Zylah gasped and removed her arms to unblock her sight, only to notice his features looked... calm. He didn’t go inwards and feign indifference.
“We had it coming,” he continued, his eyes flicking side to side as he bounced between her orbs. “Everything has a consequence, and if I hadn’t been so selfish in only learning how to heal myself, I could have saved her. But that’s what happens when you deal in death, you receive it back. I was angry at first, but I eventually realised it was a consequence of our actions, and any hurt was deserved. It was hypocritical of me, considering everything I’ve done in the name of my war.”
“You really are strange. You know you’ve done terrible things, you’ve accepted it and wear the weight of them, and yet...”
“I keep doing them?” He raised a questioning brow at her, and Zylah nodded. “Everything I do, no matter if it’s a mistake or not, is a step towards my goal. I shed how I feel, the good and the bad, and move forward. It’s how I’ve survived. I’ve been desensitised to it all after so long.”
I don’t think I want to learn anything more about his past right now.This was enough. It was a clear image to explain his past. She could piece the rest together in her mind from what she’d heard about humans, the Elvish, and then witnessed in Spiral Haven. He hated everything, even his own kinds, but forced himself to be accepted by the Demons.
And those Demons, too, had hurt him, tried to eat him. Even after he’d done so much for them by making the Veil and Spiral Haven.
He left carnage in his wake because everything wanted to see him suffer in some way, whether it was purposeful or an accident. No wonder he had no pleasant stories to share.
But Zylah did have one last question, and it had nothing to do with him. He’d even reminded her of it by speaking of Orpheus.
Zylah let her orbs shift to dark yellow in curiosity. “What is a bride? Rook spoke about this as well.”
His eyes widened, and the ball at his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“Shit,” he grated, covering his face as his ears tipped back. “I think this is enough talking for now.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Zylah exclaimed, sitting up so she could snatch his hand from his face. “I want to know about this. He said it’s like a mate, but for Mavka.”
His eyes crinkled as he sat up as well. He steadied his seated position by leaning back on straightened arms. “Yes, but if I tell you, I can already foresee you wanting to do it.”
“Please?” she tried to sweetly beg.
“It will only upset you once I explain it to you and you try to ask me for it.”
She scratched at the side of her snout to appear coy. “I promise I won’t?”
His handsome features twisted up. “Zylah...” he warned.
She shuffled her way into his lap, since that usually seemed to make him more receptive to her, and forced a whine to rattle from her chest. “If it’s something important about Mavka, don’t I deserve to know it?”
“Absolutely, but I’m trying really fucking hard not to hurt your feelings.”
Zylah shoved his shoulders until he was forced to lie against the ground, then gave him a half-hearted growl. Something tapped against the apex of her thighs, instantly quieting her in surprise.
“We could fuck instead?” he offered, looking down between them with his tongue dabbing at the seam of his lips. “I kind of like you on top of me like this, all growly and controlling.”
She didn’t like how arousal instantly heated her, and she reluctantly shook her head. As much as she wanted more, if he was evading this so much, then it was obviously important. It bothered him to tell her, and she wanted to know why.
When she didn’t falter, his face stiffened and turned cold. “I can easily teleport out of this position.”
“B-but you won’t,” she lied, unsure if that was true. When he cocked a brow at her incredulously, she chittered nervously. “You said you didn’t want to hurt my feelings. It will upset me if you do.”
His nose bunched up before he let out a deep groan. “Damnit, Zylah.”
She squealed when he rolled forward, easily battling her to sit up. Being careful of her own claw mark wounds on her back fromhealing him earlier, he wrapped an arm around her waist and shoved his head against her chest. An annoyed sigh fluttered out of him, making her fur wave around his face.
“A bride is the Mavka equivalent of a Demon’s mate. However, and I’m just guessing here, it is probably monogamous, it is likely permanent, and it appears to turn their companions into Phantoms.” His words muffled against her chest as Jabez spoke. With his head bowed, she could see nothing else but the top of his long white hair and dark horns. “Mavka can, essentially, live forever so long as your skulls aren’t destroyed. Since the Witch Owl has lived hundreds of years, I’m guessing that same quality has been passed down to whoever they choose to bond with. It’s... forever.”
“Oh,” Zylah rasped, her stomach knotting instantly.
He was right, and she kind of wished she didn’t know this now. Because as soon as he said it was forever, she immediately knew she wanted it to be him. She’d like to be tied to him permanently, but he’d already insinuated his answer to that would be a rejection.
Her sight swallowed up to a deep blue, just as the bottoms of her orbs wavered.