Page 72 of Broken Ties

“Where the fuck is the rest of it? Go down there and?—”

He cuts me off with a dry tone. “And what, sling her over my shoulder like a caveman? Didn’t we just go over how terribly she’d respond to that? Sharpe will have a field day.”

Fuck Sharpe.

Fuck every last Gifted in this wretched backyard. I want them all dead.

Fuck Gryphon the most for being right, and so I stand there with him andseethe. No one dares to approach us, and I give up any pretense of civility as I keep my eyes on everyone here tonight—except my Bond. No, I skirt my gaze around her to keep my nightmare creatures from bursting out of me and consuming the entire party. They’re waiting for me to call on them as I assess the threats around her, practically salivating at the chance, and there’s a violent electricity in the rapidly cooling night air.

Despite the fact that he doesn’t spare me so much as a glance as he watches the networking happening outside of the pool area, when something spooks my bond enough for it to take control of my body and turn my head to face her, Gryphon notices it immediately as well.

“What is it?”

My bond won’t let my eyes leave my Bond for a second, not even blinking for a full minute, and unease begins to grow in the pit of my stomach.

When it finally lets me go, I glance back to find Gryphon scowling at me, the contentious attitude gone. “I… don’t know for sure. Something isn’t right. Where is Black stationed? You need to move him here in case we need an evac.”

In under a minute, he has his TacTeam rearranged so that Harrison is covering the east side of the mansion and Black has taken over the far side of the pool, a mere five steps away from my Bond. It’s close enough that he can have her out of here in an instant but not so close that my bond will send a nightmare creature after his throat.

All of this happens without my eyes moving from my Bond. There’s nothing out of place, no new danger, not even a disagreement unfolding among the other students, but I can still feel the difference in the air. There’s absolutelysomething, we just don’t have a clue what it could be so Gryphon and I both stand there, staring across the Halliwells’ backyard at her without pretense.

Even as the minutes tick by, my Bond doesn’t seem to notice.

Gabe does, though, and eventually he hauls himself out of the pool, not bothering to grab a towel before he stalks over to Gryphon and I with a careful look.

“Has something… happened?”

Some of the tension eases in me. Gabe is younger than we are, less experienced, but as a Shifter, he’s very perceptive. If there were a threat in the water, he’d have caught it. Whatever pissed my bond off, it’s not serious enough to cause a scene with so many eyes on us.

Gryphon scoffs, playing it off easily. “Yup, Oli’s swimsuit happened, and North’s lost his fucking mind.”

Gabe chokes on thin air and sputters for a second before he can answer. “Yeah, it’s—uh—really something alright. I guess we’re all lucky the wine she had is distracting her, otherwise I’m sure she’d be making our lives hell right now just because she can.”

My eyes snap to his as they narrow dangerously. “She’s drunk? Of all the stupid things—how much did she have to drink and why the hell is she in the pool?”

Gabe instantly looks sheepish as he scratches the back of his neck and blows out a breath. I follow him over to one of the tables filled with a variety of dishes, a dark sense of satisfaction filling me when the rest of the party-goers maintain a wide perimeter no matter where we walk.

Gabe glances around before he murmurs back to me as he fills a plate. “I’m not sure. She came with Sawyer and Sage, but they’d already stopped by the time I got here. I stayed close to her while she was in the water, but now that she’s sitting with Sage, I thought I’d find something to try to tempt her into eating.”

One of his classmates calls out to him, another Shifter on the football team, and he grins in reply, waiting until I wave him off before he stalks down to the pool again. He doesn’t get back into the water, instead staying close to my Bond as he eats and jokes around with his friends, and I make the mistake of glancing over at my Bond again.

Despite the thrumming urge within my blood that craves every inch of her, I try to focus on the parts of my Bond that are exposed right now while her defenses are down thataren’trelated to her body. I’ve never seen her smile and laugh like this before, the sight of it breathtaking, and I think that’s messing with my head even more than the bikini that’s clearly two cup sizes too small.

The longer I watch, the harder it is to look away. Her friendship with Sage Benson is very clearly genuine, the effortlessness between them not easily faked. Her cheeks are flushed, and my deepest desires start running wild as my mind fills with images of what her expression might be if I were the reason for that perfectly pink color.

Fuck.

I’m about to publicly embarrass myself in a whole new way.

Grabbing a plate to distract myself, I start filling it by meticulously selecting the best offerings of the appetizers that fit my Bond’s preferences. I’m sure my expression is murderous because I’m not bothered by a single person, even as I take my time, and Gryphon shoots me a speculative look when I stalk back over to him.

He glances over to me. “Gabe said she didn’t want anything.”

Shaking my head back, my reply is curt at best. “She’ll eat.”

I don’t add that even if I have to stand with her and force her to myself, she’ll eat. God, I’ll get some fucking clothes on her while I’m at it.

I glance over to find Gryphon giving me a knowing look, but I’m certain I’m not projecting my feelings.