Strong words that I hope I don’t regret.
When we have the god-bond sitting in the interrogation room, no one in the Sanctuary any wiser, Kieran and Vivian both insist on sitting in the viewing room to watch the interaction as well. I try to persuade them to leave, but neither of them are having it.
“I don't even wantyouin there,” Kieran snaps, gesturing a hand at Gryphon's black eyes. “And I’m fairly certain that Shore would also not want you in there. If North wakes up and catches wind of any of this, he's going to go on a full shadow warpath that will scorch the goddamn earth. We can toss a coin to figure out how Nox is going to feel about it.”
I don't need to.
Nox is the one who told me to go and speak to Kieran and Vivian about it in the first place, but I'm being very closed-mouth about that. It does make me worry how North is going to react to all of this, enough that the tension bleeds through the mind connection, and Nox is quick to reassure me.
He’s not going to be angry at you, Oleander. Whatever happens, I will deal with it. We need the god-bonds to take care of this quietly now for us. Everything else can be sorted out. If you want to be in the room with the god-bond as well, you are more than welcome. The Corvus has already assured me that he will keep you safe, and you can always take Azrael in there with you.
As more of a reassurance to Kieran than myself, I do let the shadow pup down from behind my ear, loving on him for a moment before we step into the room with the rest of my Bonded Group.
Atlas stays close to my side as always, but the god-bond is very careful about where he's looking, never once focusing on me. I feel sort of weird about it until he finally speaks.
“I mean the Eternal no harm. If it's going to be here in the room with us, please know that and refrain from killing me before you've heard what I have to say.”
So it's a respect thing, I'm sure, even if it does sort of make me feel as though I'm diseased. But with one glance, I see the look on the Crux and the Soothsayer’s faces right now and that sort of excuses it, because I'm not sure how either of them makes a blank face look quite so aggressive, but damn, are they good at it.
The Corvus says, “We’ve already heard what you have to say. You're here because your Bonded is dead. You chose the wrong side.”
The god-bond cocks its head, and even though I should probably stay out of this, I find myself compelled to ask, “So, what's your name? What do you do, other than attempt to ruin a Gifted girl's life by controlling her and framing her for a murder she had nothing to do with?”
Its eyes dart around me again before it shrugs. “My vessel's name was Gene; you can call me that.”
I feel an itch of irritation, but it answers me before I can snap something back. “We don't cycle here often enough to have the same sort of legacies that you do. None of us are strong enough to cycle like you. Well, you lot and Pain.”
Pain.
Not very creative and easy to figure out which god-bond that is.
“So why exactly did you pickPain?What did it offer you to be on its side?”
It stares at Atlas for a moment before it answers. “It offered me nothing. Pain found me after my Bonded was already dead. Instead of just killing me as well, it decided to use me. That's what happens to the small god-bonds when the others come out to play.”
He sounds miserable and jaded, but I’m not going to be so easy to fool. This could all just be a game to him, a way to gain even a tiny bit of our trust to use against us.
I won’t let him hurt us.
Gabe looks at me and then says, disbelief dripping from his words, “So you were just used by the pain god to get them in here? That's it? You really think that you could come and tell us that, and we’d just help you?”
The Crux turns to look at me, its eyes bright and unreadable, but my heart skips a beat in my chest all the same. When he looks at me, I feel the same way I had back when we’d first met in that perfectly put-together bathroom. Like he’s obsessed with me. Like he’s waited all eternity for us to be together again, like we’re two celestial beings in orbit, just waiting to finally collide.
He speaks, his voice a powerful and commanding sound. “You’ve come here to die. Any god-bond is a danger to my Eternal, and I won’t wait for you to become a threat before I kill you.”
I get all sorts of fluttery feelings at him calling mehisEternal.
The god-bond turns to look at me finally before it answers with a new tone to his voice, one laced with respect and deference. “You've helped me once before. I was hoping you'd remember that and help me again. If I'm wrong and I die… Well, I guess I'll just remember that for the next life.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
Oli
As we stepout of the Tac Training Center together, I look back over my shoulder at the building with a sense of longing. I still haven't had the chance to really speak to North since we returned from the Wastelands, and other than the threesome with the Soothsayer, I’ve barely seen Nox as well.
I haven’t even spoken to Gryphon except for the small debrief on the morning after, and it had been more of a moment to bask in each other, not exactly a check-in.
I miss my Bonded.
