AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Perhaps tonight, I’d be able to sneak in a few stolen kisses in the corridor when the rest of the house was asleep. It wasn’t much, but it was all we could manage right now, and even then, it was clear he felt conflicted about it.
“Hi,” I said breathlessly, staring up at him. “What is it? Did you need me?”
There was a flash of something unidentifiable in his eyes. I hoped it was lust. “Your uncles are at the gate.”
My happiness at getting a moment with Harbor morphed into confusion. “What uncles?”
“Grace’s fathers. Well, two of them, at least. Chance and Creed. And the two boys—I forget their names.”
“Leon? And Tobin?”
“Right, those are the ones. They’re here seeking sanctuary.”
I shook my head slowly. “No, that can’t be right. Without Aunt Faith? They’d never leave her.”
Then again, the bonds were broken, and that changed everything. Leaving had never been an option before, and now it was. What did that mean for the agathos community? How many bonded would choose to stay together, if they were given real, meaningful choice?
“Can I see them?” I asked hesitantly. “I don’t… I’m not sure it’ll be good. I didn’t exactly part on great terms with my family.”
They’d used me as a spy while secretly planning to kill Dice and Grace’s soul bonds the moment they separated us. Most of my rage about the incident was directed inward at the stupid, trusting little girl I’d once been. When I thought about my family, it was mostly with bitterness.
Harbor nodded once, placing a supportive hand on the small of my back as he walked me to the gate. “I’ll be right by your side the whole time. If you don’t feel comfortable having them here, we’ll send them away.”
I shot him a withering look. “We both know that’s not true. Maybe if my uncles had come alone, but you’d never send two kids out into that madness.”
Harbor’s lips twitched, his hand bunching up the back of my sweater briefly before releasing it. It was a simple, chaste gesture that sent a small army of butterflies stampeding through my stomach.
It was selfish, given the desperate state of things, but all I dreamed about each night was getting some alone time with him. Imagining the campgrounds with no one else around, just the two of us in The Lodge without all the other single agathos who we shared a room with, making out under the covers on the big bed.
I never told him about those dreams, because they always ended up veering wildly off-course. Dice would appear, a harbinger of doom, followed by doom himself, who Ireallywasn’t supposed to be thinking about. At least with Dice, I had an excuse.
The bonds may have been broken, but it didn’t change the fact that Dice and I had been made for one another. Our souls were mirrors, and that was a difficult truth to forget. I really hoped he was okay, wherever he was. Probably hunkered down in Milton with his sister, Rogue, and her daughter, Quinn.
It had never been harder tonotcomplete the bond between us than it was when Dice was looking after Quinn. He’d been so good with her, and it had given me visions of what he’d be like as a dad one day, andugh! Don’t think about it!
The era of agathos soul bonds was over. I had no idea what my future entailed, but I struggled to envision romance in it. I couldn’t even conceptualize how a serious relationship would workwithouta bond, because that was all I’d ever seen and aspired to.
Sterling opened the gate with a small nod of reassurance directed at me. I managed a tremulous smile in return, stepping out of the safety of the camp and into the wild, unpredictable world.
“Mercy!” Little Tobin launched himself at me with such ferocity that I nearly fell on my ass.
“Hey bud,” I said cautiously, steadying myself before lifting him up under his armpits and snuggling him tight. “It’s been awhile, huh?”
Tobin buried his head in my shoulder, sniffling quietly, and I squeezed him a little tighter. Had he always been this light? No, I didn’t think so. Leon stood close by, watching us, and I was struck by both how much weight he’d lost, and how much older his eyes looked. As though he’d seen things that no eight-year-old should see.
“Mercy,” Chance rasped. His gaze dropped to my cheek for half a second, to the scar that wouldn’t heal from the bullet that had grazed me that day at the community center. The last time I’d seen Grace. “It’s so good to see you.”
It… was?
Chance was definitely not the kind of agathos who could lie, and yet I struggled to believe he was telling the truth. He and Creed hadn’t been directly involved in the conspiracy to use me as a double agent to capture Grace—in fact, Aunt Faith had derisively said they refused to participate, if I recalled correctly—but the distrust was still there. They may not have fed me to the wolves, but they’d certainly stood on the sidelines and watched the wolves devour me.
“You’re looking well,” Creed added with a tired smile. “Freedom suits you.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, not entirely sure how to respond to that. They definitely didnotlook well. Chance had always worn his dark red hair in a more shaggy, undone style than Aunt Faith preferred, but now it was almost down to his chin and so matted that it looked painful. Creed’s wrinkles had formed wrinkles, and there were deep cracks in his lips and all over his hands. The boys looked far healthier by comparison, like their dads had been sheltering them from the worst of the elements, but all of them had the zombie-like complexion of those who’d come here seeking refuge. It was from a combination of no sun, little food, and not enough water, and it took time to get them back to some semblance of health.
“How are you here?Whyare you here?” I shook my head at myself. “No, never mind. You need food and water and rest. We can talk later.”
“Mercy.” Chance stepped forward, resting a dust-covered hand on my sleeve. Harbor moved closer to my back, silently reassuring me with his presence. “We can never apologize enough, never make up for the suffering you went through at the hands of our family. But I can promise you that we mean you and your people no harm. That we have left the others behind for good.”
