Page 136 of A Soul to Embrace

Then he lifted his right hand to show her his uneven nails, brought the two he’d had within Zylah’s pussy to his mouth, and sucked on them. At her horror, he brought them out with a wet pop and gave her his trimmed middle finger.

She visibly shuddered, and he found that utterly satisfying.

“I do what I want,” he answered with a large grin. “Haven’t you learned that trying to tell me otherwise just makes me want to doexactlythe thing you don’t approve of?”

“You’re disgustingly vile.”

“I’m an opportunist,” Jabez answered with a shrug. “Such are the woes of an uptight prude like yourself.”

If she wanted to see the worst in him, then so be it. He had no interest in correcting her, especially as he refused to let her know any truth pertaining to his inner thoughts. Her opinion mattered little to him.

His humour didn’t fade as he asked, “How is Merikh these days?”

She stiffened and then appeared guilty as she looked off to the side. “He’s fine. Happy, I hope.”

Happy. Jabez could live with that.

“Has he found a bride?” he asked nonchalantly, pretending not to care.

“I... believe so.”

A bride, then.So that’s why Merikh didn’t come to his side.I can live with that too.

After all, even if that bull-horned, bear-skulled Mavka hated Jabez, he still considered him a friend. His only true one. At least one of them deserved some happiness after their shitty, lonely lives.

When Lindiwe said nothing, and Jabez offered only silence, he thought she’d finally disappear. She got what she wanted: answers and peace.

Instead, she remained, haunting him as she’d always done. She’d always liked lingering in his castle, following him as a pestering, untouchable force. The only way to battle that was to taunt her in return, and he’d completely lost the will for it.

He’d lost the will for much these days.

“Why are you still here?” Jabez asked, annoyed that she was choosing to remain when their conversation was obviously done.

She offered him a small smile. “To watch you be miserable.”

He sneered at her for that. “Misery you won’t find,” he repeated.

“I still hate you.”

“Feeling is mutual.”

Jabez then ignored her completely, while making sure she didn’t move from her little perch. He didn’t trust she wouldn’t try to end him while he receded once more into his thoughts. He could see Lindiwe attempting to mete out justice for all he’d done to her and her kin.

For now, he would allow this amicable truce; this wasn’t the first time they’d done this. Two enemies conversing, who had done so for centuries.

In the time they spent in each other’s uncomfortable, silent presence this night, only one truth came to him. Digging throughthe rubble of his past allowed him to clear away just one lingering thought.

A stupid one on his part, he knew, but one that had twisted into an irritating ache in the back of his mind.

He lifted his gaze towards the clouded sky, thankful the rain had disappeared but annoyed he couldn’t see the stars and their mystical glittering.

I want to see Zylah one last time.And to say a proper goodbye. Not just for her sake, to give her closure, but also... for his own.

Funny that, as his non-existent heartsqueezedpainfully at the thought of doing so.

Fuck, I’m pathetic.

After wrestling with his thoughts, those that told him to stay away and those that fought against that notion, Jabez gave in.

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