Page 100 of Broken Ties
My Bond is standing there before us trembling and trying to stop herself from crying.
She glances up to meet his gaze and recognizes the agony in his expression, her own heart cracking even worse, but when she moves as if she’s going to comfort him, my bond warns me before my brother arrives.
I’m not ready to see him.
I’m not ready to know the truth of what’s happened.
When he practically stumbles out of the garage, he sneers at my Bond and then Bassinger. When Atlas snarls back, Oleander throws herself at Bassinger, and my entire body tenses at the action but he instantly stands down. He’s strong enough that he’s just torn apart the entire front of my house in his rage, so it’s clear it’s her touch alone that stops him and not any attempts at physically restraining him.
Bassinger’s steadfast deference to his Central Bond is making a damning case for my brother and his actions that have causedall of this, but I’ll hear it from him. By myself, first, then with Gryphon later.
Nox is eying me warily, barely acknowledging that my Bond is even here, let alone the state she’s in. “What’s going on?”
Bassinger snarls at him, the heartbreak gone and only the unbridled rage left behind. “What’s happening is that you attempted to force a bond with Oli, and you think being a fucking Draven means you can get away with it. I’m going to torture you andthenkill you.”
There’s absolutely no way.
Turning to Nox, my entire world snaps in half the instant I lay eyes on him.
His face is missing even the slightest indication of guilt, but there’s an accusatory sort of shame. I recognize it well, and my chest hollows out. I’m not sure my brother is capable of guilt at wrongdoing, certainly not of this nature, but that shame means he’s donesomething.
Inadequate in every way, the question I finally manage to form barely conveys the true depth of my apprehension. "Did you do it?”
My lips press together tightly so I don’t beg him to tell me Bassinger is wrong. That something else happened. That he upset my Bond in some other way and this is all a horrifying mistake, that he would never do that to her, to anyone, but least of all to my Bond. The Bond I waited for, searched desperately for, who I’ve already failed and wronged in countless ways… but not this way.
I need him to tell me he didn’t do this.
Nox sees it, too, sees that pleading desperation, and the smirk he gives me is all razor blades and acid, built to cut us both to ribbons and leave nothing but agony in its wake.
"She didn't say no. Not once. She came on my hand so no, brother, I didn't rape her."
Bile rushes up the back of my throat.
Consent isn’t a lack of no, he knows that better than anyone.
Neither is climaxing.
Again, he knows this.
From her response, my Bond might be the only one who doesn’t know this, and Bassinger steps in front of her to cover her from my brother and me entirely.
“You literally teach Gifted 101, we all know that you used her bond against her. You knew exactly what you were doing, and I’m not going to let you treat Oli like that. You’re not so fucking intimidating when you’re facing someone with a Gift, asshole.”
He’s loyal to my Bond, I’ll give Bassinger that, but he’s clearly recklessly overconfident in his so-called Indestructibility. His Strength might be more dangerous than we assumed, but he’s never faced a Death Dealer before, and Nox enjoys nothing more than a challenge, especially one that is as self-destructive as this. His Bond being hurt in the process? He’s going to make sure we all go down in ashes.
Nox’s bond wakes, his eyes voiding out as that vile smirk only grows wider. “You sure about that? C’mon then, try me.”
Oleander shuts down.
The moment Nox’s eyes shift, she checks out entirely. Atlas’s taunt flashes back into my mind unbidden. Oleander Fallows didn’t run from us, she ran fromme… from the monstrously-cursed Draven Death Dealer she was bound to. She’s terrified of her own Bond, and that blank look on her face is one I recognize well.
Nox has worn it as well.
My bond wakes, pressing at the edges of my control until there’s no stopping its violence from seeping into my words. “If either of you throw a single attack at one another inmyhouse in front ofmyBond, I’ll be finishing this, and neither of you want that.”
Nox falters.
He’s never faltered before, but I’ve never been the one threatening him before, either, and never with the Death Touch and the rabid shadows lurking under my skin. He might have more control of his, but mine are larger and have always been capable of far more carnage. I’m not even certain they’d truly turn against him, but the look in his eyes says he’s not sure either, and he’s unwilling to find out.