“You have to sleep sometimes,” I say, trying not to sound too displeased or commanding, but it comes out more like a whiny teenager than anything else.
He dismisses my words and pushes through into the building, a move that I know sets Atlas’ teeth on edge, but I see through his grumpy demeanor.
There's nothing really that he can say back to me right now that won't be too revealing or piss my other Bonded off. So instead, he says nothing.
I can respect that.
Gabe slips his hand into mine with a gentle squeeze of my fingers. “Maybe we should make sure those two don't end up sparring, because we both know they will egg each other into a fight.”
I raise my eyebrows at him and peg Atlas with a look. “Neither of them would dare, because my bond would get involved. None of us want to be dealing with the aftermath of that situation.”
Atlas shrugs, a grin tugging at the edge of his lips. “I don't know… I think it's been a while since we've shown this town what we're capable of. There might be some people here that need the reminder.”
Something deep in my gut clenches as I look around, finding the General standing over one of the sparring circles, his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. When his eyes glance up to us, his face transforms into that of a man who's just stepped in dog shit.
Nox’s teeth grind a little before he murmurs, “I hate agreeing with a Bassinger.”
The door opens again behind us, and Kieran steps through, slapping a hand on Nox's back as he nods at me in greeting.
“Are we ready to show the new blood a thing or two about the sparring mats?” he says with a grin, and Nox scoffs at him.
“I have no faith in any of the new recruits the General brought with him. Half of them were rejected by North and Gryphon, only for them to go simpering after that old fool. He might choose to build his teams with only his ego and nepotism, but I'm not going to let that get us killed.”
I glance around at the crowds of TacTeam personnel, a lot of new faces amongst them, and it only takes me a moment to spot Zoey.
“Fucking perfect,” I mutter, and Gabe frowns at me before he spots her as well.
“Why the fuck would the General let her in?” he snaps, as though Kieran or Nox will have an answer for him.
Atlas looks between us both with a question, and Nox carefully slides in front of me, as though he doesn’t want Zoey looking in my direction either. Even Atlas can't deny that the move is protective, and my heart flutters a little at the action.
“Her family went straight to the Shores after Gryphon tossed her out. They’re high enough up the food chain that it wasn't hard to convince the General to let her in.”
“And what exactly did she do?” Atlas says through gritted teeth, shuffling a little closer to my side as he says it.
I don't really need all of these protective moves of his, but it does have my bond purring in my chest with pleasure.
“She enjoyed torturing me when I first arrived at Draven. She used her Gift against me a fair bit, and it got her thrown out of the TacTraining classes because of it. She dropped out shortly afterward.” I glance around Nox to see her smirking in our direction now she’s finally spotted us here.
Her eyebrow quirks at me as she starts to stalk over to us, ready to start shit, and I find myself grinning back just a little maniacally, because that dumb bitch has forgotten one vital thing. I'm not powerless anymore.
Her Gift can't touch me.
Sage and I head into the girls’ locker room together to change into sparring gear, leaving our Bonded to deal with the confrontation with the General’s new recruit. I was totally ready to just knock the bitch out, but Kieran had shoved at us both, and then Sage had decided to play the peacemaker and drag me in here.
It doesn’t matter.
I’ll just beat her on the mats if I have to.
I don't want to distract Gryphon from what he and North might be dealing with in the non-Gifted community right now, but I also would love to explain to him just how much of a dick his dad is for allowing that girl to join after she'd already been vetted and found wanting by his own son.
“God, things never stop getting interesting around here, do they?” Sage mumbles as she strips out of her shirt and fumbles around in her locker for the standard issue tank top.
I groan a little under my breath and glance behind myself as I hear the doors swing open again, exhaling sharply when I find Aro walking through, her footsteps a little hesitant until she sees the both of us.
“I doubt that even after we've dealt with the Resistance and we’ve found ourselves in peaceful times, that we'll ever stop dealing with this kind of crap. Unfortunately, just because we're on the same side doesn't mean we're actually, you know, all on the same side.”
Aro is a little hesitant and slow as she opens her locker, given to her by Gryphon only a few days ago when she'd expressed an interest in joining us here, but she remembers the code well enough and is quick about getting into her own Tac uniform.
“I’ve already heard the stories of that new girl from Gray. He said she's walking chloroform. I'd rather not go up against her,” Aro says, and I nod my head.
“You don't have to go up against any of the new people. Just stick to your normal training. I'm going to deal with Zoey myself.”
“Deal with her?” she replies, her eyebrows rising. “Aren't we supposed to be training all together as one big, happy family?”
“As if I could ever be family with a Soul Render.”
We turn to find Zoey standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips and a savage look on her face. Sage groans under her breath, but she's quick to turn around and step a little closer to my side, very much having my back no matter what. We both already know that I can't exactly kill the girl unprovoked, and, unfortunately, the majority of my powers are lethal. Even the one thing I can do that isn't lethal would eventually kill her.
Sage could definitely set her on fire though.
Is that considered too far? Fuck it, I don’t care!
“Wow, Zoey. I didn't think you would be so vocal about your own limitations, but more power to you, girl!” I say with a smirk and a shrug as she takes two more steps into the room, dismissing Aro and Sage completely as though both of them are beneath her.
Mistake number one.
“You know, everybody was aware that the Draven Monster Bond Group would have to have some really fucked up Central Bond to call all of those men her own, and it all seemed like one big cosmic joke when you showed up with no Gift. To think that they would be cursed for the rest of their lives with some useless, Giftless bitch was hilarious and exactly what they all deserved… But now, finding out that you're a bigger monster than the rest of them? Well, you should all be put down before you can become a problem.”
Mistake number two.
Her words wake my bond up from where it is slumbering in my chest. It doesn't need any sort of encouragement in wanting this girl dead, but hearing her discuss the killing of our Bonded so casually—as though she wasn't discussing the murder of a councilman and other respected members of our community—my bond is pretty keen on disposing of her as well.
It doesn't take too much to convince it to let me deal with her though, especially once it knows my plans.