Watching Sawyer and Gray fumble around like idiots in front of their Central Bond becomes a highlight of my day.
Aro is being kept in the cells underneath the Tac Training Center for processing, since technically she was an armed member of the Resistance when we had found her and Oli had demanded we bring her home.
It usually only takes a couple of days for Gryphon to work through everything that he needs to to make a decision with North and the other higher-ups on whether people are going to be deprogrammed and sent back into society or if there is no hope for them. But with the time that was spent watching Oli bring Nox back to life, and then the fraught days of freaking out while the two of them slept and recovered, completely unaware of the time that was passing, he hasn’t had the chance yet to start the process with her.
It sends Sawyer slowly but surely spiraling off the deep end.
He’s mouthy at the best of times, completely unrepentant and irreverent no matter who he’s speaking to. When I find myself within earshot of it, I stupidly try to reason with him.
“You can’t blame him for taking care of his Bonded first and foremost,” I say, and Aro nods her head from inside the cell, her arms still tucked around her brother tightly.
They don’t normally let people room together either, but Sawyer had campaigned pretty strongly with North until he’d gotten his own way. I’m glad he did, not that I would say so to him, but the tiny slip of a girl had taken on a fierce and protective facade since her brother had arrived, no longer looking quite so haunted and desolate.
Unfortunately, I know what happens in those camps all too well, and I am a little worried about Sawyer’s brash and impulsive nature around someone who might need something a little softer. From the side-eye he’s getting from Gray, I know that the third Bond in their Group might agree with me, even if he isn’t saying it out loud. The two of them have been in love with each other since forever, according to Gabe, so seeing how exactly this is all going to work out is going to be entertaining at the very least.
“I get that, but you also have to understand that she is my Bond and maybe I want her to be a bit of a priority too,” Sawyer says with a lot of hand gestures that are entirely unnecessary, and Sage sighs from where she’s sitting in the corner with Felix.
From the moment that she had heard about her brother’s Central Bond being found, Sage has spent most of her free time down here getting to know the girl. She’d brought Felix with her, but Aro has refused to be seen by anyone yet, no matter how much we had promised, begged, and pleaded with her that she was safe with Felix.
She had, however, let him check her brother, but only under her watchful eye. I’m not sure she’s aware that the rooms are shielded and that there’s no way for her to use her power against Felix in that state, but I can appreciate her protective nature and respect it.
Oli opens the small hatch that’s cut out of one of the giant, thick glass panels on the wall and drops a bag full of snack foods and candy into the siblings. The door shuts with a thud, and we all just stand there and listen as the bags rattle around in the space.
Oli breaks the silence, happy to just talk and fill the void to clear away some of the awkwardness. “I didn’t really know what you like, so I just grabbed everything I could that looked good. You know, without the chef or the kitchen staff noticing exactly how much I was stealing and throwing me out of there.”
Gabe snorts and rolls his eyes. “North funds this entire town. You can’t steal from your own Bonded Group.”
She waves a hand at him dismissively but with a wry smile. “They have resources there that are for everybody, so technically it is stealing, but I am also very secure in the knowledge that I could sleep my way out of any trouble that I get my way into.”
Sawyer grins at her and then tries to smother it, shooting a guilty look at his Central Bond, but the girl doesn’t notice any of our antics as she opens the bag with the same sort of hesitancy you would imagine someone opening a bag of snakes would. There’s enough sugar in there to send five grown men into diabetic comas, and I find myself praising my Bonded internally as we watch the girl’s willpower and stubbornness crumble, tearing open a bag of Snickers and devouring one in a single bite.
It’s the first time she’s taken something that anybody has offered her.
Gray looks at my Bonded as though he’s going to weep with relief or possibly dedicate his life to her or something. A week ago, that would have made my teeth clench hard enough to break them, but now he’s in the same boat as I am.
Hopelessly devoted and grateful to anyone who might make our Bonds’ lives just a little bit easier.
He doesn’t have to worry though, because Oli has always been able to communicate with the most traumatized of people, and his Central Bond is in the best of hands. Hell, she somehow managed to tame Nox freaking Draven, so I have no doubt that Aro will be a fully functioning member of our society in no time.
Oli beckons Sage over to sit at the glass wall with her, the two of them making small talk, just a random filler conversation, but I know exactly what my Bonded is doing. She waits until Aro has eaten enough of the sugar to have some dopamine in her brain before she addresses the girl, completely ignoring all of us men in the room and just quietly coaxing her into a conversation with the two of them.
“Is there anything that you need in the cell that we can get you? Gryphon is coming down this afternoon, and it should only be a couple more days before we can get you out of here.”
Aro shakes her head and sits down against the wall so that she’s mirroring Oli’s position. She’s only a few feet away from her but separated by the thick wall of glass. Her little brother takes a handful of Skittles from the bag and climbs back up onto the bed, grabbing the small computer game that Sawyer had smuggled in to him and leaning back as he plays the game.
Aro watches him just enough to know that he is settled and comfortable before looking back at my Bonded. “We’re being fed and no one has been allowed into this cell with us without there being one of you guys present, so no, I think we have everything we need.”
It’s as close to a thank you as I think we’re going to get, but Oli smiles like the sun regardless. “When we get you out of here, I’ve spoken to Gryphon about where we can house you. There are a few options that we can talk about. The community here is still being built, and we don’t have enough houses yet for you and Lahn to live by yourselves, but you also don’t have to live with any men that you don’t want to at the moment. Just because we’ve found your Bonds doesn’t mean that you are being forced to do anything. You can live in one of the women-only houses, or you can move into the house that your Bonds share with Sage and her Bonded Group so that you’ll have Sage with you at all times. Or you can temporarily move into my Bonded Group house.”
My eyebrows creep up my forehead and I shoot a look at Gabe. I wasn’t expecting our house to be opened up to anyone, but it also makes a hell of a lot of sense. Sage and Sawyer and their Bonded Groups are as close to family as we’re ever going to get. Oli was always going to do everything she could to help them out and, honestly, we owe them all a lot.
Aro looks between Sage and Oli and quirks an eyebrow at them both. “So there’s not enough houses for me and Lahn to have a house to ourselves, but your Bonded Group has one to themselves?”
Oli grins and Sage chuckles quietly under her breath. “Yes, it’s nepotism at its finest, but the Sanctuary has been a project that my Bonded—North and Nox—and their family have been working on, and funding, for generations, so we did get a priority on a house. Plus, there are six of us living under one roof just for my Bonded Group. There are only five people living in Sage and Sawyer’s house between the two Bonded Groups there. At some point, we would become a fire hazard if we let more people into ours.”
Sage giggles again and then shrugs at Aro. “It doesn’t really matter to me where you decide to live, but if you want to move into our house, there is a spare bedroom that you and Lahn can sleep in. I spend most of my time either at the training center or at home. So if you were to move in with us, I would be there with you at all times. I also know all of Sawyer’s weak spots and Gray’s greatest fears, so if you had any concerns about me potentially picking them over you, I should warn you that I would destroy them in a heartbeat if I thought you were going to get hurt.”
Aro’s lip quirks upwards for the first time since we reunited her with her brother. I glance over to find both of her Bonds watching this interaction as though it is the most fascinating thing they have ever encountered, obsessively soaking in every word said between the three women. I want to be able to give them shit about it, but I would tear my own beating heart out of my chest if Oli asked it of me, so I don’t have a leg to stand on.
“I’m not worried about my Bonds or being hurt,” Aro murmurs, and Oli nods casually, as though this isn’t groundbreaking information for everybody in the room.
Sawyer and Gray both exhale as though a great weight has been lifted from them both as Aro continues, “I’m more worried about what will happen to my brother and I if the Resistance comes back and where is safest for us to be. They’re not just going to let us go… they’re not the type to just let people go.”
Oli nods solemnly and glances around the room at each and every one of us until she clears her throat and starts pointing.
“Sage over there is a Flame, and she’s the strongest Flame I’ve encountered. She once set a building on fire by accident, but I’m not going to rat her out and give you the details. Gabe is a Shifter who can shift into anything, and I mean anything. If he can imagine the creature, he can become it, so his latest trick is the dragon that everybody here in the Sanctuary is obsessively gossiping about. Atlas is Indestructible and strong enough to move a building if he had to, and he’s now working on being able to push that Gift onto other people and share his indestructibility with others. Felix is a Healer who only days ago, helped me bring one of my Bonded back to life. I would raze cities to the ground for him in return. Sawyer is a Technokinetic and has used this Gift to hack into the Resistance. His work with North is currently giving us enough intel to protect this city from anyone who might try to come after us. And Gray is a Telekinetic who, rumor has it, threw an entire car at a group of Resistance when they showed up here a few weeks back.”
Aro looks around at each of them and then turns back to Oli.
“And your eyes turned black and you kill people,” she murmurs, and Oli nods slowly.
“My eyes turn black because of the god that lives inside of me. I’m a Soul Render who hasn’t yet found a limit to my power. I’m also Bonded to a Neuro who has not yet found a part of the brain that he can’t get into or manipulate, and his limits have just been pushed to the point that he now doesn’t tap out. Then there’s the two Death Dealers, both of them two sides of the same coin and feared amongst the Resistance so much so that they sent an assassin into one of the camps to attempt to kill them. There’s no safer place for you in the world than here with us.”
When we finally leave the underground cells, Oli and Sage walk ahead of the rest of us, their arms linked as they gossip amongst themselves, and we’re happy enough to leave them to it. Their laughter and giggling is like music to my ears, my bond happy and calm at the joy and contentment oozing out of my Bonded, and everything feels right in the world for a moment.
Felix looks worn out, more so than he usually does, and Gabe claps him on the back as he asks, “Are you okay, man? Is there something that you need or anything that we can do for you? You just gotta ask.”
Felix gives him a wry grin back and shakes his head. “The Medical Board are deliberating over whether or not I am going to get kicked out of the program for helping Oli with Nox. I’m having a little bit of a personal crisis over it. I can’t decide whether I want to continue with an organization that would penalize someone for doing what they were put on this earth to do… or if I should just stick with it because I’ve already spent half my life studying for this.”
“What the fuck?” I sputter out, and Felix nods his head at me.
“It’s not like I need the certification. I’m Gifted, and that’s the whole point of what I can do, but having an understanding of the human body and how it works is very helpful to me when I’m using my Gift. It means that I can use the minimum amount of power for the maximum amount of good. When we’re in situations with a lot of people needing help… that’s important. We’re heading into a war with the Resistance. I mean, we’re already in one, but the casualty tolls are just getting higher and higher every time the TacTeams are going out, and I don’t have the option of getting power boosts like you guys do. So is it selfish of me to give it up just on a point of pride or ethics when my community needs me?”
Gabe groans and rubs a hand over his face. “Fuck, man, I wasn’t expecting something so fucking deep when I asked. I was hoping you needed extra supplies or a new bathroom or something, shit I can actually do.”
I can’t just let this go though, not for this man who’s been in Oli’s corner every step of the way. “Can’t North just tell the Medical Board to fuck off or something?”
It has to be that simple, right?
The Dravens own the Gifted community of the West Coast, the same way that my family owns the East Coast. When you’re the longest established family and richer than any of the playboy billionaires that show up in magazines, there’s not a lot that people can do to stop you from getting your own way.
I don’t imagine that North would have any reservations about doing that for Felix after everything that’s happened.
Felix shrugs and scratches at the back of his neck. “It’s not as easy as that, man. You’ve also got to remember that in the last couple of months, my Bonded Group has had a lot of eyes on us. There are people on the Medical Board who believe that I’m conspiring with you and the others to undermine and break down the Gifted community from the inside.”
Gabe frowns at him and Felix shrugs. “Everybody knows that Sage was possessed or influenced or whatever the fuck it was that happened. Kieran has disobeyed direct orders on several occasions. Even though he was doing so to save lives, it’s still questionable behavior. Then there’s everything that went down with Riley and Giovanna. Now that I’ve gone against Payne’s directions, my superior’s direct orders, it doesn’t look good.”
Gabe groans and mutters, “Plus, they all know that you’re close with the Draven Bonded Group. If there’s anything that the council hates more than their own inability to keep themselves alive, it’s North and the power that our Bonded Group has. The day Oli came back, they all started actively trying to figure out how to get rid of us. It’s only a matter of time.”
I blow out another breath and give Gabe a look. “I thought being on the good guys’ side meant that I didn’t have to keep watching my back for knives.”
Gabe snorts at me and says back in a sarcastic tone, “Nah, man. Now you are absolutely going to be stabbed in the back by someone. Only difference is that you have an entire Bonded Group of people who are watching it as well, ready to gut the asshole the moment they try.”
When we finally make it up to the house, Oli immediately takes Sage for a tour, proudly pointing out all of the work that Gabe and I have done on the place. She forgets to mention that she also helped with the tiling and painting, but Gabe glows like an idiot when she sings her praises of his workmanship. I want to give him shit for it, but he’s also basically given up having any sort of a social life or downtime to get this place finished, so I let him enjoy the moment instead of being a dick about it.
I check out the fridge and find our family dinner already sitting in there, waiting to be heated up, thanks to someone from the dining hall. I, once again, find myself just a little bit grateful that I ended up in North Draven’s Bonded Group.
It does have its perks.
Felix helps me to get everything in the oven, following the instructions that were taped on the boxes, and I find dishes to plate everything up. There’s plenty of food with the cold salads and sides, and my stomach rumbles at the smells of it all.
Gabe gets to setting the table, and by the time the girls get back—cackling with laughter between them both that makes all three of us guys smile like idiots at them—the entire feast is waiting on the table for everyone to enjoy.
Oli reaches out to the rest of the Bonded Group to let them know that we’re all set for dinner, but only Gryphon answers, saying that they have all been caught up with something at the council offices and they’ll be home when they can be.
When Oli tells Sage and Felix this, Sage frowns and mutters, “Kieran said the same thing. I wonder what the hell’s happened this time.”
None of us really want to think about it.
Instead, we dig into the food. Oli tries to play it off as though none of this is worrying her, but as time ticks on, she gets more and more agitated as she watches the clock. I don’t blame her. My own leg is bouncing under the table as I try to keep my cool and stay calm, for her sake more than my own, and Gabe is chewing on his lip more than he is chewing on his steak.
Finally, when I think I can’t take it anymore, Gryphon reaches out to Oli again, but does it so that we can all hear him.
We have a new prisoner in the cells back at the council offices, and we need you guys to come down so that we can all go in for the questioning. Kieran is on his way to you now.
Oli sets down her fork and murmurs this to Sage.
Who is it? I ask as I stand, reaching for the plates of food to get them put away before we leave. North answers for me.
Jericho. Your sister’s Bonded handed himself over to us in search of asylum and his Bonded.
