“Knight.”
His clenched jaw worked. “Can I at least land a pre-emptive strike—find thembeforethey make their next move, stop them before they can even carry it out—”
“Knight.”
Knight made a noise of frustration.
“I summoned you forprotection,” Saint emphasised roughly. “I need you to stay with me andprotect me.”
Knight looked into his eyes and realised he couldn’t deny Saint anything. He would give himeverything, if he asked for it.
“All right, all right,” he said, reaching out, ribs expanding when Saint easily came into his arms. “I won’t hurt anyone. Not unless you want me to.”
That last bit wasn’t necessary, but Saint didn’t fight him on it so he counted it as a win.
“Is there a way—can I add Knight the Dog to the contract?” Saint pulled back to ask.
Knight wrinkled his nose. “Are youreallynaming him that?”
“No,” Saint said with a laugh. “I just really enjoy teasing you.” Knight’s chest warmed. “And even if I did,you’rethe original Knight; you shouldn’t be jealous.”
“I’m not jealous of a fucking dog, Saint.”
“Uh huh.”
“And yes. We can make another contract that protects him, too.”
“And Teresa, as well? Perhaps Voke?” Saint frowned. Knight saw his mind rapidly working. “Fuck, I don’t know how they’re going to try to hurt me again; they might go for any of them, even if Voke isn’t all that close to me. Fuck, they might go after Samuel—oranyof the kids at the Primary School.”
Is this how you’re going to live?Knight thought with barely concealed frustration. If they’d gone after Saint three times before, Knight had a feeling they weren’t going to stop. And it didn’t seem like they were only interested in scaring him.
They didn’t just want Saint terrified, they wanted himdead. By their hands or Saint’s, Knight wasn’t sure. He was a little bit afraid it was the latter.
And how was this going to work? Was Knight going to protect every single human being Saint had ever come across until the cult realised they couldn’t touch him, directly or indirectly, and finally got the point? And what if they never did?
Then again ...
Knight’s heart pounded. Then again, if the cult never left Saint alone, then his contract with Saint would never end.
Knight would get to stay.
The longing was so sharp it shortened his breath.
“Yes,” Knight said before he could talk himself out of it. “We can add literally anyone you want to a new contract.”
TEN
Knight hadn’t wanted Saint to have any nightmares after his ordeal, so, when he’d finally fallen asleep, he’d slipped into his dreams. He didn’t interfere or alter any of it, just left himself hanging in the periphery, moulding the Veil anytime the dreams threatened to turn dark with memories of that evening.
He didn’t know how he ended up in that semi-familiar forest. Saint hadn’t summoned him; this wasn’t their shared dreamscape, just a regular dream.
But the scent in the air, the sound of Saint’s rapid footsteps as he ran ahead felt real enough. Knight was taking one step toward the trees before he could think about it, desire sharp like a blade in his belly. He managed another step before he forced himself to stop; forced the urgent burn of lust to cool.
He wouldn’t do this in Saint’s subconscious, especially after Saint had made his rules about their games pretty clear.
Unless ... had Saint meant they couldonlydo this in their dreams? Knight shook his head. The fact that he couldn’t be sure—addedto the fact that Saint hadn’t summonedhim—made the decision for him.
He forced himself out of the dream and back to the real world, where Saint was lying curled in his arms, breathing softly.
