Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(75)

Gryph comes to collect the girl while I’m scrubbing my hair. He scowls at the bathroom door and Mephis when she mentions needing the bathroom, but leads her out to use his before they train. I should feel bad. I should have some level of empathy for how my fucked-up brain ruins everything, but I can’t.

I’m too busy trying to scrub her off of me before I completely lose my fucking mind.





“What happened to you? Wasn’t Oleander supposed to be in with you last night? You look like shit.”

I don’t stop to speak to him on my way to the coffee pot, picking up the biggest cup in the collection and pouring out the black liquid until it hits the rim. The bonds obviously spent the entire night speaking to each other, and while my mind ‘slept’, my body did not.

North’s new office looks exactly like his old one layout-wise, but with none of his usual decadent luxury. I’m sure if we’re here for long enough, he’ll find a way to get some marble installed in here.

“Nox? Do I need to go find my Bonded and check if she’s okay?”

I send him a dark look. “Sleeping on a couch so that your Bonded can get what she needs isn’t very restful. If you’re so desperate to pant after her, then I’m not stopping you. Go be pathetic elsewhere.”

His eyes flash black at me for a split second, a tiny slip of his control, and I smirk at him. I will never not enjoy watching him crumble over a little girl made of poison.

How the mighty fall. It really is pathetic.

“Stop taking your bad mood out on me. If you want the day off to hole up with your books, then just say it. No one is forcing you to be here.”

Ah, but he’s wrong about that. I’d had to open up all three of the windows in my room to attempt to air it out and get her sweet smell out of there. My bond refused to let me change the sheets, it threw a bitch fit over it if I’m being honest, so I was forced to just get rid of the rest of it as much as possible.

I’m going to have to drink tonight. The only way I’ll get through sleeping in there is if I’m wasted, and for once, my bond agrees with me.

“The water supply has been compromised.”

My eyes snap up from my cup of coffee to meet North’s scowl. He nods at me and continues, “There are only two points of the line that aren’t covered by security, it had to happen there. The filtration system picked up the foreign bacterias there and automatically shut down. Sawyer was woken by the alarms and called me at seven. He’s already been through what footage we have, but it looks like there’s someone living here that is a plant.”

I curse under my breath. We’d always known it wasn’t just possible, but probable that we’d be bringing a sympathizer with us.

“Any guesses on who it was?”

North rounds the table and slides a tablet towards me with a list of names on it. “These are the people who weren’t in their beds at that time. Sawyer has been slowly tracing their movements, but it’s a big job for one man, even a skilled Technokinetic. We are very lucky to have him. We need to recruit another.”

Easier said than done. Technos are rare. Second only to Renders and Death Dealers, we’ve somehow managed to start this little community with a very special set of skills. A Shifter who can take any form and an insanely strong Neuro with the ability to sniff out lies also helps immensely.

Indestructible Boy can still disappear for all I care.

North takes a seat in his chair and opens up his laptop, frowning at the screen like he’s just been assaulted by the onslaught of bullshit there. I have no doubt that he’s being harassed by the remaining members of the Council and the other Top Tier families who want him to deal with their problems even though they refused to come here with the lower families.

Scum, the lot of them.

I memorize the list of names and say, “I’ll look into it. I can set up creatures in the blind spots until we have them covered with cams.”

North nods and clicks around on the keyboard without looking up at me. “We need to go on a supply run as well. Get bottled water to get us through until the clean out happens.”

I nod, sipping at my coffee again.

The door swings open and Gryph stalks through, jerky in his movements, like he’s frustrated. I would’ve thought a morning on the mats with the girl would’ve fixed that, but apparently not.

He takes one look at me and says, “Oli healed you.”

It’s not a question and I’m careful with my answer. “She was asleep when it happened, but yes, she healed me.”

Gryph nods, hearing the truth in what I’d chosen to say, and it’s only when he turns to the coffee pot that North shoots me a look. He doesn’t need to be a Neuro to hear what I’m not saying. He’s good about keeping Gryph out of it though, ever the loyal brother.

I don’t really give a shit though.

“Her bond spoke to me. I said it could heal me if it needed to. That’s it, brother. That’s what happened. Your Bonded won’t remember it, and I never attempted to touch either of them.”

He doesn’t look at Gryph, but when he doesn’t interrupt to call out a lie, North nods and gets back to whatever he’s doing on the computer.

“Who’s going on the supply run? If there’s a plant, then we can’t all go.”

North shrugs. “You and Gabe can stay. You can keep looking for the plant, and Gabe can keep going with the building. He’s better than any of the rest of us at it, and he’s a good backup for you.”