Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(45)
I find Felix in the first cell, sitting with his own laptop in front of him and a stack of medical books as he studies, a reminder that he is still technically a student, even though he has become my Bonded Group's preferred physician.
I stop to speak to him for a moment and, predictably, all he can talk about is our girl. “Please, just help Sage, whatever you need to do to get her out of here. Please, Oli. I can't take much more of this for her.”
“I know, I’m working on it, I swear,” I reply. “I helped find Giovanna and Riley. Apparently, they’ve both already given information that might help, and I'm here to help Sawyer go through some things and try and present a case to Gryphon and North to get her out. Please don't be pissed at them for what they're doing. They just can't put the safety of the entire community in the hands of somebody who has been caught on camera—” I falter to a stop because I don't want to say it again out loud, and certainly not here in front of Sage, but Felix nods without another word.
“I get that, and I understand that it takes time. I just need to be with my Bonded again, and she refuses to be anywhere near us.”
I nod and move to the next cell where Kieran is doing push ups like the good little TacTeam leader he is. I scoff at him and revert back to our usual sarcastic friendship. “Really? You're spending the time trying to buff yourself up? Are you hoping to impress your Bonded with your big, strong muscles when you get out of here? Or are you just trying to get to the point where you can throw her over your shoulder and keep her away from anything that might blink in her direction?”
He huffs as he stands back up, tugging at his shirt as he grabs a bottle of water and downs half of it in one go. “It's very easy to get complacent if you're not on top of your training. I asked Shore for a set of dumbbells, but the asshole refused.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him and point a finger. “Watch it, buddy. I might be on Team ‘Get Sage the Fuck Out of Here’ but you're also not going to bad mouth my Bonded in front of me without hearing from my bond.”
He runs a hand through his hair and mutters under his breath, “Maybe we need your fucking bond to come out to sort this bullshit out.”
His frustration is palpable, and I don't blame him at all for it. I also feel incredibly frustrated at how little we've managed to figure out so far.
He turns back to me and says, oddly sincerely, “Thanks for going to get Riley and that treacherous bitch for us.”
I shrug. “It’s got nothing on snapping your own ankle to rescue your best friend’s Bonded, so don't go too far out of your way to thank me. I still owe you, big time.”
He smirks at me and I turn away from him to walk over to Sage’s cell at the end of the row, Gabe and Atlas following me without a word between them. I guess they’ve both spent time down here, so there’s not a whole lot for them to say.
Sawyer is already at the door, unlocking it and letting himself out. When he gives me a tight smile, I murmur back, “Why is she so far away from them both? That seems shitty.”
He sighs and rubs a hand over his eyes like he’s just as close to a breakdown as she is. “Because she can't stop crying. It was driving Felix and Kieran insane. They can still hear and feel it, but their bonds are coping with it better having a little bit of distance from her, and she isn't putting up so much of a fight about every little thing now that she's down here. Breathing room or some shit.”
I swallow roughly and nod. “Let me in with her.”
He hesitates and looks over my shoulder at Gabe and Atlas and I huff at him in frustration, my temper flaring to life. “We all know that my bond will not let anything happen to me, and I know that Sage wasn’t responsible for anything. If there is a kill switch inside of her, my bond will intervene. And I've had enough Tac training that if she rushes me, I can get her on the ground until one of you guys can come in and defuse it, so you will let me in to see my best friend, and you will never ever look at my Bonded for permission ever again, Sawyer Benson. Or else I will reach inside of your chest and pull your heart out.”
The last few words come directly from my bond and not from me. The change in my voice has Sawyer gulping a little, but it also gets him moving, unlocking the door and letting me in with Sage. I wait until he’s got it locked again behind me before I turn to properly look at my girl.
She doesn't acknowledge me or look up and when I move straight over to her, I ignore the commentary behind me of intense disapproval as I climb onto her small, uncomfortable bed with her. The second I’m secure there, I wrap my arms around her, pressing her face into my shoulder as her silent tears turn into body-racking sobs.
“I killed her, Oli. I don't know how or why or anything at all, but I killed her.”
It takes an hour before Sage is able to calm down enough to speak to me properly.
I don't begrudge the time lying there with my best friend and holding her while she breaks apart though. I know that we can piece her back together and that the Sage Benson who walks out of these cells might be fragile for a little while, but she will be stronger and more resilient than the Sage who woke up the morning of the attacks. I feel a whole lot of sadness about that fact and want to mourn the happy girl that there was before, the same way that I mourned the happy girl that I was before.
Now isn't the time for that.