Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(94)

I shake my head rather than answering him back, knowing that right now I probably don't have the control to only speak to him and not have the others overhear it. I don’t need them all questioning my ability to do this right now.

I can get my head together.

The third and final pop sounds as the last set of people arrive, and I wait until North meets my eyes and nods at me before I cast my Gift out carefully.

Everything I do here tonight has to be careful.

I see Gryphon's eyes shift to white as he starts to assess the surroundings as well, and I let my own eyes slip shut so that I'm not distracted as I map the area out.

I find Unser very quickly, knowing exactly where to look for him. Finding the children is a little harder because they’ve moved where the prisoners are kept since I was held here but, sure enough, I find fifteen children amongst another larger group of adults, all of them in cages to the east of the camp.

There's a dining hall that is filled with people eating their dinner and a small tent filled with Shields. I don't immediately take them out though, wanting to get a full picture of what we're dealing with before I start the killing.

There's every chance that Davies will notice through security cameras or something similar, and I want to know if he's here and where he is, first. It's dangerous though, because I know that he will feel my bond reaching out. Sure enough, in the last tent that I explore, his torture tent that I am so intimately acquainted with, I find Silas Davies and his bonded, Lydia.

Fuck.

I open my eyes and meet North's stare, opening my mind up to the rest of them to send them as much of the mapping as I can. I'm still not very good at this, but I feel Gryphon's Gift flow into me as he helps illuminate it for everyone else to see.

Fuck, Atlas thinks down the mind link ,and everyone turns to look at him.

Lydia is here.

I share a look with him, knowing exactly what that means, but Gryphon and North both frown at us.

Who is Lydia? Gabe asks.

Atlas replies, Lydia is Silas’ Bonded, and she is not someone that we want to be dealing with tonight. If we had the option, I would say we should all go home, but getting Unser back is non-negotiable.

Gryphon scowls at us. Lydia has a low-level power.

Atlas shakes his head. No, she doesn’t. Lydia refuses to use her power in areas that would get her discovered by everyone, but she definitely has power, and it is not the sort that we want to be dealing with.

North glances at Gryphon and then snaps down the mind control, What is her power? We're running out of time before we're spotted here, Bassinger.

I answer for him. Compulsion. I don't know what else it's called, only that she's a Neuro and her specialty is compulsion. If she gets close enough to you, she can make you do anything. I have watched her force men and women to kill themselves or their own family members merely at her suggestion. Anything that she wants from you, she's going to get you to do. She's not strong enough for my bond. Not unless Davies gives her a power boost by sharing his strength with her. I've seen him do it before, and there's every chance he'll do it again, especially if you actually get close enough to take him out.

North glances around at all of us and then he says to Atlas, How far away is her range? Is it the same as Davies’? This doesn't change our plan all that much. Just that there will be two moving targets we need to stay away from but send the shadow creatures in to deal with.

Atlas shrugs. I don't know exactly, but I would say at least the same distance as Davies.

North nods intensely back to me. Do it bonded. Take out the shields and anyone else that is a threat that you can. We’re moving in.





It starts off perfectly fine.

I take out the Shields and four other Gifted who are stronger than most others that are here. Everyone else is at a level that is completely fine for the TacTeams to deal with themselves. Once we feel the barriers of the Shields fall, North gives the signal for everyone to move in, and they disappear into the dark of the night towards the camp.

My skin crawls and I desperately want to go after them.

But I can’t. I stay behind with Gabe and Atlas, my own Gift still cast out and monitoring what's going on, keeping a close eye on where Davies is. I keep my mind connection open to my Bonded, but I’m careful to keep myself out of their heads. I don't want to be the distraction that gets any of them killed.

Atlas keeps his hand in mine, squeezing tightly as he watches what’s going on through my eyes. Gabe, on the other hand, is busy watching around us. His eyes have shifted to the amber color of the dragon, and I'm incredibly intrigued to know what he can see using them, but it'll have to wait until later.

There's gunshots and screaming around us, and I feel terrified of what is going on because of the children in the camp. The trauma of what I experienced here is too fresh in my head right now, the box I keep it in is smashed open and dragged to the surface. Every cut into my skin, every bone that was broken and knit back together without pain relief, every questioning session that went on for hours with thousands of cuts and burns is right at the front of my mind.

The screams from the shower blocks.

I don't take a proper deep breath until the Transporters arrive at the prisoner holding tents and start getting them out. Kieran himself takes the kids, all fifteen in one go. Even Atlas lets out a deep sigh when he sees them disappear from the map in my mind.