Page 73 of Blood Bonds

Sage pokes her head out of the room but when I tell her I’m fine, she stumbles back to bed without a word, still half asleep and not coherent enough yet to form words.

I chew North and Gryphon both out using our mind connection as we leave, but neither of them seem to care.

“Someone who knows our morning routines did it. They know that you’re an early riser,” North says, pulling his sweater off and shoving it over my head. It’s still warm enough, even in my gym gear of a tank top and a pair of shorts, but Gryphon helps him to straighten it over me until I’m covered to my knees.

I don’t get why he’s trying to cover me up until I see the hordes of workmen walking along in the opposite direction, all of them waving or tipping their heads respectfully at North, who I’m sure is absolutely thrilled to be wearing nothing but sweatpants right now.

Gryphon shakes his head slowly, grabbing my hand when I lose my balance a little on some loose gravel. “It was a test. The Resistance don’t actually want Oli dead. They want to know how secure this place is and what we have in the way of failsafes. They’ll be watching our reactions to things and how we pivot when they attack, even on smaller scales like this.”

I scoff at them. “Well, they’ve learned that you both panic and find me a Healer, and if they want me alive, then they’ll be extra pleased about that.”

Gryphon shrugs again, refusing to let go of my hand as he directs me up the path to our house and says, “This is the one time I’m fine with doing exactly what those assholes want. Safety above ego, always.”

I nod and wait for North to get the door open, stumbling over my feet into the house and trying not to get frustrated at the fact that Gabe leaves his shoes at the door. North doesn’t give out the same courtesy and curses under his breath, striding off to snap at him and wake my poor Bond up.

Living in such close quarters is harder than any of us thought, and there are a lot of alpha males in one spot here.

“Stop worrying about it. It’s not your problem to deal with, and they’ve had years to figure out a friendship that you have no responsibility over,” Gryphon murmurs, directing me over to the breakfast bar in the kitchen and helping me up onto the stool.

I nod and tuck my arms around myself, taking a deep and calming breath of North’s scent on the sweater before propping my chin up on my fist as I watch Gryphon move around the kitchen. He’s still wearing his gym gear and I get to enjoy the flexing of his arms and shoulders in his harshly cut out tank top. I barely notice that he’s getting out frying pans and all of the fixings for scrambled eggs and bacon. It’s only when he slides the plate across to me, that I realize he’s made us both breakfast.

I stare down at it for a second and then back up to where he’s shaking his head at me. “I’m not the chef, but I can make eggs. I worked in the cafe with Kyrie for a few years during college, they’ll be edible at the very least.”

I blush a little and grab the knife and fork he’s also slid across the counter to me. “I’m sure they’re delicious. I was more shocked that we have the food. I thought we weren’t at the rationing stage yet?”

He shrugs and digs in to his own plate. “We’re not. I grabbed them when I had to go into the Council offices. There’s occasionally perks to dealing with the Resistance assholes we bring back here.”

I nod and eat along with him, impressed as hell that he not only cooked them to the perfect consistency but he seasoned them well too. They’re freaking great eggs.

“I didn’t think we got any prisoners? I thought my bond took the entire camp out.”

He nods, his mouth full, and waits until he’s swallowed before replying, “It did. These were those we’d grabbed and transported out before you joined the fight. We got a handful, a few higher ranking Gifted so that was helpful.”

I nod and North stalks through the kitchen, his hair still a little sleep rumpled where he hasn’t bothered fixing it too much, but his suit makes him look far more like himself. He nods at Gryphon and then swoops down to give me a kiss, snapping his fingers at August who appears at my side obediently. The change in their relationship has been dramatic since I spoke with his bond. I’ve noticed that even when August returns to him, North will mostly leave him out to guard whatever space he is in.

It makes me fall for him just a little more every time I see it.

“Stay with one of the Bonds at all times today until we get this under control.”

I nod, because I was already planning on it, and let him kiss me again as his hand cradles the back of my head possessively. When he straightens, he shares one last look with Gryphon and then he’s gone, out the door and dealing with the newest crisis here.

I get back to my plate of delicious eggs and to the conversation with Gryphon. There’s too much I want to know about the happenings of the Resistance. “Have you gotten anything useful from the people you took back yet? Did Atlas know anyone?”

He nods and scrapes the last of his eggs onto his fork, still standing in the kitchen like he can’t even take the time to sit down. Thanks to North crashing our training session, we’re over an hour earlier than we usually are, but he’s moving like he’s halfway out the door already.

Before he answers my questions, he cocks his head as his eyes flash, his gift reaching out to check where Atlas is. When he finds him sleeping away, he murmurs to me, “Bassinger’s sister is a mess. I’ve spent two days sifting through her memories, but the inside of her head is like looking in one of those mirrors at a sideshow. The world through her eyes is distorted and misshapen. Growing up in Resistance propaganda and then having four Bonds with the same opinions? She’s… a mess. She’s also being abused by most of her Bonded, physical and mental abuse. That isn’t uncommon in the families from the East Coast Gifted community, but the fact that her parents both know about it and do nothing for her is fucking disgusting.”

My heart breaks a little more for Atlas, the stuff he didn’t want to have to tell me but that he was willing to if it meant I’d believe him. It feels a little bit wrong to be talking about it with Gryphon, but he’s also my Bonded and I know this is weighing on him too. Everything he has to see and experience in his work as a TacTeam leader, it’s a heavy load to carry.

Isn’t it exactly my job to help lighten the load?

“I wouldn’t ask you to, Bonded. I would never put too much of this shit on you, your own burdens are heavy enough. I’m heading into North’s offices to sort out what we’re doing about the water issue. You just get on with your day the same way you would normally. Just keep Bassinger and Gabe with you at all times, okay?”

I nod and grab his plate, hip bumping him out of the way as I load them and the other dishes into the dishwasher. He kisses me soundly and heads off to get dressed for the day, and I enjoy the view of his ass in those shorts the whole damn way.

I almost forgetand climb into the shower when Gryphon leaves, but instead I text Sage and apologize about the rude early morning wake up. She gets back to me straight away, calling me to say that she’s totally fine about it because she’s the best and we spend a good hour on the phone.

Mostly gossiping about Bonds, which is annoyingly fun.