Savage Bonds (The Bonds that Tie Book 2) Read online

  Atlas scoffs. "No, she's your punching bag, your favorite victim. She's the default villain in every one of your stories. You move even an inch closer and I'll take the whole fucking plane out to stop you. No more warnings."

  I struggle to get my eyes open, to prepare myself for the war about to break out because Nox Draven does not back down, but I'm too fucking tired.

  Maybe it's for the best that I just die in the melee of what’s about to happen.

  There's a shuffling sound again and then Nox snaps, "Take her to the bedroom. We need to talk. Now."

  Bedroom?

  Of course North’s plane has a fucking bedroom. Of course.

  As Atlas gently lifts me in his arms as if I weigh nothing, cradling me against his chest like I'm precious, I hear the sounds of the plane filling with people and orders being shouted everywhere as they prepare for takeoff.

  I don't know why he thinks I’m precious, I've just ruined dozens of people, and yet he is acting as if I'm even more important to him now than ever before.

  He's steady on his feet, even with the throngs of people around us, as he walks us over to another room and then lowers me carefully onto a bed, pulling up blankets and tucking them around me as he brushes his lips against my forehead.

  I’m almost pissed off that I can’t acknowledge it or ask him for more.

  I hear more footsteps shuffle into the room and then a door slides shut.

  "Hurry up then, Draven. I want you out of this room and as far away from Oli as you can get on this fucking plane,” Atlas snaps, and again, I try to pry my eyes open. Nope. Nothing.

  Nox growls under his breath and footsteps get closer to the bed. "She just healed us all. You don't think we need to talk about that? You don’t want to be let in on exactly what our little lying Bond just did out there?“

  Gabe snorts. "Bonds can heal each other in dire situations, you already know that. Move the fuck on. You just want to argue over every little thing because you don't want to admit that you were wrong about her. Heaven fucking forbid you admit you were wrong. I saw the Resistance get a good look at her, Nox. They knew her. She's been running this entire time and now we know why. They want her because she can do something no other Gifted can do-"

  Nox cuts him off. "She's more than just a fucking Gifted, that's what I'm trying to say. She didn't just heal us enough to survive, she fixed everything. Everything! My fingers are straight again, Gabe. She fixed an injury that happened twenty fucking years ago."

  Oops.

  I feel like my life is about to become even more complicated if that’s possible, but whatever their answers are to that statement, I don't hear them. Instead, my mind finally catches up to my body and I pass out into nothingness.

  Chapter Two

  I wake in a bed I don't recognize, in a room that is definitely not the airplane, feeling both well rested and sick to my stomach.

  It's far too luxurious to be one of the dorm rooms, there's no mistaking the wealth behind every piece of furniture, right down to the softness of the pillows behind my head.

  I'm instantly freaked the hell out.

  "You're safe, Oleander. Atlas and Gabe stepped out to shower and find food. I told them I'd watch you."

  God-fucking-dammit, I know exactly whose mansion I’m in.

  I look over to find North sitting in a plush chair on the far side of the bed, his jacket off and his dress shirt unbuttoned partially down his chest. The sleeves are rolled up to show off his forearms and I think this is the most casual I've ever seen him, except for that one time I’d seen him shirtless but I can’t think about that without drooling a little.

  His eyes are as intense as ever.

  I can’t believe that he managed to talk Atlas out of this room, and I’m a little bit pissed that I was brought here in the first place. What’s the point of giving me a room here if I’m just going to be shoved into random beds when everything goes to hell?

  North continues watching me, his eyes getting sharper the longer I stay silent. “Do you need anything? Water or the bathroom? You’ve been asleep for forty-eight hours, we were starting to get worried.”

  Yes to both, but it feels weird to talk about peeing with this man. Gah. I shake my hands out to stop them from shaking before I push the blankets aside. He watches my every move and when I pause for a second to get my bearings and clear my spinning head, he stands to walk around and help me.

  I can’t deal with his hands on me at any time, let alone while I’m feeling this terrible, so I wave him away. "Just point me in the right direction and I'll be fine."

  He scowls at me, his eyebrows drawn in tight, and then waves a hand at the far door. "We need to talk once you're out. I'll get you some water."

  I bite back a groan and get moving. The bathroom is stunning, all marble and expensive fixtures, and I feel like I'm in a freaking palace. When I wash up after I take the longest pee of my life, the soap is lightly scented, and I close my eyes as I take in a deep lungful. Something settles in my chest, like my bond is happy about this smell being on me, and then I realize it's North’s soap and North’s scent.

  Well, fuck.

  Of course he would bring me back to his goddamned bedroom and of course he lives in this level of luxury. Of-freaking-course this is all his. I try not to flinch as I amp up the heat of the water to try to clean some of the smell off. Doesn't matter that my bond is craving it. Doesn't matter if it feels right to smell like him.

  He hates me, all the way down to my core, and I’m not a fan of his either.

  I need to grasp at the distance so my heart doesn't get ripped out any more than it already has been.

  I try to tame my hair a little and then when that doesn't work, I smooth a hand down my silk pajamas.

  Uhm.

  Wait, what?

  Silk. Fucking. Pajamas.

  I’m wearing a pinstripe, luxurious-looking, long-sleeve pajama set in a deep navy color that makes my skin look amazing. Hell, even the silvery tones of my hair look gorgeous against this color, but all of that shit is besides the point here. Who the hell changed me? I check and, nope, my underwear is gone too. Someone got me naked while I slept, the fucking perverted bastards.

  I charge out of the bathroom ready to yell at North, however terrifying that may be, only to find all of my Bonds there now.

  Atlas and Gabe are both on the bed, Gryphon has taken North’s seat on the far side, and Nox has pulled up another to sit beside his best friend, scowling at me like he always freaking is. North stands at the small table by the door, pouring out a coffee that has my heart thumping a little off kilter in my chest.

  Coffee.

  "Take a seat, Oleander. I think we can both agree that there’s a lot we need to discuss."

  Joke’s on him, there’s absolutely nothing I have to say to him right now… or anytime in the foreseeable future. Even if I trusted him, I wouldn’t tell him a single thing about myself, and with all of the shit he’s put me through, there’s no chance I’m telling him anything.

  My skin prickles at the five sets of eyes that take me in with varying degrees of interest and a little disgust, but it’s no surprise to me that Nox is throwing that shit my way.

  I grumble under my breath as I stalk back to the bed, crossing my arms over my chest to try to hide the fact that I'm sans bra.

  Atlas grins at me, ignoring the presence of the others as though they’re all beneath him, and he lifts the blankets and tucks me back into the bed beside him. His arm comes up and around me as if I was made to be molded against him. I glance around the room again and suddenly I'm glad he's all over me like a hot rash. There's too much intensity in the eyes of everyone around us. They're all too focused on me.

  I hate it.

  North hands me a glass of water and I frown at it. "I'd rather have a coffee."

  "You've been unconscious for two days. You can have the coffee after you've had the water."

  I feel like if I murdered this man right now, I could argue my c
ase in court and have it be counted as justifiable. I have to force my jaw to unclench to force the water down my throat, but I down the entire lot in one go. When I hand him back the glass, his eyes narrow at me and Atlas’ arm tightens around my shoulders as he pulls me in closer to his side.

  Finally, North takes a step back and grabs another chair from the huge walk-in closet to sit where he can watch my face. I’m always a fucking subordinate to this man. If I could run screaming from this room and find some sort of escape, I would do it. In a heartbeat, I'd freaking do it.

  I also realize that right now, even with two of my Bonds sitting on the bed with me, I’m outnumbered because I’m sure Gabe and Atlas want some answers as well.

  North’s eyes flick over to Gryphon’s and when he nods, North starts in on me. “Right. There are a whole list of questions we have for you, Oleander-"

  I cut him off. "Can we not? I'd rather just go back to the way it was before I was taken. You ignore me and I go to my classes like a good little slave. Sorry I got jumped when I went after Sage, I'll do my best to never let it happen again. Are we good?"

  His eyes flash at me, the first sign he's pissed. Good, I'm fucking livid right back at him.

  "No, we're not good. You lied to us. Again. You knew you were Gifted and lied to each and every one of your Bonds. This is going to stop. Right now. What else are you keeping from us?”

  Gabe shifts uncomfortably beside me and I can't look up at him. I don't need to see the hurt in his face when I never owed him the truth about myself.

  This isn't about him.

  I pull away from Atlas to carefully climb out of the bed and gesture at the pajamas. “Who did this? Which one of you got me naked while I was unconscious?”

  Atlas rolls off the bed as well and grabs a bag from where it’s tucked under the end of the bed. I hadn’t even noticed it there.

  He grabs my hand and says, “North did it. We got back here and he just took off with you, refused to put you in your own bed, and made Felix heal you here. When I questioned him about your outfit change, he said it was no big deal.”

  North doesn’t even flinch under the savage glare I level at him. “Good to know my naked, non-consenting body is no big deal.”

  North’s jaw clenches. “Fallows-”

  Great, back to Fallows. “No. You don’t get to sit there and tell me how bad I am for keeping this from you, when everything I’ve done has been to keep us all safe. That’s it, that’s all I’m saying about this. If you want any more information, then I’m sorry to say that you’re going to be left hanging.”

  I step towards the door, forgetting for a second that Atlas is holding my hand, until I accidentally tug him along with me. He doesn’t hesitate though, just steps up with me to leave this ridiculously perfect room.

  “Fallows, you can’t just walk out without telling us anything. What exactly is your gift and what else can you do? Why did you hide it from us? How did the Resistance know about it?” North snaps, his voice getting deeper the angrier he gets, and I almost slam into the wall that Atlas makes behind me as I spin around again.

  I point a finger at him, ready to tear into him, when Nox cuts me off. “Leave it, brother. She’s still just a pathetic little child who runs away the second it gets hard.”

  I hate him.

  I hate him so fucking much and it only grows stronger when his eyes flick back up to me as he drawls, “Go on then, scurry away to find a little dark hole to hide in. You’re the same worthless Bond we had a week ago, only now we know you had the option not to be. You could have really been something and instead, you chose to be nothing.”

  I could kill him.

  My bond even considers wiping him from the face of the Earth, no matter the connection between us, but instead, I turn on my heel and stalk out.

  I instantly regret storming out of the room when I find myself in a hallway that I’ve never seen before with no idea of how to find the room North assigned to me.

  When I blanch, Atlas immediately scoffs at me and takes the lead, shaking his head with a grin. “You really have no sense of direction, do you?”

  I shrug and focus on keeping my legs steady under me because my stomach is still churning a little, even though I also feel starving and cranky and, fuck, okay, I feel a lot of conflicting things right now.

  Right as we turn the corner at the end of the hallway and I find myself staring at my own door, because of course North has me sleeping within a second of his own room like the utter control freak he is, I hear his door open and slam shut behind us.

  I don’t want to deal with whoever is coming after us right now.

  I don’t want to go another round with North or to have some more barbs thrown at me by his charming brother, and if Gryphon shows up here to stare at me until I crumble and start crying, I might just throw myself out of the window to get away from all of this.

  Atlas presses a key into my palm as he covers my back, checking behind us as I find that it is actually my copy and get the door opened.

  He scoffs. “We don’t want you here, Ardern. Go find some catnip to keep yourself busy.”

  I let out a breath of relief that it’s Gabe and not one of the others as I get the door open and walk into the room. It doesn’t feel like my own, not really, but there’s a lock on the door and one of my Bonds has a copy to get in without my permission. I’ll take one over five of them any day of the week, even if it is North.

  Atlas moves to fill the entire door frame, blocking Gabe from my view right as he says, “I think I’ll hear from my Bond whether or not she wants me here. You don’t speak for her, and you definitely don’t get to tell me what to do.”

  Great, they’re no closer to being amicable, even after they’d joined forces on the plane against the others.

  But I don’t want them arguing and even though I distinctly remember healing Gabe on the flight, I’d still like to get a look at him properly to know that he’s okay.

  “Let him in, Atlas. As long as neither of you harass me about my gift, then you guys can stick around.”

  He doesn’t argue with me, just turns and walks into the room. He’s already been in here before and slept in the bed with me, so he just walks over to drop his bag on the bed and start rummaging through it.

  Gabe shuts the door behind himself and locks it, wiggling the handle a little to make sure it’s secure before he starts looking around at the room. I’ve done nothing to the space at all, and my tiny little duffel bag of clothes is stashed away in the closet, so it just looks like a very well-decorated spare room.

  I take a breath and then the wiggling of my chest reminds me that I’m still in the freaking pajamas without a bra, so I take off towards the ensuite. “I need a shower. We can… hangout or whatever once I’m clean. Try not to break each other or any of the furniture while I’m gone.”

  They both make some kind of noise in agreement, that total boy way of agreeing without actually saying they do, and I leave them behind to scrub myself down.

  I’m happy to see that North didn’t actually clean me, he just changed me out of the filthy workout clothes, because it seems so much more invasive to think about him washing my naked body while I slept.

  I’m also just a little bit pissed that my bond was totally fine with what he was doing and didn’t kick in to wake me up or shove him away. I’m going to pretend that means he was respectful because if I find out he wasn’t… murder. Pain. Chaos and bedlam until the world burns down to the ground around us.

  I’m happy to find that the soap in here is different to North’s soap, so even though my bond gets sulky about it, I get to clean away the smell of him from my body. I scrub out my hair as well, the scent of smoke still clinging to me a little, and by the time I step out of the stall, my body is pink and practically sparkling with how clean I am.

  It’s a freaking amazing feeling.

  I scrub my teeth twice and drink down another huge glass of water that also feels pretty lifesaving. I’m st
ill starving, but the idea of leaving this room is abhorrent to me right now, so I guess I’m just going to continue starving until tomorrow.

  When I finally step back into the room, wrapped up in a towel because I forgot to grab clothes before I went in for the shower, Atlas and Gabe both look up at me the second I step out.

  There’s way too much going on in both of their gazes and I’m instantly trapped by them, frozen to the spot until Gabe gulps and breaks the spell.

  “Sorry— I forgot— just give me a second!” I sputter as I dart over to the closet and start rummaging through my bag for something to cover up with. There’s no door on the closet but I’m tucked around the corner well enough that I can throw on one of Gryphon’s sweatshirts and a pair of yoga pants without flashing the two very hot-blooded men sitting around in my room.

  Lusting after me like I’m their next meal.

  Look, I get it. I mean, I’ve been staring at all of them for months like they’re my last meal on death row, but it was easier to ignore it when I hated them all and when they all thought I was a useless, giftless reject.

  That’s not the way things are going anymore.

  Those two definitely don’t hate me, and I’m not willing to admit how much I want them right back.

  Gabe came after me.

  Atlas attempted to as well.

  Both of them stood up for me against the others, Gabe took on the Resistance to find me and bring me home, and both of them shielded Sage when things got rough.

  It doesn’t mean I can Bond with them or give them any answers, but it means something.

  When I step back out of the closet to find Gabe standing with his back to me as he stares out of the window and Atlas lounging on the bed with his phone in his hand, I feel awkward as hell as I walk back over to the bed, trying not to feel self-conscious in the baggy clothes with my hair still dripping down my back while both of them look as though they’ve just stepped out of a magazine for sports models.

  They’re both really freaking hot, okay?