Tragic Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #5)(31)

Unfortunately, I know what happens in those camps all too well, and I am a little worried about Sawyer’s brash and impulsive nature around someone who might need something a little softer. From the side-eye he's getting from Gray, I know that the third Bond in their Group might agree with me, even if he isn’t saying it out loud. The two of them have been in love with each other since forever, according to Gabe, so seeing how exactly this is all going to work out is going to be entertaining at the very least.

“I get that, but you also have to understand that she is my Bond and maybe I want her to be a bit of a priority too,” Sawyer says with a lot of hand gestures that are entirely unnecessary, and Sage sighs from where she's sitting in the corner with Felix.

From the moment that she had heard about her brother's Central Bond being found, Sage has spent most of her free time down here getting to know the girl. She’d brought Felix with her, but Aro has refused to be seen by anyone yet, no matter how much we had promised, begged, and pleaded with her that she was safe with Felix.

She had, however, let him check her brother, but only under her watchful eye. I'm not sure she's aware that the rooms are shielded and that there's no way for her to use her power against Felix in that state, but I can appreciate her protective nature and respect it.

Oli opens the small hatch that’s cut out of one of the giant, thick glass panels on the wall and drops a bag full of snack foods and candy into the siblings. The door shuts with a thud, and we all just stand there and listen as the bags rattle around in the space.

Oli breaks the silence, happy to just talk and fill the void to clear away some of the awkwardness. “I didn’t really know what you like, so I just grabbed everything I could that looked good. You know, without the chef or the kitchen staff noticing exactly how much I was stealing and throwing me out of there.”

Gabe snorts and rolls his eyes. “North funds this entire town. You can't steal from your own Bonded Group.”

She waves a hand at him dismissively but with a wry smile. “They have resources there that are for everybody, so technically it is stealing, but I am also very secure in the knowledge that I could sleep my way out of any trouble that I get my way into.”

Sawyer grins at her and then tries to smother it, shooting a guilty look at his Central Bond, but the girl doesn't notice any of our antics as she opens the bag with the same sort of hesitancy you would imagine someone opening a bag of snakes would. There's enough sugar in there to send five grown men into diabetic comas, and I find myself praising my Bonded internally as we watch the girl’s willpower and stubbornness crumble, tearing open a bag of Snickers and devouring one in a single bite.

It's the first time she’s taken something that anybody has offered her.

Gray looks at my Bonded as though he's going to weep with relief or possibly dedicate his life to her or something. A week ago, that would have made my teeth clench hard enough to break them, but now he's in the same boat as I am.

Hopelessly devoted and grateful to anyone who might make our Bonds’ lives just a little bit easier.

He doesn’t have to worry though, because Oli has always been able to communicate with the most traumatized of people, and his Central Bond is in the best of hands. Hell, she somehow managed to tame Nox freaking Draven, so I have no doubt that Aro will be a fully functioning member of our society in no time.

Oli beckons Sage over to sit at the glass wall with her, the two of them making small talk, just a random filler conversation, but I know exactly what my Bonded is doing. She waits until Aro has eaten enough of the sugar to have some dopamine in her brain before she addresses the girl, completely ignoring all of us men in the room and just quietly coaxing her into a conversation with the two of them.

“Is there anything that you need in the cell that we can get you? Gryphon is coming down this afternoon, and it should only be a couple more days before we can get you out of here.”

Aro shakes her head and sits down against the wall so that she's mirroring Oli's position. She's only a few feet away from her but separated by the thick wall of glass. Her little brother takes a handful of Skittles from the bag and climbs back up onto the bed, grabbing the small computer game that Sawyer had smuggled in to him and leaning back as he plays the game.

Aro watches him just enough to know that he is settled and comfortable before looking back at my Bonded. “We’re being fed and no one has been allowed into this cell with us without there being one of you guys present, so no, I think we have everything we need.”

It's as close to a thank you as I think we're going to get, but Oli smiles like the sun regardless. “When we get you out of here, I've spoken to Gryphon about where we can house you. There are a few options that we can talk about. The community here is still being built, and we don't have enough houses yet for you and Lahn to live by yourselves, but you also don't have to live with any men that you don't want to at the moment. Just because we’ve found your Bonds doesn't mean that you are being forced to do anything. You can live in one of the women-only houses, or you can move into the house that your Bonds share with Sage and her Bonded Group so that you'll have Sage with you at all times. Or you can temporarily move into my Bonded Group house.”

My eyebrows creep up my forehead and I shoot a look at Gabe. I wasn’t expecting our house to be opened up to anyone, but it also makes a hell of a lot of sense. Sage and Sawyer and their Bonded Groups are as close to family as we're ever going to get. Oli was always going to do everything she could to help them out and, honestly, we owe them all a lot.