can’t do that! I made you wait for long enough and, honestly, I’m still not too keen on sticking around.
I could cry, just fucking sob at my phone at this tiny scrap of kindness, but that might just break the dam inside me and at this point, I’m a freaking expert at compartmentalizing my own trauma. I hesitate when my phone pings again in my hand, then take a deep breath and look.
Introduce yourself, Bond. I don’t want to talk about anything but you and I. That’s what’s going to get me through the next two months.
I swallow. What’s a little honesty going to hurt? I can tell him enough that he doesn’t hate me but not enough to put either of us in danger. Also, the text messages help me to be a little more honest than I usually am, like the fact that he’s thousands of miles away means that nothing I say here really… matters I guess. All of it is future Oli’s problem and, fuck it, I really don’t want to think about her right now because with any luck, I’ll be gone before he makes it here. I’ve always been more of a live-in-the-moment person.
You have to be when you’re running for your life.
There’s nothing really to say about me. My name is Oleander Fallows, I’m nineteen, and I don’t want to be here. I was found by a TacTeam and the Council had them bring me back here. They’ve put GPS trackers in me now, so there’s no way for me to leave here. Yet.
The text had barely shown up as delivered when the phone rang. Oh God. I stare at it for a second and then, with a shaking hand, answer his call.
“Hey, what do you mean a GPS tracker?”
His voice is like warm honey, all liquid and soothing. I try to keep my own voice calm but it’s a trying situation to be in. Fuck, why did I say anything to him? What exactly was I expecting?
I clear my throat. “The Council held me down and implanted a GPS tracker under my skin while I struggled. Well, I would have struggled if the Gifted in the room hadn’t paralyzed me. It’s got some safeguard on it so I can’t just dig it out myself. Apparently, one of my other Bonds is a very important man and I’ve pissed him off enough to have my autonomy taken from me.”
There’s a beat of silence and then he says, “I’ll come now, fuck my college classes.”
My cheeks heat up. “It’s my own doing. I ran. They won’t ever let me forget that either. Fuck, I’d probably hate me too if I were them.”
He grunts and I hear him rummaging around in the background. I pray he’s not looking for, like, car keys or a laptop to buy plane tickets. “You had a reason though, right? You didn’t just leave for the fun of it.”
I scoff. “How exactly can you be so sure of that? I could be a total asshole here.”
He scoffs back at me and I imagine a wry grin on his face. I mean, I have no clue what he looks like, other than the tiny little photo on the file North had given me, but there’s something in his tone that tells me he’s full of smugness and flirting right now. “Don’t try to distract me, Bond. There’s no way you were leaving me behind, not on purpose.”
His calm and unwavering belief in me knocks me off of my feet and I slump on my bed. “That’s pretty arrogant of you to assume, I might just be a total fucking bitch. Fuck, it doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t talk about any of it, no matter how nice you are.”
He grunts down the line at me. “Okay, fuck this, I’m booking a flight right now.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. "You can’t, they'll only hold that against me as well. Just... maybe we can just call and text sometimes? It would be nice to talk to someone who doesn't... hate me, I guess."
He chuckles down the phone and my knees go weak. "Yeah, I'd like to get to know my Bond. This way we can do it without all of the sex getting in the way, though I have to admit, I'm a lot happier knowing I'm not the only one missing out. I'd rather they all stay pissed at you so I can taste you first."
Fuck.
Well, isn't that just great?
Too bad exactly none