Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(42)

I know, without a doubt, that there are presidents and royalty with less protection than what my brother has in place for our Bonded Group and the little Central still sleeping in my arms.

The Corvus doesn't hesitate to walk Oleander back into her room, ignoring the conversation still happening around us. Gabe and Atlas eventually follow us down the hallway, as though drawn there by Oli subconsciously, never wanting to be too far away from her.

Even after it gets her tucked safely into her bed with Gabe and Atlas watching her like hawks, my bond is not satisfied.

It doesn't want to leave her here without one of us standing guard, and I understand the feeling well. There's something vulnerable about her at the moment, something I've never felt before. Before, when she had overexerted her power, her bond would still simmer to the surface from time to time. I could still feel it there watching over her as her body took what it needed. There's a stillness inside of Oleander right now that chills me right down to the bone.

I don't want to leave her.

Black is waiting in the kitchen for me to return. When my bond simply stands and stares at Oleander's sleeping form, Gabe starts to get restless.

“We’re not going to let anything happen to her. Atlas is indestructible, and he is going to cover her at all times. North and Gryphon are the ones who need help here.”

He uses a very reasonable tone, but my god-bond doesn't react. It doesn't do anything except stare down at the small lump in the fabric that Oli makes, watching her obsessively. Her breathing is even and steady; nothing about her is saying that she needs to be watched like this.

If anything happens, she has Atlas’ power to cover her, and Gabe can shift into the dragon if he needs to. It would take him less than a second to fly her back to us. I know this, the Corvus knows this, and yet, we still can’t move.

“Are you going to be able to leave her or should we call North and let him know what's going on?” Atlas asks as he climbs up onto the bed with her.

He doesn't immediately move her onto his lap or fuss with her as I would. He simply presses a hand to her chest to feel her breathing for a minute and then lets her go, letting her sleep peacefully. The way that he loves and treats her is incredibly selfless, a stark comparison to the selfish way that I covet her.

It doesn't make me feel bad though. If anything, it makes me feel like I need to take more, to take everything from her until I have it all.

“I’ll call North,” Gabe mutters, sharing a look with Atlas, but my bond finally moves, reaching out a hand, and my palm turns black as shadows fall from it.

Mephis and Procel come down and immediately move to the bed, jumping up to flank either side of her. Atlas stares at them distrustfully, and my bond finally speaks. “They will guard her. Do not attempt to move or disrupt them. I will only be gone for as long as it takes to fix the problem.”

Atlas nods, slowly shifting away from the shadows a little, but his eyes stay on her. Finally, my god-bond loosens the grip on my body, letting me take control once more, though it continues watching.

Gabe lets out a breath behind me. “What crawled up its ass? The rest all left happily.”

I shake my head dismissively at him. “She's sleeping too heavily. You need to watch her, and call me the second anything changes… for better or worse.”

Gabe startles and steps towards the bed. “What do you mean by that? She always does this when she uses power.”

Atlas shakes his head. “This is different. Can't you feel it? She's not the only one resting.”

Gabe scowls and shrugs. “That makes sense though, doesn't it? She took out something bigger than she ever has before, of course her bond needs to sleep as well.”

I shake my head. “I don't like it. Just watch her and call me. I'll go deal with these fucking idiots at the office and then I'll be back.”

“You or your bond?” Atlas asks as I turn on my heel.

“Does it matter? We're one and the same,” I say as I shove the door open, stalking out to where Black is waiting for me.

The relief on his face at the color of my eyes is stark. “If you’d have told me six months ago that you'd be acting like this over your Bonded—”

I fucking hate that word.

Using it like that, about her, it makes my skin crawl, so I cut him off. “We need to get this over and done with. I need to be back here.”

He scowls at me as he claps a hand on my shoulder. “Do you need me to send Felix up? He's already waiting, if you need him.”

I shake my head. “No one's looking at her without me there. We'll deal with this, and then when I get back, I can look her over again and make the call.”

Kieran shakes his head. “It's not a good day to be the General.”

It's never a good day to be the fucking General. I hate the man, even more so now than ever before, which is something I didn't think was possible. He is taking me away from Oleander right now, when she needs me the most, and that is inexcusable.

We transport into the bottom floor of North’s office, the area that is open for the public to come into and wait to speak with him. It’s usually fairly empty, nothing more than a glorified thoroughfare area, but we find it packed with bodies.

I’m not very surprised to find ourselves appearing in the middle of an all-out war.