking mansion all day today. I’m going to class and I’m going to take advantage of what little freedom I still have. I need to see Sage and check up on how she’s doing after her abduction. I need to thank Felix for healing me just because I asked for him, he definitely didn’t have to do that. I even need to find Gracie and thank her for yelling about Sage and letting me find my best friend when she needed me. I’m eating lunch with all of my friends, dammit!
“I don’t like this,” Atlas says from the doorway of the closet, his back to me as I change but still sticking close with me. I tell myself it’s a Bond thing and not at all because I must look as freaking terrible as I feel.
Gabe had disappeared to grab a shower and get dressed in his own room, which is when I found out that he also has a room here. Technically he doesn’t live here, but apparently when North had found out about me and who I was the Central Bond for, he’d put aside rooms here for us all.
Controlling asshole.
I pull one of Atlas’ shirts over my head before I tug on one of Gryphon’s hoodies, the last one that still smells like him. I need to figure out a game plan on how to get some more off of him… or return the others to him to get his scent back on them.
Would it be totally pathetic to get Gabe to help me out with it?
I wonder if he has some shirts I can steal as well?
Jesus, focus, Oli!
I clear my throat as I pull on some jeans that have seen better days but still fit me well enough. “I need this. I really just need to get back into my life and let things settle.”
When I’m covered completely, I press a hand to his back to grab his attention and he turns to give me a grin, his eyes bright on mine. “You look fucking perfect in my clothes, Sweetness.”
I blush, which is stupid, and snark at him, “What are you talking about, you can’t even see it! Are you going to be like this over every item of clothing I steal from you because my bond is fucking weird about smells and… I think this is going to be a regular thing.”
He shrugs and wraps an arm around my shoulders as Gabe lets himself back into the room with my key that he’d swiped. “Take whatever the hell you want from me, take everything. You want my car too? That one might hurt a little but only if you’re shit at driving.”
I cringe and when I glance at Gabe, he’s still looking at Atlas like he wants to rip his throat out which makes it even harder to speak, but I find my voice, “I don’t actually have my license, so you can keep the car. The TacTeam took my fake ID and, thanks to North, everyone on campus knows who I am, so there’s no getting around it.”
The grin on Atlas’ face falters a bit but then he swoops down and kisses my cheek softly, a tiny brush of his skin against mine, but my bond keens for him like a sulky bitch in my chest.
“I’ll add it to the list of stuff we have to sort out for you, it’ll be right up there with the GPS tracker and getting you a job, if you still want one.”
I blow out a breath and muster up a smile. “So… totally achievable shit, nothing that’ll piss North off so much that he chains me to his fucking basement.”
Atlas’ eyes narrow but I don’t want to get into that whole can of worms, so I step around him and over to the bed, shoving the last few notebooks into my bag. I need to find my shoes, because I only have two pairs and one set is over at the training center.
The other pair were taken off of me by North.
Fuck, I don’t want to think about that man anymore today.
Gabe walks over to me quietly, hesitant, but I don’t know why until he holds out a bag to me. “Gryphon gave these to me this morning. He said… fuck, it doesn’t matter. They’re yours.”
I frown at his awkwardness but then when I take the bag and look in, I find my leather boots. I find my motherfucking thrifted, perfect pair of stunning leather boots that I thought had been left behind when the TacTeam grabbed me and I cried over them for days, and yet here they are in this little bag.
I burst into tears.
It’s so freaking ridiculous and Gabe stares at me in the type of horror that says he’s pretty eager to run away from me right now and scrub this moment from his memory forever. Except then he grabs my elbow and pulls me into his chest for a hug, the halting but secure kind that guys do when they’re afraid they’re going to crush you.
I sob all over him.
I keep my face pressed against the rock hard surface of his perfect chest as I mumble, “They’re the best shoes I’ve ever had and I thought I lost them. Fuck, this is so embarrassing! Both of you need to leave and forget this ever happened. Promise me we’ll never talk of this again.”
Gabe hums at me, rubbing a hand down my back like he’s still worried I’ll scramble his brains if he does something wrong. “You should’ve just asked him about them. He’s not a Draven, he can be reasonable, you know.”
I snort at him, probably a mistake with the mess I am, and pull away from him to grab the boots and slide them onto my feet. I instantly feel put together and cute, instead of the haphazardly thrown together kind of sloppy I was feeling three minutes ago.
Gryphon just handed me heaven and the man has no freaking clue.
“Right, so shoes are the way to your heart, got it,” Atlas drawls and I glance up at him with a watery smile.
We all grab our bags and head out, locking the door behind us. “Tell me I don’t look cute right now, I dare you! I could kill a man today. I could walk into Nox’s class and skin the asshole alive wearing these shoes.”
Gabe shakes his head at me. “Maybe you shouldn’t wear them, now we all know you can back up those threats with action.”
It’s the first time either one of them has mentioned my gift but he doesn’t say another word about it, no pressure or lingering looks about it, so I don’t immediately run off into the sunset over it.
I follow the guys down the hall and into the elevator, trusting them to get me out of this rabbit warren of a house because I, once again, have no freaking clue where I am. Seriously, I need someone to get me a map.
When the elevator doors shut, Gabe hesitates over the floor choice for a second, glancing down at me. “Are we going down to breakfast, or to the garage and eating at the dining hall?”
My nose wrinkles. “Is there a third option?”
Atlas leans forward and chooses the basement. “Yeah, the cafe down the road from campus does good coffee and breakfast burritos.”
I open my mouth and he cuts me off, “Don’t say a word to me about money right now, Oleander, or I’ll go rip North a new asshole for making you feel like shit about this. I know exactly who you are and where you’ve come from, I’m not worried about covering whatever you need until you’re settled in.”
I still don’t want him to pay for things for me, but I also really don’t want to see North this morning, so I just duck my head and nod, staring down at the perfect leather boots again. I worked for the money to pay for them. I hunted in thrift stores with a fistful of dollar bills shoved in my pocket until I found them.
I tell myself that I’ll just keep track of what he’s paying for and then pay it back the moment I can. If these two are fine with me getting a job and Gryphon said he’d back me, then North has to ease up on it, right?
It’s not like he’s the boss of us all… right? Jesus, why is this all so messy?
When the elevator doors open up at the garage again, we walk over to Atlas’ Hellcat and Gabe opens the passenger side door for me, seeing me settled and belted up before he climbs in the back.
Atlas raises an eyebrow at him but he just shrugs back. “I’m not leaving Oli’s side. I’m guessing you’re feeling the same way, and we can’t all fit on my bike, so your car it is.”
THE BREAKFAST BURRITO is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth and when I moan at the first bite, Atlas roars with laughter at me.
Gabe focuses on his food like a man with a mission, slurping down his coffee in two gulps and then taking out his food in about three bites. I get that he’s the size of a small mountain, but it’s still so impressive to me how much food he eats, even when it is just the rabbit food he usually sticks to.
“You keep that up, we’re not making it to class,” Atlas says, directing the car back into the campus rush hour traffic.
I scoff back at him. “We’re not making it because no one here knows how to park in a timely manner.”
I’ve never noticed how bad it was before because I’d always walked with Gabe, my attention on how much I didn’t want to be around him, but we spent more time trying to get into the parking lot than we did waiting in line at the cafe.
It’s ridiculous.
I text Sage to let her know we’re here and she replies straight away about heading to us with Sawyer and Felix. I don’t even question that the healer is tailing her, after such a close call I’m sure he’s been all over her ass.
My opinion of Riley hits a record low because he doesn’t feel the same way.
It occurs to me that if Gabe and I are really friends, I now have another ally on team Riley-needs-to-die and I turn around in my seat to give him a look. “What’s your take on Riley? I want your opinion before I scramble the dickhead’s brain and watch him convulse until he dies.”
There’s a moment of silence in which I’m sure both of them regret being my Bonds, but then Gabe replies, “He’s a fucking dick. He used to fawn all over Sage when we were growing up and I knew they’d be Bonds. You can just tell sometimes, and he was like a protective shield over her at all times… then Giovanna shows up and he drops Sage like she’s nothing, I have nothing but hate for him.”
I want to point out that he used to defend the guy to me all the damn time but that seems counterproductive right now. It doesn’t matter, he realizes he’s being a hypocrite and cringes at me. “I know. I know what I said. I was fucking furious that you were insta-friends with Sage the second you got here. You still look at me like I’m the worst thing you’ve ever seen, but you loved her right away.”
Oh God.
A wave of guilt hits me and I force myself not to look at Atlas because he’s probably sitting there feeling smug over how easily I accepted him when he arrived too.
I really am the bitch Gabe thinks of me.
When Atlas parks up, I ask him to give Gabe and me a second and he gets out without a word, squeezing my hand and walking over to meet with Sage because he’s actually too freaking perfect.
Deep breath, Oli, don’t puss out now. “I’m sorry. I needed to keep you away from me because I can’t Bond with any of you. Not you, not Atlas, not any of you. What I can do… it can’t be allowed to get stronger. That’s all I can say. It’s terrifying, Gabe. I can feel it even stronger now, and if I let it grow just because I want you all, well, I’m not that selfish. I can’t put myself ahead of everyone else like that.”
He stares at me for a second and then his eyes flick down to my hands. They’re rock steady right now, my gift sitting harmlessly inside of me and my bond content with the smells of them all around me right now.
His voice is low and even as he asks, “That’s it, that’s the only reason you don’t want to Bond? You’re afraid of what’ll happen if you do?”
I nod and glance out to see Sage smiling at something Sawyer has said, all four of them acting as though they’ve been friends for a million years and we weren’t just abducted by a crazed bunch of militia Gifted.
“I’m not going to force answers out of you. I want them so goddamn much but… but maybe our problems have been because I was making my mind up about how things should be and not just letting us figure it out for ourselves,” he says in that same low tone as he watches the others as well. He sounds freaking miserable and I still feel like that worst type of person for doing that to him.
I need to remember that he was a dick too, that this doesn’t all land on me. He’s made a change and is seeing it through, but that doesn’t erase that he was a giant dick to me.
I clear my throat and grab my bag. “No more talking about gifts and Bonds, let’s just be friends and get on with… passing all of our classes without killing everyone. We can totally do that, right?”
He scoffs at me and gets out, moving so quickly that he has my door open before I get the chance to get a grip of the handle. I grab his hand to get out of the car but let it go the moment I’m steady on my feet.
There’s no point tempting fate.
Sage watches me take two steps towards them before she launches herself at me and my legs buckle under us both, almost taking us to the ground. Almost, because Gabe catches us and keeps us both steady.
Sage squeezes me so hard that my ribs creak as she says, “I can’t believe you slept for two whole days and now you’re just showing up for class! I’d be locked away for at least a week if I were you.”
I laugh and pull away from her to get a good look at her. She’s fine, not a mark on her, and I’m sure we have Felix to thank for that. “There’s no way I’m going to stay holed up with these two fawning all over me. Can you imagine? I’d end up killing someone… or drinking myself to death.”
She giggles and throws Gabe a tight smile. “I forgot to say thanks for calling my parents from the plane. I’m grounded for the rest of my life, or I would be if I wasn’t a fully formed adult with my own car, job, and money. My dad tried to follow us to campus today, he was going to just hang out in the back of our lectures all day like a creep. Sawyer had to talk him down.”
Sawyer grins at us both and gently pats my shoulder. “We now have a ‘Sage and Oli protection’ roster. Get used to these faces, girls. We’re never leaving either of you alone again. Even Gryphon has a copy of it, he’s got a few time slots as well.”
Oh God.
I glance at Gabe and he shrugs. “I made him agree not to tell the Dravens.”
I scoff at him and try to ignore the looks we’re getting from the other students as they pass us all. It’s beyond creepy how much they’re all whispering and pointing at us, but I’m sure the novelty will wear off eventually. ”And you believed him? Those three are all in each other’s pockets, there’s no way he’s going to keep them out of your little plans.”
Gabe just shrugs again and scowls at the passing group of girls all talking a little too loudly about the new rumors circulating about me. They’re true for once, so there’s nothing I can say about it.
Sage glances between us again and then tucks her arm into mine, tugging me along. “I need to stop off at the admin building. I need to sign some paperwork about my class changes now that I’m enrolling in TT.”
It takes me two whole steps to process her words and understand them before the squeal rips out of my body. “You’re joining TT?! Sage, I love you, but are you sure?”
She giggles at me, both of us ignoring the way the guys are all falling into some weird formation around us as we head off towards the campus. “I told you before that my parents wanted me in the class but I was too scared to do it… well, now I’m too scared not to.”
She glances up at Atlas who is at my side, but he doesn’t try to interrupt her, just nods at her like he agrees with her decision.
I knew there was a reason he’s one of my favorites.
“Oli, if you hadn’t— if you didn’t come after me, I already know that I’d be dead. You already know that I’m not going to ask questions about how you knew what to do, or how you kept your head about you, but I need to learn that for myself. Plus, Felix and I are pretty sure Vivian has a soft spot for you. I’m pulling the friend card and asking you to get us put together in all of the simulations and scenarios. We’ll be unstoppable in there, you scrambling people’s brains and me setting them on fire.”
I laugh at her a little too loudly, but she’s absolutely right.
We’re basically super villains in the making and I’m almost pissed that Zoey won’t be around to get her ass kicked by us.
Sawyer starts telling Gabe some story about the new guy on their football team, the two of them pairing off behind us even as they watch our surroundings obsessively. I feel better having them both there, knowing that our backs are covered.
Atlas grins at the bloodthirsty look on my face and slings an arm around my shoulder, leaning in to murmur to me, “You’d better get me on your team as well. I can’t be left unattended around these people or there’ll be hell to pay.”
I scoff at him even as the blush climbs up my cheeks at his closeness in front of everyone. He has a casual way of interacting with me, a complete disregard of whether it’s appropriate to be touching me, which is both refreshing and terrifying.
My bond likes it a lot.
My brain is once again screaming danger because I can’t forget that Bonding is still firmly off the table.
No matter how badly I want them.
