That was what Isak had been trying to warn them about. Whatever was on that island was wrong, deeply and primally.
She felt the soldier's mouth move with a dark curse, and his shudder moved through his soul to her magic as he twisted the spy glass, bringing the stones into focus. Each one had a crack running through the middle, like lightning had struck them. A fault line from the top to the bottom. And spilling through every crack was ... something.
It wasn't visible through the spyglass, not really, but something moved, causing ripples through the air. It shouldn't have been possible to see ripples in the air. Itwasn'tpossible.
Maia's lips went numb as she stared at the wrongness leaking through the saints' circle into the Saintlands, but with an insistent wrench on her soul, she was dragged away from the soldier, the circle, and whatever the hell was leaking into their world.
Maia slammed into her body hard enough to bruise her soul and groaned, squeezing her eyes shut as she slumped into her mate. She wasn't sure who, but it didn't matter. Her battered soul told her she was safe, and her bonds wrapped around her, desperate to protect her.
"Hey," she slurred, which was probably not an appropriate response to their panic.
"Saints, Maia," Kheir exhaled roughly.
"Talk to me, sweetheart," Azrail said urgently. His frantic worry was sweet; even if Maia felt a tinge of guilt, she indulged in this sign that he truly cared about her.
"We're fucked," Maia rasped, blinking her eyes open and wincing when pain stabbed through both of them.
Ark's arms were around her, everyone hovering with worried frowns. Even Bryon stood close by, watching her with narrowed eyes.
"What happened?" Kheir asked, a fae growl in his voice that made Maia's breath catch.
"I ... soul-jumped? I don't know." She swallowed, squinting through her blurry vision. "I saw the island, and the saint's circle. It's broken. Something came through, and more things are coming."