Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(77)

This soul is a lot harder to get out.

The vessel is older, already long dead, and the god-bond is strong after years of hiding out and developing. It takes a moment, but the Soothsayer floods my mind, sending me more of his power as he opens up my mind to the others, letting them help with this burden.

I'm careful not to take too much from them, careful not to open us up to the risk of too many of us being weakened, but I do take what they offer. I use it to pull the god-bond’s soul out with one hard yank, watching as the body twitches violently before finally it stops breathing. This time when I consume the soul, I pass out from the waves of power that flood me, everything going dark around me as I feel the lifeforce flood my body.

The Crux catches me as darkness envelops me.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE





Oli



I wake up wrong.

I know exactly what it is even before I come to properly, the out-of-body feeling that’s slowly becoming familiar to me. It’s the sensation of knowing that I am not in my own vessel anymore, but I'm still safe, nestled happily within one of my Bonded. I’m comfortable and loved and home.

I hate how much I love it.

It’s an invasion of privacy, at the very least, and a violation at worst. I feel guilty even though I have no idea how I keep doing it or how I would stop doing it. It’s not like I’ve ever thought to myself ‘Hey, this nap would be a great time to go mind-hopping’, for God’s sake!

The only upside is that I instantly know whose mind I’m in. Gabe was perfectly happy for me to be here last time; I doubt much has changed since then. At least I know that I’m not going to trip over any nightmares in here, ones that Nox in particular would hate me having to see and experience alongside him.

I hear the familiar sound of the rumbling and know right away that it’s the sound of the Draconis sleeping, tucked away safely somewhere.

I sit down once again, not really understanding what exactly it is I'm sitting on or what anything around me is as I wait for my Bonded to appear.

It doesn't take long.

“Everything okay?” he asks as he sits down next to me, and I smile up at him.

“Of course. I don't know why I'm here, but I’m happy to be.”

“Something in me obviously called out to you. I’m sorry, Bonded.” He sighs, rubbing his head on my knees as he all but collapses on top of me.

We're both going through the energy drain that comes with our god-bonds’ abilities, him still trying to adjust to the Draconis and its eating patterns while I am going through the aftermath of consuming not one but two god-bond souls.

I still don't want to think about it.

The very idea of it still fills me with a sense of dread, my stomach roiling as though I’m allergic to it. I feel as though I’ve been tainted in some way, as silly as that sounds. It doesn't matter how it makes me feel though, all that matters is that the god-bonds can’t come back now.

They can never come back.

So whatever it does to me, it's worth it.

“I don't think we should wake up,” Gabe says under his breath, startling a laugh out of me.

“I’m not sure the rest of the Bonded Group would agree with that idea, Bonded,” I say in a stern voice, a grin still flitting across my face jokingly, but he grimaces a little back.

“I’m not so sure about that. Not at the moment, anyway.”

The smile slowly slides off of my face, and I glance around, but I still can't really see anything about the area we’re in. “What do you mean? What happened?”

He licks his lip and then forces a smile on his face, but it doesn't reach his eyes. “It doesn't matter right now, Bonded. We can deal with it when we wake up. Our Bonded Group is safe; don't worry about that.”

The Bonded Group.

He just says that and nothing else. There's a million other things that it could be, all of them sparking panic that floods my brain until I feel as though I'm going to vomit.

“I saw them get Kieran out of the rubble. I saw Felix Heal him enough for the Transporter to take them home, and he was okay,” I say, the words falling out of me in a stream.

Gabe fits his hands across my face, drawing my head down to his as he murmurs, “Kieran is alive. Sage, Felix, Wick, and Riley are all alive. They made it back. I shouldn’t have said anything, Bonded. Just rest now.”

My heart rate slows a little but not enough to distract me from everything that he isn't saying. There's a huffing noise again and he stands, pulling me to my feet. “Come see the Draconis with me. Let me distract you with my bond for a little bit. You know he'll want some belly rubs if you're in here.”

I don't want to be distracted. I want to know what's going on, but I follow him anyway, feeling selfish for my ability to stay ignorant while my Bonded is so conflicted.

“We're asleep anyway, Oli. There's nothing you can do. Just come and say hello to my bond, and enjoy the last few moments before we return and face it together.”

I take a deep breath and turn in his mind, following him into the deep, dark recesses until I find the beast waiting there. It's crouched down as though it's in a small space, but that doesn't make much sense to me.

Nothing here does.

The moment it spots me, its eyes glue themselves to me, drinking me in hungrily. If I wasn't so sure about him, I would assume I was about to be eaten. The all-consuming need the Draconis has for its Bonded is certainly not something to take lightly. It craves me in this form and every other.