Page 134 of A Soul to Embrace

“Then why are you sitting on the evidence of your ruin like a pathetic man, rather than trying to rebuild it as swiftly as possible like last time?” She cocked her brow this time, and her lips curled knowingly.

“I’m searching for something vital first.”

Yeah, the answer as to why he felt something for Zylah, to the point he had this strange, radiating ache in his chest right now. Maybe why his cock kept jerking at the smallest thing she did, or why he was so damn drawn to her in the first place.

Where did all his cunning callousness go? She’d offered him exactly what he wanted, and he was finding excusesnotto take her up on it.

And rather than discarding her because he knew bringing her to Nyl’theria was a foolish decision on his part, he was fucking finding excuses to not do that either.

It should have been easy. Had any other female presented her manipulative ultimatum of him staying to give her what she wanted, or to leave and never come back if he did what he wanted, he would have smugly left in a heartbeat.

Hemayhave inferred it with his last words, but they’d been hollow. Well, not at the time due to his anger, but after much reflection, he realised they’d held not an ounce of weight. Instead, they only added to the chaos of his thoughts and questions as to why he was still fuckingherein this godsforsaken, shitty realm.

But he really did adore needling the Witch Owl, and he let a malicious grin fill his face.

“Coming to pester me like this will only fuel my hatred and push me to rebuild faster.” With the stone clasped firmly in his grip, he lifted his forefinger to tap at his lips in smug thought. “Now you’ve revealed that you know how to trap me, and I doubt you have a second stone to blast me with. You have no secrets, nothing left to fight with, and, Lindiwe, webothknow how much of a cunning bastard I am. My Demons will only see my return as further proof that I’m all-powerful, and those who didn’t follow me will surely do so now. You’ve handed me the perfect opportunity to come back stronger than ever, with more influence. What will you and your offspring do when my demands hold even more weight?”

He gave her his best charming smile at the end, especially as he could see her delight waning with each word. Her humour-filled lips uncurled, and her brows slowly furrowed until they pathetically made her eyes appear beseeching.

“Can’t you just leave us alone?” she rasped, her distant voice cracking with emotion. “We want nothing to do with this.”

“You have Weldir to thank for your situation. Had he joined me like I offered, everything would have been different.”

“But he does not hate the Elves like you do!” She threw her arms out to the side in frustration.

“We were cut from the same cloth. Both created by the Elvish trying to intervene with the Demons, both of us scorned and locked away, both then freed only to be trapped in a world we can’t escape.”

“Just because you experienced the same doesn’t mean he has to feel the same way you do.” She sighed, and let her arms fall into her lap in defeat. “He wants to protect, and you want to destroy. Can’t you just find another way and leave us be?”

Jabez rolled his eyes and then brought his arm back to toss the stone in his hand at her. It sailed through the air, went through her intangible body, and clunked against the ground on the other side of the wall.

“Quit your whining,” he bit at her lightly. “I have no intention of harming your little Mavka anymore. I gave that up a while ago.”

“You had them hunted!”

“And I removed that order months ago too.” When her lips parted in disbelief, he shook his head. “Demons like to hunt. They jump on bounties and spread word swiftly. They are less inclined to share the removal of a decree so enthusiastically. You attempted to destroy someone who no longer had the desire to harm you.”

“You had my son killed,” she stated, hurt further bowing her eyes.

“And how many sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers have your precious sons killed?”

He cocked a brow at her superiorly and her lips tightened.

She couldn’t deny it; she was a hypocrite in her own right. She allowed them to be brought into the world, knowing they would be violent and unsympathetic towards the hundreds they’d eaten – families destroyed or broken apart. It didn’t matter if they were humans or Demons. She never stopped them from killing, and he wondered if she’d shed her guilt about it in the same way he had.

She wanted him to feel sympathy when her hands were just as unclean as his were.

But Jabez knew how much her children meant to her, and hewasin a giving mood. Surprising, since he was feeling rather sour after his argument with Zylah – or maybe that was why he was inclined to pity her this night.

Jabez picked up a new stone to play with to appear indifferent. “What was his name?”

He noted her brows drew together in confusion at his question. “Aleron,” she answered quietly.

“I apologise for Aleron’s death, then,” he said nonchalantly. “Like I said, I’d already removed my decree by then.”

Actually, he’d done it before the day he’d asked Merikh to join his side once more and come with him to Nyl’theria. He’d already been formulating his next plans, and they’d involved him – someone he trusted, someone he had faith wouldn’t fail him. When his old friend didn’t turn up at the castle like he’d expected him to, Jabez had then begun figuring out other options.

One in particular required no Mavka’s aid nor death, but it was dangerous. Possible, although it could take years to give him what he wanted.

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