Tragic Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #5)(47)

A chill runs down my spine.

We're ready to face them, my bond whispers to me. I let my eyes slip shut as I concentrate on it for a moment, blocking the room out to focus.

How are we ready? How has anything changed from a few weeks ago? Other than Nox and I soul-bonding, we know what we're facing this time, and we're all going in together.

Okay, well, now that I list it out, I guess a lot has changed. It still doesn’t feel like enough. I’m not sure it’ll ever really feel like enough.

The others are nearly ready.

Why does that feel ominous? I most certainly do not know what the hell is going on here, but my bond shuts up, and I guess that’s all I’m going to get out of it today.

There's a gentle hand on my elbow, and I open my eyes to find Sage standing with me. She's already dressed in Tac gear, and my eyebrows fly towards my hairline as I take in the sight of her.

“You’re coming with us?”

She smiles and nods, glancing over to where Kieran is glaring us both down, and I try not to smile teasingly back at him. “Tac numbers are down. When Gryphon and Kieran were discussing how best to go about this, Gray and I decided that enough is enough. We can’t just sit around here in the Sanctuary any longer while you all go out to keep us safe.”

I turn around to find Gray laughing with Gabe as he shrugs into a jacket. “Holy shit. How is Sawyer taking this?”

Sage shrugs and lifts up her hand, a small ball of flames appearing and then just resting there against her skin without leaving a mark. “I’m a Flame and he’s a Telekinetic. There's not a huge amount that Sawyer could do to stop us from helping out, and even Kieran couldn't argue now that our abilities are getting stronger.”

I give Gray one last sidelong look before turning back. “Are you sure you're ready for this?”

I’m not doubting her at all. I know she can do it, but Sage has always struggled with her opinions of herself, and she hasn’t had an easy time lately. After Dara’s death, she had taken weeks to feel comfortable enough to walk around the Sanctuary again, even with her Bonded at her side, so I’m mostly gauging where she is mentally.

She nods quickly and drops her hand back down, snuffing out the flames without even trying. “I’m ready. I'm definitely ready to stop watching Kieran walk out the door and wondering if he's going to come back. After what happened with Nox, I'd rather stay close to him. Also, things are getting better with Riley and, once he gets the all clear from Felix, he wants to join too.”

That's news to me.

The last I had heard, they still weren't sure that Riley would be able to make a full recovery. I reach forward to grab Sage’s hand, squeezing her fingers gently. “I’m so glad he's feeling better.”

I mean it too.

There’s a layer of guilt in me whenever I think of Sage’s other Bond, but it’s grown and become more complicated now. I’d hated him, loathed the man, for how he’d treated her, when really he was being controlled.

Abused.

If I think about it too hard, I’ll puke.

Sage gives me a small smile and nods her head, glancing down at her feet. “He's different, very different from the guy I loved growing up. But he's also ready to channel the anger in him at what happened to us all into joining the fight. Felix offered to come too so that we had a medic on site, but North and Gryphon didn't want to risk him. He’s still the best Healer we have, even if the Medical Board wants to throw him out.”

I huff and roll my eyes, still just as furious about this as I had been the first time she'd told me. When everything is said and done with the Resistance, I am completely on board with North firing all of them. I still sort of think he should kick them out of town and let them fend for themselves if they’re all so high and mighty.

“They’re all gutless, fearmongers who are trying to grasp desperately at power,” Gray says as he steps up behind us, fidgeting with the straps over his chest that hold the gun holsters at his side. I notice that he has two more guns than I do, and I shoot a look at Gryphon.

He shrugs at me with a smirk. “You don't need them. I've never actually seen you draw a weapon before. You only have them to distract people from the real weapon you wield.”

I know he's just trying to flatter me to distract me from my anger, but I refuse to let it work.

“I need more guns,” I say in my most insistent voice, and Gryphon shakes his head at me.

“Start using the ones you've got, and then I'll think about it. We're not wasting firepower just to look good.”

I raise my eyebrows at him and bounce on the balls of my feet a little. “You think I look good in them?”

Sage giggles beside me and Gray makes a huffing noise, like we haven't spent months watching he and Sawyer fall over their feet at each other, so he doesn't really have much of a leg to stand on here.

“Right, we'll go through the plan one more time, just to be sure that everybody is on the same page here,” North says as he walks over to us.

At this point, I've seen him in his TacTraining gear a million times, but it still sends flutters through my belly. His hair isn't slicked back like it usually is. Instead, there's a few errant curls resting at his temple, and I have to physically resist the urge to tuck them back behind his ear.