Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(55)

A burning sort of indignation ruffles my feathers, and I find myself pulling at the bond living within him, not wanting to deal with the man anymore. The man with morals and values and a million other useless things.

He gives me a curt shake of his head and turns away from me. “You can't have him, not right now. There's too much at stake.”

One of the men murmurs quietly under his breath, “I always knew that Draven had balls of steel, but I didn’t know that arguing with her was also in his repertoire. You couldn’t pay me enough. She’s fucking terrifying.”

I turn and focus on the man for a second, watching him gulp as he falls fully under my attention. “He’s my Bonded. I would rip your heart out of your throat without a second thought, but Bonds cannot hurt one another. He was made for me, perfection incarnate… even when he’s being difficult.”

There's footsteps behind us, and I glance back to see my Bonded and the Damaged One walking along with the two Gifted that we had been stuck in the library with. The older man is holding the little boy's hand, clutching at it as he sweats profusely.

“Alistair and Joseph are coming back with us. We need to clear a path to get them out.”

The Transporter stalks over from the mezzanine floor that he was standing on, startling for a second as he sees my eyes, but dipping his head respectfully in my direction. “I can't get us out of here unless we're outside, so we need to figure out what the fuck we're doing, and fast, because that Trigger is not letting up out there.”

I shrug and step towards my Dark Bonded, placing my hands on his chest, irritated that there is a bulletproof vest in the way. “Take me outside. I'll fix it for us all.”

He looks down at me, and then his eyes flick over to my Bonded. “What are the chances you can get a gauge of them from here?”

My Bonded steps forward and stares at the TV screen that shows the enemy all outside working towards breaking their way into the building. “I can, a bit. I don't think that she's going to be able to deal with Silas Davies yet… and I don't think she'll be able to sort the Trigger out. The rest of them should be fair game. The Shields are strong, but none of them are even close to what Dara or Franklin were. If we can get rid of everyone else, hopefully that spooks the other two enough that they disappear, for now.”

North nods slowly. “That means leaving the Transporter for them alive as well, so they have a way to get out of here.”

The Damaged One steps up, still glancing back at the child as though he's ensuring that he isn't going to disappear the moment he looks away. “So, our plan is to scare them away? She isn't the only weapon we have, brother.”

The Dark Bonded one nods slowly and raises his palm until more shadows start leaking out of him in various different forms, falling round his body like a cloak of inky night until he really looks like death incarnate.

We were truly made for each other.

I smile as though the sun has come out from behind the clouds and is warming my face. I love them just as much as I love all of my Bonded. I see the serpent fall artfully to the floor, and my smile shifts into a manic grin.

It slithers over to me and wraps around my legs affectionately. I pet its head as it nuzzles my palm, and there is more disbelief and horrified chatter around me at the sight of our affection.

“The snake… she's petting the snake,” one of them says and gets shushed by the men around him.

“Bonded, your job will be to take out everyone except Davies, the Trigger, and the Transporter. Do you think you can be that accurate?”

I ripple with frustration at them questioning my abilities and their insistence on keeping the men alive.

I am a god living among them, and they should know better.

I nod. “Of course. I could kill everybody in this room and out of it, if I wanted to. Everybody in this state, if I really felt like it.”

My Bonded reaches out and takes hold of my wrist as though he is trying to calm me down, but it has little effect on me. They’re all being irritating today, and I’d rather we just got to the killing part.

I want to go home to the fucking part too.

The Dark Bonded One looks to his brother. “We leave everyone else to our Bond and we focus on the other two. Everyone else is just there as a backup in case they have snipers or something hiding from the cameras.”

It’s as easy as that. He's given his directives, and all of the men fall into line around us, finding that their backbones are still encased within their bodies after all. It’s a surprise, especially since they’re surrounded by nightmares and gods who walk amongst them.

We step out into the chamber and I find that a ring of men has formed around the man and the child as they follow along with us. The men give my Bonds and me a wide berth, clearing a path for us to lead the charge.

The Damaged One refuses to leave them in the building while we deal with the situation, insisting that he can keep them both safe and protected for long enough for the Transporter to get them out.

The moment we get to the fourth vault on the way out, I start picking off the Shields. Their souls are weak and unsatisfying to me, but I funnel the power through to the Dark Bonded one anyway, watching as the extra kick of power simmers underneath his skin. His chest expands as he takes it all in, and his eyes darken until, eventually, his bond wins out and takes him over as well.