The second the engine cuts off, Atlas starts towards the car, only stopping when Gryphon plants himself in front of him. I can see his lips moving but no sound makes it through the car to me.
Nox mutters at me, “More trouble than you’re worth, Poison.”
I don’t attempt to answer him, there’s no point because he isn’t known for listening to reason, but when my eyes catch North staring through the tinted window at me, I gulp. He looks murderous and I have no idea what I could’ve possibly done to get him staring at me like that.
I didn’t fry the guy who grabbed me, that is all on Nox.
Gabe gets my car door open and pulls me out of the car in the time it takes me to unbuckle my seatbelt. Nox’s face shifts from the quietly seething displeasure he had while he was driving, to the openly vicious sneer that I’m used to seeing on him at the dinner table.
“Just stay behind me and don’t freak out,” Gabe murmurs and I’m insulted for a second before I realize that he’s watched me cry twice over nothing in the last week and this is his way of discreetly reminding me to keep my shit together.
Right.
Don’t get emotional over this shit, Oli. Don’t look at your Bonds all coming to blows over you because two of them hate you, two of them like you, and the fifth one is a constant mind-fuck of changing opinions.
Don’t think about it.
Gabe rocks on his feet, as though he’s getting ready to shift and throw himself in the middle of a fight and, sure enough, Atlas and Nox kick off with vicious jabs.
“Bassinger, either learn to share or—”
“Don’t fucking speak to me or I will—”
“Kill me? I’m shaking, honestly, you’re so terrifying to me,” Nox drawls back and yeah, maybe I shouldn’t be around this.
I take another step away from Gabe and clear my throat. “I need to get out of here. I can’t be here for this. If they actually fight, I’m going to lose control.”
I’m not speaking to anyone in particular, but North hears me loud and clear, stepping over to me and taking my elbow with firm but gentle fingers as he tugs me into his side. “Shut your eyes.”
He doesn’t give me time to argue or even follow his demand before his hand drops away from my arm and the smoke explodes around us, all-consuming until even with my eyes open, I can’t see a thing. I don’t realize that I’m reaching out for anything until a hand grabs mine out of the air, our fingers threading together and holding firmly.
I don’t even know whose it is.
“Fucking Dravens! You can’t just use your gift every time your brother fucks up or I’ll start using mine,” Atlas snarls, and I can’t even tell which direction the sound is coming from, the smoke distorts everything.
Fuck this.
I call on my gift, just enough that my eyes glow and the inky darkness around us clears away from my vision.
North has them all wrapped up tightly with long, sentient black coils, darker and more solid than anything else around us. Gryphon isn’t struggling or looking concerned but Atlas is fighting it, furious and determined to be let free.
Nox’s eyes are black and he looks just as pissed as Atlas but he’s not fighting it. Nope, his eyes are on me as he curses me out again.
It’s getting old.
“You were all told to keep a hold of yourselves around Oleander until she’s got her gift under control. If you don’t like it, then learn some restraint.”
My hand tugs and I look down to see that it’s North holding it, pulling me to lead me through the smoke because he thinks that I still can’t see through it. I glance back and see that Gabe is also wrapped up and while he’s sweating about it, he’s not struggling or looking anything other than a little sick at being confined.
I let North lead me through the garage, past each of my Bonds, without a word to any of them. When we get past Nox, the closest to the door out of everyone, I see the puppy-like creature poke its head out from behind his ear. It sniffs the air and I can tell that it doesn’t like North’s creatures by the way it moves, but it climbs down from his arm and trails after us anyway, doubling in size until it looks like a normal-sized puppy instead of the teeny tiny pup Nox had hiding in his hair.
When North gets us both through the door and into the hallway, he doesn’t let go of my hand as he stalks through to the elevator. I try not to giggle at how ridiculous he looks with the puppy weaving through his feet with every step. It’s playful and cheeky the same way a real puppy would be, snapping at his shoelaces that are bouncing as he walks.
When we stop at the elevator, waiting for it to arrive, he finally notices the puppy and frowns down at it.
I let go of his hand and shift on my feet a little, anxious to be standing here with him while my bond is feeling so volatile, and he reads the action incorrectly.
“He’s not mine, he doesn’t usually leave Nox’s side.”
I shrug and bend down to let the puppy sniff my hand. “I’m not worried about him. He’s a spy, but there’s nothing he can find out about me that Nox can kill me over, so if he wants to tag along, then he can.”
North scowls at me, staring at me like I’ve just announced that I’m secretly a clown on the side, but I just stroke a hand over the puppy’s back. It’s strange because he feels solid under my hand when I’m being affectionate with him but when I’d attempted to flick him in the car, he acted like smoke.
Curious.
“Does he have a name? You’re awfully cute. If Nox named you something stupid I’ll be pissed on your behalf. Oh God, it’s Brutus or Octavius, isn’t it? He picked something stupid, I can tell.”
The elevator opens up and when I straighten up to walk in, the puppy jumps up to crawl up my arm and tuck into my hair, the same way he had with Nox earlier. There’s no weight to him at all, but I can feel him moving there all the same.
North pushes the buttons for the third floor and then shoves his hands in his pockets again, scowling at his shoes still. It makes me feel self-conscious, like I’ve done something wrong here, even though I know I haven’t, and I force my mouth to stay shut.
My nervous babble will make things a million times worse right now and I don’t need that.
“He doesn’t have a name… or at least, not one Nox has ever told me before. He doesn’t usually leave Nox’s side.”
He keeps saying that, I’m not sure which one of us he’s trying to convince here. “You know what? Brutus is actually kind of cute. Will he ever grow up and become a fully fledged nightmare?”
North shakes his head as though he’s trying to clear it. “They don’t age, they just… are. Why aren’t you afraid of it? Gryphon told me you saw what they did to the Resistance, you know that it isn’t actually a little puppy.”
Well, that should be obvious. It doesn’t matter what it’s capable of, the puppy has been asking for attention and pets. Why on Earth would I be scared of that? It’s officially the only tolerable part of Nox that I’ve found.
The elevator doors open and I start off down the hallway because I’m very proud to announce that I’ve worked out how to get to my own bedroom… but only from that one elevator. If I use the other one, I’m screwed.
North says, still at my side, “I’ll let them go once you’re in your room, you don’t have to let Bassinger in if he’s still being an idiot about this.”
I sigh and nod my head because it’s easier than explaining that Atlas is never an idiot and he’s very respectful about my boundaries, better than the rest of them put together.
When I slide my key into the lock, I look back at him, ready to just say goodbye and be done with him, but North is just standing there looking hesitant and it’s freaking me the hell out. “Are you okay?”
He scowls again and then says slowly, “If Nox did something, I need you to know that I would take care of it. If he was— if he hurt you—”
Jesus, why does everyone keep trying to talk to me about this today? “He didn’t. I’m fine and I could’ve stopped him if he tried.”
I mean both times, but North is still looking at me like he’s expecting me to cry. Little does he know that I’m currently a mess and cry at stupid shit, so he’s not that far off of the mark.
I duck into my room before I have to talk about this anymore. Maybe someday I can have a real conversation with Nox about what happened, about which parts of it were wrong and which parts I did actually have some control over, but the very idea of them all questioning it and picking it apart when they weren’t even there just… it pisses me off.
Why do I feel as protective of that moment as I do the little puppy in my hair?
Bonds are fucking crazy.
By the time Gabe and Atlas get up to the room, I’m clean and in my pajamas, texting Sage about the incident at the cafe. She’s already heard about it through the Draven grapevine, and someone in North’s camp must be playing spin-doctor because everyone is talking about how heroic Nox is for stepping in to protect his beloved Bond.
I could die of laughter at that and Sage is just as incredulous about it.
Atlas orders Chinese food and we spread out on the floor to eat while we study. Well, I study. Atlas seethes quietly and Gabe watches videos on his phone with his earphones in so he doesn’t disturb me as I slowly cram as many dates and historical events into my brain as possible.
A little before midnight, I finally call it quits and head off to brush my teeth, giving Gabe a curious look when he grins at me. Atlas stands with me in the bathroom, scowling still, but it’s only when I catch sight of Brutus snoozing on my shoulder, his body mostly obscured by my hair, before I realize what he’s pissed about.
“He’s not hurting me or upsetting me. He’s… kind of cute,” I say as I rinse.
Atlas gives me a curt nod but doesn’t say anything else, so I let it go, it’s not my fault or my problem. My Bonds need to figure their own shit out amongst themselves.
When I climb into my bed, I immediately know what Gabe was looking so smug over.
My pillows have been switched out and the new ones all smell like my Bonds.
He’s taken pillows from each and every one of them and now my bed is like a delicious melting pot of all of them. My bond is writhing in my chest with joy, my skin tingling, and every last one of their scents is mingling together in an orgy of perfection. Literally, it’s as though they’re all lying around naked in my bed and I’m about to dive into that, my bond is practically orgasming with joy.
Atlas finally smiles back at me as he lifts the blanket on the other side like he’s about to climb in with me. “Well, shit, Ardern came through. You’re practically glowing.”
I panic a little and hold out a hand to stop him. “You can’t get in, what if you ruin the smells?”
Gabe bursts out laughing and Atlas shoots him a glare before turning back to me. “What if I only touch my pillow, can I get in then?”
Logically I want to say yes, because I like having him close to me, but my bond is being a complete nightmare right now, possessive and just freaking crazy about this.
I cringe a little. “I can’t help it.”
He stalks around the bed to me, holding out his hands. “Sweetness, I’m not angry. Don’t let your bond make you think that, I just need to know what you need.”
Jesus, am I about to cry again? “What I need is to fix this because I’m not an emotional person normally and this is fucking stupid! Why do I feel like this? Am I going insane? I need to get out of this fucking house before it ruins me!”
I tuck my arms around myself and Atlas stays within reach but doesn’t pull me into his arms, which is good because I think I’m about to have a panic attack and lose control of my gift. Gabe slowly walks over from the bathroom where he was washing up but he doesn’t speak, his eyes a little too wide for me to believe he’s as calm as he looks.
Atlas holds out his hand to me again. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Gabe looks between us both and then scrubs a hand over his face. “We need to tell the others about this. It’s getting worse and as much as I don’t want to rock the boat here, we can’t let it go too far. What if Oli loses control and hurts one of us?”
A chill runs down my spine because that cuts just a little too close to home, but Atlas glares over at him. “You want Nox fucking Draven to be around her? Because I certainly don’t. We can get a handle on it. This will work.”
THE PILLOWS DO WORK.
I finally wake up feeling well-rested, and with one of North’s shirts on underneath a sweatshirt of Gryphon’s and the puppy still hiding in my hair, I breeze through my week.
The five am training sessions with Gryphon get easier, especially when I learn to just keep my mouth shut and focus on what we’re doing. I progress to hand-to-hand combat quickly and it’s easy enough because it, once again, starts with positioning and learning how to fall. I’m sure I’ll struggle a little more when I’m forced to be all over him but for now, I’m okay.
I arrive at my first TT class with Sage and Atlas with a bounce in my step and a huge grin on my face. Sage smiles back at me but she’s a little pale, the mousy tones of her hair that usually frame her face perfectly are pulled back into a harsh ponytail and complete her harried look of the day.
I gently poke fun at her while we get changed, and for once, I don’t give a shit about my ill-fitting uniform or the looks from the other girls.
“I get paid after my shift tonight, we should go shopping this weekend.”
Sage grins at me as she tugs on a tank top that makes her look like an athlete. She’s probably one of those naturally sporty kinds of girls who’ll breeze through this class and I’m both jealous and relieved for her.
I hope she kicks everyone’s asses.
“The best mall around here is outside of your perimeter, do you think North would ease up on that if you bring Atlas and Gabe along? We could catch a movie too, make a whole day of it.”
I wince a little and shrug. “Who knows, he’s been a little less… pissed lately, I guess. I think he still hates me and definitely doesn’t trust me, but he also let me get my job so… maybe? Jesus. Maybe we should get Gabe to ask him. He could spin it as a date or something.”
Sage giggles at me and knocks her shoulder into mine as we walk out together. “Maybe it should be a date, he’s not even trying to hide his obsession with you anymore. It was obvious enough before but now? God, he’s really in the Bond haze.”
The Bond haze. Fuck, I forgot that was even a thing and here I am, right in the middle of it myself. It’s weird to even consider the guys feeling the same way but I believe Sage. She wouldn’t lie about something like that and it’s probably easier to spot from the outside.
I can’t see past my own obsessive need to scent them constantly.
I want to rub myself all over Atlas and Gabe the second we stand with them, just to get their smells back on me because my gym clothes just smell clean. I refrain from it, but I stand close enough to Gabe that our arms brush each other.
Vivian stalks out from the back room and calls out in his booming voice, “Right, we have some new faces today, so we’ll be going through the course once you’ve all warmed up. Everyone hit your workout. Fallows, you’re on your usual circuit. Bassinger and Benson, come see me and we’ll get you both sweating in no time.”
My usual circuit starts with the treadmill and then moves on to weights, so I head right into it. Within minutes, Sage gets sent over to join me and we keep a great pace together.
Thanks to my morning runs down to the gym, I get through my time on the treadmill without too much pain and then when I start on the weights, I get to watch Atlas demolish the challenges Vivian throws at him.
It’s freaking hilarious.
It also captures everyone’s attention quickly. One by one, he breezes through all of the warmup machines and then when Vivian gets an attitude at him and throws him onto the mats, we get to watch as he beats the shit out of the shifters and the other physically gifted in the class.
Gabe refuses to go up against him.
When one of his football teammates tries to call him out on it, he just smirks and shrugs at him. “My Bond will take the entire room out if we fight. I’m saving your life right now, Matt.”
Even Vivian pauses to look over to where I’m sitting on the rowing machine, and when I grin at him and throw in a wink for good measure, Gabe throws his head back to laugh at the unease on everyone’s faces. If they all want to talk shit about me being a monster, then they can deal with my teeth when I rip their throats out.
Metaphorically, of course.
I’ll leave the animalistic deaths to Gabe.
“Fine, I’m done trying to break Bassinger, so get your asses out to the obstacle course. You know the drill; two teams, first group to get everyone through wins. If you lose, suicides for an hour after class.”
Oh God.
Sage turns to me and mutters, “Now’s the time, Oli. You need to make sure we’re all in the same group.”
I scoff at her because there’s no real way that I can talk Vivian into anything, but I guess it’s worth a try. I wait until we move into the holding room filled with the security cameras. There’s TacTeam guys already in there, drinking coffees and chatting amongst themselves. Gryphon isn’t there but Kieran is, and when he spots me, he actually dips his head at me in respect.
I’m so shocked that I stumble over my feet a little.
I keep my eyes away from him and head over to where Vivian is frowning over the class list, making adjustments to where he’s placing people into the teams.
“Fallows, good to see you’re still alive after your little trip.”
I forget for a second that we were even taken by the Resistance, so I stumble over my words, “Trip— oh. Right, it was fine. Obviously.”
He raises an eyebrow at me and taps his form with the pen. “You’re coming over to get put into a specific group, aren’t you? What makes you think I’ll just pop you in where you want? I don’t do favoritism.”
I grin at him, completely unrepentant. “We both know you do, just a little. Actually, it was more of a heads-up kind of thing. Gabe wasn’t talking shit earlier, I’ve been having some… control hiccups. I might need to sit this one out if I’m not with my Bonds and Benson.”
He turns to face me fully and I can read the look of what-in-the-bullshit-is-going-on-here all over him. “And what does Benson have to do with your Bond, Fallows? Why am I sticking her with you to save lives?”
I glance back to where Sage is definitely freaking out over this, but Gabe is biting the inside of his cheek over my antics.
I turn back and lean in to whisper to the old man, “Didn’t you know? I ran off after Sage. I’m extra protective of her, and my bond is super attached to her too.”
The puppy, who is still playing in my hair, takes the opportunity to poke its head out, and while Vivian startles, he stays strong at the sight of it.
The TacTeam guys don’t.
Three of them jump to their feet and Kieran curses viciously, putting down his coffee cup and grabbing his phone. He’s probably going to tattle on me to North or Gryphon, but it’s not like I did anything wrong.
It’s Nox’s nightmare, not mine.
Vivian snaps at me, pulling his phone out of his pocket, “What the hell is a Draven nightmare doing here? When did Nox give you that little shit? I remember him well enough from teaching that asshole.”
I grin again and push Brutus back into my hair. “I told you, my bond is all over the place. I can totally sit this one out though.”
He shakes his head at me and snaps, “My ass, kid. You can have your little bunch together today, but you better get a handle on your gift soon.”
I take the win.
