I need you to tell Kieran to play along.
Gryphon’s response is immediate and desperate sounding, WHERE ARE YOU?
I take a good, hard look at Davies as he turns back to us, my breath catching in my throat, but he’s too busy eyeballing Kieran like he’ll find my name branded on his skin if only he looks hard enough at him, so I take the chance to keep the conversation going for a moment longer. Life or death situation here, Bonded. I need you to hack into Kieran’s brain RIGHT NOW and tell him to play along, or your second is dead. Do it. I’ll contact you again the moment it’s safe. I swear on our Bond.
There’s a slight pause and then Gryphon says again, his blinding rage at me and this situation we’ve found ourselves in making my ears ring, How did you know I can reach him? How did you know my Gift had grown that much?
I want to slump in the chair against my restraints in relief but that would be too obvious, so instead, I send one last message before I block him out entirely again. A lucky guess. I’ll keep him safe, Kyrie too. I’ll let you know the moment it’s safe for you to come get us. I’ll come back to you all, I promise. Tell North I didn’t run.
I don’t know why it’s so important to me to tack that onto the end there, but I do, stupidly thinking that at least if Silas loses his mind and kills me off, at least North might… believe that I wasn’t the worst choice for a Bond.
God, what a depressing thought.
I see the exact moment Gryphon gets through to Kieran. His shoulders square up, ever the obedient second in command. It’s a much better look on him than the pissed off, bloodied TacTeam member who wants to murder me, that’s for damn sure.
Davies finally decides to actually do something and walks over to Kieran, grabbing him by both arms and pulling him onto his feet. His bad leg doesn’t support any of his weight, lolling out, and he grunts a little as he’s probably blinded by the pain. I wish so badly that I could heal him, or take his pain away from him, but he’s not actually my Bond, no matter what I tell Davies, so there is nothing I can offer him.
Davies doesn’t notice his leg, or doesn’t care, and starts one of his usual honeyed monologues. “A Transporter. I’m a little disappointed at how mediocre that is. I was expecting something magnificent, to be paired with a beauty like you. I suppose I’m stuck with a Healer, so it makes sense that we can’t all be once-in-a-lifetime powers. Still, I can’t say I wasn’t hoping for more.”
My bond flashes to the forefront of my mind again, not liking the way he’s speaking about our Bonds, even if he’s got the wrong guy. It doesn’t throw a tantrum or act spoiled the way it has for weeks back at the Draven mansion, and for once, I feel safer with it taking the reins for a bit. It always did do whatever was required to keep me alive, whole, and sane.
Kieran stares at Davies blankly, nothing showing on his face now that he’s playing the good soldier and following Gryphon’s orders. I feel oddly proud of him for not cowering in the face of this terrible man… but he also probably doesn’t know the extent of his evil.
Not the way I do, anyway.
Davies shoves him to his knees at my feet again and though he grimaces, Kieran doesn’t make a noise at the pain that’s very obviously shooting through his body. I look at him now that my bond is at the helm, safer now that Davies can see the cold and aloof look of my void eyes because he’s never seen the hungry look in them before… he’s never seen me look at my Bonds and make demands of them.
Mine.
God, I miss them all already. What I wouldn’t give to be sitting in a stupid Gifted 101 class with Nox snarling up at me, or sitting in the dining room with North making demands and Gryphon ignoring my existence. I’d take all of their bullshit right now to be back there with them.
I really have fallen.
Davies stares at me, watching my bond peruse Kieran and deciding it’s not just a show put on for him, and the victory in his grin makes me feel sick. “Little Render… you’re going to Bond with him, and then we’re going to test you out all over again. God, how I’ve missed your screaming.”
And then he leaves the tent, leaves Kieran on the ground at my feet, and me chained to my chair with cold, black, void eyes.
Chapter Three
Oli
Kieran has tech handcuffs on, the type that will send volts of electricity tearing through your body if you step out of line to kill you, so I’m not surprised that Davies has just left him behind with me. I’m also aware that there’s a camera on us. While I’m confident that it won’t have a mic, I still don’t want to be sitting here chatting about what’s really going on.
When he looks up at me with a glare, I shush him and then I cast out my gift to feel who is around us, whether anyone will overhear his pissed off tirade that I’m sure is just bursting to get out.
Davies is over in the main tents with a handful of his strongest and most trusted men. None of them can hear shit from this far away though, so I’m safe there. There’s a lot of new people here, but I can’t sense any Neuros or Telekinetic-type gifts, so I decide it’s worth the risk and call my gift back into myself, meeting Kieran’s eye and giving him the go-ahead to speak.
I shouldn’t have bothered.
“I’m not having sex with you.”
I snort at him and snap back, remembering in the last second to keep my voice down and my head ducked despite my outrage, “That’s never been the plan, Black! Get your head out of the gutter.”
He huffs at me like I’m being the unreasonable one, and then winces as he jolts his leg, shifting slightly to attempt to relieve some of the pain he’s obviously in. I hope it’s not broken. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take me to get the hell out of here, and Franklin is still here for some unknown reason, so the thought of having to drag Kieran out on my back is just too much.
“So what is your grand plan then? You heard Silas Davies, he’s going to expect us to ‘Bond’.”
I roll my eyes at him, extra petulant because I’m stuck in the chair with a numb ass, but also to hide the thrill of terror that jolts through my veins at him saying the name. “I know exactly what the next few days are going to look like, so calm down. We just need to be patient, and then I’ll get us out.”
He blinks at me for a second and then curses under his breath, shaking his head. “Contact Shore. Tell him where we are and get an evac, because there’s no way you’re going to get us out of here.”
My bond floods me at the sound of his name, and I have no control of my body as it takes over and my eyes shift to black, leaning down to hiss at Kieran, “I have endured too much for you to speak his name here. Don’t ever speak of any of them.”
He pauses for a second and then he gulps.
He honest-to-God gulps like I’m terrifying, which my bond loves, but it releases its grip on me, and I slump back in the seat with a gasp.
“You’re a crazy fucking kid, you know that?”
I shrug and let out a quiet, slightly shaky, laugh. “I thought you were looking forward to watching me ruin everyone’s lives? Come on now, don’t give up on me over something so small. My bond barely spoke to you!”