I already know why both of those things had happened, and I feel overly protective about them both.
“If anyone in this room has an uncontrolled, dangerous Gift, it's me. You should be warned that I don't like you talking about them like that,” I say in a very slow, careful voice.
Gryphon crosses his arms over his chest as he stares at his father. He doesn't try to interrupt any of our arguing, but the way that he stares the General down is pretty telling about whose side he's on here.
I think that infuriates his father more than anything being said.
“We should get back to what we're really here to discuss, and that is your opinion on which one of the Wastelands needs to be taken care of first. If you don't have anything helpful to give us here as input, then we'll end this meeting now.”
The General glances over at Vivian, but when he doesn't get any backup from him, he waves a dismissive hand at North. “Leave then. I have nothing to say to any of you. I'll take the prisoners and get back on the road.”
North smiles and leans back in his chair, the picture of an arrogant councilman. There's no sign of the hangover or anguish anymore. He'd gotten out of the shower at his office and looks his usual, put-together self in his freshly pressed suit, as though he had wiped away the entire week with nothing but some soap and expensive shampoo.
“You won't be taking any of the prisoners anywhere. Certainly not the Bassinger girl and her Bonded.”
My heart clenches in my chest on Atlas’ behalf.
North and Gryphon had both agreed to keep her alive and in the cells until Atlas figures out for himself what he wants to do with her.
I'm not sure how any of this really works, but it looks as though the General is attempting to take that decision out of our hands, and I really don't want that to happen.
“You don't have the authority to tell me whether or not I can take prisoners, Councilman Draven,” the General says, mockingly dragging out the words, but North doesn't react to the disrespect.
That same cold smile is still firmly sitting across his lips.
The General’s own lips curl up into a sneer. “You might think that you’re the only person who can make decisions, but there’s an entire council of families, and your vote is just one.”
North shrugs and glances over to Nox, sharing a look with him before he turns back to the General. It’s a move clearly designed to piss the man off, and it works like a charm.
His hands clench into fists on the table before him.
I don't know how he got so far up in the TacTeam ranks if he's this quick to anger, nothing at all like the infallible calm of his son.
“I think you'll find that they are my prisoners, held in the cells underneath my Tac Training Center, in my town. They were put there by my TacTeam after they were found by, you guessed it, my Bonded.”
The room goes silent.
Not once has North ever thrown his weight around or used his immeasurable wealth against anyone that I’ve seen. He would never, and definitely not in front of the very people he's helping, free of charge. He’s done everything he can to make people feel welcome and like part of a community in the Sanctuary. It's never felt as though it was his place that we were all just staying on. The fact that he's doing it now to protect his word to someone in our Bonded Group, with all of the support of both Gryphon and Nox, is all I need to know about the integrity of my Bonded.
There had never been a question in my mind in the first place.
The General’s cheek clenches as he once again glances at Vivian, but the older man just shrugs. “What do you want me to do about it, Shore? It's not like he's lying. If push came to shove, he would still win the vote of the Council, considering more than six of the families sitting on it are housed here. Currently, none of them are working or paying their own way, either. Hell, Hannity just sits in his house and weeps half of the time at losing his yacht in the move over here. The man's an idiot, but he wouldn't side against the Dravens. The families that would are all under suspicion, thanks to Giovanna and what little information we've gotten out of her. Did you know the entire lake house district is Resistance sympathizers? That includes some of the non-Gifted families that own property out there as well. All of them with their own motives for wanting the Resistance to win, dumb as fucking rocks.”
He's not wrong about that.
It doesn't seem very wise to side with people who want to rule over you with their abilities, but greed and power do stupid things to people.
When I mumble that under my breath, the General looks up at me with unadulterated hatred in his eyes, enough that Nox leans forward in his seat and dark rings appear around his irises.
The General takes no notice of him as he snaps back at me, “Your Bonded isn’t any better. He’s taking the choices away from people with nothing but the dollar amount that doing so costs him. Sounds like we're just as bad as the Resistance now.”
I only have to look at North to know that he is wrong, but not even the General’s relationship with Gryphon is enough to change my opinion on this man.
He's nothing but an obstacle in our way to defeating the Resistance.
Chapter Fourteen
Oli
The decision is made to go back to the same Wasteland we’d already been to, the one that Gryphon had nearly died in when we’d gone back to rescue Unser and found the second Trigger.
The one Gabe’s dragon had come to life in.
There's intel now to say that after we’d left the area, it had only gotten worse. More Gifted were being brought in to die, and even some non-Gifted were being lured in to be used as cannon fodder. That had been horrifying enough to me, the cruelty of using people who have no chance to fight back or defend themselves, but then North says, grimacing, “We suspect that they’re also experimenting on the non-Gifted. We don't have any solid proof of it yet, but my guess is that whoever was in the camp and killed Nox is responsible for the deaths that we are finding there. If we go to the Wastelands now, we need to go in prepared to face them again.”
A chill runs down my spine.
We're ready to face them, my bond whispers to me. I let my eyes slip shut as I concentrate on it for a moment, blocking the room out to focus.
How are we ready? How has anything changed from a few weeks ago? Other than Nox and I soul-bonding, we know what we're facing this time, and we're all going in together.
Okay, well, now that I list it out, I guess a lot has changed. It still doesn’t feel like enough. I’m not sure it’ll ever really feel like enough.
The others are nearly ready.
Why does that feel ominous? I most certainly do not know what the hell is going on here, but my bond shuts up, and I guess that’s all I’m going to get out of it today.
There's a gentle hand on my elbow, and I open my eyes to find Sage standing with me. She's already dressed in Tac gear, and my eyebrows fly towards my hairline as I take in the sight of her.
“You’re coming with us?”
She smiles and nods, glancing over to where Kieran is glaring us both down, and I try not to smile teasingly back at him. “Tac numbers are down. When Gryphon and Kieran were discussing how best to go about this, Gray and I decided that enough is enough. We can’t just sit around here in the Sanctuary any longer while you all go out to keep us safe.”