Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(78)

I flop back onto Gryphon’s bed, tucking my nose into his pillow a little bit just to get one last whiff of him before I get on with my day. “No news yet. There’s a meeting happening now about it, but I’ve just been told to stick with Gabe and Atlas today.”

Sage hums down the line. “Kieran said the same to me. He wants me with someone in this house at all times.”

I could make a joke about possessive, overprotective Bonds, but there’s a knock at the door and then Atlas’ head is poking through. “Shore called, we’re heading out of the Sanctuary on a run. You’re coming with… as long as you want to.”

Hell yeah I do. “Gotta go, Sage. I’ll call you when I get home.”

I bounce off of the bed and straight into Atlas’ arms. He looks tired, he has since we got back from the camps with his sister in our custody, but he grins down at me.

“I don’t think your bond is going to be needed much today. I hope you’re not bounding around because you think it’s going to be… fed.”

I snort at his teasing, because I already know he’s not actually serious, and shrug. “You never know, one of the Tac personnel could piss me off and end up as lunch.”

He chuckles at me as we get to the front door together, pulling on shoes and grabbing jackets. “I know which ones I’m voting for. Rockelle is a fucking dickhead and deserves his soul to be gobbled up.”

I shrug with a smirk, but I already know that he’s one of Gryphon’s closest friends and trusted personnel, so even with his smart mouth and irreverent jokes, he’s safe for now.

We don’t have enough trusted people in our circle as it is. I can’t take out the few we do have.

We make our way over to North’s offices, but the crowds of Tac operatives are waiting outside, already dressed and fully armed. There’s no way I’m going to be allowed to go out in the jeans and sweater I’m currently wearing, but I guess there’s no way to get used to the gear unless you wear it.

I just feel like some sort of fraud when I’m in it, like a civilian pretending to be a superhero.

Kieran spots us both coming and snaps at the stragglers of the group to get out of our way until we can make it into the building. There’s only a handful of people waiting around in the foyer, all of them the higher-up operatives, and I get the feeling they’re waiting on my Bonded so we can head out.

We stop when we get to Kieran, happy to wait with him for now. He’s looking good, about a million times better than when we were rescued from the camps, and I have to fight to keep the smirk off of my face.

I can’t help but comment about it, messing around a little with him because I feel like we’re practically family now that he’s watched me get carved up by the most terrifying man in the world. “Bonded life treating you well?”

He raises an eyebrow at me, his face completely straight as he says, “About as well as Gryphon’s new cologne is faring for him, yes.”

It takes me a second to get what he’s saying, and then I want to die a little. Scratch that, I want to die a whole lot.

I groan and bury my face into my hands as though I can disappear if no one can make eye contact with me anymore. “I’m going to murder him, right after I find a nice hole to die in.”

Kieran shrugs at me and eyes the murderous look that Atlas gives him for so much as mentioning something that embarrasses me, though he doesn’t really have a clue as to why I’m dying. Thank God, because Kieran knowing is bad enough.

Freaking Bonded.

When the elevator chimes and opens up to reveal North and Gryphon, I turn my back on the asshole and cross my arms, in full shameful pout mode and giving zero fucks about it. August bounds over and sits at my feet, looking up at me with his perfect void eyes as though he can tell I’m ready to stab someone.

“You’re in deep shit,” Kieran drawls and Gryphon scowls back at him, striding over to me like he can fix this, but I’m already so freaking embarrassed that I don’t want to discuss it anymore. It was hot as fuck at the time but now, standing around here thinking about it? No, thanks.

Kill me.

“Something about cologne,” Atlas snarks, grabbing my hand tugging me away from them both, “Come on, Sweetness. We’ll go get changed so that we can get out of here.”

We turn our back on them as North snarls at Gryphon in a very non-Draven way. Nope, I glance back just to check that his bond hasn’t burst out of him in the middle of the freaking foyer, but I just find both of my Bonded squaring off about me.

Atlas drags me into one of the gear rooms, joining me in the women’s area once he’s grabbed his own stuff, and then he flicks the lock so we won’t get anyone walking in on us. I’m still too far in my own head to give a shit about changing together and when I pull my sweater and shirt off, he doesn’t bat an eye, just gets to changing as well.

My scent, all over Gryphon while he went about his day.

I blink back into myself, coming face-to-bare-chest with Atlas and, man, is it a good sight. I’m not sure if his gift makes him extra cut or if he’s kept up a brutal training regime without me knowing, but he is cut. Like, professional bodybuilder levels of cut, and the delicious looking V that draws my eyes down to the top of his jeans looks incredibly inviting.

I clear my throat, mostly to attempt to find my voice, but it gets his attention. Atlas mistakes my nervous actions for me stressing over Gryphon and shakes his head at me. “I know enough to make a guess about it, Sweetness. Don’t try to explain it. I already want to tear his arms off and shove them up his ass for having everything I want. I don’t need any more details.”