Chapter 11 #2
Glancing around, I realize Gryphon is nowhere to be seen and when a scowl tugs at my brow, North stands and stalks over to me, snapping at Rockelle when he makes a sound of protest.
“If you can't figure out how to get your own household into a safehouse without me supervising you, Councilman, then you're of no use to our community and should step down from your position on the council before your incompetence gets someone else killed.”
Effective as always, Rockelle's mouth snaps shut as his protests die instantly. The gossip ceases as though lives depend on it, and wide eyes around the table all watch the Death Dealer’s path out of the room.
North claps a hand on my shoulder as he leads me out with him, and though Gryphon’s TacTeam dip their gazes respectfully, it’s only Kieran who falls in step with us both to escort us toward the garage.
That’s a red flag if I ever saw one.
The spike of panic in my blood is either so obvious that North can't help but acknowledge it or he's just that good at observing everything around him, but either way, he pitches his tone low to keep the dozens of extra ears in the mansion from overhearing us as he moves seamlessly into reassuring me.
“Oleander is safe. She hasn't left the dorms and none of the surveillance there has been reporting any signs of Resistance. Something else has happened, and before I tell you, just know that everyone is alive and recovering well."
He shares a look with Kieran that makes it pretty obvious who has been injured. “It was Gryphon, wasn’t it? How bad? Did he go after the scouts or did he find them here?”
Kieran blows out a breath, scratching the back of his head.
“We were supposed to be offering assistance to a town being pillaged by Resistance scum, but instead we found a big hitter… a Gifted wielding a power we’ve never seen before.
Shore was taken out the second our feet hit the ground.
He was targeted like they knew we were coming.
North had to come and let his nightmare creatures out to hunt just to give us the chance to evac. ”
North opens the garage door and ushers us both through, waiting until it’s closed firmly behind us both before he speaks again.
“All information surrounding this Gifted is being treated as classified, especially Gryphon’s injuries.
We’re in a precarious position, and any weaknesses we expose now will only be exploited by the Resistance…
or the Gifted within our own community looking to further their own agendas with the deaths of others. ”
I glance over my shoulder at the closed door, as though the solid wood there will give me any answers on the Top Tier families coming for our throats even as we keep them alive, but the churning in my gut is quickly turning into an ache. “Is Gryph going to be okay?”
North grips my shoulder again, giving me a little shake in reassurance.
“He’ll be fine; Nox is with him and nothing has ever gotten past his nightmares before.
I’ll keep the security detail on our Bond, but you should focus on keeping close to her and your own schoolwork.
Keep your eyes open, your head down, and be ready to step in if we need to.
The TacTeams stationed on campus are well-trained and ready to defend, but there’s no one I trust with her more than our own Bond Group.
I’m counting on you to keep Oleander close, Gabe. ”
Despite the uncharacteristic silence of the dorm and suffocatingly somber air on Draven’s campus, it takes until we reach the cafeteria before my Bond seems to catch on to the danger we’re all in.
When she glances over her shoulder at me, properly looking at me directly for the first time since I arrived at her door, I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from snapping at her.
I can't stop myself from obsessively watching her. I don't know whether it's just the fact she's my Bond or the undeniable fact that she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on, but I can’t stop my gaze from finding its way back to her at every chance. There isn’t a single second I’m with her that she isn’t occupying all of my thoughts, that I’m not watching and assessing all her expressions.
It would be impossible for me to walk from the dorms to the cafeteria without realizing the mood she was in—fuck, I wouldn’t make it out of the first building—but I guess she really doesn’t give a fuck about me.
She keeps telling me that, her words like barbs digging in under my skin, and I should really just accept it.
Being a Bond is proving to be a miserable experience, because no sooner have I thought the words than my entire being rejects them.
There is no me without her, no matter how much she hates me.
My Bond checks her phone as she turns away from me, a scowl tugging at her brow for a moment before she swallows roughly and shoves it back in her pocket.
She glances around at the rest of the students, but there’s nothing but somber silence around us.
None of Bray's closest friends or family are here, or anyone close to the rest of the missing Gifted, and a lot of the students from the notoriously overprotective Top Tier families are out as well, so there’s nothing new here to give her a clue to what’s going on, only the absence of things.
"Something happened? I just thought you hated being around me, but now it's pretty clear that it's not just you," she finally says, her voice strangely hesitant.
It tugs at my chest in a way it absolutely shouldn’t, not when I've just been losing my shit over how obvious her distaste for me really is, but like the infatuated idiot Bond I am, I answer her without snapping or playing any of the stupid mind games we keep getting pulled into.
"You know that some of the Bonds and Bonded are going missing now, right? Well, three more were taken last night. A fourth person was found dead."
She waits until we're both seated at our usual table before she speaks again. “Did you know the person who died?"
There’s no way I can eat now, not with the careful tone she’s using that, if I didn’t know better, I’d call gentle.
What I wouldn’t do to have her using that voice with me all the damn time.
I rub a hand over my face as I let out a sigh, defeated by this entire mess we’re stuck in.
I can only talk about Bray if I distance myself from him and his death, otherwise I’ll scream or cry or puke right here in the middle of the cafeteria in front of hundreds of other students, and wouldn’t that be a fucking nightmare.
"He was on the football team with me. He was one of the seniors, but he had taken me under his wing because he was Shifter too and he knew how hard it is to control the change in such a violent game."
She looks physically ill.
Swallowing once, then again before her voice comes out as a croak, "I'm sorry. I know what it feels like to lose someone like that, I'm really sorry."
It only takes me a second to remember she lost her parents young, even younger than I had been when I lost my dad.
Finally finding a way to connect with my Bond was never supposed to look like this.
Grief wars with fear across her face, and I hate that she's feeling that way, I hate that I know exactly how heavy that burden is.
Shaking my head as if there’s any chance I can clear my thoughts, it’s that devastating experience we both share that has me opening up a little.
“Brayden was a good kid; he didn't deserve it.
It's pretty obvious that he was killed because he was trying to stop them from taking the others.
The Resistance aren't after Shifters. One of his Bonded was taken, and I'd like to get her back.
I know he's dead and it doesn't really matter to him anymore, but for his memory, I'd like to get her back. "
I can't look at the fine tremble in her fingers without doing something stupid, so I force my gaze back to the plate in front of me and dig in. After a moment of silence, my Bond does the same until we’re eating together peacefully for the first time since she was dragged back here.
I wouldn’t call it a pleasant experience, but a tiny, treacherous part of my heart hopes it’s a good sign.
Then Sage appears out of nowhere to sit beside my Bond and ruins everything.
"You heard about Brayden, then?" she murmurs to Oli, and my Bond nods back.
She waits until she swallows before murmuring back, “Is Riley okay? I know he lives over in the boys’ dorms."
Sage grimaces and it digs under my skin. "He is living at Giovanna's house at the moment. He has been for months."
Like hell am I going to sit here and listen to the two of them trash Bond Groups, happy as can be while I’m sitting here in misery. "They're Bonded, he's supposed to want to live with her."
I regret my words instantly when Sage flinches. I know better than to say that sort of thing to her; Riley is an absolute asshole for what he’s doing to her, but once again, I’ve let my own bullshit hurt someone around me who doesn't deserve it.
Before I have the chance to apologize, my Bond turns on me, her eyes narrowed dangerously as her voice practically trembles with rage. "Do you have to be such an insensitive dick about it? It's not like she was saying she was pissed off about it."
Jesus, maybe I’m turning into Nox because finally digging under her skin for once feels too good and I smirk back at her, egging her on.
"Oh, so you're a bleeding heart about your girlfriend but don't give a shit about your Bonds?
Maybe Nox is right and you really are a lesbian. That would explain a lot."
She shuts me down instantly, her face wiping clear of all emotions as she bumps Sage’s shoulder with her own and smiles kindly at her. "I'm glad he's safe and I'm sorry you guys are still… struggling."
Sage smiles back with a shrug, pointedly not looking at me. "It is what it is. I'm glad he's safe too. As long as he's alive, I guess there's a chance we can work things out."
Fuck, I’m an asshole, and she doesn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of my anger and frustrations over my Bond. "Sorry, Sage. I didn't mean to be a dick about it. I'm just… fucked up over Brayden and my own mess of a Bond."
Nothing.
My Bond has no reaction to my words at all except to smile sweetly at Sage and speak to her as if I’m not even here. "Do you want to hit up the library this afternoon? I'd love some help with the Econ assignment we both have. You're like a freaking genius with that stuff."
Sage tries to smooth things over, ever the peacemaker I’ve known since we were both in diapers. "I'm really not. Plus, you're doing so great catching up. There's no way I would be where you are if I'd dropped out freshman year of high school. You're amazing."
My eyes snap to my Bond’s. "You dropped out of high school?"
She squirms in her seat, looking embarrassed as she shoots Sage another look, but it only pisses me off more. "I was on the move too much to still attend. I spent a lot of time in libraries though."
On the move.
What a bullshit, cop-out way of saying ‘I was partying my way around the country so I could get away from my Bonds’.
My vision turns red, the tenuous hold I had on my temper finally snapping, and I can’t help but shove my plate away, snapping at her before I storm out, “You were that fucking intent on escaping us all that you dropped out of high school? Fuck, Fallows, you're a real fucking bitch."
She doesn’t even attempt to stop me, not a single word, and I’ve never resented my life more than I do now.