Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(39)

“How sure are we that your dad… hurt your mom?” I say very hesitantly, and North's eyes snap back to me.

“I saw him kill her. I saw his shadows come out of him, and I saw them tear her apart, so I’m very sure.”

Nox pours another whiskey, and Gryphon takes the bottle out of his hands and sets it across the table where he can't reach it anymore.

Gabe groans under his breath at the power play, but Atlas ignores them and says, “Well, what else could the lie be? I’m not going to just ignore what a void-eyed bond says. I know enough about them to know you don’t just write it off.”

I need to ask him about his research later, but there’s bigger things for us to be focused on.

Except then it falls into place in my head. Of course I already know what the fucking lie would be, because I've just watched my best friend have her entire life get turned upside down because of the Resistance messing with the blood work.

“They weren't Bonds,” I murmur, and Gryphon's head snaps towards me.

I swallow roughly, but the words tumble out of me, “If they weren't really Bonds, then the shadow creatures wouldn't know to not hurt her.”

North starts shaking his head, but Nox rolls very liquid eyes in his direction. “Would you look at that? The little poison girl figured it out.”

Gryphon snaps at him, “You knew.” Nox shakes his head back.

“No. But it makes sense. A lot of things in that household growing up make sense, if that's the truth.”





I wake up before the sun and have to climb over Gabe and Atlas to make my way over to the bathroom.

After dinner last night, there had been a huge argument between Gryphon and North that eventually I'd had to walk away from. It was incredibly distressing to see the two men who had always been a united front leading the rest of us get into it in such a vicious manner.

Because my bedroom and bathroom are the only two rooms other than the kitchen that are finished, I had no choice but to hide away in there. Gabe and Atlas had both followed me straight in there when I’d left. Once I had thrown some pajamas on, Gabe had set a movie up on the TV to try and drown out some of the sounds of the intense argument.

I realized as soon as I'd seen the bed that it was made to comfortably fit six people if required, but I didn't think that we would be testing it out quite so quickly.

Or in such a sedate way, if I'm honest.

I fell asleep between Gabe and Atlas only to wake up with both of them on one side of me and North still quietly snoring on the other side. I have no recollection of him coming in to join us last night, but my bond feels incredibly settled in my chest.

Bonding with Gabe has gotten me that much closer to completely level.

When I get into the bathroom, I find Gryphon standing in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist, so he must’ve stayed last night as well.

I still feel unsettled from the night before, and he’s still in a vicious mood about it, but when he opens his arms to me, I still find myself gravitating towards him. I tuck myself into his chest and listen to the steady beat of his heart to calm my nerves.

I'm sorry that we upset you. I'm not sorry for calling him out on his shit though.

I nod and speak directly back to him, conscious that the other three are still sleeping. I understand that it's about trust, not the actual bond issue, but if it's tied up with his parents and whatever happened to Nox, then I think you need to give him a break. I'm not ever going to be a person to throw stones over keeping secrets about things that are traumatic. I haven't been the one to tell you guys most of my stuff… because it's all just too much. If it wasn't for Atlas, and the fact that my time in the Resistance camps was recorded so heavily, there's a lot you guys still wouldn't know because I just can't talk about it.

Gryphon's hands cradle the back of my head, his thumbs stroking over the soft tendrils of my hair, and it feels like being sheltered to be held by such a strong and deadly man with such care.

I know. I'm trying not to be an asshole about it, but when it comes to your safety, I have every right to hold them accountable. There is every chance that their bonds could hurt you and that we're wrong about what the lie is. I'm going to get Sawyer to rerun the Dravens’ blood tests through the system so that we can see if you’re right. If it does come back that they're Bonds, then we need to have a serious conversation about what we're going to do now that we know that they have beings inside them too.

I pull back from him and stare up at him with a stern look on my face, my bond pushing to the surface a little in irritation at his words. I'm not going to be kept away from my Bonded. My bond is not going to be kept away from either of them.

Gryphon nods, but he also doesn't back down. I know that. But you have to realize that we all take precautions because of your bond. There are certain things that all of us have agreed to, even Nox, and we do it because we know what your bond is capable of. It is our responsibility as your Bond Group to help keep your bond happy, safe, and out of the murderous zone, unless your life is in danger.

I nod and step away from him, happy enough to accept what he's saying but needing a bit of space for a second to wrap my head around it. Why does everything have to be so freaking complicated?

I strip and climb into the shower, mostly to have something to do, not that I actually need it, and I let the hot water fall over my body and soak into my skin as I watch Gryphon get dressed for the day. He has early morning training sessions with his personnel and then a long list of security measures to go through. I already know that he has so much on his plate, and to add any of my shit on top of it just seems completely unreasonable to me.