Page 14 of Forging Bonds: Part One

Reed nods, "Unless it is one of those things that he can't tell us about, but if we ask, then he can answer the questions?"

"It's a possibility," Raiden replies, a frown on his face.

The sound of ringing fills the van.

"Evander, is everything okay?" Ty asks.

"Yeah, everything is fine. We're just getting ready to head back now. We had a question about the Choosing though," Van says.

"Oh, it couldn't wait until you got here?" Ty asks, sounding curious.

"Not really," Reed says.

"Okay. I'm intrigued, what's the question?"

"What would happen if we just didn't come back and didn't go to the Choosing?" Van asks.

Ty is silent for so long that I'm worried he's hung up on us.

Eventually, he sighs, and I get a sinking feeling, "I can see where you were going with that thought process, but unfortunately, it's not possible. For a start, you would no longer be able to work for SID because of a conflict of interest, since you couldn't stay a team because someone had challenged you."

Van shares a look with the others, and they all nod, "Done, consider us resigned."

The car swerves, and I exclaim, "Wait, what! No!"

"Nothing is more important than keeping you safe, Neith," Evander says firmly, and as my eyes run over the others, I realize that there is absolutely no doubt on any of their faces. They really would stop working at a place that they love for me.

For once in my life, I'm speechless.

Ty's voice is full of warmth, "I am incredibly happy to hear that you care about Neith that much. However, it's not that simple. That was just a hypothetical thing that you would have to do if you could get out of it."

Chapter Five

Neith

Ishake my head, "That doesn't ring true, Ty."

They glance at me curiously.

Ty chuckles, "Your mother always used to be able to tell when I was lying."

My eyebrows rise, that is not what I was expecting him to say, and because I have no idea how to respond, I simply say, "Well?"

"I was curious to see how they would respond," Ty replies, this time honestly.

The guy's frown, clearly liking that answer as much as I do, which is not at all.

"Don't do that again, Ty. If you want to know something, then ask," Van says firmly. "When have we ever not told you the truth?"

"I know, I am sorry," Ty replies, genuinely sounding sorry. He continues, "The Choosing has thrown a lot of things into question, and I promised Neith's parents that I would look after her, and after years of trying, I finally got her to SID, and within the first month, she's been pulled into the goddamn Choosing."

It's easy to hear the exasperation in his voice, and my anger toward him for trying to trick the guys and, in the process, give us false hope softens a bit. I'm still mad but not stab him mad, so it's a definite improvement.

"That's not your fault," I tell him.

"She's right, it's Draconian's mostly. Kylen messed up and has some stupid vendetta against us that has brought Neith into it," Evander growls.

"I'm sorry, guys, I shouldn't have done that. It was a dick move," Ty surprises me by saying.

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