Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(57)

I cast out my net of power; it's a much more reliable way to find survivors and my own way of helping out.

I want to vomit at the vast, gaping chasm of emptiness in the field.

“They're all dead,” I murmur, my voice breaking, and North nods his head without turning around to look at me, his eyes carefully watching the area around us.

“I already guessed they would be, Bonded. I'm sorry I didn't prepare you well enough for that.”

I shake my head. “I guessed it too. It's just… I already knew that’s what was going to happen, but it's different being here, seeing it. There's no Resistance here either. There's no one left for me to hold accountable for this.”

North nods his head again, reaching his hand out as the shadows play around us, sniffing the bodies. “Can your bond tell us anything? Who was here or if it can guess at which god may have done this?”

I scowl a little as I think about it, reaching out to my bond and finding it just as pissed off as I am. “It doesn't know. It can guess, but there are a lot of options, especially if they have help from other Gifted.”

He sighs and turns back to me, carefully taking off one of his gloves before he cups my face, rubbing a thumb over my cheekbone and murmuring to me quietly, “None of this is our fault. I know that doesn't help, but hold on to it until we get home. I'm sorry you had to come here.”

I shake my head a little and look out over the line of trees just outside of the suburb. The cold hasn't reached here yet. The leaves are still changing color, and there is an eerie quiet to the world around us. As I stare out over it all, I see a playground there, and my heart breaks in my chest.

I can imagine the children moving here and being so excited to find one. The Sanctuary only had one small play area at the school, something that we had discussed making a priority. North and Gabe had already started planning a large park for the children to play in, something we wanted to move up the list, but it's so difficult when we know how many people are waiting to be let in once housing becomes available.

Everything is a constant battle, a give and take. Do one thing and neglect another; it’s an impossible weight for my Bonded to carry.

North steps away from me and with his ungloved hand, he presses his palm to the neck of one of the men on the ground, his eyes flashing to black. I scowl for a moment before I remember that this is one of his gifts, a variation of the death touch. Yes, he can take life away, but he can also see the cause of someone's death, a trait I haven't seen come in handy until now.

“There was the Pain god. That's what came here and did this. At least we know what we're facing,” he says.

Gryphon and Nox come stalking back over to us from where they had ventured a little further out, making their way through the lines of bodies.

“Kieran’s caught the trail, he knows where they've Transported to. It could be a stop-off point to get to where we're going.”

“It could also be a trap,” Nox says, but Gryphon just shrugs.

“I’m confident that we can get out of any trap that they set for us, aren’t you?”

Nox scowls, and his eyes dart down to mine for a moment. “I don't want to make any dumb decisions here just because we're pissed off at what they've done. There’s no use in getting ourselves killed.”

I let my eyes slip shut as I reach out to my bond, but the answer is already waiting for me there. “Let's go hunting, my Bonded.”

Adrenaline fills my body as Kieran strides towards us, a look of disgust on his face as he avoids the victims on the ground. “You're going to kill them, right? This isn't going to be a recon thing? You're going there, and you're going to gut every last one of the motherfuckers who did this? Promise me, Fallows.”

North bristles at him speaking to me like this, but I nod my head. “Every last one of them.”

“Good. I’ll stick around and make sure you're okay. We’re not going to get split up by any Shields this time.”

Kieran shoves the gaiter from his neck up over his face, and Gryphon sidles up next to me, wedging me between himself and North as we grasp his second-in-command. “It doesn't matter who they stick between us, Oli’s got it covered. Just try to stay out of the way if her bond comes out. I doubt it's going to be in a very forgiving mood.”

“None of them are,” Kieran snaps as his eyes flash to white, and then we pop out of the area without another snarky word.





The moment we appear, a body slams into mine and takes me to the ground. My stomach roils and my bond presses against my skin, but the smell of Atlas’ soap and clean sweat, so familiar, stops me from spiraling completely out of control.

Gunfire sounds around us, explosions and hell breaking loose. I hear a grunt and then a roar. The crunching sounds of Gabe’s bones breaking as he shifts, the god-bond taking over and the Draconis coming to our rescue. As the shadow of his huge body blocks the sun, more shadows fall over us all as North and Nox both jump into protection mode. The Draconis’ jaws open and a roar comes out as it shoots flames up into the sky, the sound so loud my head begins to pound.

I feel so disoriented, so unprepared for what we’ve just stepped into, that it takes me a minute to figure out some vital details.

We're in a Wasteland.

One that used to be a Resistance camp, if the charred remains of the tents around us are any indication, and we're not the first TacTeam to arrive.