Gryphon looks around again, which piques my interest. “I didn't just use my lie detection on her. I looked into her memories. I filtered through every little part of her life for the last six months, and there is no way that she is lying. I don't think even Davies himself could have planted that sort of complexity into her brain.”
I nod, and then a slow smirk stretches over my lips. “But you can.”
He looks up at me in shock and I shrug. “I know you think that I haven't noticed any of your boundary-pushing with how far your Gift has grown. But I've definitely noticed some things.”
He bites his cheek as though trying to smother the grin, but he can't. “I am going to tear Silas Davies apart, starting with the innermost part of his mind, and then I’ll work my way to his limbs.”
It sounds like a perfect plan, except…
I reach up a hand and he watches as my palm slowly turns black, spreading down to my fingertips and staining my skin until it slowly creeps up my neck.
“Only if you get to him first.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Oli
North is very clear about what the mission for today is going to entail and what my role is going to be.
I'm once again going to stay with Atlas and Gabe while North, Nox, and Gryphon push forward to deal with as much of the camp as possible. My job initially is to take out all of the Shields and anyone there that my bond senses might be a big player, although North is very clear about what I am to do with Silas Davies if he is actually there.
Absolutely nothing.
“Shouldn’t I see if my bond is strong enough to take him out? Should I at least test it? I mean, I don't think I’m going to be, but isn’t it worth it to try?”
North shakes his head emphatically as he does up the last of the buckles on his vest. He'd been the last person to arrive at his offices to get changed and ready, even after all of the other TacTeams and Vivian himself.
He'd been stopped by one of the other council members on his way over and had gotten into a heated argument. I already vehemently dislike the other council members, and the savage look on North’s face as he’d arrived just makes me feel that little bit more bloodthirsty.
“Nox and I will set our shadow creatures on him. From what we have heard from Atlas, it's our best chance. If he gets too close to us, he can use his Neuro abilities, and that's just not worth the risk. Trust me here, Bonded.”
I pull a face and glance over to where the rest of our Bonded Group is standing together. Nox looks strangely calm, the same way he has for the last few days, and it makes me nervous. Part of me wants to believe that it is because we’ve Bonded now and, though it's coming along slowly, he’s finding some sort of healing peace from that.
But I can't shake the bad feeling.
North glances over his shoulder to follow my line of sight and says, “Don't worry about him, Bonded. He's not going to bother you.”
I shake my head. “He's not bothering me, North. I know you don't believe me, but I'm worried about him.”
He grimaces back to me and presses a hand against the side of my neck, using his thumb to tip my chin back so that I'm looking right at him. “Unfortunately, knowing Nox and being someone he is close to, even unwillingly, means that you're going to worry about him constantly. I'm sorry about that, and I know that if he were capable, he would be sorry about that too.”
I reach up on my tippy toes to press my lips against his, ignoring the fact that there are so many people around us and that he usually tries to keep our PDA to a minimum. “Don't get caught up in an explosion this time. I'm still half tempted to insist that Atlas go with you guys. Gabe’s dragon and I will be more than fine on our own.”
North smirks at my teasing and tugs on the buckles of his vest, the slightly larger one that they have all changed over to after Gryphon’s gunshot wound. “You took care of the Trigger, remember? There's nothing for me to be concerned about anymore.”
I still have a sinking feeling in my gut that that isn't all true.
Gryphon approaches us, his heavy-soled boots loud on the tiled floor, and he slips an arm around my waist, another public show of affection that they’re not usually so open about.
“We need to move out and get this over with.”
North nods and his eyes flick back to mine. “We're going in three sets. We'll all go in first and then wait for the next two sets to come through before you cast out your Gift and get to work. Kieran is going to stay close by to you as well, and there are two other Transporters who will be tasked with bringing home Aro’s brother and anyone else we might need to evacuate.”