Blood Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #3)

by J. Bree

Blonde, it’s not though. It’s silver now, but yesterday it was black. Whatever happened in that car, it had bleached the color from my hair.

My eyes squeeze shut the moment the door closes, terror racing through my veins when the voice in the corner starts to speak again, “I thought they’d be in here forever, deadly little Soul Render. Now, where were we? Ah, of course… I was telling you about all of the things you’ll do to your Bonds if you stay here with them. All of that pain and suffering, all of the destruction, just for being with you. It’s much safer for you all if you come with me.”

But as an older camp, it’s also full of records, and Gryphon has become obsessed with sifting through Resistance data. It’s not hard to figure out his motives. There’s something he knows about our Bond that he’s choosing not to share, but when he finds whatever he’s looking for… We might all finally get some answers.

Most of the creatures melt away back into me as though they’re obedient, others go back in snarling and screaming. The biggest of them all, the one that I refuse to call August, stops short to stare at me with it’s glowing void eyes.

It stares at me like it is the docile puppy Oleander seems so intent on it being. It stares at me like it’s pissed off she’s not here, dropping to her knees to shower it with love and affection. It stares at me like it knows something is wrong.

“Is he still giving you shit thanks to Oli...

“It is, yes. There’s something… off about the camp. Keep your eyes peeled, and stick close.”

As much as I didn’t want to leave my Bond behind, definitely not after the revelation of more Resistance interference, there’s something about getting away from all of the trappings of being North Draven the Councilman that I desperately needed.

It starts with Gryphon’s fingers thrumming against the leather seats, a small outlet for his frustration. The calm over Nox’s face, something I’ve barely seen before and that had only taken place when his own bloodlust had been sated, slowly melts away until the furrow in his brow is firmly back in place.

Blood and pain. My bond hasn’t stopped whispering to me all morning, telling me all about the darkest and most blood-soaked things it wants to do to every member of the Resistance we come across today. It makes it harder for me to notice that same tension entering me that has taken hold of the other two, but once I see the scowl on Gryphon’s face, I take stock of myself.

There’s a tension in me that wasn’t there before. Something is happening within our Bond. Oleander.

It’s all I need to see to know that I’m not wrong, that something is happening right now that even with hundreds of miles between us, I can feel her there under my skin. We might be Unbonded but it doesn’t matter, she’s there in my blood and the deepest, darkest corners of my soul.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look like you’re about to puke?” “Because I pushed to get her to answer and she’s not… there. She’s not ignoring me, there’s something in the way. Something is wrong, get Gabe on the line now.”

As I start dialing, Nox’s eyes shift to black and Gryphon watches him check in with the… Brutus, like it’s the only lifeline in the middle of the ocean while we’re all drowning.

Kieran and I were separated right away but not before I’d been forced to watch three guards beat the shit out of him. No one lifted a finger against me, but I already knew they wouldn’t.

“This girl, this little white-haired bitch who looks like nothing special, she’s the Infinite Weapon. They’re going to use her to end the war and finally let us Gifted take control of this country like we deserve. No more making nice with the non-Gifted. No more living shackled to laws that shouldn’t apply to us because we’re above them. No more sheep in control, living in their mansions while the rest of us struggle to survive.”

He enjoys the patterns of blood spatters, and there was always a sense of pride in him when he would leave the torture tents covered in the fruits of his labor. I think it also helped keep the other Resistance members in line because between that and the manic grin on his face, he definitely looks like the crazed torturer you wouldn’t want to mess with.

I focus on getting my heart rate back down to normal levels and not where it’s currently sitting… which is pounding out of my chest. I hope Gryphon can’t feel this.

It’s too dangerous to so much as think about him and my Bonds right now, even though I can feel him trying to contact me at the edges of my mind. Of course I know that he’d attempt it, the quickest and easiest way for him to find me is to just ask, but to speak to him now, with Silas in the room? That’s a huge no. It’s also hard to block Gryphon out without making it too obvious.

I finally look down at Kieran but he’s glaring at me, a soundless command to shut my mouth and let him take the pain and suffering for us both. He probably knows he’s about to die, but typical macho man shit says he wants to do it honorably.

I need you to tell Kieran to play along.

How did you know I can reach him? How did you know my Gift had grown that much?

A lucky guess. I’ll keep him safe, Kyrie too. I’ll let you know the moment it’s safe for you to come get us. I’ll come back to you all, I promise. Tell North I didn’t run.

I see the exact moment Gryphon gets through to Kieran. His shoulders square up, ever the obedient second in command. It’s a much better look on him than the pissed off, bloodied TacTeam member who wants to murder me, that’s for damn sure.

Davies stares at me, watching my bond peruse Kieran and deciding it’s not just a show put on for him, and the victory in his grin makes me feel sick. “Little Render… you’re going to Bond with him, and then we’re going to test you out all over again. God, how I’ve missed your screaming.”

“I’m not having sex with you.” I snort at him and snap back, remembering in the last second to keep my voice down and my head ducked despite my outrage, “That’s never been the plan, Black! Get your head out of the gutter.”

Kieran speaks again, his voice barely more than breath. “You’re protecting them.”

It feels so obvious to me, but I guess he assumed the same as the rest of them, that I’d hated my Bonds and run from them all rather than have them.

“Always. Everything I’ve done has been to protect them. Every action, every word I’ve bitten back, every minute I spent running from them. If you’re not terrified of that man, then you don’t have good enough intel… or you haven’t been paying attention to it. He’s evil incarnate.”

“He tortured you. The IW… I read what they did to you. They tortured you. You didn’t give them your Bonds’ names. You didn’t break.”

“I did break. I let my bond take the pain for me. I let it become the monster instead of me.”

“You need to warn them… about who we saw here. You need to tell them sooner rather than later that there’s a potential sleeper cell.”

He’s talking about Atlas, because we’d seen his father here. The likeness between them both was striking, absolutely no doubt of their relation, but then Davies had turned to him and called him ‘Bassinger’ and sealed the freaking deal.

I hope to God that I haven’t fucked up royally by not saying something, but I just… I couldn’t. I can’t believe that he’d betray me like that.

Kieran is safe because of my lie. Kyrie is safe with Brutus.

I’m as safe as I’ve ever been thanks to the bond growing angrier and more savage by the hour in my chest. We’ll survive until I can get us out.

The Benson kids and Felix Davenport have moved into Draven mansion with us. While there’s a part of me that takes great pride in caring for my Bonded’s closest friends in her absence, there’s a part of me who resents having them here while she’s gone.

North also didn’t take it well. He hasn’t taken any of this well, and the more information we get about Oli’s time with the Resistance, the closer to losing control I see him getting. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen him this close to the edge. The last thing that set him off, well, no one blamed him for losing it on his brother’s behalf like that. I certainly didn’t.

Losing the real, flesh and blood Oleander Fallows is like dying a death of a thousand tiny cuts.

When we get to the dining room, Nox is already there. His nose is still buried in a textbook as old as the Draven bloodline itself, the way it has been since he found out about Oli’s gift. I knew he’d be this way, that he’d research and track every little part of her power until he’s absolutely sure of what we’re dealing with.

When the doors open again and Gabe joins us, he looks as though he’s been dragged through the mud. There are dark circles under his eyes and some streaks of blood down his throat and chest, peeking through the holes in his shirt. He’s been down at the shifter fight clubs again, biding his time and working some of the frustration out, but he’s obviously getting sloppy with his wins.

Sawyer walks into the room with a laptop open in his hands, his eyes glowing white as he works through the very classified and incredibly above his clearance-level data that North has him working through. Sage and Felix follow behind him, both of them looking exhausted and frazzled. It seems no one in the house is sleeping well. That’s also soothing somehow, that we’re all a little lost without my Soul Render Bonded.

Felix gets one look at Gabe and reaches out to heal him, until Gabe stops him with a curt, “Don’t.”

“Punishing yourself with bleeding knuckles and scratches is just stupid, Ardern.”

Gabe shakes his head at him, his eyes on his plate still. “Oli doesn’t like us being healed by anyone but her. If it’s not life threatening, just leave it.”

Felix’s face drops and he glances over at Sage ruefully, obviously regretting saying anything, but she just takes a breath and says, “Oli always let Felix heal her. She wouldn’t mind i...

Sage clears her throat and then steels herself to speak to North, “Is someone going to let Atlas out of his cell sometime soon? We all know he’s not a Resistance member.”

Nox scoffs and lifts his glass of whiskey to his lips. “Do we? Because he’s a Bassinger. Nothing here makes more sense than him being part of that scum.”

It’s like watching Sage grow a spine in front of my very eyes. I’m careful to take in every second of it so I can share it with Oli lat...

“I watched him dote on her for months. If I was going to believe anyone in her Bond was trying to hurt ...