Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(83)

The Dark One stops to look at me, his shadows still moving forward. “We need to talk about this.”

The answer to that is simple, especially with the voice that shares my mind chiming in. “The girl says no, so I will not. She says not right now, and you will agree to that.”

He blinks at me once and then nods slowly, and the Everlasting One looks between us in shock at the interaction.

I can feel the soul wriggling in my belly, waiting for me to take the time to properly consume it, but I will not take the risk while the girl is still out here in the open.

“Take us back to the safe place now. I’m hungry.”

They do as I say without another word shared between us, flanking me as we walk back over to the truck that is already on and ready to leave. My Bonded stares over the hood at me like he’s trying to pry everything out of my mind, but I just need the girl safe so that I can eat.

He nods and gets in the car, then we’re off, back on the road at breakneck speeds, leaving the bodies of the Resistance men behind like the worthless trash they are. No one speaks on the trip back, not any of my Bonds or the other two, not even the mouthy one.

I stay focused on my prize, right until the driver parks the truck. We get out as one and he Transports us back to the safe place. I can finally leave the rest of this to the girl.

Dinner time.

My bond leaves me in a rush, like a balloon deflating, and I double over as I retch. It hasn’t ever felt like this before, like the power of tearing that Transporter’s soul out and… consuming it has messed my stomach right the hell up.

I feel strong hands sweep my hair up and hold it away from my face. Even though nothing is actually coming up, it’s sweet of North to attempt to help out with this.

When I stand back up, he tugs me into his arms, his hand moving from my hair to the nape of my neck to hold me close. “Motion sickness? Or the bond?”

“The bond. I think I’m processing the soul, which is the most horrifying sentence of the week. I can—it’s in me. I can feel it there while my bond is snacking on it. Gross. I’m officially a mon—”

“Don’t. Don’t even mutter that word around me, Oleander. You just took out another key player in the Resistance arsenal, another Gifted we no longer have to factor into our plans thanks to you and your bond. I hate that you’re going through this, but it will never make you a monster.”

I want to believe him, and my bond agrees with him completely, but as I feel the squirming in the pit of my gut, it’s not exactly easy. There’s a living soul in there.

Someone’s essence, their life force, the thing that makes them a human, and my bond is chomping away at it like a kid with a hefty slice of chocolate cake.

I don’t want to think about it anymore.

I don’t want to think about anything.





North walks me back to the house and hands me one of the bottles of water we’d brought back, pressing it into the palm of my hand and then standing over me until I’ve drunk the entire lot. I have to threaten him to get him to leave me here alone and go back to his office, mostly because I don’t want him hovering over me if I’m going to actually be sick.

Once he leaves, I climb into Gabe’s bed and pull the blankets over my head, wallowing in his scents like a lovesick brat while I attempt to ignore the happy munching happening deep in my gut.

It’s really disgusting.

Atlas finds me in there an hour later, huffing and rolling about like an idiot. When I glance up at him, just a little embarrassed about the state I’m in, he smiles at me, leaning against the door frame.

“How are you feeling? Are we about to take an epic nap?”

I sigh and pull myself up into a sitting position, shaking my head. “No, I’m trying not to have a freaking meltdown about this new and improved party trick my bond has pulled out. You can’t even act like it’s normal and fine, Atlas. I was still aware in there. I saw your face.”

He grimaces a little and then takes a seat next to me, slinging an arm over my shoulder and pressing a kiss into my hair. “I was just shocked. It’s not… something I’ve heard of before. I thought—I don’t know what I thought it was doing, to be honest. What can I do, Sweetness? What can I do to make this better for you?”

I sigh and lean my head back to look at him properly. “I’m tired. I don’t want to face everyone once North tells them all what happened, and they’ll all want to talk about it. I’m also sick of living on top of each other. I’m irritable, and I know that none of this matters because we’re safer here and protecting vulnerable people, but I’m so fucking sick of this shit.”

He nods slowly and brushes the hair away from my face gently, looking so deeply into my eyes that I almost feel shy about the intimacy of it. “Use your mind link and tell North we’re going for a ride on the ATVs. Tell him you’re safe and that we’ll stay in the view of the cameras the whole time. I know where they are; we can drive in their path. I think we all know that your bond has you covered even if something happens to me.”

I raise an eyebrow at him but when he doesn’t say anything else, I do as he asks. North is good about it, only replying, Tell me when you’re on your way back so that I know you’re safe. Don’t do anything stupid, Bonded.

Atlas shoos me out of the room and tells me he’ll pack for us both and to go grab the ATV. I give him a curious look, but he just shoos me out of the house entirely.