Page 44 of Blood Bonds

Gryphon nods slowly and North reappears from the bathroom, still looking tired and frowning over being conscious. It’s weird to see him like this because even when he slept in my bed before I went to the camps, I would always wake up first and head down to the gym before he woke up. I don’t even know what time he usually wakes.

Except for that one time that Penelope showed up—

Gryphon nips that thought spiral right in the bud and interrupts me. “Nope, we’re not thinking about her right now, and you’re definitely not going to get out of this conversation by thinking about things that make your bond murderous and send you both on a rampage.”

North moves a panel on the wall and a coffee machine appears, Rich Man Syndrome at its finest, and I make grabby hands at him just so that he’s clear on whether or not I want some. I highly doubt he has any decent flavors or creamers in there, but I’d take a black coffee at this point.

That’s how I really know that the power fog has lifted.

“It probably didn’t help that you Bonded in the middle of healing, that would’ve slowed things down. What extra powers do you have? Can you feel anything yet?”

I struggle to sit up, careful not to disturb August from where he’s lying on his back with his paws in the air and snuffling in his sleep. Brutus is tucked into his side and even though he’s awake, he’s not moving or disturbing his brother. It’s very sweet, and I fish around under my pillow until I can grab my phone and attempt to take a photo of them both.

The photo comes out black.

Like, completely black, as though I was holding my finger over the lens. I frown at it and try again, but the image still comes out with nothing. What the hell is that?

“Oli, this is important.”

I huff at Gryphon and take the cup of coffee that North holds out to me, juggling my phone around a bit. “Nothing. Nothing except waking up in Atlas’ head. Like, fully inside his mind. I could hear everything he was thinking and, if I wanted to, I could’ve seen any of his memories. Before you ask, I didn’t look at anything. That’s a gross invasion of privacy, and even though he told me to, I didn’t. I believe he’s on our side. I might not know all of his story yet, but I’ll hear it from him, not by rustling through his mind like a freaking psycho.”

North shares a look with Gryphon and then takes a long gulp of his own coffee, stalking back over to the bathroom with the cup still in his hand. When the shower starts up, I have to sigh at the sound of it, hot water and a coffee. He’s living my dream right now.

“You could live your dream too, you know. You’d probably be making a bunch of his dreams come true too,” Gryphon murmurs, and I shove another pillow in his face.

Then I take my coffee and do exactly what he suggested.

Chapter Fourteen

Gabe

Pullingmy bike up to my parents’ house gets weirder and weirder the longer I live at the Draven’s mansion.

It’s not home anymore.

I feel guilty even thinking that, because my parents did everything to give me the best possible childhood. You only have to look at half the kids around me in my classes at Draven to know that I’m lucky. Half of them were brought up by parents so traumatized by what happened in the riots that they became overprotective to the point of smothering.

Grey can barely breathe without his dad’s permission, even at twenty years old he lives under their rules.

My parents were protective but wanted me to experience a normal childhood. They took me to football games and let me go out with my friends. Once I shifted for the first time, they’d relaxed the rules even more, because they knew I could defend myself better than most.

They were great parents… until they weren’t.

Home, for me, is always going to be wherever Oli is.

I send a text to North to let him know that I’ve gotten here without incident and try not to feel like a child about it. I have to remind myself that we’re all checking in with him at the moment. He’s staying at the mansion, and everyone is answering to him so that we’re all accounted for, but it still prickles at my skin a little.

I have to remind myself that it’s for Oli, because that makes it worth it. She’s the reason we’re all staying close, staying connected, and staying vigilant, because there aren’t just people out there who could hurt her, there are people specifically targeting her, which is a whole different beast.

Losing her isnotan option.

So I’ll toe all of the lines without question, the texting and checking in and all of the extra security shit, because if it’s keeping her safe, then it’s worth every fucking second.

The front garden of the house is perfectly manicured and maintained; the gardener is doing his usual exemplary job. There’s nothing out here that would suggest that anything had gone wrong inside over the last four years. There’s no sign of the breakdown I’m about to face head on and hope to come out without feeling like having one of my own.

I fuss around with my keys until I get the door unlocked, wiping my feet on the mat and glancing around as though there’s any chance of something being different here, as though maybe there was some life in the place again. Nothing. Of course.

I sigh and call out, “Mom? Are you home?”