Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Oli
I wake up from my bond’s painful walk down memory lane sitting at the table alone.
The Soothsayer is standing over by the window, three steps away from me, as he looks out over the small valley of the Sanctuary.
He doesn’t blink or move, and I stare at him for a minute just to be sure he’s still breathing.
I wouldn’t want him to forget that Gryphon’s body, you know, requires oxygen and just decide to stop doing that.
North and Nox are murmuring together over a pile of paperwork spread out over the breakfast bar, a glass of whiskey in front of North but, surprisingly, nothing for Nox. Atlas and Gabe are nowhere to be seen.
I take a second to be sure I’m fully in control of my body again before I get up.
The Soothsayer follows me immediately.
North watches it with a scowl, but Nox just slips away from their conversation to follow us both down the hallway to my bedroom, as though I’m a magnet drawing them all along with me without question. I hear North collecting up his paperwork and then footsteps as he follows us as well.
I find Gabe already asleep in my bed, snoring gently as he lies on his stomach, one arm tucked under his head, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Atlas is in my shower, the water running and the door half open.
He’s still the only one without a functioning bathroom, but when Gabe had tried to apologize for taking so long getting it working for him, he had merely shrugged and pointed out that he was happier sleeping in my room and using my shower every night than going back to his spare room, as he calls it.
North had seemed happy with him getting along so well until he called it that. Then he scowled in his direction because he thinks that it's disrespectful of him to take up so much space in my room. It doesn't bother me though, for the most part.
I would rather have them all here with me.
I know that's never really going to happen, not permanently, because of Nox's firm boundaries around his bedroom and having his own space, but I'm willing to take as much of the rest of them as they're willing to give.
It doesn’t surprise me that Nox and North had immediately pulled out Nox’s research and tried to start planning. All of this is terrifying in a way that I’m really not processing properly yet.
We’re not just being hunted by the Resistance, we’re being hunted by other gods.
The abilities they may have, the ties they could have with one another even if they aren’t Bonded, all of it will have to be factored into our next moves.
The toll of fighting isn’t just our own; the battle always spills out onto the other Gifted and non-Gifted as well.
All of them have been collateral in a war they had no idea was being waged over a hundred lifetimes.
Now that our bonds have warned us of the danger that’s coming, it's exhausting to think about, to even consider what we might all be facing now. Bigger, badder, stronger —
“There is no one stronger than us.” Gryphon's voice startles me out of my thoughts, and I jump a mile in the air.
I had forgotten he was following me and that he’s, once again, got front row seats to every little thought in my brain.
When I come to a stop in front of Gabe’s sleeping form, the Soothsayer comes to stand with me, pressing himself into my side so that the heat of his body scorches mine.
I have to clear my throat to find my voice again. “If you say so, but all I know is that the god-bond who was there managed to shut us all down with the pain it wields.”
His large hand comes towards me, slowly enough that I can move out of the way if I want to, but when I don't, he presses his palm into one of my cheeks, a happy rumbling noise coming out of his chest that is so unlike Gryphon.
I want to giggle at the sound of it.
“That attack woke me up. The god-bond is complete now, and you will never feel that pain again. I will be sure of that. We all will.”
I nod, too tired to question it anymore, and nuzzle my cheek further into his palm. I’m not sure if it wants this sort of affection or whether it's just tolerating the human interaction because I crave it so much, but I appreciate it either way.
He slips his other hand to frame my face completely, murmuring to me quietly, “I waited for you. We all waited for this lifetime, for these vessels… and for you. You are as vital to me as the bond within you. Without question, I see that clearly now.”
I feel as though I was waiting for the god-bonds too.
As though I was holding my breath all of this time, and it’s only now I’ve finally let it go that I’ve noticed. My bond is settled and calm in my stomach for the first time, truly resting in complete contentment, and a frenetic energy that I didn’t know was there has finally eased away.
I’m at peace.
I glance back up to the Soothsayer’s eyes and find that hunger back in his gaze.
Only now, we’re in my bedroom, and there’s nothing really stopping us from doing something about it.
No tales of death and destruction that need to be shared, no gods of pain staring us down, no obligations to get in the way, only a Bonded Group full of overprotective, jumpy men who might want to rip the Soothsayer apart for looking at me as though he wants to tear me open in the most pleasurable of ways.
The bathroom door opening wide breaks me from my train of thought and reminds me that my entire Bonded Group is here in my bedroom with me right now, and though we’ve definitely had, ahem, group intimacy, it definitely hasn't started like this.
I still feel awkward as fuck about it.
I pull away from the Soothsayer to lean down and brush Gabe’s hair away from his face as a distraction, pressing a kiss to his lips, but it doesn’t wake him up.
He doesn’t react to it at all other than to sigh.
I know the feeling, having taken a power nap like this a dozen times before, and I just tuck the blankets up around him a little closer.
I don’t like the way he’s looking at you, Sweetness.
I don’t look up or react to Atlas’ words. There’s no point in starting a fight. He’s fine. He can also hear you in here as well. He’s just being polite in not pointing it out.
North steps around the Soothsayer, pointedly keeping his eyes on me and not the surly god-bond, and I smile at him softly, the type I reserve just for my Bonded.
He smiles back before looking me over from head to toe, assessing me for any damage that might be left behind, but, thanks to the Soothsayer, I’m completely healed now.
A shiver of anticipation runs down my spine.
“I don’t care what the god-bond wants, Bonded. What do you want? If you’re tired, you should get some rest. Everything else can, and will, wait.”
I open my mouth but nothing comes out, my eyes darting around at each of them. I don’t want to start a fight with them. I’m definitely too tired for that, but am I too tired to give the god-bond what he wants?
No.
I need the connection as much as it does, and my bond is very interested in the dark hunger in its void eyes.
It just feels impossible to speak with them all staring at me like that.
“You have a meeting in the morning. Go get some sleep, brother.”
Relief floods me at Nox’s words, the tension in my body leaving me in a rush. When North sees it, he turns and nods at him, and then leans down to kiss me as he heads back towards the door. The reassurance that his brother is here with me, for however long he deems necessary, is enough for him.
It’s not enough for Atlas, though.
Nox stares him down for a minute before he says, “You too, Bassinger. I’ll call you both if we need something.”
That’s Draven code for ‘if shit hits the fan in here’, because I doubt there’s much that Nox couldn’t handle for himself.
North shoots a look at Atlas and pushes the door open, gesturing for him to leave.
I’m waiting for the argument to start up, and a full tense minute of silence passes before, finally, Atlas ducks down to kiss me as well.
Without another word, he leaves. North just shoots me a look, one full of fiery promise and possession, before he leaves as well.
Nox pulls his jacket off as shadows fall away from his body, Mephis and Procel forming at his feet, and he takes a seat on the small, plush chair in the corner.
He settles himself there without a word, as calm and self-assured in this moment and what’s about to happen as ever, but my heart starts thudding hard in my chest the more I look at him.
He’s here to keep me safe.
The same way Gryphon had when we’d Bonded, back when Nox had no desire to be in the same room as me, let alone have sex with me. He’s here to make sure that this god-bond really is going to pleasure me and treat me with the same respect that any of them would.
He’s going to watch it all.
My eyes flick down at Gabe again, checking that he really is asleep.
There’s nothing for me to worry about, he’s out cold.
My only real concern about him waking up is that he’s always been my most cautious Bonded about sex, the one who draws the line at what my bond does when she takes control.
I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t have it in me to fight them on this.
I let out a sigh and roll my shoulders back, confident that nothing is going to go wrong here.
The moment I look back up to the Soothsayer, he stalks back to me.
He’s done waiting.
It’s a good thing I’m done fighting this as well.
With a single hand wrapped around my thigh, the god-bond lifts me up and crushes me into his chest with the other, his lips crushing down onto mine in a biting claim of a kiss.
There’s a stark difference between the man and the bond.
The ways they move are nothing more than an echo of each other.
I find myself desperate to know how far those differences go.
Will they fuck differently too?