I wake, hours later and only just before dawn, with the girl splayed out over my chest and her nose pressed against my neck, my heart thumping the second I come to and feel her there.
The only reason I don’t throw her across the room to get her the fuck off of me is because I don’t want to have to explain to any of them why I’m in the bed.
I manage to get her back onto her pillows and the bed straightened up before I lurch into the bathroom and get the shower running to cover the sounds of my retching. Once that part is over with, I climb under the hot spray still in my clothes. I can’t stand the sight of myself right now, not the scars or the reaction to waking up with her on top of me that hasn’t been deterred by the vomiting.
Rahab sits at the bottom of the shower, the water moving through his body as though he were a ghost, and Mephis keeps watch at the door. His head sticks through the solid wood every now and then to see what’s happening in there.
Gryph comes to collect the girl while I’m scrubbing my hair. He scowls at the bathroom door and Mephis when she mentions needing the bathroom, but leads her out to use his before they train. I should feel bad. I should have some level of empathy for how my fucked-up brain ruins everything, but I can’t.
I’m too busy trying to scrub her off of me before I completely lose my fucking mind.
“What happened to you? Wasn’t Oleander supposed to be in with you last night? You look like shit.”
I don’t stop to speak to him on my way to the coffee pot, picking up the biggest cup in the collection and pouring out the black liquid until it hits the rim. The bonds obviously spent the entire night speaking to each other, and while my mind ‘slept’， my body did not.
North’s new office looks exactly like his old one layout-wise, but with none of his usual decadent luxury. I’m sure if we’re here for long enough, he’ll find a way to get some marble installed in here.
“Nox? Do I need to go find my Bonded and check if she’s okay?”
I send him a dark look. “Sleeping on a couch so that your Bonded can get what she needs isn’t very restful. If you’re so desperate to pant after her, then I’m not stopping you. Go be pathetic elsewhere.”
His eyes flash black at me for a split second, a tiny slip of his control, and I smirk at him. I will never not enjoy watching him crumble over a little girl made of poison.
How the mighty fall. It really is pathetic.
“Stop taking your bad mood out on me. If you want the day off to hole up with your books, then just say it. No one is forcing you to be here.”
Ah, but he’s wrong about that. I’d had to open up all three of the windows in my room to attempt to air it out and get her sweet smell out of there. My bond refused to let me change the sheets, it threw a bitch fit over it if I’m being honest, so I was forced to just get rid of the rest of it as much as possible.
I’m going to have to drink tonight. The only way I’ll get through sleeping in there is if I’m wasted, and for once, my bond agrees with me.
“The water supply has been compromised.”
My eyes snap up from my cup of coffee to meet North’s scowl. He nods at me and continues, “There are only two points of the line that aren’t covered by security, it had to happen there. The filtration system picked up the foreign bacterias there and automatically shut down. Sawyer was woken by the alarms and called me at seven. He’s already been through what footage we have, but it looks like there’s someone living here that is a plant.”
I curse under my breath. We’d always known it wasn’t just possible, but probable that we’d be bringing a sympathizer with us.
“Any guesses on who it was?”
North rounds the table and slides a tablet towards me with a list of names on it. “These are the people who weren’t in their beds at that time. Sawyer has been slowly tracing their movements, but it’s a big job for one man, even a skilled Technokinetic. We are very lucky to have him. We need to recruit another.”
Easier said than done. Technos are rare. Second only to Renders and Death Dealers, we’ve somehow managed to start this little community with a very special set of skills. A Shifter who can take any form and an insanely strong Neuro with the ability to sniff out lies also helps immensely.
Indestructible Boy can still disappear for all I care.
North takes a seat in his chair and opens up his laptop, frowning at the screen like he’s just been assaulted by the onslaught of bullshit there. I have no doubt that he’s being harassed by the remaining members of the Council and the other Top Tier families who want him to deal with their problems even though they refused to come here with the lower families.