Page 89 of Broken Ties
Although from what I know of her bond, it would probably relish it.
Distracting myself from the way my own bond has lit up inside me at both the violence I’m craving and my eager anticipation for my Bond, I palm my phone to send a quick email to the administration here to inform them that I’m here on campus, that I’ll be transferring into the same classes as my Bond, and that I’ll be starting today. No requests, no niceties, no groveling over that fucker Draven.
I haven’t even made it up the first flight of stairs before my phone is ringing.
I ignore the first call, then I wait until it’s just about to redirect to my voice mail before I finally answer the second.
“Bassinger. I was surprised you refused contact with the administration about transferring here when we recovered our Bond. I suspected you would change your mind eventually, but I must admit, I wasn’t expecting you to just show up on our doorstep.”
Fuck him and his shitty attempts to reclaim control because it’s not working. I can hear the irritation in his voice, no matter how hard he’s trying to conceal it. He may have read some little file compiled by one of his underlings with my name written across the top and made a call about who I am, but he has no clue who he’s really dealing with. I was raised by a Neuro in a pit of writhing snakes where one wrong move would be our family’s undoing. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with my father and his death squads, outplayed them all without them ever suspecting we were on the field to begin with. I fooled Athena Bassinger with a barrier over my mind that protected my Bond with every ounce of strength I possess and more. He has no concept of what I’m capable of.
I let the smirk in my voice slide across my face as I stare up at the security camera posted in the stairwell. I don’t know who monitors it, but I have no doubt Draven will be watching it, if not right now then soon, and I’ll be damned if I ever give him the impression of civility at my Bond’s expense.
Oli has been forced to concede to him on every little thing but that ends right here, right now, because it’s an old but well-known fact that only a Bassinger could out-ego a Draven. I’m delighted to wage this war for my Bond, and I play to win.
“A fist wrapped around the West Coast Council’s throat and a paper crown you gave yourself doesn’t mean you rule over me, Draven. If I ever trusted you to care for my Bond, then I’d be deeply disappointed in your actions. Good thing I see through your little facade. ”
The silence that answers me is glorious and I wish my Bond was experiencing it with me. She’s only a few feet away in her room, easy enough to go to her, but there’s no chance I’ll sully our first meeting with this asshole’s arrogant demands and petty games. I’ll explain it all to her later, though, wrapping the memory up with a little bow to gift to her when she needs the reassurance that my loyalty has always been and will always be to her alone.
Fuck everyone else.
I feel his indecision down the line in a way that should be impossible from a man I’ve met once in person and have exchanged three text messages with—all written with the shielded language of Top Tier family formalities, then lawyer speak when I didn’t immediately submit. In all of my research, I only ever focused on my Bond and what affects her, so while I know all about what warning signs to look out for in the other Bonds, I never looked into the interconnections between the other Bonds within the Group. I don’t care about any of them, never will, and even if they hadn’t launched this campaign ofdisrespect, pain, and shame against my Bond, I still wouldn’t care about them.
I don’t need friends. I need her.
But the way I can read this dickhead like a book even while our only connection is down a phone line feels… extra. More than it should be. A familiarity that I shouldn’t have and I definitely don’t want—unless my Bond needs me to.
My consistent line in the sand.
His retort, when it comes, is level, measured, and delivered as though he’s been preparing for the task of ‘managing a Bassinger’ since that blood test bound us together. “While I understand the impulses driving your actions, Draven University is the number one school for the Gifted in the country and consistently ranks in the top three globally. If nothing else, your assumption of transferring here is both naive and misled. Our intake is closed, our classes are full, and I doubt you’d sign the student conduct contract, anyway.”
I stare that camera down as the smirk on my face only widens. “It’s illegal under the Central Bonds Act of 1891 for a single Bond of a larger Group to isolate a Central for their own purposes. The amendment of 1942 makes it illegal to detain a Central Bond and restrict their movements without an order from the Council that was passed unanimously. And, my personal favorite, the amendment of 1987 states that it is illegal to employ surveillance on a Central Bond without their explicit and continued consent, via Gifted means or by non-Gifted technologies. Your grandfather signed that one in, didn’t he? You must be furious.”
I swear on my Bond’s life, the sharp intake of breath he takes hits my bloodstream like a plunger of pure euphoria, the high better than any drug could achieve, and I pause only long enough to let it sink in before I continue. “You didn’t think I’d know her rights, did you? You probably didn’t think I’d care, butlet me be absolutely clear here, Draven, my Bond is the single most important Gifted, not just to me but to this community, because if you keep going the way you are and hurting her, I’ll have you rethinking what the worst that can happen to you really is. The Resistance’s acts of violence are bad but they’re nothing on what I’d do for that Bond, do you hear me? You’re too busy fussing over your reputation to be the Bond she needs, but I don’t give a fuck about what you think of me, or my family, the community, nor a single fucking Gifted who ever lived.”
He scoffs. “She ran?—”
I cut him off, well prepared for this line of argument. “From you. I know it was you, because she saw all of our names and stayed put. It was only when the nurses told her you were on your way that she left. You think I haven’t poured over that security footage so many times my eyeballs bled? This is your fault, Draven. This is your curse that I’ve been forced to bear, and it stops now. I will be in her classes today and I will continue to be in them until she chooses to stop.”
A lie, but I only owe her the truth and, someday, I’ll tell her all about this conversation and why I did it. If she’s angry or upset about it, I’ll pay the price tenfold. Right now, my Bond needs my protection from these pieces of shit.
Again, I don’t know how, but that lie hits him dead center and does far more damage than I thought it would, but it only feels like a bonus. He deserves far, far worse.
I chuckle softly, derision dripping from every word. “The only opinion that matters is hers… or are you saying that you’re disregarding the rights of Central Bonds? Interesting. I wonder how you’ll spin this one after I tell the entire Gifted community of your threats against your own Bond. Apple doesn’t fall so far from the rotten tree it came from, does it?”
He finally finds his voice again but this time, the fury is there, unmasked and growing with every syllable. “If anything here isinteresting, it’s your choice of words, and you can’t even see it. A rotten tree still took roots and grew into something noble and nourishing only to decline under unfavorable circumstances. I’d never consider the Bassinger bloodline to nourish anything. As far as I can see, Athena isn’t the only invasive parasite?—”
Satisfied I’ve rattled him, I hang up and switch my phone to silent before shoving it into my pocket where it, and all of Draven’s concerns, can die for all I care. Then, and most importantly, I’m knocking on Oleander Fallow’s dorm room door.
Muffled sounds of her moving around breach the solid door for a minute before the sounds of multiple bolts sliding out of the way fills me with relief. Not just that she’s here and letting me in, but that she has that extra security in place to keep her safe. Draven might have his TacTeams crawling all over this place but I know what the Resistance are capable of… and I don’t trust anyone to watch over my Bond but me.
Then the door opens and everything but my Bond ceases to exist.
Her hair is even lighter in person, almost glowing white. Her eyes are breathtakingly blue, clear and a little wide as she takes me in, and the perfect pout of her lips is almost impossible to wrench my gaze away from. God, she’s fucking gorgeous, and she’s mine.
I expected a response like this when I finally got to stand before her but feeling it is something else entirely. The thrill of excitement in my blood, the tug of my bond desperately reaching for her, there isn’t a single cell in my body that isn’t drawn to her.
Her body leans subtly into me as well, as though she can’t help but push toward me, and I want to crow in victory.