Blood Bind (Feitan x Reader)

Chapter 8

You didn't see Feitan over the next three days. The bond stretched again and you hoped he hadn't gone far. But Phinks confirmed he wasn't at the house and had likely gone off somewhere to do whatever it was he did to think.

When you were well enough to get out of bed, you wandered the house, finding rooms and spaces you'd never expect from hardened criminals. A grand sitting room was your favorite, where you'd steal books on soulmates from the library and continue researching the bond. You itched to do something, and with the bounty hunter working on finding your brother, the only other possible activity was learning more about the bond.

When your head ached again, you'd rest until meals. But finally, you felt well enough to spend the third day out.

All of you, minus Feitan, sat out at the pool in the early afternoon. You'd been awake for hours, hoping for a chance to see Feitan, to feel his return, but he hadn't showed.

Under the shade of an umbrella, you scribbled out everything you could remember about the incident and everything you could remember about your brother. The pamphlet you'd taken was mostly gibberish, with strange terms and odd formatting, but some words you did recognize: The Parable Initiative, unsalvageable, and The Scourge. You scratched the world 'found soulmate' next to "The Scourge." At least, that was your best guess.

Gagging, you scrolled through the photos you'd taken of the body room. It was just as gruesome on film as it had been in person. Somehow more so, and you couldn't look away. Limbs hung at strange angles, intestines sat out like a dessert plate at a dinner, and blood dotted the floor where it dripped from corpses.

"I think some of these bodies were exhumed," you said, swallowing back the thought of TPI robbing graves. You made a note to send that tidbit to the bounty hunter.

Phinks looked over your shoulder, barely acknowledging the varying degrees of rot.

"Wait," Phinks said, "go back to the last one."

You flipped back to a blurry shot of a body - male - who looked better preserved than some of the others.

"See that," Phinks pointed at the top corner of the screen. "It's gold on his arm. It's a name."

"So that's the fourth with a gold mark," you said, adding another tally to your notes.

"Sounds in line with what you and Feitan learned," Shalnark said, still playing on his phone as he spoke. "TPI bombed a church a few weeks ago that was well known for providing resources and counseling to soulmates, particularly people whose soulmates died." Why didn't Shalnark ever feel morose about the dreary shit he talked about? "And the security footage we found from the riot shows people getting grabbed when it started."

"You're saying the riot was intentional," you said. "And they bombed a church? Who are these people?"

You were going to keep asking every question that came to mind when your phone rang. Phinks grumbled about you needing to get another. Cold ripped down your spine. You hadn't bothered to tell Mai you'd gone. You really needed to get better about that.

"Hey, Mai," you said, the exhaustion seeping into your tone.

"Oh, thank fuck." They panted like they'd been running. Gravel crunched on the other side of the line.

Phinks froze to listen.

"Are you safe right now?" Mai demanded. "Tell me you're okay."

You pursed your lips and put your phone on speaker. "I have you on speaker. I'm safe. Why do you ask?"

"You haven't been home, then?" Mai said, groaning.

Phinks shifted.

"Not in a few days, no," you said, your heart rate picking up with the terror in Mai's tone.