Page 181 of A Soul to Embrace

A muscle in Mericato’s jaw ticked, and Jabez had to hold back a smirk.I bet your customs haven’t changed. It’s what they offered to Demons when he’d been a child, and he was more than happy to use it against them. Mericato ran his fingers through his brow-length white hair, before darting his eyes to the side to think.

Once more, he began to sign.

“That is only upon first entry. This, technically, would be a re-entry.”

“Listen, you–” Jabez’s word cut off when he’d been about to spew a tangent of insults. He willed himself to remain calm, his arms tightening around the most important thing to him at the moment, then he let out a pacifying sigh. “Look. TheDuskwalkeris injured. She seeks refuge.Shehas never harmed a single Elysian her entire life. Surely that counts for something. Let her be healed and offer her sanctuary.”

Mericato’s brows furrowed. “You want us to take only her?”

Jabez’s lips flattened before he released them. “Yes. I have no intention of remaining.”

“We can’t do that. We can’t allow her into our city.”

His jaw fell, just as fury heated the back of his neck. “What the fuck do you mean you can’t take her? Isn’t that the point of the script on the fucking door? If someone seeks sanctuary, you will give them a chance to speak to the council and be properly evaluated!”

Mericato tsked with his features twisting into a cringe. He went to gesture with his hands, but Jabez wasn’t done.

“Are you seriously going to turn away an injured female in need? I understand not lettingmethrough these gates, but she’s done nothing to warrant such disrespect or hatred.”

“It has nothing to do with what she is. I can allow you entry, but not her.”

Jabez stepped back when his right knee almost caved in at the revelation he was hit with. “You would takeme,but nother?”

That didn’t make any sense! Not when Jabez had threatened their destruction! It was the last thing he’d ever said to them, and he had no doubt that if Mericato knew about Mavka, then they must know what he’d been up to all these years. That he’d tried to build an army to decimate this entire shitty city.

“I’m sorry,” the translator said on his behalf, and his tone was remarkably sincere. “But we are already aware of the dangers of an unbonded Duskwalker. She will be too volatile. There are too many people here that have a fear scent or may accidentally bleed. We can’t allow such a risk for a creature that is able to easily destroy dozens of people in the span of minutes. Not even our soldiers are able to properly defend against a Duskwalker, and we know trying to will only enrage her more. We also don’t wish to harm her for something she can’t control.”

Taken aback, Jabez was rendered silent.

They don’t just know about the existence of Mavka, but they deeply understand them.

“Who is it?” Jabez asked. “What Duskwalker resides here? Who gave you such information?”

Mericato shared a distrustful look with his translator. “Who they are is irrelevant. We won’t give you the name of one of our people in order to preserve their privacy.”

The bitter, spiteful laugh that exploded from Jabez wasnasty.His eyes crinkled in hateful fury as his voice darkened when he growled, “I should rip your fucking throat out again.”

Mericato’s pointed ears drooped, and he looked away with a pained expression as he covered the scar across his neck. There was a hint of regret in his eyes, but Jabez cared little for it. He didn’t care if Mericato wore that scar as a badge for what he’d done to Jabez, or as penance for how he’d treated him and how he’d been part of his demise.

He deserved it.

“So, you’re telling me you won’t let thisDuskwalkerinto your stupid city because she’s unbonded?”

“Yes.”

By the cursed light! Damnit...

Jabez swiped his foot against the ground, and warmth swelled through the sole of it and up his ankle. As the hexagon symbolsover the arches of his feet connected to swirling patterns around his ankles and glowed green with mana, a blockade of grass formed around him and Zylah. A shield from sight and sound filled the entire Elven bubble dome surrounding them.

Then he knelt while placing Zylah down in front of him and rested his hands on the ground. All of a sudden, it felt like his lungs were being strangled from the inside, like someone had filled them with water, and he struggled to breathe. He was fuckingdrowning, and he had no means to reach the surface for air.

He huffed above her, trying to come to grips with a decision he had to make.

It choked him so tightly, he feared his throat was moments from closing, while his heart raced from the deep anxiety that clutched him. He released a scent cloak to stop Zylah from turning on him, just as Mericato stated she would if left with her insatiable and uncontrollable hunger.

“Jabez? What’s going on?” Zylah asked, and he lifted his widened gaze to her.

It’s either my goal or her,he thought, letting his eyes flick over her rabbit skull, her white orbs of worry, her dainty antlers.It’s either me or her.His gaze dropped to her blood-stained dress, and how it did little to hide the deep, flaring punctures and gashes between her breasts and arms, and had ridden up to reveal those on her thighs. Her mangled right calf had been visible the entire time.

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