I take a second to be sure I’m fully in control of my body again before I get up.
The Soothsayer follows me immediately.
North watches it with a scowl, but Nox just slips away from their conversation to follow us both down the hallway to my bedroom, as though I’m a magnet drawing them all along with me without question. I hear North collecting up his paperwork and then footsteps as he follows us as well.
I find Gabe already asleep in my bed, snoring gently as he lies on his stomach, one arm tucked under his head, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Atlas is in my shower, the water running and the door half open.
He’s still the only one without a functioning bathroom, but when Gabe had tried to apologize for taking so long getting it working for him, he had merely shrugged and pointed out that he was happier sleeping in my room and using my shower every night than going back to his spare room, as he calls it.
North had seemed happy with him getting along so well until he called it that. Then he scowled in his direction because he thinks that it's disrespectful of him to take up so much space in my room. It doesn't bother me though, for the most part.
I would rather have them all here with me.
I know that's never really going to happen, not permanently, because of Nox's firm boundaries around his bedroom and having his own space, but I'm willing to take as much of the rest of them as they're willing to give.
It doesn’t surprise me that Nox and North had immediately pulled out Nox’s research and tried to start planning. All of this is terrifying in a way that I’m really not processing properly yet.
We’re not just being hunted by the Resistance, we’re being hunted by other gods.
The abilities they may have, the ties they could have with one another even if they aren’t Bonded, all of it will have to be factored into our next moves. The toll of fighting isn’t just our own; the battle always spills out onto the other Gifted and non-Gifted as well. All of them have been collateral in a war they had no idea was being waged over a hundred lifetimes.
Now that our bonds have warned us of the danger that’s coming, it's exhausting to think about, to even consider what we might all be facing now. Bigger, badder,stronger—
“There is no one stronger than us.” Gryphon's voice startles me out of my thoughts, and I jump a mile in the air.
I had forgotten he was following me and that he’s, once again, got front row seats to every little thought in my brain.
When I come to a stop in front of Gabe’s sleeping form, the Soothsayer comes to stand with me, pressing himself into my side so that the heat of his body scorches mine.
I have to clear my throat to find my voice again. “If you say so, but all I know is that the god-bond who was there managed to shut us all down with the pain it wields.”
His large hand comes towards me, slowly enough that I can move out of the way if I want to, but when I don't, he presses his palm into one of my cheeks, a happy rumbling noise coming out of his chest that is so unlike Gryphon.
I want to giggle at the sound of it.
“That attack woke me up. The god-bond is complete now, and you will never feel that pain again. I will be sure of that. We all will.”
I nod, too tired to question it anymore, and nuzzle my cheek further into his palm. I’m not sure if it wants this sort of affection or whether it's just tolerating the human interaction because I crave it so much, but I appreciate it either way.
He slips his other hand to frame my face completely, murmuring to me quietly, “I waited for you. We all waited for this lifetime, for these vessels… and for you. You are as vital to me as the bond within you. Without question, I see that clearly now.”
I feel as though I was waiting for the god-bonds too.
As though I was holding my breath all of this time, and it’s only now I’ve finally let it go that I’ve noticed. My bond is settled and calm in my stomach for the first time, truly resting in complete contentment, and a frenetic energy that I didn’t know was there has finally eased away.
I’m at peace.
I glance back up to the Soothsayer’s eyes and find that hunger back in his gaze. Only now, we’re in my bedroom, and there’s nothing really stopping us from doing something about it. No tales of death and destruction that need to be shared, no gods of pain staring us down, no obligations to get in the way, only a Bonded Group full of overprotective, jumpy men who might want to rip the Soothsayer apart for looking at me as though he wants to tear me open in the most pleasurable of ways.
The bathroom door opening wide breaks me from my train of thought and reminds me that my entire Bonded Group is here in my bedroom with me right now, and though we’ve definitely had, ahem, group intimacy, it definitely hasn't started like this.
I still feel awkward as fuck about it.
I pull away from the Soothsayer to lean down and brush Gabe’s hair away from his face as a distraction, pressing a kiss to his lips, but it doesn’t wake him up. He doesn’t react to it at all other than to sigh. I know the feeling, having taken a power nap like this a dozen times before, and I just tuck the blankets up around him a little closer.
I don’t like the way he’s looking at you, Sweetness.
I don’t look up or react to Atlas’ words. There’s no point in starting a fight.He’s fine. He can also hear you in here as well. He’s just being polite in not pointing it out.
