We already know from the video footage that she had killed Dara and it must have been sometime during her morning run, but no matter how I poke at her story, she has no memory of it at all.
“There should be something there. I’ve had my mind manipulated before, there’s always a blank spot. There should be a blank spot,” Atlas says, and Sage shakes her head.
“There isn’t any. I’ve spent days going over it all in my mind, but there’s nothing. Nothing, Oli. I swear.”
“No. There’s definitely something,” Sawyer snaps from the table and shifts his laptop around.
I can’t see the screen from where I am, but Atlas and Gabe can, and both of them start cursing viciously. Kieran calls out from his cell, desperate to know what’s going on, and I dive off of the bed to get an eyeful of whichever motherfucker has framed my bestie for goddamned murder because my bond is so fucking ready to go hunting. Lord, I’m ready for it too, none of my usual squeamishness to be found now that it’s Sage’s life on the line here.
I find myself staring at Dara’s murder again, only this time, it’s from another angle. This time, I can see Sage’s eyes.
Sage’s black, empty, void eyes.
Chapter Fourteen
Oli
“I am going to murder Nox Draven.”
The words light a fire in my gut and I have to grip the edge of the table to stop myself from flying off the handle. Atlas had let me out of Sage’s cell to come and rewatch the footage on repeat until we’re absolutely sure we’ve seen everything there is and pulled it all apart. There’s not really anything new to take from it.
Oh, except for the void eyes that Sage absolutely, without a doubt shouldn’t be rocking.
My bond presses at my mind, trying to take over and get control of my body, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s a terrible idea. I’m fully aware that Sawyer isn't going to even attempt to follow through with his words and this is all just an expression of how pissed off he is, that he's slinging shit at the most likely target, but my bond is not one to mess around with.
”I am going to—“
I cut him off before we hit the danger zone for real. ”Yeah, let's not continue to threaten my Bonds, because there's only so much that I can do to stop my bond from coming out and dealing with you personally.”
Sawyer glances over at me and throws his hands up in the air in frustration. “You don't even like Nox! He's an asshole, we all know it. We've all watched everything that he has done to you since you got back, so you can’t fucking deny it. He’s clearly the one who has done this, Oli!”
Gabe scratches the back of his neck like he is incredibly uncomfortable with this conversation, but Atlas crosses his arms over his chest and nods along like he agrees completely with Sawyer’s delusional assessment of the footage.
I aim for rational, because clearly the entire goddamned room needs it. “Okay, well, first, I just found out that my bond and Nox’s bond have been meeting up in the late hours of the night together. It doesn't matter which human is wearing that casing, my bond is not going to let you take him away from her. Also, how the hell do you think he is capable of this sort of manipulation? His gift is his shadow creatures and the dread.”
Gabe groans and swipes a hand over his face like he is desperate to get out of here and doesn't want to be found guilty by association. I, on the other hand, need to convince Sawyer not to do anything stupid before we call North and Gryphon in.
After dinner last night and everything that is already in question with Nox… he doesn’t need any more questions about his loyalty right now.
“Nox has a third gift.”
I glance over my shoulder at Kieran, glaring at him for his betrayal, but he just shrugs back.
“We’re supposed to be looking into every option possible, right? He has a third gift. North too, but we know what all three of his are. As far as I'm aware, your bonding with North has just made them stronger and hasn't given him anything extra.”
My cheeks stupidly flush at the thought of them all discussing my sex life again, but there's more important shit to think about. “I haven't bonded with Nox, so unless you know for sure that the third gift is his ability to use mind control to betray his entire family, his community, everything he has ever stood for and believed in, so much so that he has chosen to fight for us all, even when he’s so disconnected from us, I think that running out of here to murder him probably isn't the best idea.”
Gabe nods and points at me. “She's talking sense here, folks. The rest of you are the ones who have jumped off the fucking deep end. Even if there was the slightest of chances that this was Nox, which there’s definitely not, if you walk out of here, his shadow creatures will consume you.”