Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(42)

It's going to be a long day.





“We cannot ignore the significant threat that the Gifted have become to this country. For too long, we have stood by and allowed this portion of the population to govern itself, but time and time again, we have been shown that they are unable to live harmoniously as a community without being a threat to themselves and to others. We cannot allow this to continue. There needs to be heavier regulation, more policing of those people of interest who have abilities beyond the norm, and there needs to be a register of some kind to keep tabs, the same way that many other countries have implemented.”

Senator Oldham dips her head as if she is bowing to the table of non-Gifted community members and the crowd before turning her back on the Gifted representatives and stalking back over to take her seat.

It's very clear what her dismissal means, but I clap along with everybody else in the room as though she hasn't just dribbled a load of bullshit and prejudice for the last half an hour against my community in an obvious power play to win over her more trigger-happy constituents.

I have been in her presence a few times already, and every inch of my being loathes being close to this woman. Even my bond is repulsed by her and, naturally, she just keeps winning favor with those around her, putting her in my path more and more often.

Lucky fucking me.

I have already spoken here at the summit, discussing the ways in which we are trying to neutralize the Resistance and fight back against everything that they're doing, as well as pointing out how many non-Gifted charities we support. I also made a point to speak about our efforts to purchase at least fifty percent of all of the Sanctuary supplies, both for building it and for our resources that we consume each and every day, from non-Gifted businesses so as to spread the wealth around.

While that may have gotten us some brownie points with some of the people here today, especially those with businesses themselves who just see dollar signs above my head, Oldham had sat there with a sneer on her face.

She is the bane of my existence.

Enemy Number Two immediately after Silas fucking Davies, and he tops the list for daring to physically torture, as well as mentally torment, my Bonded.

Though, to be honest, I wouldn't put those tactics past Oldham either.

There's only one more person to speak after her, and I mostly drown out the sounds of Senator Lilliman droning on and on about the fear that he has for his state.

He lives in New York, which is one of the areas that is least populated by the Gifted in the country, thanks to the population density of non-Gifted and the inability to go undetected there for very long. Most non-Gifted people will stigmatize and ostracize anybody who they know has a Gift because of the fear they have of those abilities. Anybody who is Gifted that moves into such a densely populated area generally doesn't last that long.

Of all of the states, that's not the one to be concerned about.

Now the Wasteland that has opened up in Missouri? That’s something that we should all be concerned about.

The last time the Resistance had made their move with such a massive power play was during the riots in the seventies. They had opened up what were dubbed Wastelands, which was an appropriate name for the front lines of war between the Gifted and the Resistance.

Most of the time, these Wastelands are protected by Shields that the Resistance place around the borders of such areas so that any Gifted that they Transport in or that choose to go there in an attempt to rescue others or take to the fight themselves, or even those who stumble into it unintentionally, are unable to get out again.

The fact that they have resorted to these old barbaric traditions again is unsettling, but unsurprising. Having it confirmed just means that now I need to spend some time with Gryphon to figure out what resources we need to keep at the Sanctuary, and what we can send there to attempt to shut them down before the situation gets way worse. It's not going to be easy; we’re already stretched thin. Our best chance would be to send Oli in to wipe them all out.

That is, and will always be, a last resort.

When the senator finishes up his droning bullshit, the entire room politely claps for him before we all begin packing up to get the hell out of here. The crowd moves as one towards the door, and I find my skin prickling with even more irritation at the situation.

Fucking useless, the lot of them.

There are a few Gifted community members making their way towards me that I ignore completely as I make a beeline for the door. I have no interest in speaking to them, having already denied them access to the Sanctuary because they were unwilling to go through the vetting process, but I'm sure they have now seen the errors in their way. The problem there is that we have no ability to take more people in, thanks to the attacks by the Resistance putting us behind schedule by four months on getting more houses completed.

They had their chance and blew it.

I make it three more steps towards the door before Senator Oldham slides in front of me, blocking my path with that genteel smile of hers. My bond recoils inside of me, unhappy for her to be this close to us, but I force a neutral expression to fall over my features.

“Councilman Draven, I wasn't expecting you to show up. Rumor has it, you have found your little girlfriend and are ignoring your responsibilities now that you're shacked up with her.”

I do not like this woman talking about Oleander.

I don't like the way she is using a dismissive tone, and I hate the language that the non-Gifted use when speaking about something so revered by the Gifted community, but I paste a sedate smile on my face.