Page 132 of Saints & Sinners

As soon as he saw the state of me, he crouched in front of me and cupped my face. “Hey,” he said, looking around him as if cautious that the Council could be watching this moment. “You’re okay.”

I swallowed hard, nodding shakily.

He couldn’t stop himself as he pulled me into his embrace, and I held onto him, his chin resting atop my head.

“You’re okay,” he whispered again, but the image of his black eyes lingered in my mind, and I wasn’t sure if I would be.

Chapter Sixty

The maze shifted and groaned as Hunter, and I ran through its tangled corridors. Each turn felt like a gamble, and another dead end was waiting on every path.

“Where do you think they are?” I asked, my breath hitching as I kept pace beside him.

“We’ll find them,” he said tightly, and I caught a glimpse of his face as we turned another corner. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were swirling with something I couldn’t quite place.

“Hunter?” I started, but he stopped, grabbed my arm, and turned me to face him. I stumbled slightly. “What? We have to keep moving—”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

I blinked. “Now? Are you serious? We’re in the middle of—”

“Grace, just listen to me first. If something happens—if this—”

“Stop—”

“Would you still stick by me?” he asked, his voice dropping lower, almost into a whisper.

“What?” I breathed, staring at him. Had he been affected by the stone, too? I didn’t understand any of this.

His eyes searched mine with something raw and unguarded in them. “If you knew something about me—something that couldchange everything. Would you still... stay?”

I opened my mouth to answer, wary of the Council, but when I saw that vulnerability that I wasn’t used to seeing in him, I couldn’t help what came out: “Yes but... what are you trying to—” before I could finish, a deep groan echoed through the maze. The ground trembled beneath us as I looked to my left. The sharp scent of damp earth filled the air before thick, gnarled vines snaked from the stone and lashed out at us like tendrils. One barely missed my shoulder before Hunter yanked me back.

“Fuck,” he hissed and grabbed me by the arm again as we ran. My boots pounded against the uneven ground as vines whipped at our legs and thorns slashed at my arms.

With every turn we took, more vines would come spiralling toward us before we skidded to a stop, and the path ahead disappeared. Another wall rose behind us as Hunter pulled me into another turn.

The maze wanted us lost.

Branches clawed at my clothes, the roots beneath us shifting unnaturally while the walls twisted and groaned, reshaping the corridors before our eyes.

We couldn’t outrun it forever. We needed to find the sigil and move on.

A sudden voice echoed through the maze.

I recognized it immediately and skidded to a halt. “Marnie!”

Hunter cursed under his breath, eyes darting to where the sound came from.

“That was her,” I gasped, my heart pounding as I ran down the maze corridor.

“Grace—” Hunter called after me, but I was already forcing my way through vines. I knew he was right behind me even as I sprinted toward the distant cries.

We rounded a corner, and there, half entangled in vines, wasMarnie.

Silas and Brandon were with her, slashing wildly at the vines wrapping around them. The tendrils had sneaked up their arms, coiling around their waists, pulling them toward the walls as if the maze was trying to consume them.

“Fuck—” Hunter lunged forward, tearing a vine away from Brandon before it could wrap around his throat.

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