Kieran gives him another curt nod and then looks around at each of us before his eyes settle on my bond. “Is that one going to let go anytime soon? I don't feel totally comfortable speaking about any of this with that one in the room as well. What’s to stop it from getting pissed off at something I say and coming after me?”
The Corvus tilts my head in the curious way they all do. “We're always here. We're always listening. You have never had a conversation without my hearing it.”
“Well, that's fucking creepy,” Kieran says before turning back to North. “The General arrived this morning, and word has gotten out about the fire on the East Coast already. He's downstairs, ranting about the entire situation, so you might want to prepare yourselves for that.”
“Transport me and my Bonded back to our house. I don't want her around any danger that might end in bloodshed,” the Corvus says, and Kieran looks at North and Gryphon before he moves.
“Gabe and Atlas, you both should go with them to watch over her while we deal with this,” North says before he looks over at my god-bond. “Once she’s safe at the house, can we have Nox back? We're going to need all the help we can get and nothing handles the General quite like my brother’s pissed-off attitude.”
Gryphon nods his head and then smirks. “Nothing except Oli’s. She's gotten pretty good at cutting the General to the core.”
My god-bond nods and starts shifting her in our arms until she’s more secure. “Do it. I will see her home safely before I sleep.”
* * *
Black Transportsus to the front doorstep of the mansion, and we all stand together as Gabe fumbles around for his keys to get us in.
Atlas stands as close to my side as he can without touching me, his eyes on Oli. He continues staring at her sleeping form until we hear a low rustling in the bushes. He turns to cover us both as he watches to see where the sound has come from. It’s nothing but the breeze, I’d feel if it were more, but my shadows dart off to double-check.
The way that Atlas covers me is telling.
Even a month ago, he would have gone toe-to-toe with my god-bond to wrestle Oli out of my arms. He would have used her safety and his impenetrable skin as excuses to get her away from us, but now he sees the value in protecting us both. I could write it off simply as his respect for the gods, and I'm sure that does play into it, but there's no denying that the Bonded Group has shifted and changed, matured in ways none of us were expecting.
The girl in my arms who I was so sure would be the catalyst for our destruction has become anything but that. She's the reason we're all pulling together, the reason we all want more for ourselves and the community. Simply by existing, she has made everything better.
The god-bond can hear every one of my thoughts, and he pulls her up further into our chest, tucking her in closer as the shadows wrap around her, forming more of a protective barrier.
When the shadow creatures come back from the bushes with nothing to report and no blood spilled, Atlas relaxes a little, though his eyes stay on the road that leads up to our house.
“Do you really think someone's going to get in here? Is there a valid argument for that or is this just Bonded behavior?” Black murmurs quietly, and Atlas shoots him a look.
He just shrugs back. “I’m not saying there's anything wrong with Bonded behavior—I have it myself. I would just like to know if I should be reaching for my gun right now to back you up.”
Atlas gives him a curt nod, and his eyes narrow toward the lights down at the town center. “They had a Shield already in place just outside of the Sanctuary walls to keep you trapped in here. What's to say they haven't found a way inside? What's to say that some of the residents here aren’t sleeper-cells, like the one that killed the Dravens’ uncle? I mean, I trust Gryphon, and I trust his bond, but we've just found out that there are more god-bonds out there. What's to say one of them couldn't plant someone in here? The Soothsayer has only been awake for a matter of days. There is every chance that we're not safe here, and I'm not going to bet my Bonded’s life onanythingright now.”
Black stares at him for a moment and then nods, palming his gun and turning his back to the door right as Gabe finally gets it open. He watches over the street as we walk in, entering last and triple-checking the locks on the doors before he holsters his weapon once more.
The glass in here is bulletproof, the best that money can buy. The entire structure of the house has been reinforced, and it’s the equivalent of a bomb-proof bunker. North hadn't spared a single expense on the place. Whatever recommended rating the professionals had given him, he tripled it, just to be sure.
I know, without a doubt, that there are presidents and royalty with less protection than what my brother has in place for our Bonded Group and the little Central still sleeping in my arms.
The Corvus doesn't hesitate to walk Oleander back into her room, ignoring the conversation still happening around us. Gabe and Atlas eventually follow us down the hallway, as though drawn there by Oli subconsciously, never wanting to be too far away from her.
Even after it gets her tucked safely into her bed with Gabe and Atlas watching her like hawks, my bond is not satisfied.
It doesn't want to leave her here without one of us standing guard, and I understand the feeling well. There's something vulnerable about her at the moment, something I've never felt before. Before, when she had overexerted her power, her bond would still simmer to the surface from time to time. I could still feel it there watching over her as her body took what it needed. There's a stillness inside of Oleander right now that chills me right down to the bone.
I don't want to leave her.
Black is waiting in the kitchen for me to return. When my bond simply stands and stares at Oleander's sleeping form, Gabe starts to get restless.
“We’re not going to let anything happen to her. Atlas is indestructible, and he is going to cover her at all times. North and Gryphon are the ones who need help here.”
He uses a very reasonable tone, but my god-bond doesn't react. It doesn't do anything except stare down at the small lump in the fabric that Oli makes, watching her obsessively. Her breathing is even and steady; nothing about her is saying that she needs to be watched like this.
If anything happens, she has Atlas’ power to cover her, and Gabe can shift into the dragon if he needs to. It would take him less than a second to fly her back to us. I know this, the Corvus knows this, and yet, we still can’t move.
“Are you going to be able to leave her or should we call North and let him know what's going on?” Atlas asks as he climbs up onto the bed with her.
