And I’ll bet North has a live feed of us directly into his office as well, but at least we have complete privacy inside the cave.
I grab the bags I’d packed from the back and follow her up to the opening. There’s a small outlook there that is the perfect viewing point for the town lights and the giant, fortress-like concrete wall that North put up at either end of the valley to keep this place a secret from anyone who might stumble upon it.
I watch as the awe settles over Oli’s face, and it’s a fucking beautiful sight. Her eyes light up and she sort of backs her way up the path so that she doesn’t have to look away from the view. The sun is already starting to fall into dusk, low over the trees, and the brilliant burst of oranges over the sky warms her skin in a gorgeous glow.
I take a photo of her.
Then I make it my background on my phone like a complete sap, because she looks like a fucking model, absolutely breathtaking and mine.
She glances over to me and blinks a little like she forgot what we were doing here. “Did you happen to bring dinner? I forgot about food during my bond’s weirdness, but now it’s taking a nap and I’m starving. I should’ve thought of that.”
I grin at her and brush past her to put the bags down a little further into the cave where I’m sure they can’t be seen by the camera. They’re my maker, my way to know if I’ve set our bed up too close to the opening and Sawyer is getting a free show of my Bond sleeping.
Or of us at the very least making out, which would cause me to kill the man. He should never know the way that her cheeks pink up or the fall of her chest when she’s struggling for breath because she’d rather the taste of my lips than oxygen.
I pull out the sandwiches I’d thrown together for us both as I’d packed and take one to her, holding it out and watching her face light up all over again. She’s sweet behind all of the sass she throws at everyone. I feel smug that I get to see it so often, a perk of being her safe place when the others were still up their own asses about her.
She giggles at the overloaded state of the sandwiches, the only way to eat them, and opens hers up right away, acting as though it’s a big deal as she takes a bite. “My bond is having a field day right now. Two of my Bonds cooking me food in the same day? This is practically the dream.”
Ah.
The old trick North had used to his advantage back when he was pretending to hate her. I’m still not convinced that any of his bad feelings were real because the way her treats her hasn’t really changed, just the delivery and how it’s received.
She’s a lot better about doing what he says now they’re Bonded.
“What are you thinking? You’re frowning again,” she mumbles with her mouth still full.
“You. I’m thinking about how to make things better for you here.”
She walks over to the small ledge and sits down, hanging her legs over the edge and kicking them out. There’s a small drop, only a couple of feet, but I park my ass next to her straight away in case she falls.
She’d probably barely scratch herself on the way down, but I’m not taking the risk.
She swallows her mouthful and says, “Things are fine. They’re good, really. I’m not as scared anymore. I’m— okay. I mostly feel guilty now, but I keep telling myself that everyone is safe here, thanks to North pulling the trigger on the move. I don’t think he would’ve if I wasn’t in danger, so those kids running around that new school? They’re safe, thanks to his need to protect me.”
I scowl at her. “Why would you feel guilty?”
She groans and shoves the last of the sandwich half into her mouth like she wants to avoid the question. I wait her out, patient enough to plow through the rest of my own sandwich while she chews at the pace of a geriatric.
“I’m not an idiot. I know that Davies will have a list somewhere with my Bond’s names on it. Yours? Not so much, thanks to your family, but the rest of them? A Shifter who can become any living animal? A Neuro like Gryphon, whose range is better than his? The Dravens, who need nothing more said but their name to strike terror in the population? Yeah, he knows about them all, but he’s never hunted them before. Not the way that he will now that he knows they’re in my Bond Group. Andrews was the very first, easiest test. They’re going to come, thick and fast, and I brought that on you all. I’m no real help around here because all of the work I’d be good at, North refuses to let me do because he’s… overprotective of me. I’m a liability with a bond who eats souls.”