Page 94 of A Soul to Steal

“Yes, he will have time here. A day of it before I consume him,” Weldir stated.

The skull began to bend, minutely changing to take on Aleron’s form. He and it seemed to fight with some kind of suction, as though his spirit was truly attaching itself to the skull.

Gideon watched in awe as it started to work and Aleron’s form began to change. The ends of his limbs took on a pink spectre, much like how Ingram’s had been purple, and slowly grew up them until even his torso took on that colour.

The longer it took, the more his awe was strangled by another emotion.

Seconds felt like minutes, each one thumping Gideon’s false pulse deeper and deeper with longing. Only Aleron’s sternum remained white, but it also slowly began to turn transparent.

His own radiated an ache, but he refused to voice his trepidation. Gideon stepped forward but didn’t reach out like he suddenly wished to in order to stop them.

I don’t want him to go.He said nothing.

At the last second, before Aleron completely changed into a spectre, he ducked away.

“No!” Aleron choked out, stumbling back, with all his fur and feathers sticking up in agitation.

“No?” Weldir asked in disbelief, a single, visible brow furrowing.

“What about Gideon?” Aleron waved his hand to him.

“What about him?” Weldir asked, turning his face to him. He gave a laugh. “Oh. I know I said you may yet steal a soul from me, since I may need the bonding power of a bride to bring you back to life, but I was wrong. With the Gilded Maiden’s gift, I am able to do so with this alone. The human is no longer needed.”

Gideon’s head cocked just as his expression paled. His lips parted slightly as realisation was thrust upon him.The human is no longer needed.

A very cruel wave of coldness washed over Gideon’s conscience. Then all the tender and pleasant feelings that hadbloomed for Aleron suddenly burned in his chest like a searing coal.

With eyes wide, his head lowered so his gaze could slip to the ground.

“Oh,”he quietly rasped out.“I didn’t realise that was why you kept me around.”

Here he thought they’d been glued at the damn hip because of a mutual understanding and desire to just not be alone in this weird world. If he had known Aleron had underhanded intentions to begin with, like using Gideon as a way to come back to life, he may not have allowed all these apparently one-sided emotions to bubble and build inside him.

He clutched at his pants, fisting the material that felt wrong and too fuzzy to be real, realising he’d been anidiot.

Good one, dickhead. You decided to grow feelings for a monster, and let him screw the hell out of you, when you didn’t actually matter at all.He was just a necessity for Aleron to come back to life, or rather,hadbeen.

Gideon lifted his head, turning it to the side as he rubbed at his mouth.Fucking hell, why does knowing that sting so bad?

Why did saying goodbye come easier than realising he may have been... used? One brought on deep, understanding sadness, the other a hot strike of betrayal and mortification.

“Gideon...” Aleron called, making him realise he’d spoken out loud earlier.

Without looking at his skull, Gideon gave a dark chuckle. “Hey man, it’s all good. We had fun, and you learned a whole bunch. That’s all that matters, right?”

Gideon didn’t know why he was rambling and shoving a grin on his face. Maybe because it hurt, and he was just trying to deal with it while pretending he was okay, so he didn’t come across as pathetic or foolish.

It absolutely wasn’t all good, but the only shining light was that he’d forget soon, so it didn’t matter. This horrible, sickening feeling in his stomach would disappear, just like his existence. He was about to go to the sad valley of poor, lost souls.

It wasn’t like I’d even been thinking of becoming Aleron’s bride or anything, since he hadn’t actually thought it possible.

That didn’t stop his eyes from turning glassy at being lied to or tricked. It never felt great to be the butt of an inside joke, or the only one who wasn’t privy to vital and important information that would have been useful to know for self-preservation.

Yeah, saying goodbye to Aleron would have sucked, but at least it wouldn’t have been showered in shame and embarrassment. Especially since Gideon usually wouldn’t have sex with someone unless he actuallylikedthem. Gosh, the mortification of what they’d done over the course of the last few hours! All of it emotionally one-sided!

I’m such a freaking idiot.It would have been horrible to learn it had been done to him by a human, but a monster? He wanted to laugh at himself.

Here he had been... holding his hand because he liked the Duskwalker and wanted to ease his anxieties, when Aleron had just been doing it to not lose his ticket to coming back to life.

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