Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(13)

North interrupts her, “He’s in isolation. He’s in his own room, being fed three square meals a day, with access to all of his usual amenities, except for his phone and the internet. He is in no way suffering, and I can assure you that when Oli is home, I will speak directly to her about it. I’ve taken her thoughts and feelings into consideration, don’t doubt it.”

After saving her from the burning building and covering for her, North has clearly won some brownie points from Sage, and even though she gives him a stern once-over, she nods and gets back to her food.

It’s the worst dinner since Nox stopped dragging women in here to antagonize our Bond. I finish my plate as quickly as I can choke it all down. The moment I’m done, North packs away his files, his own plate still half filled as he abandons it without another thought.

We leave through the kitchens and into the service hallways that run through the building for the staff to use. As I move to follow North, Nox grabs my arm to stop me, his eyes dark in the muted lighting. I urge North on without me and then turn back to Nox.

He’s not drunk, but he’s definitely drinking more at the moment. We’re going to have to cut him off soon.

“North told me about your gift, the extra that you can do now that you’ve Bonded with her.”

Her.

He says it like even just her name is poison on his tongue. It never bothered me before, I know all of the reasons why he’s like that, but right now it’s like a thrill of acid in my blood, burning everything it touches.

I give him a nod, not trusting my voice, and he takes it as a cue to go on.

“Don’t ever practice that on me. I say this as your oldest friend. I will kill you if you look inside my head, even for a second.”

I don’t have to look at him to know that he’s telling the truth. I also didn’t have to be warned by him.

I know what horrors are hiding in there.

I shrug and murmur, “I won’t. I’ve spoken to North about it, and I’ll work my way up to getting into his. You’ll be let out of this.”





There’s only one elevator that goes downstairs in the house, for good reason.

You don’t want house guests stumbling on the work we’ve done down here, or the captives we’ve brought back from the council offices. And we definitely don’t want any visiting council members to see Noakes chained to the floor, covered in blood, and trying to free the traitorous, despicable piece of shit.

He’s looking in particularly bad shape tonight. I suppose three days down here without food or water will do that to a man. When he hears the elevator and the sounds of our footsteps on the concrete, he jerks against his chains.

“I have nothing else to say!” he mumbles, thready and weak, and North scoffs at him.

“We’re not here to question you. We’re past all of that now.”

What little blood is left in Noakes’ face drains away, and he scrambles up onto his knees. His voice is barely more than a croak as he rushes out with, “I had one job. Find your Bond and get her tracked. That’s it! They were going to kill my children! What was I supposed to do?”

North’s eyes don’t even bother flicking to me. We’ve done this type of interrogation more than a thousand times by now. He knows how I move when I’m hearing lies. I shift on my feet, exactly how I am right now, because they taste wrong in the air to me.

North blows out a breath and straightens his tie, the picture of calm and control. “You should really know better than to lie in front of Gryphon. You were on the committee that picked him for the TacTeams. You put forward the recommendation for him to become the Lead. Have you forgotten this in your betrayal of us all?”

Noakes’ nose scrunches up and he simpers, “He’s got it wrong, I’m telling the truth. They’ve only asked me to track the girl. I didn’t give him anything else!”

I crouch down so that I’m at eye level with him. “You knew about the explosive though, didn’t you? You knew you were putting my Bonded’s life in danger.”

He whimpers and sputters out, “I thought they were lying about that! I didn’t think they’d be crazy enough to do that to some girl. They’re not complete monsters.”

North scoffs and holds out his hand, his palm slowly turning black. “No, but we are. Isn’t that right, old friend? You were happy to help cultivate the rumors of the Monster Bond.”

North’s gift feels a lot like Oli’s does, a tightness in your chest as he calls on it, and a slow smirk stretches over my face. He usually disposes of prisoners once we’re done with them by using his death touch. Quick, efficient, and clean. That’s him down to a T. Oli disappearing again has snapped his control, and I, for one, am glad to see it.

Glad that she’s dug her way as deeply under his skin as she’s burrowed under mine.

Noakes sputters and coughs in response and mumbles, “I did no such thing!”… lie, “The community was worried about what you were capable of, all of you! There was nothing I could do to stop the spread of misinformation,”… lie, “You can’t blame all of that on me without credible evidence! I don’t deserve to die like this!”… the biggest lie yet.

I scoff and meet his eyes one last time as August pops out of North’s palm, salivating and snarling already, to say, “A monster sticks an explosive in a nineteen-year-old girl’s head just to save his own skin. A monster walks into a fourteen-year-old girl’s hospital room after her entire family was killed in an accident to threaten her into captivity. You think we’ve been monsters so far? You haven’t seen what we’re truly capable of yet… but now you will.”