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Malik came to a stop, tilting his head at Naia. “Found you.”

Then his eyes clicked onto Ronin, and that disturbing curve of his mouth expanded.

Naia’s heart raced, a symphony of thuds.

He is going to die—like Kaleo.

No—

“Careful of that one,” Vex said to Malik, flicking his chin towards Ronin. “He’s a mage.”

“Then this shall be fun.” Malik shot forward in a whirling puff of smoke.

Naia launched the cleaver at his blurred form and simultaneously ripped Ronin over by the sleeve of his suit jacket. She forced him against the wall and planted her palms next to each side of his face to act as a barrier between him and her brother.

Against Malik, she was no match. Especially with Astrid and Vex added into the mix. Naia would be lucky to escape in one piece, let alone with Ronin alive. Guilt. Obligation. She blamed her decision to protect him at all costs on these two things. Even though she knew where the true root of her actions stemmed from.

Sacrificing her freedom for a life felt right. Ronin wasn’t like her. Although he clearly had the powers of a mage, his mortality meant his time was still limited.

Malik’s knife connected with her back. The dull edge carved through her flesh, sending waves of pain up her neck and reverberating into her ears. She accidentally sank her teeth into her tongue. The taste of metal filled her mouth. He hacked through muscle until he hit bone. The nerves in her spine screamed all the way down the backs of her legs, and she yelped.

Malik jutted the blade up, following the line of her spine until he hit the bone of her shoulder blade. “You know I love it when they cry for me.”

She tried not to think too hard about the current of blood gushing down her spine, or the loose feeling of skin hanging from her back.

“Naia, I need my arms,” Ronin whispered, the normal composure of his tone unsteady.

The mind-numbing pain kept her eyes sealed, but she could feel her body crushing his arms at his side.

“Isn’t this precious? She’s protecting a mortal,” Astrid cackled. “Marina murdered her last plaything, so she went out and found another.”

“Pathetic,” Vex scoffed.

“Say the word, darling sister, and we can go home.” The cool steel of Malik’s other cleaver grazed across her nape as a threat.

The agony assaulting her synapses overwhelmed her senses, barely leaving her with any feeling. She dropped her head, causing her chin to dig into her collarbones.

She lifted off the wall with quivering arms, freeing Ronin.

Black splotches littered her vision. Despite the torture, she refused to give Malik the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

Ronin’s arms shuffled between them, barely detectable.

Her breath went shallow and the muscles in her chest spasmed. The skin of her cheeks tingled?—

No.

If she fainted, Ronin would be helpless against the triplets.

Snot and tears ran down her face. Malik’s blade hit the base of her spine, and like a nail against metal, it screeched through her bones. Her whole body convulsed, and her forehead slumped down to Ronin’s shoulder. Her fingers curled into fists against the wall.

“Naia,” Ronin whispered. She wanted to crumble from the tenderness his voice held. “Do you trust me?”

She forced a weak nod.

“What do you say, Naia?” Malik’s voice was next to her ear.

Ronin swiped his hand across the front of his belt. A protruding hook disguised around a belt loop cut across his palm.