Chapter 5
FIVE
GRYPHON
Oleander Fallows doesn’t just lie with the sort of ease that comes from dutiful practice, she’s a natural at the art of crafting a story so perfect it’s as if she believes it herself.
Everything about her is a carefully constructed half-truth, an omission, or a bold-faced lie.
She’s wrapped in avoidance and deflection, eagerly dealing out vitriol and attitude the moment any of her Bonds get within earshot, and none of it ever seems taxing to her, but all of that isn’t even the worst of the trouble I’m quickly falling into.
My stomach doesn’t revolt at the sound of her deception.
The taste of lies has always been intolerable to me, enough so that I’ve cut people out of my life based entirely on how often they lie, even tiny dishonesties that wouldn’t even register to others, and yet hearing dozens of them from her daily during my surveillance duties on campus does nothing to change my opinions of her.
If anything, my bond only falls further into a manic sort of desperation to be near her.
It's not that I've suddenly formed a taste for them, I could still puke at the lingering bitter ash on my tongue, but without any conscious decision on my part, all of the distaste my incidental Gift usually fills me with is aimed at whoever she’s speaking to.
It makes no sense to me.
Worse still, I’m sure North only agreed with my decision to shadow her myself on campus because he hoped I’d pick up on something to explain any of the mysteries surrounding our Bond, but his plan doesn’t just fail.
It backfires spectacularly.
Watching every Gifted in the freshman class gawk at her, giggling and murmuring to one another, then snickering about the spectacle Nox made of my Bond, it all pushes me to my absolute limits.
Fuck, it pushes me beyond the limits I thought I had.
I’m quickly discovering I was underestimating myself there, but regardless, my patience is wearing thin before the week is out.
North and I were already friends when he brought his long-lost brother home after his father's death. My parents’ Bonded Group all come from Top Tier families, and my father's position within the Tactical Teams made me a natural choice for companionship for Nolan Draven’s son.
As cold and clinical as it sounds, that’s the exact way the families within the council cultivate their own friendships and their children’s play dates from birth.
It also means I’m one of the very small number of people who are perfectly aware of the trauma that still lives and breathes within Nox Draven. It’s the only thing saving him right now, and even that won’t keep up for much longer.
After a week of blowing off all of our usual hangouts, including going to the bar after the council meeting that I’ve never skipped out on before, I text Nox to meet me at the gym to spar and his answer is instant.
I didn’t think you had time in your pathetic stalking schedule to put up with me any longer.
Despite my desperation to call him out on his childish games, I wait until he shows up before I call him out.
He’s an hour late, sneer already firmly fixed on his face, and he doesn’t utter a word to me as he strips down to his training gear, only wrapping his hands because the mangled state of them demands it.
His shitty disposition and reckless behavior is only made all the more obvious when he barely fights back.
He's a vicious opponent, even when he's not going for the kill, so it's easy to tell when he's pulling punches. There’s no doubt he’s only really here for a distraction, for pain blinding enough that it can keep his mind busy to let him get some sleep.
It would be so easy to knock the asshole out right now for what he’s doing to my Bond, no matter her own actions, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction.
He sees it, sees everything, and smirks at me when he finally breaks the fraught silence. “Tell me what she’s lying about. If you want this to end, then tell me all her secrets.”
That almost gets me to swing at him, but I take a long and deep breath before I shake my head at him. We’re in this for the long haul together, this mess of a Bond Group I refuse to give up on, despite the mountain of shit in our way.
I can't betray her like that.
Nox sneers at me. “She doesn't deserve your loyalty, Gryph. I told you; this is what they all do.”
I don't ever talk to Nox or North about their family. I'm one of the few people who didn't have to learn that the hard way, but right now I wish I could rifle through Nox’s head and find all of the moments his mother broke her son and burn them out of him. Fuck, it probably wouldn’t work, but I’d do anything to wipe the stain of that woman from the face of the Earth.
It takes a strength I didn’t know I had within me, but I keep my cool with him.
“You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, Nox, so why play these games? I could tell you every single thought the girl is having and you would still tell me there was something else hiding in her.”
His eyes flash dangerously, an inky ring appearing around his irises, and my stance widens instinctively.
He hasn't been this quick to lose control in years, something is spooking him.
It's not that difficult to figure out that it all ties back to our Bond and the trauma of her appearance in our lives.
He was the only one desperate for her to stay away.
“If you believe her lies of being Giftless, then you’re as stupid as the rest of them and I've wasted fifteen years on a friendship; we both know I don't tolerate idiots.”
The day has been far too long, and even though I know it’s a terrible idea, I shrug back at him with a cold look of my own.
“You don't tolerate anything, Draven, not unless you really want to, so what’s your excuse now?
You can't even say that North is forcing you to stay because I've seen you say no to your brother more than once over shit way smaller than this. Whether you like it or not, our Bond is under your skin.”
Knowing that it's coming doesn't help much with the pain of his fist connecting with my cheekbone, the first blow of his that’s landed. It’s also the first one he’s actually meant.
When I don't immediately strike back at him, a snarl tears out of his throat as he punches me again.
And again, and again, and again.
He keeps swinging until I'm forced to shut his brain off to stop him from beating me to death for pointing out the obvious truth.
It’s the last time we spar together.
Aarav is good about patching me up without giving me any shit for it, and if I didn’t already know just how solid my TacTeam is, arriving at the Draven’s Training Center to find them all there waiting for me confirms it.
The moment I open my mouth to tell them all to find more important work to do, Kieran shakes his head at me.
“The whole campus is writhing with fear and excitement over your little savage Bond, and if there’s anywhere some asshole is going to try their luck to take her out, it’s here.
Just shut up and deal with it—respectfully. ”
I huff at him but do exactly that, unlocking the building and letting them all in.
They chatter among themselves as they move to loiter around the place, putting on a real show of solidarity.
It’s not as though they regularly hang around like this and there are a dozen urgent tasks we should be prioritizing, but I can’t pry myself away from the schedule printed out and tucked away in my pocket.
I’ve already got it memorized, I really shouldn’t carry it around like a love-sick idiot.
Vivian Wentley arrives ten minutes after we do, barely raising an eyebrow at us all for being there, but he barks out orders for my team to pitch in as he gets the building prepped for his class.
They’re all still terrified of the man, as they should be, but I share a look with him as Harrison fumbles over himself to impress our old trainer.
I'd be worried about his ability out in the field if I weren't already keenly aware of the effect Vivian has on all of the young and impressionable Gifted he molds so adeptly.
Even Gabe struggles to hide his nerves, despite being born into a Top Tier family and spending the last five years within our Bond Group.
The students start trickling in within the hour.
When my Bond finally walks into the Training Center, her face is carefully blank despite the dread radiating from her body.
In stark contrast as he stands by her side, Gabe looks as though he’s keeping his Shift under control by a thread, and the whispers that follow them both are explanation enough.
Say the word and I’ll shut this bullshit down right now. I’ll take out the whole class if you need me to.
Gabe’s eyes widen at me across the room, but I stare back at him without so much as an eyebrow twitch. There’s a lot of potential in this room, a lot of Top Tier Gifted who would be valuable operatives, but if they’re running their mouths about our Bond Group, then they’re useless to me.
North Draven will never accept personnel like that, either.
He took over control of security for the West Coast Gifted Community years ago, carefully manipulating situations until he alone calls the shots, and we’ve never been safer, despite the lingering ‘monster’ bullshit he can never seem to debunk.
My Bond disappears into the locker room and I finally feel as though I can breathe, even while my bond demands I follow her in there rather than lose sight of her.
It’s never acted up like this, and despite knowing it’s just being stupid, I still have to spend the few minutes she’s out of my sight talking it down.