Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(79)

Kieran comes through first, lifting his gun immediately, and I have to fling out an arm to stop him from shooting the girl. “Hey! We’re keeping her, so stop with the murder plans, Black!”

Kieran’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead as Gabe pushes his way through the small space, Nox coming right after him. He’s the one I’m really worried about taking the girl out before we have a chance to explain… whatever the hell it is that’s going on here.

“What’s your name?” Atlas asks, and I give him brownie points in my mind. It hadn’t even occurred to me to ask her.

“Aro. Aro Han. I’m a student from Austin, and I was taken by the Resistance… maybe three months ago?”

Kieran scowls at her, but I keep her talking. “Three months? And they trust you with a gun here after only that long?”

She shakes her head. “No, I had a handler, but the… dog things ate him. I grabbed the gun, and I’ve been trying to get out of here since.”

Atlas glances over his shoulder to catch Kieran’s eye. “A handler means she has a Gift worth keeping. She’s a Neuro, must be strong.”

Kieran doesn’t look happy about that. Then, surprisingly, Nox is the one to make the decision for him.

He stares at her for a second, then his eyes flicker to black. “Take her back to the Sanctuary and lock her up. My bond wants her alive as well. It’s probably just pandering, but now isn’t the time to stand around chit-chatting.”

Kieran doesn’t bother asking questions, just grabs a hold of Aro’s arm, and then they both disappear with that trademark pop sound.

We stand in silence for a moment, and then I feel it.

My Bonded is here.

I’m drawn to him like a moth to a flame, my feet moving without much thought from me. I hear Atlas cursing under his breath as he jogs to catch up with me. Brutus stays at my side, and when I spot August padding towards us both, I almost burst into tears at the sight of him.

“There’s my pretty baby! Are you okay? Have you been eating all of the bad men and women for us? Of course you have, you perfect boy!” I gush, falling to my knees to love on him.

I’m probably a little more dramatic than usual, but it’s a relief to see him here and to know that North has to be alive and well for his shadow creatures to be happily walking around like this.

I bury my face in August’s smokey fur, and I feel North finally reach me at the same time as he says, “What are you doing here?”

I have to take a deep breath and keep my face buried in August’s neck. I’m sure it's written clearly all over my face how pissed off I am that he's even asking me this. “I felt one of you getting hurt. If it’s not you, then Gryphon is out there injured right now. I had to use every skill and trick in the book to keep my bond from coming out and throwing a full-blown tantrum about it. Then I had to convince everyone around me to let me come so that my bond didn't just walk out of the Sanctuary itself to find you.”

I glance up at him to find him grimacing, wiping away sweat on his forehead and leaving a trail of blood from his hand behind. There’s none of the sophisticated councilman left on his face at all. Here, he is the Death Dealer, someone who I'm sure is the worst nightmare to the men that we are around.

He glances over at the others and then reaches down to help me to my feet, drawing me away from the shadow pups. “I’m sorry if I sound unreasonable about this, Oleander, but it’s a major distraction to us for you to be here. Things aren’t going according to plan.”

I shrug. “Not as much of a distraction as a bullet hole in Gryphon’s shoulder. At least, I hope it’s just a bullet hole and nothing… worse.”

I don't mean to be snappy, but my nerves are completely fried from feeling Gryphon and the pain he's in.

Nox looks between the two of us and then gestures behind us to an area I hadn’t noticed as I’d raced towards August. There’s a shimmer in the air where the Shielding here is different somehow.

“While we’re here, you might as well take care of that for us.”

I frown, but then I see it.

The shimmering is the spot that the Resistance are using for Transporters to arrive, a small space that they are keeping unshielded to bring in more Resistance.

There’s an arrival while we all are standing there, a dozen men who look fresh and ready to fight, appearing out of thin air.

I'm a little leery of just wiping people out, thanks to finding Aro, but without so much as moving a muscle, I wipe out everybody that is standing there. The collective sound of their bodies hitting the grass is loud enough that a shiver runs down my spine.

I don't feel guilty.

North’s eyes are hard on me as he watches me struggle with this, but I shrug and attempt to convince us both. “I do not feel guilty, because all of them are a part of the Resistance. All of them. Aro was an exception.”

“Who the hell is Aro?” North snaps, and I cringe a little.

His eyebrows creep up his forehead, and I rush to finish speaking before he can freak out about it. “I found a member of the Resistance who was not here willingly, and my bond doesn't want to kill her. You guys have all said that we need to trust my bond because it knows more than the rest of us. Well, the girl is coming home with us, has come home with us. Kieran has already taken her to the cells.”