Tragic Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #5)(57)

“How quickly your tune changes!” she says between gasps, and I shrug at her.

“I’m pretty sure you offered to set Kieran on fire for me, glass houses here.”

“One time.” She holds up a hand. “One time, and that's because I found out he tackled you to the ground, like a brute. Unnecessary force used. I’d set anyone on fire for that.”

Kieran gives me a look for reminding his Bonded that he'd been the one to bring me in, and I flip him the bird because he deserves to cop a bit of shit for that asshole move.

My eyes drift back to Nox as he sweeps his opponents’ legs out from underneath them, their bodies hitting the ground hard. I can’t help but be drawn back to him as though he’s a beacon calling for my attention. “I’m not going to apologize for finding any of my Bonded hot, especially not while they are pummeling people into the ground for us.”

“Don't rock the boat, Sage. We're enjoying the peace and quiet too much to ruin it just for the sake of splitting hairs,” Gabe says as he approaches us, wiping his sweat on a towel and looking deliciously mischievous as his arms flex in my direction.

“We weren't that bad,” I grumble under my breath, even though it's a total lie.

At least Gryphon isn't here to hear it.

“You are both a nightmare, perfectly paired to ruin everyone’s peace of mind,” Kieran says, and he slings an arm around Sage’s waist as he tugs her closer, attempting to get her back on his side. “I’m pretty sure the two of you gave North stress ulcers, and half of the TacTeams still have nightmares about the training sessions Gryphon put them through as his own stress relief.”

I wince a little and glance around. “Is that why everybody hates me? I feel like I should apologize or something to them all for that, because there’s nothing worse than Gryphon on a mission to destroy you in training. I know—I’ve been through it enough.”

Kieran shakes his head. “Better for them to face him and sharpen their abilities against someone who doesn't want them dead than sending them out against the Resistance green.”

I nod, a good reminder of the real reason we're here.

After a while, Sage and I decide we should probably get to working out as well, as good as it is to watch my guys wipe the floor with everyone around them. We move off to one of the smallest sparring mats to work on our own training together. Kieran comes with us and critiques both of our forms for us in the stern and gruff way that he has, firmly guiding us both through our paces without a hint of favoritism towards his own Bonded.

Sage is quick to groan about that fact when he instructs me on how to best throw her over my shoulder as she rushes me.

“You need to get better about how you land, and Oli needs to get adept at facing off with people her own size instead of just using her enemies’ body weight against them, thanks to all of her training with her Bonded. You can't just rely on everybody to be bigger than you when we're facing off with the Resistance.”

Sage groans from the mats where she’s splayed out on her back. “You could try sounding a little less happy about it is all I'm saying. With any luck, I will just set everyone on fire before they get near me, and I'll never have to do this.”

I scoff and reach down to help her up. “Let's be real. We're hoping that between my bond and the shadow creatures, no one ever gets within a hundred feet of us. But if going to the Wastelands and the camps has taught me anything, you can never really be over-prepared to face off with these idiotic lunatics.”

She nods and uses the bottom of her tank top to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. I giggle at the way that Kieran whips around me to cover her up, glaring around the room as though somebody might look at the few inches of skin his Bonded inadvertently showed off.

No one would dare, and we both know it.

Bonded men can be impossible about their women.

When Kieran has to leave to transport North and Gryphon back home to us, I'm both exhausted from our training and relieved that we're all going to be back in the same spot again. Sage and I decide to grab dinner from the dining hall to split with our Bonded at North’s office, happy to continue spending the day together after so much uncertainty and unease.

Once we have our bags piled up from the chef—who promises me emphatically that he is doing his best to get me some seafood like the national treasure he is—we head back to meet up with the rest of our families. Gabe meets us halfway, insisting on carrying the bags for us both, laughing and joking with Sage about everything he had done to his opponents in the training room.

They've known each other their entire lives, having grown up in the same Top Tier family circles, and I find myself enjoying the easy banter that they have together, both of them calm and relaxed after their intense workouts.

When we get back to the office, we find everyone waiting there for us. Though Gryphon comes straight up to me to greet me with a kiss, North hangs back a little bit. When I finally reach him to hand him a serving of the food we had brought with us, he presses a kiss to my cheek without much of a greeting, directing me over to sit with him, but I can feel the tension in his body.

It freaks me out.

I feel like I’ve been on this awful roller coaster with him, like every time we’ve found each other in the tumultuous waves we’re drowning in, something else will happen to pull us apart again.