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22
"Clearly I missed something," Bryon muttered, his eyes on Maia as she stalked down the steps into The Wyvern’s Rest the next morning.
"You missed a lot," Kheir told him. "But it's personal, and you don't get to know." He debated saying sorry for that, but he wasn't.
Maia hadn't slept more than a handful of minutes all night, tossing and turning beside Kheir, resisting his attempts to hold her and comfort her through her pain. He could feel how much it hurt, as if his senses had expanded to include hers too. His awareness of their mate bond had been stronger since yesterday afternoon, when he'd been buried in the roots of a tree, speared by her pain.
Now, it was almost unbearable. It would keep building until she spoke to Jaromir, but Kheir didn't know how long it would take for her to even look at him.
"Slow down, sweetheart," Azrail said from the front of their group, attempting to catch Maia as she exploded into the bar downstairs and stormed away.
"She hates me," Jaro said quietly on the steps behind Kheir and Bryon, but not quietly enough for the older soldier to miss it.
He shot Kheir a curious look; Kheir returned a warning glance.
"I can't help but notice," Kheir commented casually, "that you're still with us. Weren't you planning to go your own way when we reached Calvo?"
"Calvo's a flattened shithole now," Bryon muttered, scowling at the bar as they reached the bottom of the steps. "And I want to know what happened to Vawn."
"Is that why you can't stop looking at my mate?"
Bryon shot him an affronted scowl, but Kheir held eye contact, refusing to surrender his dominance.
"Bullshit," the beastkind grunted, with passable scorn. Kheir almost believed it, but he'd noticed the way Bryon watched Maia when he thought no one was paying attention. Kheir bet Ark had noticed too; the guard missed nothing, especially when it came to Maia. "She's too powerful, and out of control. If I'm watching her, it's because she's a threat."
"Sure," Kheir agreed easily, scanning the taproom's empty furniture for Az, Ark, and Maia. He spotted them through a window outside and headed for the door, ignoring his grumbling stomach.
"At least eat breakfast first," Azrail's voice rang through the street when Bryon stormed out the door. "Maia!"
"What, Azrail?" their mate demanded, spinning to face him five steps down the road. Her golden eyes blazed with emotion, her face paler than usual, and her hair was in a messy braid rather than its usual sleek fall. Kheir scanned her for signs of injury or weakness as he stepped into the balmy morning air, but found only tension and rigid strength.
"We're going to eat first, because you need your strength and Kheir's stomach keeps growling—"
"Hey," Kheir complained, but he couldn’t argue the point.
"Andthen," Azrail went on, his eyes on Maia, "we'll go to the address."
"Or what?" Maia demanded, crossing her arms over her chest, her jaw set. "You'll make me."
Azrail heaved a sigh and stalked across the pavement towards her. Maia straightened, ready for an argument if the warning in her eyes was anything to go by.
Instead of grabbing her, Azrail kissed her temple, and Maia deflated with a sigh.
"OrI'll get on my knees right here and beg," Azrail corrected, tucking a stray lock of pale hair behind her ear. "I'll be very loud, extremely dramatic, and cause a scene."
"Oh, the horror," Maia laughed weakly. "Fine," she huffed, nudging him. "I'll eat, but you better make it fast."
"Victory," he said under his breath.
"Don't make me change my mind," Maia muttered, glancing over at him, Jaro, and Bryon for the first time.
Kheir kept his expression calm and encouraging when she looked at him, but her eyes slid away before she could look at Jaro. Kheir glanced to his left in time to see Jaro drag a hand through his hair, miserable.
"Give her time," Kheir reminded him quietly, pitched low enough that Maia's sharp ears wouldn't hear.
Jaro laughed softly, shaking his head. "I need more than time. I need a miracle."
Even Bryon looked at him pitifully at that, but Jaro avoided both their stares, heading after Maia and Az and—wait.
