Page 70 of Blood Bonds
Nox
The bedroom isquiet as I slip in, trying not to bleed everywhere as I do. The late night training sessions that have taken over from my late night drinking sessions aren’t any easier on my body, and blood is still pouring out of my nose from the lucky shot Black had gotten in.
My knuckles are a bloodied, raw mess from the beating he’d gotten in return.
He’s going back to his rooms with access to the best Healer of our generation, so I don’t feel an ounce of guilt. Azrael lifts his head from my bed, and I feel his relief in my presence. North’s creature is there as well and when I scowl at him and gesture to the door, I can feel my brother’s frustration. I don’t need a fucking babysitter. If he wants me to let the girl sleep here, then he’ll have to just trust that she’ll make it out alive.
The creature leaves, his legs being snapped at by Rahab, who is my most savage creature. I have to step between them to make sure they don’t wake the girl up with their childish bickering.
I move slowly into the space, my eyes shifting so that I can see clearly. There’s nothing out of place. There never is when she comes here. She just slips into the bed and sleeps on my pillow, burying into the scents of me as though they’re the only thing keeping her heart beating.
It’s strangely respectful, and more than I’ve ever offered her in return.
If I didn’t know my brother better than he knows himself, I might guess that he’d told her. Even something small, just a tiny detail about the absolute mess that he calls a brother, but he wouldn’t.
He never even told William, his closest blood relative after our father was put to death. No, I was the one to spill out the truth to him in one of my episodes. I’d feel a little more self-loathing about that moment but I was nine, and there’s been enough therapy poured over my soul by now that I’m past that phase of my life.
Now I just try to forget it all, drink it out or fight until the pain replaces the memories.
Once I get out of the Tac gear I’d worn down to training, a shirt and utility pants, I find an old towel to wipe the blood away from myself. As I loosen my muscles and take some deep breaths, my creatures slowly pour out of me. Mephis stops at my feet and stays with me, even as the others all come out and spread out across the room. I shouldn’t be surprised that more of them are adopting the form of puppies and other sweet creatures.
They all want her to love them.
It’s sickening.
Literally, my gut turns at the sight of them all trying to fight their way onto the bed to be near her. They’re fierce enough with it that she sighs and rolls in her sleep, her hair spilling out of the tie she had it in and falling out over my pillows in an enticing way.
I look away and get to pulling a pair of sweats on, digging through the small collection I’d brought with us until I find one of the soft tees to throw on with it. They’re the only ones I like sleeping in and, sure enough, they’ve become the girl’s favorite to steal from me as well.
I rub a hand over Mephis’ head, ruffling his ears a little and enjoying the way he preens under my attention. Both Mephis and Rahab wait for me to decide where I’m going to sleep before they move, always staying close to my side. As much as they also want the girl, they would never leave me for her.
Ishouldsleep on the couch a safe distance from her. It’s comfortable enough. I should, but the bed is too tempting, and it’s not like I haven’t already slept in it with her before.
Always when I’m sure she’s out cold and only on rare occasions.
It’s easier to do now that I’ve spoken to her bond. Now that I know exactly what it wants from me and told it what it can’t have, we’ve reached an agreement between the two of us and, sure enough, when I slide between the sheets, the girl’s eyes are open.
But the bond is who stares back at me.
I stare back at it, not really in the mood to talk, and it doesn’t move towards me. It knows better.
When Mephis crawls up to slip between us, the bond finally speaks. “Do you need the pain to sleep? I don’t like it.”
I reach up to press a finger against my nose and enjoy the throbbing pain of it. “I don’t need it. It’s cleared my head already. I’m fine now.”
Her gift floods me instantly and the pain disappears all at once. There’ll be questions tomorrow from Gryph and Black about where the injuries went, and with the girl having no recollection, it’ll be harder to dodge them, so I’ll need to find work away from them for a few days.
Avoiding them all has become a great skill for me, keenly honed.
As I roll onto my back and attempt to get comfortable now that I’m not babying sore points, the bond speaks again. “They’re coming. They won’t leave us alone.”
I nod up at the ceiling. “Of course. They’d be stupid to leave someone like you behind enemy lines.”
She is quiet for a moment and then says, “And you? When they find out about you, what do you think they’ll do to get their hands on a dark god like you?”
Dark god.
It is obsessed with that line of thinking, but I’ve spent a long time trying to avoid the other being who shares my skin. North might be worried about the creatures, but I’ve always known it’s the voice, the other soul, that’s the real thing to be feared.