30
Maia had just threatened her mate. She'd glared right into his face and said she'd dismember him.
Her breathing skipped when Jaro and his brother headed across the street to the dingy chemist's shop, and for a moment she just froze and stared.
She had another mate, and it was Jaro's fuckingbrother. Jaro's smirking, distractingly attractive brother. Maia had gone to enough pubs to know his type; rakish and smooth, with an army of conquests in his wake. He might walk with a stick but there was no disguising his swagger.
"I'm in trouble," she breathed, turning to look at Kheir and grabbing Azrail's arm as the others jogged across the road. "Big, big trouble."
"I heard what you said," Kheir replied, a strange mix of light and darkness in his brown eyes. "There's no undoing a bond, Maia."
"I know," she replied with a sound deep in her throat. "I just—we're not steady right now."
"Wait, wait," Azrail demanded, catching her face in his hands and making her meet his eyes. "Isak's your mate? Are you sure?"
Maia nodded, her heart heavy. "I don't know what to do about it."
Azrail folded her into his arms with a sad sigh and Kheir's fingers ran down her braid.
"Nothing unless you want to," Az said seriously.
"I don't think we should trust him," Kheir added. "Don't forget he knows what's going on with the monsters and that island."
"Right." Maia drew herself upright, taking a steadying breath. "We need to know what he knows."
"Be gentle, Maia," Azrail said, snagging her wrist before she could stalk across the street. "He's Jaro's little brother, and he's been looking for him foryears. He all but gave up hope of finding him alive, so he's going to be fragile."
"Especially with..." Kheir trailed off.
"Yeah," Maia said quietly. Especially with... "I can't get past it. Not yet. I know I'm being a bad mate—"
"No," Kheir disagreed quickly. "No, Maia, you're allowed to have feelings. You're allowed to disagree with us and get angry with us. That's what makes you fae." He laid his hand over his chest.
"I'll be careful," she promised Azrail, guilt tightening its grip on her chest. "I know how close he is to breaking. I can feel it."
She ducked her head as she pulled away and headed for the chemist's shop. Whatever happened, at least she had her mates with her. Even if it felt like everything had shifted, and things were about to drastically change.