My bond and I both agree on that fully.
No one harms my Bonded and lives.
I creep out of the bathroom and grab my phone to light the way out to the kitchen. My stomach is both empty and settled now that my bond has finished her meal of the Trigger’s soul, and I’m desperate for some food. I know that North will be furious at me for not waking him up so that he can be the one to feed me. Hisquirk about keeping his Bonded fed and happy was a delightful surprise to me.
Except they’re all sleeping so soundly that I can't bear to wake them up, so he’ll have to just get over it.
I get out to the kitchen and rummage around in the fridge until I find everything I need to make an omelet and toast. I make the toast first so I can eat it while I'm frying up the omelet, and I'm so hungry that I seriously consider making a fruit salad afterwards as well.
I'm so hyper fixated on eating that it takes me a second to notice that I'm no longer alone in the kitchen.
I curse my bond for not warning me anymore about my Bonded, and then curse it all over again when I realize that Nox is now sitting at the dining table, a coffee in one hand and one of the ancient texts from the Hail Mary in the other.
So much for a peaceful breakfast.
He doesn't say a word to me, just sits there and studies the words in front of him, the ones that speak of the lives that we've lived together many times before.
“Do you… want some breakfast?” I say hesitantly, and he shakes his head.
“The coffee is enough.”
I know that he's spoken civilly and even nicely to my bond before, but I think it is the first time he's ever uttered words in my direction that weren’t laced with acid.
I don't push my luck though. I flip the omelet out onto a plate and dig into it with a fork, still standing at the kitchen counter because there is no way that I'm leaving the kitchen without the fruit salad.
I might even make some more toast.
“Have you found anything in there? I've read the texts that you've sent through so far, and I couldn't spot anything that you hadn't already highlighted.” I cringe as soon as the words are out of my mouth, waiting for the rebuttal from him.
But he just takes a sip from his coffee cup and places it back down on the table, the picture of a sedate professor. “Your bond isn't crazy for calling itself a god. They are gods. I don't know where they've come from, or anything else about them, but the things that they can do and their genetics… they are higher beings than are found anywhere else.”
Jesus Christ.
I shove some more of the eggs into my mouth, chewing happily on the mixture as I try to think of something not irritating to reply back to him.
He speaks before I have to. “Unser is being tortured. They've taken him back to Davies. Adella called last night, I spoke to her. She can feel what they're doing to him, even though he is trying to block her out.”
My stomach drops and I pick up the plate of eggs to walk over to sit at the dining room table with him. I don't think I'm going to be able to stomach much more food if this is the way the conversation is going to go, and I try not to mourn the fruit salad too much.
“Is there any indication of which camp they took him to? We're gonna have to go after him.”
Nox flips the page, his eyes still roaming over the words as he reads and holds a conversation at the same time. That’s a skill that I desperately wish that I had. I imagine studying would be so much easier that way.
“North called in all of the TacTeams before we came back last night. There's going to be a meeting with all of the leaders today, and we'll decide if we will go, and who will be in the teams.”
I nod and shift the eggs around a little on my plate, my stomach is still growling with hunger, but it's hard to eat while thinking about such things. “We have to go though, right? We're the best ones for the job. Especially if Gabe’s going to be turning into a dragon at the drop of a hat. We need to use that to our advantage.”
Shadow creatures, a dragon, complete mind control, super strength that can also shield and keep the rest of us alive, and my bond.
We’re a complete arsenal at this point.
I sigh dramatically. “I know North doesn't want us all going at once—”
Nox shakes his head at me, interrupting me. “He doesn't like the Sanctuary left unguarded. We’ll leave enough of the TacTeams here. Then, if anything happens, we can come straight back, as long as Kieran's with us as well. We can't leave Unser with the Resistance any more than we could leave one of our own Bonded Group behind.”
My cheeks flush a little as he acknowledges our Bonded Group to me for the first time.