Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(10)

It might be naive of me to say, but I don't think that any of them are displeased with the vessels they have woken up inside of this time around; not even North’s bond, no matter how much they have argued.

It could have easily killed him long before I came into the picture.

“There is nothing in the mind that I cannot manipulate.”

Atlas’ arm tenses around me and he snaps, “Get out of her head.”

The god-bond only stares him down, apathetic to the worries of the ‘vessel’ in front of it. “Healing her was as simple as convincing her mind unconsciously to do so. She was never in any danger.”

But it's not as easy as that.

It never is.

Nox stares at him for a moment longer, his eyes narrowing as he examines him. I raise an eyebrow at him, questioning what exactly it is that he’s seeing here that the rest of us are missing, but he shakes his head at me.

Whatever it is, he doesn't want to share it with the rest of them.

North clears his throat to get the god-bond’s attention once more, before gesturing a hand at him. “We’re all here. We're all willing to listen to what you have to say, and, no matter our concerns, we’re willing to let you sit next to your Bonded… For now.”

The god-bond lets his hand fall away from my face, only to cover my thigh instead, his fingers flexing as he gives it a squeeze. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a power play or the beginning of a seduction, but my bond is immediately interested in playing along.

I have to shut it down pretty damn quickly.

North watches its every move, but no one attempts to stop it from touching me. Once I’m sure I have control of myself, I let my hand cover it. My own bond hums with contentment in my chest at the connection, even though I won’t let it take things any further right now. It's in a blissfully happy state with how everything is going at the moment, and I take that as a good sign.

“We’ve been here since the beginning. Since sentient life has walked on this earth, there have been others living amongst the Gifted.”

I glance over at Nox. This lines up with what his research has been saying, but he doesn't react to anything that the god-bond is saying. He just watches it with clear eyes as he soaks in every little word, hunting for clues, as he always has.

“The first time I awoke, I did not get to meet my Bonded. I knew something was missing and that there was more to my existence than the desolate life I led. Then the second time… you were there.”

He turns to look at me, and for the first time, I see some expression in his face.

Hunger.

The type that has butterflies rioting in my stomach, the type that says that this man would consume me in the most satisfying and delightful ways if only I would let him, audience be damned.

My cheeks flush, and I clear my throat under the heat of his gaze.

“Each time I woke, there were more and more Bonded, until we knew that time was repeating itself, that the six of us were supposed to walk together. But the timelines never quite lined up. The closest we got was four of us at the same time, the last two missing out by a decade. The Draconis takes longer than anyone else to re-cycle and awaken. It has always been this way.”

The Draconis, the Soothsayer, they have names for themselves, but they’re nothing like the ones we have for each other now.

I turn to look at Gabe for a moment, but he's grimacing as he finishes off the last of the antacid, still looking green around the edges.

“What do you want? From us, I mean?” I say, the words tumbling out of me before I really think them through.

I clear my throat again and try to be clearer. “What is it that you keep coming back for? Or do you have no control over this ‘rebirth cycle’ you're on?”

He leans forward in his chair, the hand on my thigh tightening a little more as it answers me slowly. “We return for the Eternal. We return because it calls out to us. The thought of a lonely existence for my Bonded is unthinkable. While the Eternal returns, so shall we.”

The Eternal.

I meet North's eyes for a moment, watching his flare with interest before I shut my own and check in with my bond.

Is that your name? The Eternal?

What use is a name to a god? But yes, it is what they have called me.

I always hate when it talks in riddles like this, but the fact that it's answering me at all gives me hope.

Why do you keep returning if you've lived hundreds of lives with each of them? Why continue to come back here?

I can feel the itch of irritation on my skin, the emotion not my own, and I'm expecting a full-blown bond tantrum from it. Instead, it floods my mind and takes over my body before I have the chance to fight back.





There's smoke everywhere.

The area around us is burning, a wall of flames devouring the well-established tree as though it’s nothing more than scrub. The ground underneath our feet is blackened by the ash. Even through the makeshift leather shoes on my feet, I can feel how hot the ground is, as though scorched from the sun itself.

Every fiber of my being is exhausted.

There are no more souls left to take, none but our own. And no matter how hard the Corvus pushes me to take his life force into myself to repair the damage done to my body, I will not do it.

I couldn't hurt him any more than I could hurt the rest of them.