[HAWI]
"And you all said I am the devil," Hawi asked amusedly as she watched Malika work her magic. The woman was terrible and she knew it because there was just no way that she couldn't have done that with a sane mind.
Her decision got the Savasci knights including Mbali with her jaw on the ground from the shock that for a moment there Mbali forgot that she was mad at her sister and her friends for being pricks about the Amina situation.
Maybe she would get back to it later, but goddamn.
"He looks better like that, don't you think?" Malika questioned proudly as she stared at the piece of work she had created. She had stuffed Nik's mouth with mud from the puzzle that the others had never even noticed.
Perhaps she had created the puddle for that purpose. And it was something that they couldn't put past her. Perhaps she had done it with the thought of Mbali in her head because her sister and been a proud menace to her and wasn't about to stop.
Perhaps this was Malika's way of reminding her sister that they were all devils in their own ways, right? Or maybe there was just nothing attacked and Malika wanted to see Nik suffer more than she had ever seen anyone suffer right?
Well, the man had managed to piss her off in ways that hadn't been invented yet and since the man had given her a sister who was irritable as fuck, perhaps Malika was just returning the favor, no?
"I don't know if I should be proud or scared of you. Damn, you're brutal," Hawi added amusedly and instead of Malika even considering her decision, she just went on with it like it was the best thing she had ever heard of.
Well, it was not an issue for her at the moment because she needed to find some woman in the darkness and her sister was a distracting little shit who wanted to even think clearly.
"Gladly," Malika said as she picked up more mud from the nearby puddle and stuffed it in the man's mouth, not bothering that he would probably choke on it and die. Well, if that did happen, they had the breath of life and could use it on him either way.
Malika just needed some peace and quiet and if she wasn't about to get it from her sister then she was going to demand it from Nik, because she can't kill her sister, but she could make Nikolai look like a lost bitch in heat.
Done with her work, Malika wiped her hands on Nik's clothes, before she warmed her hands on the fire that was still heating up the man. The poor thing was in for a long ride in the hands of a woman who didn't give two shits about him.
Perhaps this was the worst season for him to learn this time, right?
"I'll count to three, Amina. If you don't show up, I am mating my sister. Lycans can mate within their families, and you had to have known that, since you knew that the mate bond would break the barrier of protection," Malika said.
Mbali gasped at her sister's suggestion. If there was a time when things were absurd, then this had to be it.
There was just no way that they could tell what was right from wrong, and there was no way in hell that Malika thought threatening Amina with THAT was supposed to make everything better.
And the worst part of it, was that Malika hadn't mentioned the sibling bond, which meant that she would be marking her sister as a mate and not as a sibling. Could this night get any worse even with Nikolai stuffed with mud in the mouth?
"But that shouldn't... happen?" Ruru trailed off as she tried to make it all make sense.
Maybe they are too tired and needed to rest, maybe they could create a barrier for Mbali just for the night and try to siphon the poison from her while they rested. Maybe they could use Nik's blood to make it all effective.
There were so many maybes that they could consider before coming to the conclusion of Malika marking her sister.
That shit could blow back on them seeing as Elodie was in love with Malika and while Elodie was loyal to Hawi, the mate bond was sacred, one no one was to mess with. Then again, within the Jabali sisters born to be warriors and not mates?
Oh, it was confusing as hell.
Hawi on the other hand had gone mute for a moment there and her amused sigh was the reminder that she was still with them and hadn't dozed off into the night. She was sharing her lifeline with Mbali to keep everything the same for the moment.
Her lifeline was holding the poison from spreading, but it was just a matter of time before she had to step back and then the poison would spread. That was too much even for her.
"Amina knows the choice so well," Malika said, not relenting like she was bound to work eventually.
Maybe it would, but they were working with a worn out white wolf who was channeling so much energy from herself. This would prove lethal to her eventually but maybe Malika had hopes.
Oh, the endless maybes they had at the moment.
"Alright then... Your sister will die if I step back, so if Amina isn't coming, you might as well save her life and then we can keep going," Hawi said tiredly.
She could feel herself fading which wasn't good for Mbali because it would take some time for Hawi to recharge and that was time they didn't have right now. They could do so many things and still not make it make sense.
Perhaps the risks that had grown bigger were the ones worth taking even if the end result was going to be insane and probably abominable.
"You're letting her?" Mbali questioned the disbelief in her voice making a show for the nth time.
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She had been putting her trust in Hawi so that the woman could save them from the inbound mess, but then even Hawi had done what she could and there wasn't much she could do.
"We have a mission to complete, Mbali. You and I both know the mission is important and we can't afford to lose you. So, if bearing your sister's mark is the only way to keep you alive, then I don't see why not," Hawi said, her voice flat.