Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(20)

We fall back into an easy silence, Nox’s attitude still pouring off of him, but I’m an expert at ignoring him altogether.

After another mile or so, I get a creeping feeling down my spine that we’re being watched.

My bond perks up but doesn't react as though we are in danger, more out of curiosity and reaction to my unease. Neither Gryphon nor Nox react in any way, and the shadow creatures continue on their usual path, so I try to push the feeling out of my head as a small sign of paranoia rather than anything to be concerned about.

If my bond is fine with it, then I have to be as well.





Chapter Six





Nox



We stop about a quarter mile away from the lake houses to drop off the majority of our packs. There's a lot of supplies that have been packed in case we get stuck here for a few days, and there’s no point in dragging them around while we are busy capturing our targets and bringing them in without any casualties.

Gryph makes a makeshift hole to hide them in and covers it with tree bark and leaves until there's no real way of telling that the area has been disturbed at all. There’s a reason he’s the head Tactical Leader and it has absolutely nothing to do with his social standing or his place in the Draven Bond Group.

The girl watches his every move as though she is taking a class in tactical training. When he straightens again, she gives him a small nod. There’s nothing of the mouthy college student left standing before me, just a well trained soldier, and I could almost commend Gryph on his work.

Almost, but not quite.

She’s never going to lull me into the same state of complacency that she has the rest of them. I can see through it. I know exactly how Bonds operate.

I cast out my Gift again to check in with each of my shadows, but there's still no one anywhere near where we are. This area is frequented by Top Tier families and most of the houses built around the lake are owned by Gifted community members. There are even a few that have full-time staff of lower Gifted families who live here year round to maintain and take care of the property.

North and I have been to a few Council parties and functions out here. There was even a Bond ceremony that he'd dragged me to years ago, back before I was old enough to say no to that sort of thing.

I don't have any bad memories of this place, but I'm not exactly excited to be back either. The fact that Giovanna and her family are, at the very least, Resistance sympathizers and own property out here makes me suspicious of the rest of the family. It's not too much of a reach to think that maybe the time that they spend out here all together has more to do with strategizing and fundraising for the cause than it does about rest and relaxation.

Gryph looks out past the thickest section of trees and then says, “We need to move out. There is going to be nonverbal communication from here on out. The O'Neill family has extensive security around their property, including microphones and heat detectors. Their property borders where Giovanna and Riley are staying, so we will be circling around it just to be sure. Oli can speak to me, and I will relate anything I need to Nox. We will also use the usual tactical hand signaling should we need to.”

There's no need to acknowledge his words but the girl nods, rolling her shoulders back, which is the only sign she gives that maybe she was struggling with the pack on her back. I have to admit, I was not expecting her to make it the entire way with the weight of it, and I already know that it was a small test from Gryph just to see what her boundaries were.

He would have made it slightly heavier than he thought she could handle, which is an old tactic of his with his team members. I doubt he would change much just for her. He always will be the tactical group leader, and that’ll bleed through to how he goes about his relationship with her, even if he is blind to her manipulative ways.

As we begin to move, I cast the shadows out to a wider perimeter around us. They won't show up on heat cameras, microphones, or even on video footage. If someone has had any experience with them before, they may notice the distortion of video images trying to capture them and possibly figure out that we’re here, but there’s no way to get a shadow creature on film. North and I have tested it out on every product available and each time, the images come up white.

I do one last check through all of the weapons and ammunition strapped to my body to make sure that I’m fully armed and everything is where it should be before we move off together. Gryph does the same, though he’s faster and does it mostly by touch, then he moves over to do the same with our little poisonous Bond. Again, she watches his every move as if there’s going to be a test on it later.

Strange behavior, I take note of it for later.

I don’t believe that she’s actually going to accept it if we have to deal with her little friend and that Bond Group. I doubt Gryph is going to take it well either, if we’re being honest about it. Aside from North and I, Kieran is his oldest and most trusted friend. They went through training together and served on TacTeams together for years, witnessing the worst of what the Resistance can do to innocent lives.

There’s a connection there that isn’t going to just disappear because of the Benson girl’s treachery.

I move off and take the lead, leaving the Bonded pair behind as I work my way towards the lake houses. Rahab and Procel stay close to my side, while the rest of the shadows form a perimeter around us. When Gryph and his Bonded start moving behind me, the shadow creatures have the three of us completely covered.