Halfway up, the bond shifts in my chest. Bane's thread lights warm and bright, then settles. Like he just thought of me hard enough that I felt it. A grin breaks across my face before I can stop it and I have to bite my lip to keep it down.
I'll be there before either of you. Atlas. Calm and certain.
I am going to climb in your window like a teenager. Bane, against the wall of the kitchen this morning, laughing into my mouth.
I’ll be in your bed tonight. Trust that.Zero, in the doorway, smug as anything.
I can feel them all now, aching to get back to me.
A slow heat rolls down my spine.
I take the stairs two at a time.
Past the office where Atlas's door is closed because Atlas isn't home yet. Past Bane's room. Past Zero's. Into mine.
I close the door behind me and lean against it and let myself smile, all the way, for nobody.
They are coming.
I am here.
I unzip my duffel and start pulling clothes out, because if I don't put my hands to work I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon standing in the middle of my room with my palm pressed flat over the bond mark on my throat just to feel them thrum.
It is going to be a long few hours.
I cannot wait.
Chapter 5
An arm snakes around my waist and pulls me back into a chest.
I am awake before I am all the way awake. Warm weight at my spine. Cedar. The soap from his shower. The bond in my chest going from steady-far to steady-here in one breath.
Atlas.
His mouth finds my ear.
"Hi, sweetheart."
I make a small sleep-rough sound that meanshi. My face is in the pillow. I am smiling without permission. His palm is heavy and warm on my belly through my thin t-shirt and I am too pleased to form words.
"You won," I manage. Eventually. Slurred.
"Mm."
"Where are the others?"
"Driving."
"You—"
"I left them with a list and a closing checklist and the keys to lock up. Bane is at present going to murder me in my sleep. Zero is at present plotting more creative options."
I laugh into the pillow. It comes out a wet huff.
"You cheated."
"I did."
