Page 16 of Broken Ties
Vivian gestures for me to take the lead, his interest still on my Bond, though he’s not too obvious about it yet. “That’s your warm-up over with, get your asses into the control room so we can go over today’s lesson plan.”
My bond reacts.
To what, I have no idea, but the vehemence of its sudden rage takes me by surprise and almost to my knees. It’s only decades of practice and control that stops me from lashing out, but there’s nothing going on to set it off. From the corner of my eye, I see Gabe’s eyes flash where he’s standing across the room from me, a sign that his is chiming in as well.
As the students move into the control room, I pick apart the entire room just to be sure there are no signs of danger, but there’s nothing there, not a damn thing. The students are all from Top Tier families or here on scholarships, and while many of them have shitty opinions on my Bond Group and the situation we’re in, none of them mean us any direct harm.
I wouldn’t allow them in the room with Oli in the first place if they did.
When there’s nothing left to pick over, I push at Gabe’s mental barrier until I can speak to him again without risking anyone overhearing us.
You felt that, right? Tell me I’m not going crazy here, there was definitely a threat, right? Can you sense anything now?
He’s good about not showing anything on his face.I felt it, but I’ve got nothing for you. Except… well, my bond has been acting up around her all day. My Shift has been as well. I thought it was just me. I thought I was handling being around her poorly.
I scowl at him and discreetly shake my head.You’re not taking anything ‘poorly’, Gabe. If anything, you’re bottling too much up just to try to prove something you don’t need to. My bond is giving me grief around her, too; reacting to people in ways it shouldn’t be, and seeing normal situations as threats to her. If yours is doing the same, it’s something we need to bring up with the others.
When our Bond finally turns away from him, Gabe nods back to me.It is doing that. My bond wants to take out the entire room just for breathing near her… it doesn’t exactly discriminate either. It—shit, I would never think this way but it?—
Clarity hits me all at once, and I cut him off before he spirals into self-loathing over something he shouldn’t feel shit about in the first place. It’s certainly not Gabe’s fault.
Your bond wanted to kill Nox for what he did to her, didn’t it? When he called her out in front of your entire class? Mine did, too. There’s no shame here, Gabe, not between us. I get you’re probably feeling hesitant about telling North and what his reaction may be. It’s frustrating for me, too, and there’s a lot I can’t tell you about why he’s protecting his brother, but you can always come to me and I’ll speak to the Dravens instead. No matter what you tell me, no matter how strange or violent or bad it is, I won’t ever judge you or think less of you.
He swallows roughly and then lifts his water to cover the action, the Gifted around him all quieting down as though they can feel the Shift writhing just underneath his skin. Our Bond is the only one who looks completely at ease being so close to him, and doesn’t that just add another misshapen, ill-fitting piece to the puzzle before us.
If she ran away from her so-called ‘Monster Bonds’, why isn’t she actually scared of us?
Sure, she’s been scared around us. She’s had waves of fear rolling from her so thick I was choking on it, but it was never aimed at one of us. Not once has she shown any discomfort from being specifically in our presence, other than being told she can’t leave.
What would it take to rattle her? What lengths would we have to go to in order for her bond to come out to protect her?
Vivian glances at me and then takes over once more, splitting the class up into groups to go about the training exercise. He chooses the easiest course, still a nightmare for the uninitiated, and none of the students look happy about how their afternoon is about to proceed.
As Gabe moves into the next room alongside our fuming Bond, he sends me one last message without even glancing in my direction.
I’ll keep an eye on her and take note of things… even the small stuff I’m embarrassed about. I’ll let you know, Gryph, I promise.
He’s a good kid, turning out to be an even better man, and no matter how difficult these coming months are, I’m glad I can count on him. My reply to him is easy and true, just as I’ve always promised I would be within my Bond Group.
All of this is uncharted territory for us and I’ll be honest with you, too, no matter how hard it is. This is the only way to… navigate this situation without risking her.
When the last of the students file through the door, I’m left with my TacTeam, who are all scowling and muttering among themselves in front of the screens, and Vivian, who has a nice, wide perimeter around him, thanks entirely to the frown he’s wearing as he stares at the image of my Bond on the screen before him.
I sidle up to him and murmur, intent on keeping this between the two of us. “Well?”
Vivian glares at the screen for an extra second before he huffs out a breath. “You’re not gonna like it.”
I shrug. “I haven’t liked much of this, what’s a little more?”
He scoffs back. “Yeah, well, North’s gonna hate it, too, so you can console yourself with that little nugget. I’ve got nothing.”
Expected but still frustrating. I nod but then he cuts me a look. “Nothing ‘concrete’, at least. Nothing I can stick in a nice little manilla folder for North, because it’s not my Gift talking.”
My eyes narrow as I turn my back on the monitors. “Your gut? What does it say about her?”
“Entirely off the record, here, Shore. I don’t want Draven up my ass—she absolutely has a Gift, she absolutely knows what it is, and she is absolutely determined to ensure none of you find out about it… why that is, I have no clue, but I’m sure of that.”
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