Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(52)

Vivian just shakes his head at me. “I don't feel like that's going to be much help here. Fallows will end up pushing someone into a sparring match with her attitude, and Bassinger will only egg her on. You know I love that kid, but she’s got a mouth on her at the best of times. All hell breaks loose the second her eyes change color. Then we’ll be dealing with a stampede situation.”

I smile at him, and then my own eyes shift to black. “I’m three steps ahead of you there.”

“Fuck me, that’s still as creepy as ever,” Vivian grumbles as Unser flinches back from me.

The Soothsayer fills my mind, taking control of my limbs, and I can feel as the emotions and personality melt away from my facial expressions. The Soothsayer reaches out to take the clipboard and Vivian gives it to him quickly, damn near shoving it in his direction, as though he’s afraid to touch it.

It starts to hand the pages back to him with nothing more than a yes or no, its mind moving faster than mine ever could.

Vivian and Unser scramble to set up a system to collect them, and I have to speak directly to the Soothsayer inside my mind to change the way that it speaks, not wanting it to piss anyone off right now. The last thing I want my Bonded walking into is an all-out brawl with hundreds of people using various Gifts. We'd win that fight, but how many would we lose in the process? It's just not worth it to me.

It agrees for her safety alone.

The moment the doors open and Oli walks in, the Soothsayer drops the paperwork and marches straight towards her, the terrified crowd parting like the sea as everyone gets a good look at the void eyes.

Oli lets out a little squeak of joyful surprise, grinning and throwing herself at the Soothsayer. I would say that she was putting on an act just to rub everyone's faces in the fact that we are her Bonded and she loves the gods within us as much as she loves us, but the joy is oozing out of her very pores.

She is thrilled to see him, the same way she is thrilled to see me. “What can I help you with, my Bonded?” she asks, and the Soothsayer rumbles back at her happily, pleased at being acknowledged by his eternal purpose, his love, his reason for existing.

I reach out to her through the mind connection, We will send recruits over to you and Bassinger. Then you can set up a sparring match for them. It’s working through the lists faster than anyone else can at this point. I will get Vivian and Unser moving people into the construction area if they don't check out.

She nods and reaches her hands up to cup the Soothsayer's face, drawing him down to her lips for a kiss.

Anything for you, my Bonded.

She has the gods wrapped around her fingers as tightly as the Eternal within her does. I can feel the pleasure and satisfaction thrumming through the god at such treatment. She is the perfect vessel for them to worship along with their god-bond.

I lose track of the time as I wade through the scores of people who come through the doors, moving them off into the direction that the Soothsayer sends them. At one point, I look over to find Oli staring at the mat that she has people sparring on. Kieran murmurs to her, pointing things out to her as he accepts her help seamlessly. Atlas watches over her as much as he watches the mats, stepping closer to her side the moment anybody approaches our Bonded, but everyone in the room treats her with respect.

Out of close to a hundred and fifty applicants, two-thirds of them are accepted to start training here in the center. Of the third that we move to the construction process, only one has a bad reaction to seeing my void eyes. His fear borders on an angry reaction, something the man can’t control, but it isn’t smart to be around us.

I reach out to North to let him know the Gifted’s name and family so that we can do more research into him. We need to see whether or not we should remove him from the Sanctuary and find some other safe lodgings for them. All in all, it feels as though we have won something today.

When the Soothsayer finally lets me go, slipping back into the dark recesses of my mind, Vivian comes forward, holding a cup of coffee out to me.

“That thing isn't very friendly, is it?” he observes, sipping at his own cup as he looks out over the sparring mats.

Kieran has gotten into the ring with the black belt, and it’s highly amusing watching them scuffle. The Gifted isn't very scrappy. He has a lot of perfected techniques that could be an absolute asset out in the field, but Kieran is more of a combination fighter, intent on doing whatever it takes to win the sparring match. It’s an interesting match.

“It doesn't really have any feelings towards anything except Oli.”

Vivian nods for a second and then shrugs. “If it's ready to burn the whole world down just to keep her safe, then it’s a good thing we have it on our side. Maybe we can channel it a bit to keep the community safe as well.”

“That's the plan. Who knows if we can make it happen.”

I go back over to my Bonded, and Atlas slaps me on the back in a friendly gesture as I move past him. His eyes are narrowed on the group of men standing together murmuring amongst each other. They’re not talking about anything of note, but Atlas is on high alert anyway, as he always is with our Bonded around, and I'm not going to blame him for that.

“You’re back! How did it go?” Oli asks, leaning into my side as she watches two of the women fight.

Both of them have a little more than basic training, which is a great starting point, one that will get them on missions quickly under the right training regime.