"You're not as good at sneaking around as you think you are," she replied with a smirk. "Let me guess. You're worried I'm going to go throw myself into the saints' circle, so you've come to babysit me."
Ark blinked and said nothing.
"Well, I'm not. I just want to convince Isak to tell us the location of it so we canallgo." She looked from one of them to the other. "Nothing dangerous and self-sacrificing. Are you proud of me?"
"Immensely," Ark replied, striding to her and resting his hand on her waist to settle his raging panic. "Donotsneak out again."
"No promises," she replied and rolled onto her tiptoes to kiss the edge of his jaw.
Azrail watched her, his head tilted and dark hair messy. "How did you know we were following you?"
"I saw your souls. Or felt them. Something like that." Maia flapped her hand, giving him an amused look. "You can't hide from me anymore, knight."
"How are you going to convince Isak?" Ark asked, flexing his hand on her waist. "He's dead set on refusing."
Maia smiled dangerously. "Don't worry, I know his weakness."
When both Ark and Azrail stiffened, she rolled her eyes. "Jarois his weakness. What did you think I was gonna do, flash him my boobs and hope he'd blurt out how to find the island?Honestly," she sighed, and nudged Ark before stepping away from him.
"You have a plan, then," Azrail said, following as she headed down the road, her posture confident and head thrown back.
"My plan is to break in, talk some sense into him, and for you two to stay outside like good little bodyguards."
"Not a chance," Ark argued instantly.
"Non-negotiable," Maia replied. "He'll never let his guard down if he's outnumbered, but he might underestimateme. You're waiting outside."
"I think it's a good idea," Azrail said reluctantly. "He didn't give us anything this afternoon. Maybe he'll tell Maia more."
"He's a reborn saint," Ark pointed out tightly, narrowing his eyes on the chemist's shop when they rounded the corner and it came into view. "He's dangerous."
"So am I," Maia said offhandedly. "And you're forgetting about the mate bond. If I need you, I can just..."
Ark jumped at a strange sensation inside him, like someone had plucked a string attached to his heart.
"Don't worry," Maia said, turning to walk backwards and giving them a reassuring smile. "I know what I'm doing. Just stay close, yeah?"
"As close as possible," Ark promised, his instincts grating to be apart from her. He'd been by her side for practically every waking moment since they'd run from the palace.
"At the first sign of danger," Azrail began, his voice deeper—
"I'll call for help," Maia finished, kissing him swiftly and then pressing her lips to Ark's. "Don't worry," she added, as if either of them could stop, and vanished before their eyes.
"I don't like this," Ark sighed to Azrail, taking up position outside the door.