I stopped for a second and think about it before tilting my head. “Well, not a voice, exactly. More like demands— feelings that it transfers through to me, and it’s very clear, even without actually speaking the words.”
Oli stares at me as though I’ve kicked a shadow puppy right here in front of her. I try not to squirm, but it feels like I’ve done something terrible to her, and fuck if I can figure out what is it.
Her voice comes out like a croak. “So, by Bonding with me, your bond changed. That doesn't seem right. That’s not what’s supposed to happen, Gabe.”
Ah.
She’s worried that she’s hurt me unintentionally. That I can deal with.
I shrug and smooth a hand down her face affectionately, a mirror of what I had done only a few hours ago when she had been on her knees for me, and a deep blush blooms over her cheeks as she remembers the action as well.
“I’m starting to learn not to question things, Bonded. Nothing about our Bonded Group is following the ‘rules’ of the Gifted. It's easier if we all just learn to roll with it.”
She shakes her head at me. “We can't just roll with it. This affects everything, and if there’s the potential of your bond changing then… what's to say that Gryphon and Atlas’ won’t change as well? Is it only within our Bonded Group, or have other people's bonds changed? What does this mean for us all?”
I'm not sure it's all that deep, but I don’t want to argue with my Bonded when she is looking this upset. Instead, I stand up and take her by the hand to pull her to my side as I move through the dream space with her, leading her to the darkest recesses of my mind until we are faced with the dragon.
My bond.
It looks and feels differently in here than it ever has before. I’ve never noticed anything different or unusual about it, and I certainly have never felt as though there was a god living inside of me the way that Oli or the Dravens have. But now, staring up into the amber eyes of the dragon, I get the sense of otherness here.
It's never felt like that before.
Oli stares at the dragon the same way that she stares at the shadow creatures, with love and affection that borders on obsession, like she can't wait to get her hands on the shiny scales and long snout of the dragon just to pepper kisses onto it as though it were nothing more than an adorable little creature. As though it’s as harmless as a mouse and not a mythical, fire-breathing nightmare.
“Gabe, it is so beautiful! How could you not show this to me before?”
I let her slip out of my arms as the pull of the dragon becomes too much for her, and she has to get closer to it. My chest swells with pride at the way she mumbles happily under her breath, cooing and fussing over the beast, and it laps up the attention.
“It wasn't like this before, Oli. None of my creatures were like this before. I was always in control, but now I feel as though I'm just sitting on the sidelines when it takes over. Like my body—“
I pause, but she fills in the space for me. “Is a vessel? I told you, Gabe, this changes things.”
“I know,” I say, because there isn't really any arguing with her. The more I think about it, the more that she has a point.
The dragon pushes forward into her hand to get more of the gentle strokes she's giving it, pushing and pushing and pushing until she is laid out flat on her back with its entire head covering her chest and stomach as she giggles and loves on it.
I'm not controlling it in any way.
I can't stop it from doing any of this, and for the first time, I understand North's panic over his own creatures. The dragon is huge, even in this space, and it could easily tear her to pieces right now. Would that hurt her or just send her back into her own body? Would it trap her mind here so that part of her life force died here in my mind?
This is all way too confusing for me. This is the type of theoretical philosophical bullshit that is far more up Nox's alley, and I desperately want us both to wake up and get out of this space and away from any potential danger, back to where I know how the world works.
“It’s not going to hurt me, Gabe,” Oli mumbles from where her face is pressed into the scaly cheek of my dragon.
I groan at her. “Are you reading minds now too?”
She sighs and mutters soothing words to the dragon as she pulls away from it, rolling up to stand back on her own two feet. “I’ve become very good at reading the panicked silence of my Bonds. Unfortunately, it happens all too often. He's not going to hurt me, the same way that Brutus isn't going to hurt me, the same way that August isn't going to hurt me.”
She stumbles a little over Brutus’ name, and it makes me wonder, once again, what happened in that bedroom of Nox's that had changed things so completely between the two of them.
“The Dravens both have much better control over their creatures than I have over the dragon that just appeared in my mind. Come on, let's try to wake up and get out of this place before something happens and I have to try and explain to everyone… this. Fuck knows how I’d do it.”
Oli giggles at my hand flinging around at the dragon as though this is all so amusing to her, but she follows me anyway.
I don't know how we get out of the space, only that we keep walking hand in hand until eventually, we both wake up in her bed once again.
Atlas is not happy about the dream walking.
Oli had woken up, kissed me quickly, and then crawled out from between the two of us, heading over to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. It's early, the sun's still not up yet, but she’s been so focused on keeping up with her training that I already know exactly where she's going to be heading.
Atlas didn't wake up until I had shaken him, quietly explaining what had happened. The moment I mentioned the dragon, he jumps up out of the bed to pull on a pair of boxer shorts and stomp into the bathroom after Oli, a savage look on his face that he usually reserves for Nox.
Oli is scrubbing the shampoo out of her hair, her eyes shut as the water runs over her, and it strikes me right in the chest again how utterly stunning she really is. My breath squeezes out of my lungs, and I have to hold in an embarrassingly squeaky sound, one that I wouldn't mind Oli hearing, but Atlas doesn't need any more ammo on me.
He’s looking too pissed to notice me though, and though his voice is still level and calm, his words as he confronts Oli aren’t. “How did you know that his dragon wouldn't hurt you? How could you know that? The dragon isn’t a fully formed creature like the shadows are. You have to take this stuff more seriously, we’ve got too much happening already without you being careless with the creatures of your Bonds.”
She props one of her fists on to her hip and shoots him a grumpy look of her own, one that I'm sure would be more effective if she wasn't completely naked and soaped up. There's no way that Atlas is reacting to the sight of her any differently than I am, and, honestly, all I want to do right now is fling open that shower door and do a replay of last night.
Jesus, get a hold of yourself, Ardern.
Neither of them notice me losing my shit. Oli just snaps at Atlas, “I know the same way that I always knew that the shadow creatures wouldn't hurt me. I can feel it.”
Atlas nods at her with just a hint of sarcasm that is definitely going to get him into trouble, but I let him dig his own grave, standing there quietly enjoying the view and the privilege of being able to see it. The way that she's relaxed around both of us in here together is exactly what Atlas had been aiming for last night, to break down the last of the barriers that she had, the last vestiges of shyness in her about this Bonded Group so that we no longer have to tiptoe around her. I'm sure that Nox will still be a problem, but I never expected anything different. I doubt soul-bonding has been enough to change him.