Page 42 of A Soul to Steal

Oh shit! Oh fuck!Gideon prepared his hands to grab hold of something, like the side of his mouth, so he could stop himself from being swallowed.

The back of his throat was pitch black, like a narrow, claustrophobic abyss.

Nowthatwas terrifying.

I’m still not into vore!

He tossed Gideon sideways through the air, somewhat in Aleron’s direction, but he still had to dive to catch him. With an oomph, he fell into his strong, meaty arms.

“Nice catch,” Gideon stated, giving him a reassuring thumbs up.

Apparently, that didn’t placate Aleron, as he gave a deep, growling huff. Rather than dropping to the ground, he flew upwards to leave.

Gideon only had just enough freedom to look over Aleron’s arm to check on the Duskwalker below. His orbs were still bright yellow, and they finally revealed what the colour meant – joy.

He’d been playing with them, picking on his sibling, and he couldn’t help finding that… touching. He never expected such a human trait. It further solidified that, despite their monstrous outsides and behaviour, they were rather cute.

Especially Aleron, who currently sulked.

Then he watched the serpent Duskwalker fully uncoil himself as he used his hands to step down from the flat rock he’d been resting upon. With the use of his tail wiggling side to side, hishands pushed off to keep his torso off the ground until his tail slid from the rock. Upright as he moved, he eventually slithered into the water and disappeared into its depths.

I knew he had gills for a reason.

“Are we really going to leave because you’re upset?” Gideon gave a dull look to show he wasn’t impressed.

“Yes,” Aleron answered curtly, banking left to go over the mountains.

Gideon wished his clothes rustled as though he truly flew, or that his hair at least rushed back rather than gently swaying. Considering this was the first time he’d ever flown, he would have preferred to have a slight kick of adrenaline.

It just felt like being carried by someone walking.

The only difference was that they were high in the air, but the constant mist made it difficult to see anything directly below them. Only in the distance could he truly make out more details, like the world suddenly opened up.

“But we came all this way,” he said with a sigh.

Aleron stopping moving forward to hover them in the air, his massive wings stealing his attention now that he was able to see them up close. His wings looked even fluffier than usual, and yet so sleek that he wanted to reach out and touch the closest one.

He didn’t, only because Aleron dipped his skull forward with his orbs flaring to a dark green. His fingers curled around Gideon’s outer leg and arm more tightly, causing his claw tips to stab into his flesh.

“Would you prefer to go back and be with that Mavka instead?” The tone of his voice was rather dark and unnerving.

Gideon opened his mouth to stupidly utter something sarcastic, but then immediately shut it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out now may not be the right time for something idiotic to come from his mouth.

He didn’t wish to further upset the Duskwalker.

“I’m pretty content with where I am right now,” Gideon answered honestly, wiggling down to show just how much trust he had for him right then. “I just thought we came here because you wanted to hang out with him.”

“I just gave us a direction.” Aleron’s hold loosened, but the edge in his tone didn’t settle. “I would not have come here had I known he would do this.”

“You’re acting really overprotective right now.”

Gideon teasingly flicked Aleron on his bony forehead, only to instantly regret it.Motherfucker. That hurt!He shook his hand to ease the ache radiating down his middle finger.

“You are mine,” Aleron growled, his hands tightening once more.

Gideon reared his head back in surprise, not expecting such a proclamation.What is that supposed to mean?And why the hell did it make his stomach flutter?

Ugh. My head is a mess.

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