Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(58)

But when I try to step around him, Gryphon’s arm tightens around me and Gabe moves to begin pulling me towards the door as well. I don’t want to leave either of them, not when it’s my fault this is happening. I’m not going to beat myself up about it but, fuck, I should help, right?

You’ll only make things worse. You’re his Bond. That’s enough to break what shred of control he has left.

They both bully me out of the dining room, but I hold firm about staying in the hallway, listening to the murmuring of North attempting to firmly talk his brother down from whatever the fuck I’ve caused here.

When Gryphon tries one last time to get me moving, I stand my ground. “I’m staying here until they’re done in there. I’m sleeping in Nox’s bed tonight anyway. I have to wait for them.”

Gryphon gives me a look but nods, sliding his hulking form down the wall until he’s sitting with me, and Gabe folds himself into a pile on the other side of me. I don’t feel tired but as the minutes stretch into an hour, I let my head drop down onto Gryphon’s shoulder and my eyes drift shut.

I wake up to North murmuring quietly, “He’s fine. He’s gone down to the gym. Maybe you should go and keep an eye on him.”

I blink to try to clear the sleep from my eyes, but North is good about helping me up and getting me back over to the elevator without much effort on my part. With a gentle hand, he directs me the whole way there, opening Nox’s bedroom door for me and then holding my hand up the stairs. He perches on the couch while I climb into the bed.

“I’ll stay until you’re asleep, Bonded. Just rest, and Gryphon will be here for you in the morning.”

It shouldn’t be that easy, but my bond trusts him implicitly, so I’m drifting off in minutes. Nox is on the couch instead of North when I wake a few hours later, his creatures surrounding me except for the one who had snarled at me at the table who looked as though he’d rip my throat out at the drop of a hat. No, that one is sleeping across Nox’s chest in a savage looking smoke form that is still more teeth than anything else. I get the feeling he’s there to make sure I don’t get close to his master.





Chapter Seventeen





North


I should leave them both alone.

I already know that. I know that they have their own Bond to work out for themselves, but when I leave Nox’s room for my own, there’s a dull fog of dread clouding up my brain. The moment I lie down in my own bed and shut my eyes, all I can see is the haunted look in my brother’s eyes right before they void out.

I can’t sleep like this.

So instead of even trying, I get up and throw on one of the sweatshirts my Bonded left behind in my room that smells like her. She has a good point about the scents calming bonds down. Then I make my way over to Nox’s room. The door is unlocked, it always is, and I don’t bother knocking. His creatures will tell him that I’m coming up and, sure enough, when I make it to the top of the stairs, he’s blinking up at me from the couch.

Oleander is asleep on the bed, alone and looking safe enough.

“You really don’t trust me, do you?”

I glance at him and step over the sleeping pile of shadows by the landing to join him on the couch. The biggest of his shadows, the meanest one now that Oleander has tamed Brutus, lifts his head from Nox’s chest to growl in my direction. It’s always been protective but what happened at dinner has opened up old wounds.

“I’m here for you both. I’m here because, while you might not ever want it, I want to help you. No matter what you need. I said that to you and I meant it.”

He huffs and runs his fingers through his hair, tugging at the ends of it like he’s really trying to tear it from his head. He’s usually better about keeping up the front, acting like the put together professor he’s emulating, and I attempt to take it as a sign of progress that he’s allowing himself to crack a little with our Bond so close to him.

Even asleep, she’s still within touching distance of him, which is a trigger of its own.

“You’re here for her, don’t lie to me. It’s okay. I knew when Gryph brought her back here that you’d fall over yourself for her. A little thing like that who needs all sorts of your help? She’s built to break you, Baba.”

It’s been years since he called me that, and my chest tightens at the sound of it. Baba Yaga, the boogeyman, the old tale of protection I’d given him as a child that he’d held on to for years.

He’s not wrong about Oleander, but he is wrong about himself. I gave him my word that I would stand by him, protect him, provide for him if he couldn’t do it for himself. I swore that I would do everything I could to… fix him.

I know now that I can’t, but I will never leave him behind.

“She was made for you too. You’re not there yet, and that’s okay, but maybe you should stop hating her for things she hasn’t done. Maybe you should think about finding level ground with her.”

He sneers at me. “And how can I do that when she’s in my fucking bed every week? I can’t forget about her for five minutes with my sheets stinking of my Bond.”

I take a deep breath, breathing in her scent on the sweatshirt, and his eyes flick down to the fabric because he can read me like an open book. He always could. We’re two sides of the same coin and always have been.