Before my bond has the chance to deal with him, the girl lifts her hand and his eyes roll up into the back of his head, hitting the ground in a faint. She then aims her gun at his head and shuts her eyes as she pulls the trigger, killing him instantly.
Atlas finally catches up to me and curses under his breath as he shoves me behind his body, but I’m already speaking to the girl as he does it. “You just killed a bad guy, but you’re also a bad guy.”
She swallows and glances around. “I’m a captured girl, actually. I saw someone who might believe me, and I’m taking the chance. Help me. Please. I’m begging you, don’t let them take me back there. You’re with the Tac guys, right? The clothes kind of give you away.”
Atlas stops me from stepping around him and snaps, “We’re not a fucking taxi service, and you’re holding a Resistance issue weapon. You’re saying you’re not a sympathizer?”
She frowns and looks down at the gun, clearly detached from the reality that she’s found herself in. “You can have it. You can take whatever you want from me. I’ll tell you everything I remember. Just, please, take me with you… or kill me. I’d rather be dead than go back there.”
Atlas flinches when she says that, and I reach out to him in our mind connection to soothe whatever it is that’s upsetting him.
My sister said the same thing. She said she’d rather be dead than go back.
I press a hand against his back, a small reassurance I can give him, and then I see three of Nox’s shadow creatures pop between the gap in the truck that we’d squeezed through. The others have found us.
Kieran comes through first, lifting his gun immediately, and I have to fling out an arm to stop him from shooting the girl. “Hey! We’re keeping her, so stop with the murder plans, Black!”
Kieran’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead as Gabe pushes his way through the small space, Nox coming right after him. He’s the one I’m really worried about taking the girl out before we have a chance to explain… whatever the hell it is that’s going on here.
“What’s your name?” Atlas asks, and I give him brownie points in my mind. It hadn’t even occurred to me to ask her.
“Aro. Aro Han. I’m a student from Austin, and I was taken by the Resistance… maybe three months ago?”
Kieran scowls at her, but I keep her talking. “Three months? And they trust you with a gun here after only that long?”
She shakes her head. “No, I had a handler, but the… dog things ate him. I grabbed the gun, and I’ve been trying to get out of here since.”
Atlas glances over his shoulder to catch Kieran’s eye. “A handler means she has a Gift worth keeping. She’s a Neuro, must be strong.”
Kieran doesn’t look happy about that. Then, surprisingly, Nox is the one to make the decision for him.
He stares at her for a second, then his eyes flicker to black. “Take her back to the Sanctuary and lock her up. My bond wants her alive as well. It’s probably just pandering, but now isn’t the time to stand around chit-chatting.”
Kieran doesn’t bother asking questions, just grabs a hold of Aro’s arm, and then they both disappear with that trademark pop sound.
We stand in silence for a moment, and then I feel it.
My Bonded is here.
I’m drawn to him like a moth to a flame, my feet moving without much thought from me. I hear Atlas cursing under his breath as he jogs to catch up with me. Brutus stays at my side, and when I spot August padding towards us both, I almost burst into tears at the sight of him.
“There’s my pretty baby! Are you okay? Have you been eating all of the bad men and women for us? Of course you have, you perfect boy!” I gush, falling to my knees to love on him.
I’m probably a little more dramatic than usual, but it’s a relief to see him here and to know that North has to be alive and well for his shadow creatures to be happily walking around like this.
I bury my face in August’s smokey fur, and I feel North finally reach me at the same time as he says, “What are you doing here?”
I have to take a deep breath and keep my face buried in August’s neck. I’m sure it's written clearly all over my face how pissed off I am that he's even asking me this. “I felt one of you getting hurt. If it’s not you, then Gryphon is out there injured right now. I had to use every skill and trick in the book to keep my bond from coming out and throwing a full-blown tantrum about it. Then I had to convince everyone around me to let me come so that my bond didn't just walk out of the Sanctuary itself to find you.”