Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(89)

There’s one thrown over her waist and ass like she was attempting to be modest as we fell asleep together but failed miserably at it. Her hair is fanned out and her cheeks are a little rosy from the warmth of the cave. It was the perfect night, one I don’t want to leave behind any time soon.

I want to remember this moment forever.

I would take a picture of her there, but I’m monitored by the Dravens and Benson so much that they’d end up seeing it, and this moment isn’t for them. This is for me and my beautiful Bonded, glorious and dangerous that she is, and I wouldn’t share it with any of them even if my life depended on it.

I grab my phone out from my jeans where they lay forgotten on the cave floor after I kicked them off last night. There’s a voicemail from an unknown phone number blinking there, and dread pools in my gut.

I have no loyalty to my father after everything the man has done. I have nothing for my mother’s other Bonded either, but my mother… she tried. For the wrong reasons, but she’s the same brainwashed human that my sister is too.

Aurelia.

I don’t want it to be one of her Bonded on the line either. I’ve been chasing my own demons for so fucking long that it’s almost impossible not to feel shitty over every little part of this.

There is a little bit of guilt too because I know I’m on the right side of history now, and I will always choose my Bonded. I will always choose my Bonded, no matter what happens here.

I glance over my shoulder at her again and enjoy the sight one last time without the bullshit waiting for me on my phone clouding the moment. She sighs in her sleep as though she can feel my eyes on her, rolling over onto her back, and the blanket slips away from her body until she’s completely bared to me.

Fuck, she is magnificent.

I know that it’s natural for a Bonded to think that way, but Oleander Fallows is the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Every inch of her was created to draw me in, and there was never a world in which I’d choose my family’s suicidal ideology over her.

I turn back to my phone and step out of the cave, wearing nothing but my boxer shorts in the sticky night air.

“Son, you need to stop and think very carefully about what you’re doing here. I get it now. I understand what you were so angry about, but we need the girl. You’re thinking with your bond too much. Take a step back and look at the bigger picture here.”

Useless fucking drivel.

How he ever thought he’d be able to convince me to sell out my own Bonded with this is unfathomable. Is this all it would take for him to sacrifice mom? Cold fingers of dread creep down my spine. Thomas would never. I take a deep breath, secure in the knowledge that even if my father has fallen this far from what is right in the world, at least mom’s other Bonded wouldn’t.

He’s loyal to the Resistance, but not above her.

I can hear someone trying to get through to me while I listen to dad’s voicemail one last time, hoping for some indicator of what he’s got planned, but I let it go to voicemail as well.

The moment I play the newest recording, I wish I’d picked the damn thing up.

Mom’s voice is strong down the line. “Call me. Your father is coming for you, and he’s not thinking straight. Peter is with him. Neither of them are thinking straight, Atlas. Call me back and… keep the girl away from them. If they get her, they’ll use you both.”

Peter.

My sister’s asshole Bonded that I once caught slapping her. When I confronted him about it, he laughed at me, told me she was indestructible and could take a hit.

I broke his skull in four places.

It took three Healers hours to stop his brain from being permanently damaged. Aurelia didn’t speak to me for a month. She told me I’d understand when I found my Bonded, but the very idea of anyone raising their hand to Oli makes me sick.

There’s no way they can find us, no way that they can actually make it through the Shields, but I hit dial on North’s number anyway, my loyalties firmly with the beauty over there on the floor of the cave with me.

In the distance, with the sun rising slowly over the wall, I see the massive gates swing open right as Draven picks the line up. All the security measures in the world mean nothing when they have someone on the inside.

“They’re here, and someone has just let them in.”





Chapter Twenty-Six





Oli


I wake to Atlas’ stern voice, my brain taking a second to process exactly what he’s saying.

“Oli, get up and get dressed. The gates are open, the Shield is out, and we need to get moving right now.”

I jolt up out of bed as he hands me my clothes, his jeans on but still unbuttoned and his shirt tucked under one of his arms as he throws himself together.

Unfortunately, it’s not the worst joke Atlas has ever told because North’s voice floods my head in a demanding sweep. Stay where you are, Bonded. Stay there until we have this taken care of. Stay safe with Bassinger.

I wrench myself to my feet, stumbling a little on the blankets and stuttering over my words. “How? Someone had to let them in, have you called—”

He cuts me off, shoving his shirt over his head before he starts helping me with my clothes. “Sawyer and I both called North at the same time. The TacTeams are already mobilized. We just need to get dressed and be ready if we need to move out. You heard North, we’re staying put.”