Page 2 of Broken Ties

He stares at me for a moment before slowly nodding, his eyes flicking down to the file and staying there when he sees my fingers tighten on it. “What are you going to do about the Bond then, North? If this is Nox’s reaction just knowing she exists, then what the hell are you going to do about her? The hospital seems to think she doesn't have any other family, but I have far more resources to?—”

I cut him off again. “She’s coming back here.”

William blinks at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I stare back at him without an inch of remorse. When he realizes there’s no room in my resolve for him to negotiate with me, he groans under his breath.

“I don't know what to do anymore! You’re determined to protect Nox at every turn—don’t look at me like that, North, I understand that perfectly—but you can't protect him from this. You can’t have them both under the same roof. No one will be able to protect his Bond from bearing the brunt of what that vile cunt did to him, not even you. There are other options; you said she has another Bond. Who is it? Could they watch over her until Nox… accepts this?”

I’ve been very careful to keep the identity of the fifth Bond who matched with my Central Bond a secret from everyone outside of my Bond Group, and when I level William with a stony look, he grimaces.

“Resistance?”

More than likely, but I won't even say that to him. I’ll protect the Bassinger boy just as I protect Gryphon and Gabe, as I’ve always protected Nox, and now my Bond as well. I’ll use the Draven name and my father’s blood-soaked legacy; I’ll wield every inch of power, prestige, and rumor I can if it means keeping her safe. Maybe then I can coax my brother from the ledge he’s been balanced on his whole life, the monster whispering in my mind can calm down, and the shadows within my chest can come to heel.

It sounds impossible even to me, but I’ll do it.

The car finally pulls up to the parking lot and I step out of it without another word, ignoring William’s curses as I shut the door on him to stalk through the courtyard directly toward the smoke. There’s a small crowd of TacTeam personnel at the perimeter with Vivian Wentley at the center of it, a small stroke of luck for this cursed situation. He scowls up at the black cloud enveloping the building with a tension in his body that screams of his need to go in there and sort this mess out, but out of respect and confidence in me, he’s waiting.

Gryphon is already waiting there with him, arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glowing white as he uses his Gift. Workout gear is spilling out of a bag at his feet, and he’s dressed like he was out on a run when he heard about this and came straight here. When he started at Draven, he became my biggest ally and confidant, taking over the position William held for years. It’s only natural for that to shift into my Bond Group, but my uncle clearly isn’t taking the adjustment so well.

As I get closer, I find Kieran Black standing at his side, a Transporter who’s showing great promise in TT. They’re both in the same classes at Draven, fast becoming close friends, and by the training gear Black’s wearing, it’s obvious he was withGryphon when he got the news, both coming straight here to run damage control until I could get to my brother.

The file with my Bond’s photo in it is still clutched in my hands, impossible to leave behind with anyone, and I duck down to shove it into the bag at Gryphon's feet. When Kieran raises his eyebrows at me, Gryphon steps over it protectively as if it's our Bond in there and not just a photo of her.

He gives me a firm nod, his voice loud in my mind.Heads up; the General’s on the other side of the building. He’s trying to put together a TacTeam to go in there after him. Vivian already put out orders that they’re only maintaining a perimeter, but the longer this goes on, the twitchier they’re all getting.

Fuckingperfect, just what this situation needs.

I’m careful about keeping that off my face, aware Gryphon struggles with his relationship with his father, but I loathe the ground that asshole walks on. If he takes one step near Nox, I’ll have him dead before either of our shadow creatures have the chance to react.

I strip off my jacket and Gryphon takes it with ease, shoving it into the bag as well and shooting a look over my shoulder as his eyes flash white.

You should head in there now so I can run interference without people laying eyes on another Draven, otherwise it's going to descend into panic, and someone will get hurt.

I follow his gaze and find three other council members standing there, all of them dressed for the same meeting William and I were on our way to.

I answer Gryphon in an unforgiving tone and loud enough that they all hear me. “The only Draven nightmare this campus should be concerned with is me if anyone dares enter this building before I get Nox calm. I've covered up enough scandals and reckless behavior for Gifted too arrogant to give a fuck aboutanyone else that I’ll bury anyone who questions a control slip when we've just been given the news like this.”

One of the students clustering nearby murmurs something about finding Bonds being a good thing, not the reason for an outburst like this, and Gryphon turns on him with the type of quiet fury that has his name whispered about within our community already. “Four people aredead; our Central Bond’s entire family, Lucas. You don't think that's going to be a little traumatizing for someone who’salsolost his entire fucking family?”

Kieran blows out a breath, looking between the two of us and then glancing at Vivian as though waiting for orders. A year in Tac Training is all it’s taken for the chain of command to sear into his bones, and even if he wasn't one of Vivian's brightest pupils, he’d certainly be climbing his way up my list of potential operatives from that one gesture alone.

“I can start transporting people out, clear the area a bit more if you need. I know Transporters are thin on the ground.”

Vivian glances around and then meets my eye. “You deal with Nox while Shore monitors the area, and Black will be on stand-by for evacs. I’ll take point and deal with the dick-swingers; it’s been at least a week since I last tore a frat boy a new asshole, maybe this is the universe telling me I’ve become too lenient.”

I roll my shoulders back, then push my sleeves up in case I’m forced to grapple with one of Nox’s nightmare creatures on the way in, and I drawl back to him with every ounce of arrogance my father gave me, “Make sure you remind them all that this isDravenUniversity and if Nox needs to demolish a couple of buildings to work through his grief, then it’s none of their concern; not the Council or the General. As long as there are no casualties, they can get the fuck off my land.”

My bond whispers again, more insistently than ever.Go to her now.

Waves of agony and despair roll out of the building, washing over me and scratching at my mind, though my bond keeps it from harming me, and it strengthens my resolve. Kieran Black is ready to take me to her once this is over with, I have a private plane being fueled right now to bring us back here more comfortably, and the moment I can get my brother calm once more, I’ll go to her.

There’s no way I can bring my Bond back here while Nox is like this or he’ll pose a danger to her, and that can’t happen. I can’t stand the idea of him hurting her.

With every inch of my soul, I know someday he’ll feel the same way.

He has to.

Taking a deep breath, my eyes flash to change to the voids that terrify any Gifted who hear of them, but I keep my bond from taking over. I step forward into the black cloud of my brother’s chaos manifest, his trauma coming to life as his mind breaks at the mere idea of finding himself Bonded to another; a prospect worse than death to him now, even if this time, the bond is true.