Chapter 22 #4
I survey the situation for a moment to be sure my bond is settled. When I finally speak, my tone is level. “What’s happened, David?”
There’s a slight pause before, surprisingly, it’s my Bond who answers me. “Martinez Shifted in the maze during TT and hunted me down to use me as bait for the pond… girl. He started mouthing off, and Gabe was defending me.”
From the corner of my eye, I watch Gryphon’s reaction for his tells. She’s clearly not lying, but there’s something in her words that’s tripping him up. We’ve learned the hard way that ’truth’ can be incredibly misleading, but why would she lie?
Unless she’s protecting Gabe—but that makes no sense from the girl who claims to loathe us all, who’s made it her life’s purpose to torture her Bonds, and who has become an expert at kicking Gabe when he’s already miserable.
After another minute of scrutiny, Gryphon finally turns on David, raising an eyebrow at the pathetic piece of shit in a subtle taunt. “You can’t fault Gabe for protecting his Bond… even if he took it too far.”
David blanches, his lip curling as though it’s a shock that we would side with our Bond, and Gryphon is no doubt picking up on an entire stream of vitriol and hatred direct from the source.
When his furious gaze lands on my Bond, Gryphon moves instantly to stand in front of her but not before David’s eyes flash white.
The insufferable idiot dares to threaten my Bond.
With just enough awareness left to hand the plate to my Bond, my own bond moves to stand firmly between her and the threat. Instead of fighting it, or even being disgruntled by the loss of control, I’m in complete harmony with it for once.
Blood and pain.
I’ve never been on the receiving end of the Draven’s curse warning call. I’ve been present when Nox’s bond has come out to defend him, and my own has let the wave of power out numerous times, but I’ve never been able to experience it myself, only watched the reactions it invokes.
I’ve never felt so vindicated as I do right now.
It takes a second of that terrified silence before Gryphon is shoving words into my consciousness again. Get ahold of yourself, Draven, before I knock you out and get Black to drop you back to your office for a timeout.
He means it too, his Gift already settling at the edges of my mind as though he’s preparing to follow through before I can protest. David is trembling, ignoring his son’s whimpers as he cowers before me.
My hands start to turn black as the nightmares wake and beg to come out.
When Gryphon’s gaze flicks down, I slip them into my pockets before he can see just how far that staining is traveling.
I don’t glance back at my Bond or Gabe as I address him. “Take her home, Gabriel. Sage, too. Get them both out of here.”
My bond stays at the forefront of my mind as though we each have a hand on the control panel of my body.
It refuses to look away from David, drinking in his terror with the same glutinous zeal that it felt for that pit of bones, only this reaction doesn’t fill me with self-loathing.
For once, I’m perfectly happy to stand there before my community reveling in their ignorance, aware they all see a reviled Death Dealer instead of just a regular Bond.
None of them know about the thing inside me—or the carnage it yearns for. None of them, not even Gryphon, knows how close I’ve come to losing control… or what would actually happen if my bond were truly unleashed.
The thrumming blood call doesn’t settle until my Bond is long gone, the sounds of the car disappearing into nothingness.
Hands grasp my shoulders and give me a rough shake but, before I can murder whoever the hell is waking me at this godforsaken hour, Unser speaks.
“Resistance scouts have been spotted on the campus. We’re sending Teams out now, but there are at least five Gifted missing so far.”
My spine snaps straight as I blink the sleep away from my eyes, the Training Center coming into sharp focus around me in an instant, but it’s only the screen on the far wall that I care about right now.
My Bond’s GPS dot hasn’t moved from the dorm rooms.
Unser clucks under his breath at me, an oddly comforting sound. “Shore’s team deployed as backup the moment the scouts were spotted. We’ve already moved personnel around to spread the cover out better, but he’s guarding your Bond himself.”
Relief washes over me, masking the aches I’m feeling for a second longer before they hit me all at once.
I’d fallen asleep at Gryphon’s desk. After my near-miss of a bond slip at the Halliwells’ annual event, he practically glued himself to my side for a full twenty-four hours.
At first, I worried that he’d stumbled over the monster that shares my skin, but I quickly realized his concerns lie solely in the potential for another, more violent dispute.
I can’t remember exactly when I’d passed out, only that we were finishing off a long day of council bullshit by planning out our next move to find the magnifying Gifted who attacked him with the help of some questionable liquor.
His seat before me is now empty, our glasses and the empty bottles cleared away.
Standing, I suppress a groan as my joints pop in protest as Vivian walks in with a knowing look, handing us each a cup of the swill they all call coffee here in the Center.
It’s fucking vile, but I down mine all in one go for the caffeine alone, while Unser sips at his sedately.
Setting the cup back on the desk, I nod firmly to them both before we each step back out and deal with the building nightmare.
As the night goes on, the Training Center is a hive of activity, personnel deploying to defend and guard the rest of the community until we’re once again stretched to breaking point.
Unser and Vivian both head out with their own teams, leaving the logistics to me.
Despite their tireless efforts, the recovery teams return empty-handed.
My gaze never strays far from that dot on the map that is my Bond.
It doesn’t matter how many new reports of Gifted taken we get or how close the conflict gets to her, she stays exactly where she’s supposed to be—just as she has every night since she got to Draven.
Nothing could’ve surprised me more than the fact that Oleander Fallows, the same girl who led her Bonds on a wild chase around the country for five years just for the hell of it, has been unerringly obedient to every command I’d given her.
It’s almost dawn when Gabe calls me, news clearly hitting the gossip circles of the community, and I want to strangle someone for waking him.
His voice is a mix of exhaustion and terror as he croaks down the line, “Where is Oli? Why didn’t you call me?”
Jerking my head at Pen to get her to step away from me, I wait until she’s out of earshot before I murmur a reply.
“She’s safe. I’m watching her tracker now and she hasn’t moved.
I didn’t call because you’ve been pulling double shifts on the Teams after a full day of class, football practice, and guarding Oleander.
She wasn’t in danger, so I made the call to let you sleep. ”
There’s an uncomfortable silence, as if he’s trying to figure out how to call bullshit on my every word.
Like an idiot, I glance over at Unser and find Pen smiling up at him brightly as she natters away glibly.
There’s no question that I employed her solely for her naivety and immaculate office skills, two surprisingly difficult traits to find in the same person, but the longer my gaze stays trained on her, the hotter my blood boils.
She’s acting as though this is a drill when the abduction count is up to eight and there are still five Gifted unaccounted for.
Pushing aside my own irritation, I try to reassure Gabe so that I can get off the phone and deal with Pen before she makes me so livid I have a Gift slip that will leave me searching for a new assistant.
“I swear to you, Gabe, her safety has never been in question—it was her surveillance team that tipped us off to the abductions in the first place.”
There’s another tense pause, and my eyes snap back to the dot before I realize his panic has woken my bond. It trusts in that GPS about as much as Gabe seems to.
“I’ll call her. It’s—I’m not doubting you, I just… I won’t be able to sleep without checking in with her anyway.”
Five minutes later, we have our confirmed list of Gifted taken. Twelve in total, after a freshman is found sleeping in her non-Gifted boyfriend’s apartment in the next town over, much to her parents’ disgust. I’m frustrated at their lack of perspective but not surprised.
Top Tier families are commonly out of touch with reality, especially those who have never experienced loss. Despite my ire, my gut churns at the knowledge that nine families are about to have that privilege stripped from them.
Shortly after Gabe texts to let me know he’s gone to our Bond, that he’s with her now and guarding her himself just to be absolutely sure of her safety, Gryphon arrives back at the Training Center with a grim expression etched into his face.
He barely spares me a look before he shakes his head and stalks into the locker rooms. Unser is Transported back by Black shortly after, a file tucked under his arm and his mouth set in a grim line.
The names are listed on the front of the file I’m handed, the manila folder crammed full of pages detailing their backgrounds, academic records, and the circumstances in which they were taken. I pour over the information, but their names embed themselves into my memory upon first glance.
Nathan Weber.
Tamsin Gooding.
Austin, Hart, and Benjamin Campbell.
Katelyn Dawes.
Jemima Paulson-Reeves.
Emmett Du Bois.
Tyler and Elliot Kang.
Naya Olson.
Ken Lee.
The Campbells lost all of their children in one night.