Azrael lets me know that they are on their way back to me, Fallows bouncing happily between Gabe and Bassinger as she celebrates her victory of being right about the girl we'd brought back from the Wastelands.
Another Bonded Group put back together by her intuition.
She's smarter than I could ever give her credit for. Even without her bond, she pieces things together that other people just can't see.
She is the perfect match for each of her Bonded. For North's desires to love and protect and covet, but also needing someone who can go toe to toe with him. For Gryphon’s desires to have someone who can keep up with him and stand with him against anything that might threaten the Bonded Group. For Gabe’s need to have companionship and a friend as much as a lover. And for whatever it is that Bassinger requires, she clearly fits that mold perfectly.
There's also a part of me that thinks that maybe if things had gone a little differently in my life, she might have been perfect for me too. Except, the hole in my chest that she should have fit perfectly into was destroyed, blown apart, taken to with a pair of scissors until there was no one on this earth that could take up the space there. Though I’ve blamed her over and over and over again, because of that stupid word, Bonded, I already know who's to blame for it, and it's not the little white-haired girl.
So I'll leave her my shadow creature, the only part of me that can treat her the way she deserves, and I'll stay as far away from her and the Bonded Group as I can. As far away from the people who understand me, love me, and accept me as I possibly can, because I know that my brother's patience is wearing thin, even if he refuses to admit it.
Gryphon arrives first, always eager to get ready and be on the road as swiftly as possible. He ducks into the locker room to grab his gear and then comes back out to stand with me.
As he pulls his uniform off, he glances over his shoulder at me. ”Did you hear about the girl we brought back? She’s Sawyer and Gray’s Central Bond. You guys did good, finding her and spotting what she was.”
I shrug and run a hand through my hair. “Your Bonded found her, my bond just backed her up. For all I knew, she could have held information that we needed and that was it.”
Gryphon nods slowly and glances out the door quickly to make sure that we're alone and he has time to say this. “She has a brother at those camps. We need to find him and bring him back as well.”
I do not like complications, and I definitely don't want to be bringing more potential risks back to the Sanctuary.
Before I can protest, Gryphon mumbles, ”He’s five, Nox. What do you think they're doing to a five-year-old in that place?”
I don't want to think about what they're doing to a five-year-old. I don't want to admit that I know what they're probably doing to a five-year-old, and I know for sure that I will not be returning today without that five-year-old.
There is a burst of noise as Oli, Gabe, and Atlas arrive together, all three of them bouncing off of each other's energies as they stumble into the room.
Gabe grins and waves at both of us before ducking into the changing room with the lockers in it that are set aside purely for us, and Fallows looks slightly awkward as she glances between us with a smile and scurries after him.
Bassinger stares me down like he's thinking about how exactly he'd cover up my murder, but that’s run of the mill for him, so I don't give him any of thereaction that I'm sure he's so desperately after.
When the locker room door has been closed and locked behind them, I turn back to Gryphon. “So the targets are Unser and the boy… Do we know if there are any other children there? Any other priorities?”
Gryphon turns back to me as he pulls the bulletproof vest on. He has a different type this time that covers a little more of his shoulders, and I'm sure it comes from knowing just how badly he'd panicked his Bonded, badly enough that she’d found Kieran and dragged everyone to the Wastelands after us.
It's a good thing she did too, because he would be dead otherwise, maybe North and I as well.
“Aro didn't know if there were any more children. They were separated as soon as they were taken to the camps, but he’d been brought in a few times to where they were processing her and used as a threat to get her to comply. The only reason they got her into the Wastelands to begin with was by using him.”
I know I don't need to question it, but I do anyway. “And you're sure she's not lying about anything? There was no whiff of deception on her? Being a Central Bond doesn't mean that she's not a sympathizer being sent to feed us false information.”