Tragic Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #5)(30)

August just sits at my feet, his head tucked into my leg protectively as he stares up at me with clear adoration. I rub his head between his ears and coo at him affectionately.

“I don't think I like that Nox has taught you how to keep me out of your head,” Gryphon says quietly. His voice can barely be heard over the loud motor, and I grin back at him like a lunatic.

I sass him because I was put on this earth to mess with this man, I swear. “I’m supposed to work at making sure no one can get into my head and set me off like a bomb, right? I thought you'd be proud!”

He gives me a side-eye because we both know that he is, but he's also incredibly fussy, bordering on codependent, with his need to know where I am, what I'm doing, and every last one of my innermost thoughts at all times.

Okay, I'm sure it's not that bad, but that's what it feels like.

When we get to the house, I'm surprised when Gryphon keeps driving, taking the small path that leads behind the house and up a small incline, until eventually, we're looking out over the entire valley.

The town of the Sanctuary is below us, and the mountains that protect the space are looming around us. I find the air knocked out of my lungs a little at the sight of it. It's a stunning view. For a second, I think that Gryphon is being incredibly romantic with me, until he shuts the engine off and sighs deeply.

It's not a happy sound.

“What's happened? What’s pissing you off?”

I'm convinced he's going to tell me some terrible dark things about his father or some guilt-ridden story of how this is all tearing him apart, but instead, he reaches into the back to open the box with one hand, pulling out a small plastic box and hesitating for a second before he places it on my lap.

“I asked my mom to stop off in Maryland before she came back. A few months ago, I’d started calling around until I found where your parents’ ashes were being held. No one had come to claim them yet, so they were still at the funeral home that had cremated them. I knew that you would want to bring them home, and I didn't trust anyone but family to get them here safely.”

My breathing becomes unsteady, but I can't force myself to fix it as I look down at the small box. There's a white label on it with my mother's name, her date of birth, and a serial number that I’m sure means something to someone but nothing to me.

I glance back at the box and find more plastic tubs, each one with one of my fathers’ names on it.

Gryphon has brought my family home to me.

“I didn’t tell you about it… just in case we couldn’t find them. North and I have been looking for a few months, and then once we found them, we had to get my mom to go collect them. There was some red tape, but North knows how to cut through that shit.”

My own words have dried up completely, but I think Gryphon knows that. He knows it, and he’s happy to fill in the silence for me while I get my head back together somehow.

“North has been talking about putting in more permanent roots here, how to bring in more infrastructure and businesses so that it becomes a proper town and not just this temporary refuge for us. So if you want this place to be permanent, then we can bury them here. Or we can just take their ashes with us wherever you want to go, Bonded, once we’ve dealt with the Resistance. I know we’re going to now. Without a doubt, we’re going to win this. I always knew, but watching you bring Nox back… there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to win this fight. Your parents would be so proud of everything you’ve done.”

I nod and wipe away the tears from my cheeks, one of my hands sitting over the little plastic box protectively, as though it’ll disappear into thin air if I let it out of my sight for even a second.

When I finally find my words, they come out as a croak, but they’re probably more meaningful that way.

“Thank you, Bonded.”





Chapter Nine





Atlas



Watching Sawyer and Gray fumble around like idiots in front of their Central Bond becomes a highlight of my day.

Aro is being kept in the cells underneath the Tac Training Center for processing, since technically she was an armed member of the Resistance when we had found her and Oli had demanded we bring her home.

It usually only takes a couple of days for Gryphon to work through everything that he needs to to make a decision with North and the other higher-ups on whether people are going to be deprogrammed and sent back into society or if there is no hope for them. But with the time that was spent watching Oli bring Nox back to life, and then the fraught days of freaking out while the two of them slept and recovered, completely unaware of the time that was passing, he hasn't had the chance yet to start the process with her.

It sends Sawyer slowly but surely spiraling off the deep end.

He’s mouthy at the best of times, completely unrepentant and irreverent no matter who he’s speaking to. When I find myself within earshot of it, I stupidly try to reason with him.

“You can't blame him for taking care of his Bonded first and foremost,” I say, and Aro nods her head from inside the cell, her arms still tucked around her brother tightly.

They don't normally let people room together either, but Sawyer had campaigned pretty strongly with North until he'd gotten his own way. I'm glad he did, not that I would say so to him, but the tiny slip of a girl had taken on a fierce and protective facade since her brother had arrived, no longer looking quite so haunted and desolate.