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"Perfect," the saint breathed, excitement thick in her voice.
Maia knew they needed to run, to get out, but that hadn't worked so well for Az earlier. Az… Was he just unconscious or was he dead? Maia couldn't face that pain, so she shoved it away, focusing on gritting her teeth and breathing through the deep, endless pain.
"I'll handle this," the bastard who'd enchanted Jaro offered, sounding smug and excited. Sadist. "Go enjoy your bloodbath."
"You're not taking him," a deep, guttural growl came, and Maia's heart lifted, a shudder working down her spine. Silence fell after, the growl cutting out. But she couldn't open her eyes to see what happened, couldn't get her mind to work long enough to realise that Bryon had challenged the saints and it had not ended well.
"Oh fuck," Kheir choked out. "Oh fuck, we're dead."
The dark saint, Ismene's bestie, snorted. The sound grated, even through Maia's dizziness. "Get this lot under control. They'll come in handy in the army. Our most powerful weapons yet."
She sounded delighted. Maia was going to be sick again.
"I love you," Kheir said urgently, as if he wasn't sure he'd get a chance to tell her again. "I love you so much it hurts. But I don't regret a single second of this pain when it brought me to you. You're the brightest light in my life, and I'll fight with everything I have to get back to you."
That was goodbye—why was he saying goodbye? Maia groaned, trying to shape her clumsy tongue into words, trying to mould her mushed up brain into a single coherent thought.
Goodbye—goodbye?
"Aw, cute," that sadist's voice drawled. "Protecting your lady?"
Heat and air moved around Maia, pressing closer, but she couldn't open her eyes to see what was happening.
"That won't save any of you," the saint added. "You're going to make such useful pets for my—"
But Kheir jostled Maia when he flinched, and pain erupted through Maia's stomach strong enough to black out the entire world.
She didn't hear the rest of the Hunchback Saint's plans.
