Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(2)

I give Sawyer a very pointed look and he grimaces at me. “There’s nothing in the system to say we’re being watched. There’s nothing here to show there was a security breach on any level, except the Shield being… taken out.”

“So, what you’re saying is that your sister is the only sign of treachery here? And that she’s currently in a room with my Bonded, who has no idea we’ve been betrayed by her, giving her the element of surprise that she just used to murder Dara?”

He hesitates.

He fucking hesitates.

Gray darts in front of him, as though the Telekenetic has a chance of stopping me when I murder his boyfriend-slash-fellow-Bond-Group-Member, and holds up his hands right as Sawyer snaps, “I’m not saying my sister would hurt your Bonded, but whoever the fuck is in her head right now, because there is no other explanation for this, might still be in there… waiting to get Oli alone. Get them apart and get Sage isolated until we can figure this out. I will figure this out.”

Gray takes a deep breath as he sees the murderous rage on my face simmer down a little. Sawyer has just saved his own life.

He curses under his breath and leans in his chair to look past Gray at me. “North is here. Any chance you could stop him from setting his creatures on me? I’m not opening the door for him until you convince me.”

I’m not convincing him of shit.

I lean past him to hit the button for the door, listening to him cuss me out under his breath. When North stalks in, I don’t say a word to him, just gesture at the screen where the image of Sage’s knife buried in Dara’s throat is still up.

“Where the fuck is Oleander right now?”

The words aren’t even fully out of his mouth before he’s reaching out to her. Where are you?

I glance over at him, of course he wouldn’t ask any questions of Sawyer in this moment. It doesn’t matter that he’s been the greatest asset to the Sanctuary outside of our own Bond Group, but everything has changed in the blink of an eye.

I can feel Oli’s exasperation, and I cut in before she does something unintentionally dangerous right now, Oli, who is with you right now? Don’t say anything out loud or react. You need to be discreet.

Unease fills her, clearly thrumming down the connection to all of her Bonded. I can feel the ripple of irritation run through Bassinger, but he stays out of it for now, either sensing that shit is going down or just through dumb luck.

I’m in the medical center, exactly where North told me to be. I have Gabe and Atlas with me. Kieran, Sage, and Felix are too. I’m safe.

I share another look with North but he’s already got his phone out, his fingers flying over the screen as he calls for backup here. “I’m getting her out of there now.”

Sawyer starts to run his mouth at him and Gray gets between them both, but I’m too busy trying to discreetly get into Sage’s brain from this distance without alerting her, or anyone who might be in there, to take much notice.

Tell me now. Whatever it is, tell me now.

If I tell her, she won’t believe me. Fuck, if Sawyer had just told me, I wouldn’t have believed him either.

But I can show her. The moment I do, I feel her shut down, the complete and total freakout that causes her to just empty her brain out the way her Neuro father taught her to. It’s a blessing because only her Bonded will be able to tell that she’s losing her shit right now.

Gray tugs Sawyer away from North and my eyes meet the Death Dealer’s across the room, a million unsaid words crossing between us.

North’s eyes flicker to black and then back to blue, a momentary slip of his control, and he says in a dangerous tone, “Nox is closest. I’m sending him to her now.”





Chapter One





Oli



My chest is on fire. My lungs are screaming for air and my heart is thumping inside my rib cage at a frenzied pace, but I can’t force any semblance of calm into myself as I stare across the room at Atlas, his eyes hard but steady on mine.

I can’t look at Sage right now, not with the sight of her killing Dara still clear in my head even though the image Gryphon had sent me has faded away. Atlas’ eyes bore into mine, his own anger at the betrayal of my closest friend simmering just under the surface, but to say anything right now, with two of her Bonds here with us, is a nightmare sort of situation.

Things could escalate so freaking quickly.

Especially considering that Felix is healing up the scrapes and bruises all over me, so his hands are directly on my skin. Kieran is a highly trained TacTeam operative who has more training and skills than the three of us combined… plus there’s the small fact that he’s a Transporter and could just disappear with her the moment we say anything.

There’s a small part of me that wants him to, that wants him to get her the hell out of here before the consequences of her actions catch up with her because, well, she’s my best friend. Does that make me a terrible person?

Maybe, but the small voice in the back of my mind definitely crosses that line for me, whispering that my bond could take care of all of this for us.

I don’t want it to though, and… strangely, it’s quiet in my gut, as though the feast of the Charge’s soul was enough to put it into a short slumber.

Does that mean I’m safe in this room right now and this is all just some huge misunderstanding? Or does it mean that I’ve finally got a blind spot, a small mistake that my bond has made to let a Resistance spy close to us all?