Where are they hiding, lying in wait for us?
Why won’t they come out and play with me?
My Bonded looks down at me and when I nod at him for an all clear, he starts barking out orders to the Gifted surrounding us. They move the moment they have their directives, but when he gets to me I shake my head.
“Oli will go—”
“No.”
Both of my Bonded turn to look at me, but my eyes stay on the side of the building where there’s a driveway to the back for the receiving area. There’s a large truck already around there being unloaded, and while there’s nothing there so far, that is a warning to me. I don’t like it.
I don’t like it at all.
“Okay. Oleander, Draven, and Bassinger will stay here and help with the perimeter patrol while we get the supplies. No one get in my Bonded’s way or approach her, especially when she’s working. You don’t want to catch her bond’s interest, trust me.”
There’s a murmur of agreement and then they all move out. I couldn’t care less about them or what we’re actually here for.
I want that truck.
There’s no need to say that out loud or to discuss a plan, I just stride over there, secure in the knowledge that mine will follow me. Of course they will, where else would they need to be when I am in their presence?
So they follow me and we walk together over to the loading area at the back of the huge building where the truck has caught my attention. I can’t focus on anything else, which is all that needs to be said because I am a god.
I am never wrong.
The communicator in my ear makes a noise and then my Bonded’s voice comes through clearly to me. “Do not leave her side. Whatever ambush they’re planning, she’s feeling it. Do not leave her.”
The Dark One answers, “We already had that figured out. No one is leaving her. Get the stock and get out of there. Keep your head in the mission.”
I come to a stop in the center of the road about ten feet away from the truck. Both of my Bonds attempt to move me, but this is the spot. There is nowhere else to be right now and if any vehicle approaches, then that’s an issue for them to deal with.
I cannot be moved.
We stand there and when either of my Bonds attempt to speak to me, I ignore them, waiting for the moment. I know it’s coming. I know it as surely as I know that I must protect the girl. I will not be swayed from this spot until it comes. Whatever it is, whatever is coming for us, this is where I will deal with it.
I lose track of the passing of time.
I know that there’s movement around me, a lot of Tac personnel approaching us and being redirected in their rounds as they patrol the area. I can feel their tension, the way that my strangeness and otherness is getting them all rattled. Even though they’re all very well trained and aren’t reacting to it, I can feel it.
I can taste it in the air.
My Bonded’s voice comes down the comms again. “We’re loaded and ready to go. I’ll send the other two groups, ours can stay until Oli is done.”
The driver speaks again, “I’m packed and ready to move, just give the word.”
The Dark One replies, “She’s fixated on the truck. We’re not going to move until she’s ready. We trust the bond above all else.”
I almost preen at that, almost, but then there’s a pop sound five feet in front of us and three men appear out of thin air. I don’t recognize any of them, but I know who they are and what they’re here for.
Me.
The girl and the being inside her.
My Bonds as well, if they can manage it.
“Little Render, you are proving to be quite the pain in the ass now, aren’t you?” the older man in the middle says, his pockmarked skin stretching over his toothy grin a little too tautly.
I wave a hand and the souls of the other two men tear out without any real effort, their bodies falling to the ground with twin thuds.
The Dark One steps into my body a little closer, his shadows falling from his body like dark smoke on a lake in the clearest night. He looks like death immemorial and pride swells in my chest at the magnificent sight of him.
The Everlasting One is struggling to hold himself back, struggling not to throw himself over me because the urges to protect his most beloved Bond are so strong. I want to reach out to him, to comfort him and remind him that all of this is meaningless to me.
I just want to know what else the Transporter has to say because why else would they send us three men? Granted, the one still breathing is strong. Very strong, strong enough that I’m not just going to waste a good soul and tear it out.