Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(33)

She giggles and scratches behind its ear, letting go of my hand briefly to let Brutus down to stand up at his brother's side. It hits me when I look down at them that I no longer feel the rage and jealousy I once did. It also hits me, though, that I can finally admit that some of what I felt was jealousy.

Jealousy that maybe my Bonded preferred the Dravens, that maybe these special little creatures that they assigned to watch over her might endear her to them a little more than to me.

Those feelings are gone now.

I want both of them to survive this as much as I want myself to. We all need to survive this for her. The gods have made that clear. How close we’d come to losing Nox and opening ourselves up to another lifetime of destruction, death, and pain… Well, my hands shake at the thought of it. The Cleaver has been very clear with me the few times we’ve spoken, and I’ve been sure to listen.

We all need to survive.

“The mission is simple—kill everyone on sight,” Nox says as he pulls the gaiter up over his mouth.

North shoots him a pointed look and adds, “Let your bonds decide if we're facing a god in there or not. If we are, kill first and ask questions later. If they’re Gifted, we should probably see what they have to say first.”

I nod, pulling my own gaiter up over my nose, more as a way to hide my face than as protection. Oli does the same as she tucks her hand firmly back into mine. The shadow puppies begin to play at her feet, bouncing around excitedly as they prepare to charge into the building and consume whoever we come across. I feel a lot better having them here with us, knowing she has even more protection than just what I can offer her.

Gabe’s hands flex at his side, and he leans in to murmur quietly to Oli, “How are you feeling? Should we leave some for you to take care of and boost your energy?”

I can't believe I didn't think of that myself.

I glance down, but Oli simply rolls her shoulders back, tilting her head to one side and then the other as she stretches out her neck. “I’m feeling okay. I think we're better off trying to take survivors with us. My bond seems to think that there's a god-bond around here somewhere. If not, we need to know where it's gone. Surely someone in there knows something.”

I give her a curt nod, and then we wait until Gryphon and Kieran take the lead before following them up the steps. North and Nox taking up the rear, their palms coated in black and shadow creatures everywhere. The air around us is thick with them as the Bonded Group moves as one. Time to test if it's true.

If, together, we really are unstoppable.

Gryphon's voice comes through the mind connection clearly to us all, The staff are still in the house, and there are at least three Top Tier Gifted here as well.

He sends through the mind patterns of the Gifted in there. Strangely, I can tell who at least one of them is. It’s impossible to explain, but even the way the man is thinking is instantly recognizable to me.

I suddenly realize just how powerful and terrifying Gryphon’s gift truly is.

That's one of my sister’s Bonded Group. One of the men that she was sold off to, I mean, not her actual Bonded. He won't have a god-bond in him, but I suggest we kill him.

Oli glances up at me with a questioning look, and I sigh as I send through the mind connection to everyone, he probably has information that would be helpful, so we should take him in alive. But he's also an abusive dickhead who was happy to beat the woman he recognized as his Bonded, so don't feel like getting him there in one piece is necessary. A few chunks missing would be a better option.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Gabe’s lip curl in disgust, and for the first time, it doesn't fill me with guilt or any sort of self-loathing.

I don't feel like I'm a Bassinger anymore.

I’m Atlas, one of Oleander Fallows’ Bonded, a part of the Draven Bonded Group.

I’m no longer sitting on the sidelines, watching all of this go on. These people are merely a chapter in my life that I have long-since closed the door on, and none of them mean anything to me.

I’m better than any of them could ever hope to be.

Oli wasn’t exaggerating—my parents’ house really does make the Draven mansion look like a cozy bungalow. As we step into the foyer, I feel a ripple of disgust run through my body. It’s as though this isn’t just a mental thing, I’m physically repulsed by this place. We need to get this over with, fast.

The decor and furnishings loudly ensure that anyone who enters this place knows that my parents are rich assholes.

Were.

My brain still hasn't adjusted to the past tense yet. Looking at my father's portraits everywhere leaves me feeling empty, but my mother's portraits give me that same weird mixture of guilt and grief, all of it swirling deep inside me.

We come to a halt, and Oli stands quietly until Gryphon and Nox both motion that we're clear before she points out a small collection of my school photos that are framed and displayed on one of the countertops.

She's grinning at the dumb-ass hair cut that I had in third grade, and I will never stop being grateful for the way that she can read a situation and defuse it, taking the uncomfortable and exposing trip back here and turning it into more of a sightseeing mission than something I need to feel shame over.

I roll my eyes at her when she stalks over to the photos, cracking the frames open and slipping a few of them into the front of her Tac vest to take home with us. I groan when I see which ones she's picked out, but she just shrugs and murmurs to me quietly, “I don't have any baby photos. Nox has very few as well. I think we need to keep the ones that we do have access to.”