Page 118 of A Soul to Steal

I can’t believe I was starting to soften towards him.

“Gideon?” Aleron asked, rising to his four-toed, bird-like feet.

“Couldn’t find another soul to trick, huh?” Gideon bit out, turning his head so he could glare over his shoulder. “You made it out as though I came with you willingly, but you forgot to mention the coercion involved.”

Aleron warily reached out, only to pull his hand back. He cupped both to his chest while his orbs flared white.

“I do not understand,” he admitted. “Just moments ago, you seemed content.”

Yeah, well, moments ago, he hadn’t known the truth. The fact he’d been content next to Aleron only brought on a more intense anger.

“You didn’t want me to come with you. Youneededme to.”

Fuck, just saying that made his chest sting. Hadn’t he suffered enough emotional torture to last a lifetime?

“That is not true,” Aleron refuted. “I did not want to leave Tenebris without you.”

Gideon began to clap. “So, you developed feelings along the way during your deception. Bravo.” Then Gideon turned, opened his arms, and laughed. “You know what? I’m glad I don’t remember anything. That way, I don’t have to deal with a bunch of feelings I shouldn’t have developed in the first place. Our time together should never have existed.”

His nose wrinkled tightly in hate when Aleron let out a soft rumble. Gideon’s eyes narrowed into a glare, ignoring the red orbs that flashed at him.

“Those memories are precious to me. I did not finish our story after we arrived back in Tenebris, but I cherish what happened afterwards.” He pointed a sharp claw, and it glinted in the sun. “I will not let you taint them for whatever reason has come upon you.”

He was making it out as though Gideon was being silly!

I’m not the one that lied to him... I don’t think. Did I agree to come here with him because there was no other way for him to come back to life?

Had Gideon’s feelings been used as a way to manipulate him?

If I truly cared about him...His glare turned into a wince.Yeah, I probably would have agreed to it, even after learning of the truth.When Gideon fell, he fell hard. He wasn’t a pushover, but he’d bend over backwards for the people he loved.

His glare returned, and he directed it at Aleron.

No one liked feeling manipulated. Thankfully, he didn’t have any warmth for this Duskwalker to lean on anymore – only a hollowing emptiness in the pit of his gut. A place he could dig in to grab and throw the muck of this betrayal.

“Since you never shut up about him, go find your damn kindred and leave me the hell alone. Hopefully if we spend enough time apart, the bond will eventually fade.”

“I do not understand,” Aleron repeated, this time with a whine. “Just moments before, you... wait, what did you say?” His skull cocked creepily.

“I don’t want to be with someone who manipulated me for their own selfish gain,” Gideon stated with firmness. “Maybe the fact I don’t remember is a blessing for me, since you don’t have my feelings to twist anymore.”

As much as his anger burned his insides, the mingle of sadness in his voice was noticeable even to his own ears.

The snarl that came from Aleron was menacing and monstrous. Gideon found himself laughing, allowing spite to bubble up inside him.

“Ooooh, I’m so scared.” Gideon wiggled his fingers at him. “What are you going to do, kill me? I’ll just come back to life. You cursed yourself as much as me.”

“You aremine, little human,”Aleron growled, his voice octaves darker than before as he stomped closer so he could tower over Gideon. “The fact you think I wouldeverhurt you shows just how lost you are. Our bond cannot be broken. And, even if I could, I would not.”

His wings flared, as though he wanted to come across more menacing, or perhaps because he was upset. Which, if he was, good! Gideon was fucking upset too.

The soul floating like coal between his horns caught Gideon’s attention. It looked like it’d weakly curled into a ball in a poor attempt at hiding from the world, hands cupped against its chest and feet tucked under its backside. Feeling petty, he leapt for it, grabbing a hold of one horn so he could take his soul back with the other. Yet, when he bounced back to his feet, his hand was empty.

“What the...? But I’ve seen you hold it.” His soul no longer belonged to him to the point he couldn’t even touch it? “Give it back. I don’t want to be bonded to a monster!”

It was his, and should have always been his!Why the fuck did I bond myself to someone like this?!

He ignored the way Aleron gasped at what he’d said, what he’d done, and how his orbs snuffed out to deep blue.

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