Page 135 of A Soul to Embrace

Years he no longer wanted to wait. He was getting older, which tamped down his rage in withered tiredness.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Lindiwe asked in exasperation, shaking her head at him.

“No. It matters naught. It changes nothing and doesn’t bring him back.” He inspected his new rock, finding it rougher than the others – likely a piece of broken clay that kept the stones of his castle together. “But it’s an apology all the same. Through my false death, that decree has been abolished, and your terrifying children are free to walk Austrális and eat everything they stumble upon.Thatshould at least bring you peace.”

Once more, she looked as though she didn’t know what to make of him. Then again, it was rare for Jabez to apologise, and he only did so for her benefit rather than his own.

What would his regret do to aid her, other than make him appear like a pitiful man seeking sympathy for his own stupidity?

“I guess knowing you will leave us be does bring me peace,” she admitted after a small silence of her weighing his words. Then her lips curled as she looked off to the side. “And Weldir brought Aleron back anyway.”

Jabez paused and tilted his head as he lifted his gaze to her properly. “He is a god of the afterlife. That shouldn’t be possible.” When her lips curled further, tenderness and joy filling her expression, his features twisted into a cringe of disgust. He threw his hands up. “Great. He’s figured out how to return the dead. What’s next? He’ll obtain a physical form and finally be free?”

That would irritate Jabez to no end.

He wanted Weldir to suffer as much as he did, especially for getting in his way for the last three centuries. If it hadn’t been for that demigod and his damn ward blocking his Demon army from leaving Earth... Jabez’s plans would have come to fruition decades, if not centuries, ago.

He didn’t trust the way Lindiwe’s expression creased in humour as she shifted to fix it on him. He didn’t like that his exasperated question... could be the truth. She didn’t deny or confirm it.

Fuck,he thought, tossing the stone to the side.Something has changed.

Much had changed in only a short period of time, and none of it was in his favour. The past three years were evidence of that, from his own demise, to Katerina’s death, to the other Mavka constantly obtaining new brides... to Zylah.

The world was shifting. His time here was ending.

Part of him was relieved about that, as much as it brought on a new page of darkness.

“Where is Zylah?” she asked.

She didn’t call her... what was it again? Fyodor?So, she truly had spoken to Zylah’s parents.

“I’m surprised you don’t know,” he answered, lifting a shoulder to shrug. “Don’t you watch all your children? I’m betting Weldir watched us walk through his mist.”

Even now, Jabez had the inkling there was a set of creepy eyes tingling the back of his neck. Hopefully his worry over Weldir’s physical form was nothing but paranoia, and he didn’t come to smite Jabez while he sat here, unaware of the potential danger.

Or, perhaps, he knew Jabez was ready for anything and everything. He had his magic back; nothing could stop him from creating a protective force or teleporting the moment he sensed another presence.

He’d be gone before they even had time to blink.

“Zylah is not his direct descendant. He can’t feel her like he feels our children, and I didn’t know where her burrow was because the moment I left her to help another of my children, our inability to scry for her meant we lost her.”

Just further proof that she was different from the rest of her kind. She was even out of Weldir’s gaze, and he hadn’t thought about what that would have meant for him up until now. It was a relief to know their privacy hadn’t been violated.

“It also didn’t help that she was taken from sight by the whims of an unpredictable man when hedidfind her.”

Ah, so they had at least watchedsomeof their time together in the Veil since they’d likely disturbed his mist. He doubted Weldir had been able to observe in the underground pocket beneath the village, as the stone itself had an additional spell on it to stop those from seeing that area. That spell was tied to the mana stone, ensuring it didn’t need Jabez’s help to fuel it – he’d always been worried about someone trying to steal it.

They’d likely watched them at Fayren’s and within Spiral Haven. A smile threatened to curl his lips when he thought that may have been confusing for them.

Watching him care for Zylah, spending time with her like a male courting a female... yes, that would be very confusing.

They likely didn’t intervene or show themselves earlier with her by his side.

Jabez waved his hand through the air dismissively. “She’s somewhere safe.”

Lindiwe’s lips flattened disapprovingly. “Whatever it is you're planning with her, I ask that you stop. She is my grandchild, after all. I want to see her safe as well.”

Not liking being told what to do, Jabez chuckled, his eyes crinkling with mischief.

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