Tragic Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #5)(82)

When we finally reach the edge of the boundary, there are groups of TacTeam personnel armed to the teeth and aiming outwards with their weapons. Some have their palms raised and ready to unleash their Gifts, while others stick to their standard issue weapons.

I move Oli a little closer into my side, and Gabe shifts subtly in front of her. We find North and Gryphon easily enough, though surprisingly, Nox is with them as well. They’re all staring out at the area in front of us where a group of Resistance cavalry is standing there talking, but the shield is strong enough that we can't hear them. That’s both a blessing and a curse, but I find myself angry at the sight of them.

These people had killed my parents.

These people had strung them up from trees. These people would do the same thing to me and my Bonded and the rest of the Bonded Group. And given half the chance, these people would do worse.

It’s like a pressure building up inside of me, bubbling under the surface until my skin and bones can no longer contain it, like my power is building and building and building as it focuses on what those people would do to us all.

What they will do to us all.

Those words echo in my head as I feel my Gift slip out of my control.

Murderers. These people would take everything from us. They would take what is ours.

Mine.





Chapter Twenty-Five





Oli



I feel the moment that Atlas’ bond changes.

It takes over his body in a wave of power that ripples out to slam through everyone around us, intoxicating and terrifying. There’s no mistaking what it is, because my bond wakes up with it, pushing at my skin as it strains towards him. I glance over to see the black rings around North’s irises, the dark stain on Nox’s fingers, and the clench of Gabe’s jaw as he holds the shift back, his dragon fighting to come out. The only reaction I can see in Gryphon is the tight curling of his fists at his side as he stares at the destruction of Atlas’ god-bond.

There's no time to attempt to hide what's happened to him from the TacTeam personnel here.

There's no way for Gryphon to use his abilities to shut everyone down, not without causing serious damage to them, and I find myself standing there as still as I can, praying that I'm wrong even as I can feel what has occurred here deep in my bones.

My own bond forces my head up to look at Atlas, straight into the voids that have taken over his irises instead of the bright white light I’m used to seeing there.

He looks down at me, and his face is that same blank slate that all of the bonds’ are when they take over. When he sees me and recognizes me as his Bonded, his arms tighten around my waist. From the corner of my eye, I can see Gabe freaking out, but I lean in further to Atlas’ side.

If there's anything I'm sure of, it’s my safety around these men and the gods that live inside of them. Even the new ones. I know that I can trust them as much as I know that my own heart beats in my chest.

It simply is.

His eyes look into mine, searching. I stare back at him, unsure of what it is that he's looking for and hoping he's finding it. He slowly lowers his head to bring our faces closer together, not quite kissing but still breathing the same air, a whisper away from our skin on each other. My bond yearns for him, strains in my chest with a desperate ache, and I know then that it’s been waiting for this bond.

It’s been waiting for them all.

There's movement around us, but Azrael shifts to grow at my feet, reaching my waist before he snarls at whoever was dumb enough to approach us right now. Once he’s sure they’re no longer moving in, he sits at my feet as though he's protecting us, both of his lips curling back on his sharp teeth as he growls soundlessly.

“Mine,” Atlas’ bond whispers against my lips. I nod my head just a little, my lips brushing against his. The next wave of power that bursts out of him flows through me as seamlessly as the shadow creatures would.

I'm afraid, for a second, that he is hurting the TacTeam personnel around us by accident, seeing them as a threat that they're not. Then I hear Gabe curse viciously under his breath, a shocked sound, not horror, and I jerk my head away from Atlas’ bond to get a look at what's happened.

The Resistance outside of the shield have been torn in half.

Every last one of them is dead, and it's not the clean and painless death of their souls being torn out or the horrifyingly violent death of me triggering their souls either.

No, this is visceral and bloody and horrifying. The mangled bodies before us look as though they’ve been hacked apart with a chainsaw or simply ripped into two by a giant.

North and Gryphon are twin images of shock, but Nox’s eyebrows are drawn low as he mumbles something under his breath, turning back to look at Atlas, but his bond only stares down at me.

It’s fixated on its Bonded.

I can tell everyone around me is already freaking out, so I press my palms to his cheeks, drawing him down to me so I can speak slowly and soothingly to him. “It's okay. Everything is okay. We're safe. The shield is in place, and no one can get to me here. You can give me Atlas back now. Okay? Give him back to me.”

I’m not lying. There’s no sign of Resistance survival amongst the corpses of his bond’s wrath, and none of the TacTeam around us would dare to attempt to harm me. The only danger here is what will happen within my Bonded Group if the bond doesn’t give Atlas back. North and Gryphon can get a little jumpy, a little protective, and I don’t want a fight breaking out right now.