It's the perfect ending to a long day of hard work… Part of my mind is wandering toward the shower, thinking about getting ourselves clean before I run my tongue over every inch of them both. There's also a frenetic energy that needs to be sated first, energy that needs to be fulfilled.
“Find me a bed, Bonded,” I break away from his lips to murmur.
A slow, easy grin stretches over his lips as he cups my ass with one hand, lifting me up until my legs wind their way around his waist.
Gabe chuckles under his breath as he puts a hand over his shoulder and grabs a fistful of his shirt, pulling it off in one easy motion as he drops it on the floor carelessly. I know at least one man who's going to end up very angry at him for such messiness, but Atlas’ lips are very distracting as he kisses his way down my neck, completely disregarding the layer of dust that covers us all.
I find myself ignoring it as well, my hands tangling in his hair and yanking at the small length of it as I pull his lips back to mine. It's slow and easy, and it's everything I want right now. Fun, carefree, and without any sort of obligation. There's no bonds battling it out inside of us or making demands, there's no giant void of energy that we're trying to fill. There's nothing but me and two of my Bonded wanting to be with each other, and that in itself is perfect. Gabe leads the way towards my bedroom, swinging open the door and making his way over to the bed, taking his shoes off as he goes.
Atlas refuses to put me down, not even onto the bed for a moment, while he gets us both naked. Instead, we become a confused pile of limbs, interconnected as we try to shimmy out of our own clothes while still kissing. I get pretty close to getting my pants off when there is a tickle at the side of my throat that doesn't feel like hands. I assume for a moment that Gabe has decided that watching is no longer enough and that he wants to join when Atlas curses and turns us both.
There, at our feet, is Azrael. He’s slowly growing bigger and bigger andbiggeras he takes over the room.
My brows furrow as I watch all of this. It’s completely out of character for my little shadow puppy, but then his puppy form distorts until it's almost as if he's trying to shape himself into a man.
My heart begins to thump in my chest.
I have no idea what is going on, and then suddenly, through the shadow puppy walks Nox, shifting from one space in the Sanctuary to another.
Atlas grumbles under his breath and opens his mouth, ready to tear Nox a new one, but the look on his face tells me something else has happened, something terrible, and the first thing that he's done is come to me the fastest way he possibly can, faster even than the Transporters could get him here.
“What is it?” I whisper. “What's happened?”
Atlas’ grip on me relaxes a little, and I slide down the front of him, completely unbothered by my nakedness, and Nox’s eyes never leave my face.
“One of the Transporter Zones for the new Sanctuary residents was hit. They've taken Kieran.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Gabe
The momentwe arrive at North’s offices, I feel a grim hope start in my chest. The largest number of TacTeam operatives that I've ever seen are here, all of them dressed and ready to move out as they stand in neat lines the way that they’ve been trained to.
Vivian and Unser look over the crowd with stern and discerning eyes, but I've known them for long enough to know that they're happy with what they are seeing. A lot of work in a very short amount of time might just pay off here.
Nox opens the door to the office, shepherding Oli in front of him as he covers her with his body protectively. Atlas doesn't even flinch at the sight of it, something that has taken a very long time for us to work our way to. The two of them have finally found a middle ground, all that truly matters to either of them is our Bonded.
The way it should have been all along.
The moment we step into the office a gasping sound breaks out of Oli, and she steps around Nox as she flings herself in Sage’s direction.
I almost don't recognize the girl that I grew up with and have known for my entire life.
The Sage back then, the one that Oli had first met and befriended, was a broken shadow of herself. A girl who had been manipulated by the Resistance into losing one of her Bonds, rejected by our community, and was everyone’s punching bag for something she had no control over. The girl who befriended Oli because she saw something in my Bonded that everyone else missed, a good heart. Now we’re here, one of her Bonded kidnapped, and the rest of her Bonded Group is in a mess over it.
Everyone except Sage herself.
She catches Oli and holds her shoulders. “I need you to help me bring him back, Oli. I need you to help me find him.”
I’m happy her words come out strong, like she’s full of fight, brimming with strength and power. I feel weirdly proud of her in this moment.
She's not going to let this break her.
“Of course. I'm going to hunt him down, drag him home to you, and then I'm going to set my bond on anyone and everyone involved in taking him in the first place. I’ll eat all of their souls for you. Someone get me some matches, I'm ready to light something on fire! I can't believe they would go after him like this.”
A grin stretches over my lips, pride swelling in my chest as the Draconis wakes inside of me. It likes the way she’s talking. It likes the promise of bloodshed and vengeance.
Sage scoffs under her breath. “You don't need matches,I'mcoming with you.”
