Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(59)

It only makes it more satisfying when I pull my power all at once, yanking out hundreds of souls at one time, taking them into myself and consuming them. My skin glows with the power that it gives me, burning brighter as I funnel it through to my Bonded.

Gryphon gasps and clutches his chest as he feels the full extent of what I'm giving him. Kieran grabs his arm to steady him, and I cast the net out wider until I can feel all of the Shields as well, yanking their souls out to do the same. The edges of the Wasteland come down and reveal the thick woods around us.

I cast the net out wider again and again, yanking souls out until there is no one and nothing left here but the TacTeam members we followed out. It's not until my Gift hits the closest town, thirty miles away, that I accept that the god-bond has disappeared again, finding another Transporter to take it away from here. It’s playing the never-ending game of ‘cat and mouse’ that makes my teeth clench.

North and Nox both let their bonds settle back into their minds, and the look they give me at the sparkle of my eyes and power they feel sliding down their limbs has my chest pounding. North looks worried about me, but Nox has nothing but pride shining there, pride in me and what I can do. Pride in the hard work that sometimes feels like too much, but I did it anyway.

Pride that he found me; that I'm his and he is mine.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN





North



When our feet touch the Sanctuary ground, I wait until Gryphon has eased the sickness in Oli before I take her hand and lead her away from the group for a moment.

My eyes roam over every inch of her that I can see to check for wounds, but she was guarded closely while we were there, and there isn’t a scratch or bruise to be found. Her eyes are bright as she looks me over the same way, a soft smile on her face, and I move to wipe a smear off of her cheek. It’s just a small spatter of blood, but I don't want her to see and get upset when she returns home. I want nothing more than to fix every last one of these problems so I never have to see that anguish on her face ever again.

“How are you feeling? Tell me the truth, Bonded,” I say.

Her smile turns into a grin and she bounces on her heels. “I should probably feel bad about how good I feel, shouldn't I? They were just regular souls, so I feel as though I've just slept for a month straight, and I'm ready for more. More hunting, I mean. I only wish we'd found that god-bond.

I nod my head, stripping my helmet and gloves off before throwing them on the ground, careless for once in my life because nothing matters to me except this perfect girl standing in front of me.

“I can't go back up to the house with you just yet. There's something I need to do first, but I need you to go up there and be safe.”

Her eyebrows furrow for a moment, but she nods her head, leaning forward to press her hands against my chest as the others begin to murmur behind us. I want to tell her before I do it, but I don't want to start another argument with any of them either.

Instead, I lean forward to press our foreheads together and then send through just to her, I'm going down to speak to the god-bond. I'm going to offer it something to get more information out of it, and when I'm done with that, I'm going to have a meeting with the rest of the council. I need you to know that I'm getting rid of it. I'm done with that. Our people are done with that.

Her eyes widen, but she doesn't pull away from me, instead leaning in even further, like she's trying to crawl under my skin. It makes me want to scream, not at her, but at everything else for keeping us apart. All I want to do is lift her into my arms and carry her back up to my office, lay her out on my desk, and eat her out for days. Worship her in the ways that only I can.

I'm a selfish and terrible man, but I want to lock the door and have her all to myself for as long as she will let me.

If that's what you think is best. Just promise me that no one is going to try and stab you in the middle of the night for suggesting such a thing. That will definitely make my bond cranky.

I smile at her. As if anyone could get past all of us. As if anyone would try, Bonded.

She shrugs and then leans up on her tippy-toes to kiss me, a simple press of our lips together. But the moment she touches me, my control snaps. My arms band around her waist as I deepen the kiss, ignoring the groans behind me.

“We’re out in the open! You’re the one who calls the rest of us out for that,” Atlas snaps, and I find myself acting completely out of character when I do nothing more than lift a finger up to him, flipping him off.

I enjoy the giggle that Oli lets out at my expense. When she breaks away from me, breathing hard and her eyes twinkling, I glance over to find Kieran standing with his back to us both, his fingers in his ears as though he's trying to completely remove himself from this situation.

The savage look on Gryphon's face explains why, but Nox is staring at Oli with the sort of hunger that he only just allows himself to show around her, and it tempts me to abandon my plans and just drag her upstairs instead.

She gives me a coy smile, patting my chest for a minute. “We have time, Bonded. We have a whole lifetime ahead of us. Go and do what you need to do. I will wait for you back home.”

She's the perfect Bonded for me and for everyone else, there's no question of that.





I wasn't expecting the cells underneath the Tac Training Center to fill up so quickly with people that we can’t process because of their relationship to my Bonded Group.