Page 34 of The Bonding Games: Part 2

Cooper sucks in a sharp breath. “Vengeance.”

Back online, Tate’s head lifts in a flash. His grip tightens on her hand as his intense stare bores into her face. “Havoc.”

“Ezzy! Oh my god, Ez!” Tiger sniffles, his thick golden waves all that are visible beside her chin with his face buried in the crook of her neck. “Y-you’re okay. I was so, s-so worried. You f-fell so fast.”

“Love? Are you okay? No pain?” I ask, trying hard to keep the anxiousness from my voice so I can soothe any panic around me.

Alby whispers her name unsteadily, head lifted to see her awake and alive, before choking out, “W-what h-happened?”

“You tried to leave me,” Ezla seethes. “That is what happened. You cannot leave me—” Her voice gets caught in her throat, and her humiliation trickles into the bond I’m not she realises is open. But she shows none of that as she shifts, Tate reluctantly letting her hand go but, in a miracle, not arguing as she wraps an arm around Tiger and the other around Alby. Ezla crushes them to her.

The air audibly stills in their lungs, and they press closer at once, Alby moving further up now that Tate’s arm isn’t in the way.

“You all hit the concrete,” Cooper explains lowly, eyes sliding closed like saying it out loud is too much, the memories too fresh, too raw. “We couldn’t get to you in time.”

Guilt overwhelms me at yet another failure from me—

“Scotty,” Ezla barks, and I jolt. “You are well overdue a punishment. Do not make it worse. The only thing you are failing at is being logical lately.”

“I know, right? Fucking annoying,” Cooper mutters under his breath, though his eyes are still glued to Ezla as searingly as Tate’s, and I’m pretty sure that was his attempt at reducing all the doom and gloom in the room.

“H-how—how are we alive? Avri?” Alby whispers.

“Evidently,” Ezla replies, and his ebony lashes flutter closed when her hand strokes over his head. Her other finds its way to Tiger’s in the next moment, and he lets out a happy sound, some of the heaviness starting to lift as he takes in the fact that she’s really okay, just as they are.

He’s doing much better than me—it took me a while to come to terms with the fact that their motionless figures were unconscious rather than dead, to remind myself that Avri is exceptional when used correctly, and that the energy has truly healed them all fully.

Ezla says next, “It is not too surprising as Avri has treated me in this exact way before. However, my fall was wildly embarrassing—”

“Pause,” Cooper interrupts, and her mismatched eyes narrow. I can tell he’s trying to stay calm and not be demanding after all the traumatic events and the fact she’s only just woken up, but he stills presses, “Do you mean to say you’ve fallen from something that high before?”

“Hm.” Ezla’s dismissive response tells me she’s building her walls back up.

“No, Vengeance. Please.” Cooper steps forwards, features twisting as if he’s in physical torment. “Please, HC. Give me something here. You said before . . . You felt before, I mean . . .”

Huffing, Ezla pulls Tiger closer, then closes her eyes and brings her nose to his hair, inhaling subtly. He brightens more than ever before, and something in me melts at the sight of her actions, too.

Until she raises her voice. “Everyone, out! My Bonded and I need some alone time.”

The nurses scattered about all pause.

Ezla glares viciously.

They burst into action.

Speeding from the room, they’re gone within seconds.

Absently, Ezla caresses Alby’s head again, and he shivers. Then turns to stone along with the rest of us when she says tonelessly, “I threw myself off the Techtis Council building a couple of years ago.”

“What?” Tate hisses while my heart sinks like a lead weight.

“It did not do much good, only earned me more punishments when the Avri healed me,” she continues without inflection. “The only reason I survived to even make it to treatment from such a height was because I second-guessed myself. I do not make irrational decisions, and yet I realised halfway down that I had not thought things out too well, leaving me to half-heartedly attempt to catch myself on my Avri platforms. It was wildly irritating to not be able to decide if I would like to keep falling or not mid-air, you understand.” She appears oblivious to our incredulous horror as she watches her fingers run through Alby’s hair in what can only be described as fascination.

Tiger’s cerulean eyes are glossy, but that doesn’t stop him from subtly nudging his head into Ezla’s hand for more attention on his own strands. Maybe the pain even encourages it as a result of a need for comfort.

I’m half tempted to stick my own head into the pile.

“H-how did it get that bad?” Alby rasps, chin resting on her chest.