The tiling. He’s being a fusspot about the colors of tiles. It’s going to drive us all mad. I swipe my card after he’s done with his to get us both in the elevator and headed into his office. The security here is the best money can pay for. Aside from housing North’s offices, there’s also a bomb shelter panic room in the basement with concrete walls that are six feet thick on every side. It could withstand Unser going off.
We know. We’ve tested it.
North waits until the elevator closes behind us before he starts his usual debrief, starting with the Bonded Group. “Bassinger is on his way over. He went for a run this morning and has already volunteered to help Gabe with the housing over in the third quarter. Obviously because Oleander will be there as well, but it’s a good sign.”
I nod and then broach my least favorite topic. “Is Nox still here? Do you need me to step in, or are we just going to… continue to let him spiral?”
North’s eyes flash over to me. I’m his biggest, and only, ally when it comes to his brother and all of his issues. Our friendship had started the day North brought Nox home, and because of that, I know pretty much everything there is to know about the brothers. Every twisted, fucked-up thing.
And so long as it doesn’t hurt my Bonded, I’ll keep helping to manage the situation.
“He’s back to drinking and training. The camp cleanup was good for him. We’ll need to send him on some more missions with you to keep him level. I’m taking him leaving the house last night as a good sign. He’s getting better at spotting his triggers and leaving before it becomes a problem. Just… leave him to me for now.”
“If he goes after her again—”
He cuts me off, probably because he doesn’t want to think about it either. “He won’t. I’ve spoken to him.”
I shake my head slowly as the doors open in front of us again and we find Nox passed out on the small couch in the corner of North’s office. One of his shadows is resting over his chest and two more are lying on the floor in front of him, but they stay put as we walk over to North’s desk. They watch us though, obsessively. They’re waiting for the moment we dare to step towards their sleeping master.
The moment anyone dares.
“Did we bring a psych with us as well? Did you find the guy Sage was seeing?”
North cringes and starts his computer up, plugging in his laptop and getting all four of the screens on the desk set up. “I found him, and he’s already left the country. His family decided on an extended stay in Singapore, not that I blame them.”
The elevator dings again and then Bassinger steps out, his cheeks still pink from the run, and his hands shoved into his pockets as he comes over to slump in the chair beside me.
North ignores us both for his emails for a second, scowling and muttering under his breath in a furious tone, and I take the moment to look Bassinger over. His leg is bouncing under the desk, a sign of agitation that he’s struggling to hide.
I pitch my tone to be something friendly enough, which is something that he doesn’t always take kindly to, and I ask, “How are you doing? The run doesn’t seem to have helped.”
He stares at me for a second and then says, “It’s still hard for me to talk to you guys about it. I’m not used to… this sort of Bond Group dynamic. It messes with my head sometimes.”
North nods from behind the desk but doesn’t add anything, so I try instead. “This is the way that we keep Oli safe. Even when we don’t like it, we talk about shit and we’re honest. If something happens to her because we’re acting like dickheads with each other, we only have ourselves to blame.”
His jaw flexes a little but he nods. “I’m just still… surprised that my father would be involved in the killing of children, but that’s probably just me being naive. It’s fucking with my head, but I’m dealing with it. It’s not going to be a problem.”
Truth.
Solid truth, and I’ll respect the hell out of that sort of honesty any day of the week.
North’s eyebrows inch up just a little at the admission but he nods again, taking a second before he murmurs, “It’s hard to see people crossing lines that we assume would be unfathomable to ever consider, especially someone we think we know so well. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
This feels like progress.
It has to be, right?
An hour later, Bassinger and I step into the elevator together, ready to be transported back to the council offices to finish up after the raid and dismantling of the Resistance camp we took out. We’ve already had an influx of intel thanks to the chatter in the aftermath, and Bassinger has been pivotal in recovering it. There’s always the chance that he’s a deep cell spy, someone sent in to us to sacrifice his own family just to get to Oli and take us all out, but I’m starting to really believe the kid.