Tragic Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #5)(32)
Aro looks between Sage and Oli and quirks an eyebrow at them both. “So there's not enough houses for me and Lahn to have a house to ourselves, but your Bonded Group has one to themselves?”
Oli grins and Sage chuckles quietly under her breath. “Yes, it's nepotism at its finest, but the Sanctuary has been a project that my Bonded—North and Nox—and their family have been working on, and funding, for generations, so we did get a priority on a house. Plus, there are six of us living under one roof just for my Bonded Group. There are only five people living in Sage and Sawyer’s house between the two Bonded Groups there. At some point, we would become a fire hazard if we let more people into ours.”
Sage giggles again and then shrugs at Aro. “It doesn't really matter to me where you decide to live, but if you want to move into our house, there is a spare bedroom that you and Lahn can sleep in. I spend most of my time either at the training center or at home. So if you were to move in with us, I would be there with you at all times. I also know all of Sawyer's weak spots and Gray's greatest fears, so if you had any concerns about me potentially picking them over you, I should warn you that I would destroy them in a heartbeat if I thought you were going to get hurt.”
Aro’s lip quirks upwards for the first time since we reunited her with her brother. I glance over to find both of her Bonds watching this interaction as though it is the most fascinating thing they have ever encountered, obsessively soaking in every word said between the three women. I want to be able to give them shit about it, but I would tear my own beating heart out of my chest if Oli asked it of me, so I don't have a leg to stand on.
“I’m not worried about my Bonds or being hurt,” Aro murmurs, and Oli nods casually, as though this isn’t groundbreaking information for everybody in the room.
Sawyer and Gray both exhale as though a great weight has been lifted from them both as Aro continues, “I’m more worried about what will happen to my brother and I if the Resistance comes back and where is safest for us to be. They're not just going to let us go… they're not the type to just let people go.”
Oli nods solemnly and glances around the room at each and every one of us until she clears her throat and starts pointing.
“Sage over there is a Flame, and she's the strongest Flame I’ve encountered. She once set a building on fire by accident, but I'm not going to rat her out and give you the details. Gabe is a Shifter who can shift into anything, and I mean anything. If he can imagine the creature, he can become it, so his latest trick is the dragon that everybody here in the Sanctuary is obsessively gossiping about. Atlas is Indestructible and strong enough to move a building if he had to, and he’s now working on being able to push that Gift onto other people and share his indestructibility with others. Felix is a Healer who only days ago, helped me bring one of my Bonded back to life. I would raze cities to the ground for him in return. Sawyer is a Technokinetic and has used this Gift to hack into the Resistance. His work with North is currently giving us enough intel to protect this city from anyone who might try to come after us. And Gray is a Telekinetic who, rumor has it, threw an entire car at a group of Resistance when they showed up here a few weeks back.”
Aro looks around at each of them and then turns back to Oli.
“And your eyes turned black and you kill people,” she murmurs, and Oli nods slowly.
“My eyes turn black because of the god that lives inside of me. I'm a Soul Render who hasn't yet found a limit to my power. I'm also Bonded to a Neuro who has not yet found a part of the brain that he can't get into or manipulate, and his limits have just been pushed to the point that he now doesn't tap out. Then there's the two Death Dealers, both of them two sides of the same coin and feared amongst the Resistance so much so that they sent an assassin into one of the camps to attempt to kill them. There’s no safer place for you in the world than here with us.”
When we finally leave the underground cells, Oli and Sage walk ahead of the rest of us, their arms linked as they gossip amongst themselves, and we’re happy enough to leave them to it. Their laughter and giggling is like music to my ears, my bond happy and calm at the joy and contentment oozing out of my Bonded, and everything feels right in the world for a moment.
Felix looks worn out, more so than he usually does, and Gabe claps him on the back as he asks, “Are you okay, man? Is there something that you need or anything that we can do for you? You just gotta ask.”
Felix gives him a wry grin back and shakes his head. “The Medical Board are deliberating over whether or not I am going to get kicked out of the program for helping Oli with Nox. I'm having a little bit of a personal crisis over it. I can't decide whether I want to continue with an organization that would penalize someone for doing what they were put on this earth to do… or if I should just stick with it because I've already spent half my life studying for this.”
“What the fuck?” I sputter out, and Felix nods his head at me.
“It's not like I need the certification. I'm Gifted, and that's the whole point of what I can do, but having an understanding of the human body and how it works is very helpful to me when I'm using my Gift. It means that I can use the minimum amount of power for the maximum amount of good. When we're in situations with a lot of people needing help… that's important. We're heading into a war with the Resistance. I mean, we're already in one, but the casualty tolls are just getting higher and higher every time the TacTeams are going out, and I don't have the option of getting power boosts like you guys do. So is it selfish of me to give it up just on a point of pride or ethics when my community needs me?”