Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(70)

There, at our feet, is Azrael. He’s slowly growing bigger and bigger and bigger as he takes over the room.

My brows furrow as I watch all of this. It’s completely out of character for my little shadow puppy, but then his puppy form distorts until it's almost as if he's trying to shape himself into a man.

My heart begins to thump in my chest.

I have no idea what is going on, and then suddenly, through the shadow puppy walks Nox, shifting from one space in the Sanctuary to another.

Atlas grumbles under his breath and opens his mouth, ready to tear Nox a new one, but the look on his face tells me something else has happened, something terrible, and the first thing that he's done is come to me the fastest way he possibly can, faster even than the Transporters could get him here.

“What is it?” I whisper. “What's happened?”

Atlas’ grip on me relaxes a little, and I slide down the front of him, completely unbothered by my nakedness, and Nox’s eyes never leave my face.

“One of the Transporter Zones for the new Sanctuary residents was hit. They've taken Kieran.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE





Gabe



The moment we arrive at North’s offices, I feel a grim hope start in my chest. The largest number of TacTeam operatives that I've ever seen are here, all of them dressed and ready to move out as they stand in neat lines the way that they’ve been trained to.

Vivian and Unser look over the crowd with stern and discerning eyes, but I've known them for long enough to know that they're happy with what they are seeing. A lot of work in a very short amount of time might just pay off here.

Nox opens the door to the office, shepherding Oli in front of him as he covers her with his body protectively. Atlas doesn't even flinch at the sight of it, something that has taken a very long time for us to work our way to. The two of them have finally found a middle ground, all that truly matters to either of them is our Bonded.

The way it should have been all along.

The moment we step into the office a gasping sound breaks out of Oli, and she steps around Nox as she flings herself in Sage’s direction.

I almost don't recognize the girl that I grew up with and have known for my entire life.

The Sage back then, the one that Oli had first met and befriended, was a broken shadow of herself. A girl who had been manipulated by the Resistance into losing one of her Bonds, rejected by our community, and was everyone’s punching bag for something she had no control over. The girl who befriended Oli because she saw something in my Bonded that everyone else missed, a good heart. Now we’re here, one of her Bonded kidnapped, and the rest of her Bonded Group is in a mess over it.

Everyone except Sage herself.

She catches Oli and holds her shoulders. “I need you to help me bring him back, Oli. I need you to help me find him.”

I’m happy her words come out strong, like she’s full of fight, brimming with strength and power. I feel weirdly proud of her in this moment.

She's not going to let this break her.

“Of course. I'm going to hunt him down, drag him home to you, and then I'm going to set my bond on anyone and everyone involved in taking him in the first place. I’ll eat all of their souls for you. Someone get me some matches, I'm ready to light something on fire! I can't believe they would go after him like this.”

A grin stretches over my lips, pride swelling in my chest as the Draconis wakes inside of me. It likes the way she’s talking. It likes the promise of bloodshed and vengeance.

Sage scoffs under her breath. “You don't need matches, I'm coming with you.”

“We all are,” Felix says, stepping forward with a bulletproof vest already covering him.

I scowl at him for a second, but as his eyes flick over us, he shrugs. “I’m not going to risk anything happening to him, getting him home. The rest of our Transporters aren't as strong as he is, and anything could happen on the jump. It's just not worth it. Sage is already going to be using so much energy in fighting, and I'm not going to let her risk herself. I'm going.”

He sounds so strong and sure about it as he bends down to grab one of the Tac helmets at his feet. He always did run headfirst at things. Even being a Healer, he had never really been too concerned about what could happen to him out there. He'd been on the football team our entire way through middle school, high school, and then college. He’d always been just as physically active as the rest of us, even knowing that his path in life was going to lead to hospitals and not the field.

It's working in our favor, though.

No other Healer is so quick to sign up to travel like this.

“We're all going. We'll all be there to bring him back.” Wick steps up, his hand slowly sliding down Sage’s arm until his fingers thread through hers carefully, as though he's waiting for her to pull away.

She doesn’t.

She’s definitely taking strength from him right now, and I look around to find that even Riley looks determined.

I don't want to voice my concerns about him coming with us on the mission, considering the state he's been in. If North and Gryphon have made the call to let him go, then who am I to question that?

Instead, I step forward and look at the giant screen in front of us showing the map of the Transport zone. It was highly populated just a few hours ago, making it a safer jumping point. The Resistance historically haven't wanted to hit major cities unless they're sure that they can take the area.