Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(91)

“Baby!” I whisper as I drop down to greet him, Brutus coming down from behind my ear to sniff at his brother while I give them both pets and scratches. Atlas pokes around the area like he’s expecting to find pieces of the guy left behind.

I already know there’s not anything to find.

Not there, anyway. But the group of four more soldiers coming our way need to be dealt with.

I straighten back up and step over to his side, murmuring quietly, “There’s more coming. I’m just going to deal with them and anyone else that comes our way.”

He straightens up and comes over to stand with me, just a little in front of me before he nods. “Do it. Leave no one behind, but let me know when you’re starting to tap out.”

I swallow roughly, his words rattling me, but not for the reasons that he would guess.

I don’t tap out. My gift never taps out.

The souls I take just give me more power.

I swallow again and reach out to kill the men, taking their souls without another thought, and my bond doesn’t attempt to eat these ones, thank God. The moment their bodies hit the ground, I tug on Atlas’ hand to get us moving.

We’re close enough now to hear the chaos and screaming coming from the town.

“Stay at my side, Oli, please,” Atlas says with the low level demand that I’m starting to read a little more clearly from them all.

They’ve figured out that I’m a do-it-my-own-way kind of girl, and they’re all alpha men who don’t really want to have to play along nicely with that sort of attitude.

In the mix of the gifts flying around, it’s hard to clearly pick out who is Resistance and who are the Tac personnel, especially since most of them are wearing civilian clothes, thanks to the dawn ambush. I duck behind an overturned car to dodge a giant ball of electricity that is thrown my way, and Atlas moves with me to cover, zigging at the last second to avoid being burnt by the retaliating stream of fire a Flame sends back. We’re separated, but only by a couple of feet.

It’s not so bad.

When another car goes flying, right towards a group of Gifted who are huddled behind a half-destroyed wall, he lurches up and catches it mid-air, as easily as you’d catch a tennis ball.

It’s fucking incredible.

I’ve got them, just focus on the net. Take them out, Sweetness. The faster you do it, the safer we all are.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus, asking my bond to kick in just a little and help out with this, and even through the deafening sounds of the fighting, I hear the click of a hammer pulling back on a handgun a few feet away from myself.

I turn, but then there’s a hot spray of blood over my face as a bullet hits the woman directly between the eyes, instant lights out for her. It’s a little bit traumatizing, just a smidge, but only because the death I would’ve given her was less messy.

Harrison grabs my arm and jerks me out of the way. “If you’re not going to go full death demon on us, then you might want to go wait somewhere safe. Where’s Bulletproof Boy gone?”

Brutus stares up at him, waiting for my command to kill the operative for touching me, but August is a little more trigger-happy and snaps at his ankles savagely. I try not to giggle at the sound Harrison makes. He stays standing, apparently catching a bullet to his own head is preferable to crouching down closer to the pups.

I duck at the sounds. “My bond is very pro ‘death to everyone’ and I’m trying to make sure we don’t lose anyone to friendly fire. Where the fuck are the rest of my Bonds?”

I could just ask them with our mind connection, but I really don’t want to distract any of them and get them hurt. Plus, that would only get me my Bonded.

I’m also itching to know that Gabe and even Nox are okay and have backup in this freaking mess.

Atlas uses the hood of one of the destroyed trucks to barricade the Gifted into one of the houses, securing them the only way we can here, while I pick off the Resistance in this area of the town methodically. I’m careful, and with my bond’s help, I’m sure of my choices.

Harrison’s murmur of praise at my work as he watches over the truck reinforces my choices.

“Good work, kid. If only you were Bonded to someone other than Draven, you’d be a fucking massive asset.”

Atlas stalks over and helps me back onto my feet. “Draven doesn’t decide what Oli does. If she really wants to, then we’re here cleaning up. Now, where the fuck is Ardern? We’re going after him next.”

I like his choice, and I let them talk through town routes while I extend my nets, slowly reaching out and cleaning up more of the soldiers on the edges of where we are.

I feel Sawyer in the security room at the base of North’s office, the elevator going down to the basement there, and there’s no question that I need to get a look at those screens.

Could I use them and clear everything out? Maybe. It’s definitely worth a try.





We find Sawyer in an absolute mess in front of his computers in his underwear, blood still dripping from a gash on his forehead. He doesn’t look up as we walk into the room. He’s the one who opened up the security door for us, so he knew we were coming.

The moment we step into the room, my mouth drops open at the sight of the screens in front of us.

The town has been blown apart.

Either there’s been explosives used, or the Resistance has sent in someone with a truly destructive gift, because there are entire buildings with holes in the side of them and paths with giant craters in them, as if a bomb had gone off.