Broken Bonds

Oli struggles to hide her discomfort after being detained for fleeing from meeting her “Bonded, the people fated to be with [her]” (6). Though her actions are not technically illegal, the Council had voted that she be remanded into the custody of her Bonds, one of whom, North Draven, is a Council member himself. She points out that being forced to connect with her Bonds is sexual assault, but her captors are unmoved. A guard inserts a GPS tracker into Oli’s neck, one that can also subdue or kill her with an electrical shock; she is given a file with rules about her situation.

Oli ignores the file and schemes how to use her magical Gift to enact revenge against her captors. They leave her locked in a small room for hours without food or water. A cold woman eventually guides Oli through a building where various workers stare at her; Oli reflects that they would be even more hostile if they knew her to be a murderer. Oli showers and braids her hair, astonished by its silver color.

Back in the interview room, she looks at the file, dismayed that her Bonds are physically attractive and that two of them are brothers. Their Gifts are not mentioned. She feels a “tug in [her] chest” that indicates the proximity of her Bonds (15). Four men enter—Gryphon Shore, Gabriel “Gabe” Ardern, North, and Nox Draven—and stare at her angrily.

After an uncomfortable silence, Gabe asks why Oli fled when she learned that they were fated to be Bonded five years prior. Nox frames their bond as something owed to him and implies his willingness to attack her to fulfill it. Oli promises to prosecute if anyone touches her against her will. North gives her a phone and orders her to always answer it and learn everything in the file before he returns for her the next day.

A kinder woman, Carrie, escorts Oli to the showers the next day; she explains that Olivia, the previous aide, is in love with Gryphon. Carrie is uncomfortable that Oli is being forced to return to her Bonds but doesn’t offer Oli assistance. North arrives and escorts Oli to his expensive car, which angers Oli. Oli complains that she has not been given food in days, but North doesn’t believe her.

They arrive at Draven University; Oli reports that she didn’t finish high school, as she moved too often and then was on the run. North is unconcerned; he demands that she attend and succeed. He insults her for selfishly running away and for her apparent lack of Gifts. He threatens to confine her to his basement if she does not follow his strict rules about class attendance, grades, and curfew.

Though she once dreamed of attending Draven University, which caters to Gifted students, Oli fears remaining in one place while the Resistance pursues her. She plans to learn while she can, however. Gabe escorts her to class, discomfiting Oli with his good looks. Gabe flirts openly with the other dorm residents and then criticizes Oli for not objecting to his behavior.

Though Oli reminds herself that emotional distance from her Bonds is important, her internal bond dislikes Gabe’s ire. Gabe and Oli have identical class schedules, but he keeps his distance in each classroom. Though she does not rise to the bait of Gabe’s insults, she privately knows that she fled her Bonds to “try to stop the end of the freaking world” (33). (This is not clarified in this installment.)

Oli sarcastically offer to have sex with Gabe to complete their bond whenever he wants; he recoils, confirming her suspicion that he has romantic notions about what being Bonded would mean. Sage Benson, another classmate, approaches the table after Gabe leaves. She has been ostracized because her Bond dislikes her. Each set of Bonded has one central person to whom all the others are joined. Oli is the center of her bond, but Sage is not. Her center, Riley, has chosen his other Bond. Given their inverse positions—Oli has rejected her Bonds, while Sage has been rejected—Oli is surprised that Sage wants to be friends. Sage and Oli commiserate about being hated by their Bondmates.

Nox teaches Oli’s class on “History of the Gifted” (36). Nox flirts openly with students, which makes Oli bitterly reflect on how she will always be the villain to her Bonds, as, if she is proven right, they will all be murdered by the Resistance except her. (This is not clarified in this installment.) 

Nox lectures about the history of the Resistance murdering Ungifted people born from Gifted parentage, determining them “unworthy of [Gifted] bloodlines” (38). Nox forces Oli to be part of a class demonstration in which he shames her for being Ungifted. Oli privately reflects that she is powerful enough to kill the entire room but does not correct Nox.

Sage invites Oli to study together, but Oli doesn’t dare transgress the limits of North’s permitted area. She retires to her bleak dorm room and searches fruitlessly for jobs that fit within North’s curfew. She laments the possessions that she lost when she was apprehended, which she cannot replace without an income.

Oli receives a text from her fifth and final Bond, Atlas Bassinger; unlike the others, he is sympathetic and certain that Oli had a good reason to run. He can’t come to Draven University until he finishes the semester at his current school, which is across the country. Oli, moved by his kindness, recounts being captured and implanted with a tracker. Atlas is flirtatious on their phone call, which makes Oli lament that she cannot be with any of her Bonds sexually. (This is not clarified in this installment.)

Over the next several days, Oli adjusts to classes. She dislikes Sage’s Bond even more than her own, as Riley rejected Sage for Giovanna after a lifetime of friendship with Sage. On Fridays, Oli has Tactical Training, or TT, a course known for its violence. It prepares students for a career on the Tactical Teamforce, the group that apprehended Oli.

Oli’s anxiety grows when she and Gabe arrive at TT; the other students are extremely athletic. Gryphon’s presence makes her feel torn: She plans to fail every exercise in the class to avoid revealing her powers but also wants to impress Gryphon.

Oli dons her training uniform amid judgmental peers who mock Gabe for having a “defective Bond.” Vivian, the class instructor, grills her about her Gift, which she denies having. He puts her through punishing drills while Gryphon instructs the other students. The class divides into teams to undergo a complicated obstacle course. Oli struggles, receiving no aid from classmates who are more familiar with the course. She observes the others; Gabe observes her. She nearly makes it through to the end when someone punches her, knocking her unconscious.