Page 180 of The Bonding Games: Part 2

“You don’t need to thank us—Alby’s great! The moment I saw him, I knew we were gonna be besties!”

Dad’s lips tick up again.

“Oh, how rude of me! You’re half out the door! Come in! Come in!” my mum says abruptly, gesturing with her arms.

Once the door’s closed behind Cooper, he heads over to my dad to greet him. Tate’s next, and he reaches out from behind Ezla to take his hand in a strong grip. My dad can’t hide the fact that he’s intimidated by those two as Ezla shakes his hand last, my Bonded less averse to that than a full-on hug, though I can tell she’s doing it for my sake, but it would be stupid not to be, and he clearly has nothing against the two of them. “It’s great to meet you. I see the way Alby looks at you . . .” Dad trails off, not sure what to call her.

“As Alby’s parents, you may call me Ezla,” she says without inflection.

Dipping his chin with a smile, he continues, “I see the way Alby looks at you, Ezla, and I can see he’s in love. Even from this short interaction, that’s clear. I’ve never seen him so happy.” Cheeks burning, I flick my eyes between him and my Bonded when he looks over at me with watery eyes.

Hurrying back over to me, Mum whispers, “What about the boys? Do you think they would mind hugs?”

“Umm . . . I’m not sure. Ezla’s very . . . possessive.”

Her eyes light, and she brings her hands to her heart. “Awww, that’s adorable.” Then her voice quietens further, and she appears moments from bursting into tears again as she places a hand on my shoulder. “I’m so proud of you, Alby. So happy for you, too. I admittedly never thought the Champion would ever be the type of girl you’d end up with, but she’s truly perfect for you.”

Smiling sheepishly as I watch Ezla side-eye Tate threateningly when he nuzzles into her neck as if no one else is here, my dad and the other three having a conversation in the meantime, I say quietly, “She is . . . She’s everything. I love her so much. I didn’t think anyone would ever want me like that, but she . . . she really does. I can feel it through the bond. And the guys . . . I love them all like brothers. And Tiger’s my best friend. He and Scotty were the first I met.”

She hums softly, squeezing my shoulder as she watches their interactions too. “I saw that. The joy I had to see you with others in Game 1 . . . It’s all your dad and I have ever wanted for you, and I can tell all of them are genuine.” With a smile on her face, we’re both silent for a while. Then she looks back at me. “Will you be able to stay for lunch?”

I quickly nod. It’s been a week since the end of the eleventh Bonding Games, and it’s been a little hectic with Ezla having so much to sort out and me and my brothers helping as much as possible despite her repeatedly snapping that she’s more than capable of doing everything alone—we’re aware that she’s capable of near enough anything, but that doesn’t mean it won’t exhaust her, and even if it didn’t, we want to be there for her, and we can feel how much she likes having us around with that permanently open bond—but it’s actually not been too bad. There have been many people to give orders to, new rules to establish and monitor, millions of meetings held . . . We also had a successful trip to the Avri labs to deal with the cameras Joseph had watching us—watching Ezla, really—for weeks. It was surprisingly simple, and we discovered that those who made the cameras are the only ones who can see them. Ezla had unsurprisingly already suspected that, but with catastrophes blowing up left, right, and centre, so little time, and the lack of further knowledge with Joseph’s connection to the cameras on us, the uncertainly about these specific ones, she wasn’t able to do anything else without great risk until now, when his death removed most obstacles based on her concerns.

On her demand, the scientists quickly got to work on the two that followed us into the labs, and they apologised profusely, explaining that they had been altered for the Game Master’s liking as he wanted “extra security” on Ezla for her safety, using the same excuse he gave Enzo about us being potentially “unstable” and wanting them for his peace of mind. Of course, being the ultimate power, they didn’t hesitate to obey him, though they did mention that he asked for a way to make them bypass the wards on our Bonded chambers and washroom. Luckily, that couldn’t be done with the security so high, the Avri used around both places’ entrances made with unbreakable demands, and I’m especially thankful for the way Bonded spaces are treated as if they’re sacred now for that very reason.

Through all of that, Ezla made it a priority to have each of us visit our families as soon as possible. She’s carved out time specially for today.

“Yeah,” I answer my mum out loud with a smile. “We have Scotty and Tiger’s parents to meet later tonight and also Cooper’s sometime between now and then, but we have two or three hours.”

She seems to simultaneously brighten and drop all at once. “Tate?”

I shake my head, glancing over at him. Happier than ever, he’s now watching Ezla obsessively as he stands beside her while she talks to my dad. Joy fizzles through me at the sight of the last mentioned with my brothers and Bonded, and I say, “But he’s genuinely fine without them. They weren’t . . . great.”

Nodding sadly, she gets the message and moves on. “And we’ve all heard about the Game Master, of course. What happened . . . it’s all true? How’s Ezla doing?”

When I hesitate, her eyes narrow. “It’s—it’s . . .” Eyes snapping over to Ezla, I find that she already has her own locked on me, and she gives a faint dip of her chin in response to my thoughts, so I reveal, “He was worse. I can’t tell you all of it—it’s private, and I’d rather you not think about it—but he was much worse.”

Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath and blows it back out. “I wish I could say I’m surprised. He might have seemed charming, but the operation he created . . .” When her lids open back up, her eyes are glistening once more. “He tried to kill you.”

Swallowing thickly, I nod.

When she sees my reluctance to say more on the matter, she strokes my cheek and says softly, “I won’t ask for any more than that. I won’t think more on it if you don’t want me to. Everyone is doing their best to move on from the Games—your dad and I are planning to go shopping when there’s more colours and decorations available, so excuse the clothes and house.”

Flicking my eyes over the place, I take in the black taalk and green decorative Avri placed in strips about the room, then the matching energy on her casual black trousers. Smiling again, I say, “That’s okay. We haven’t had the chance yet either.” I gesture to my suit and the others’. “We have a lot of shopping to do.” Major excitement blares to life inside of me at some things specifically, and I reveal, “We’re getting a house together—all of us. And we’ll do a lot of shopping for that.” Then I add quickly, “I’ll obviously visit. But, yeah . . .”

I can’t stop grinning, and the gleam in my mum’s eyes increases, but I can tell it’s happiness putting the moisture there. “That’s amazing.” A knowing look then crosses her face. “Is there anything else?”

Blinking, I internally stutter, then outwardly too. “U-uh . . . what do you mean?”

She only raises a brow in that motherly way.

Glancing over my shoulder, I catch Ezla’s eyes boring into me, and I squeak, spine snapping straight.

My mum laughs before shaking her head. She whispers, “Sorry. Now probably wasn’t the best time to . . .” Trailing off, her eyes widen. “Oh! The bond! Can she . . . ?”

I wince. “Yes.”

She covers her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry.”