Page 193 of A Soul to Embrace

Her arms tightened around him as she sheepishly thought,But he can’t leave me again.He was hers, and Zylah wouldn’t give up this bond even if there was a way.

His soul was hers to embrace, as were his heart, his mind, his body, and his past. She’d do so openly until the end of time.

Just as her tail began to sway in adoration, the tuft puffed out when the strangest chill touched her bony forehead just below where his soul was and slipped down her spine. She looked up, finding that Jabez hadn’t moved from gazing outside and that he appeared the same as before.

Yet the warmth of his soul had dimmed heavily.

Her ears rang at the loud, distinct, and noticeablecrackshe heard. It sounded like glass and rock breaking in half at the same time. She ignored it at first, until she heard another, and another, and the warmth of his soul disappeared completely.

At the same time, a strange cold ache struck her.

Panic swelled in her muscles, and she shot her hand up to his soul to take it from her antlers and check on it.

A high-pitched, sharp whine escaped her when she saw that his entire soul had completely lost its colourful flames and had crumbled like fragile rock. Rather than sitting upright, it’d fallen to the side, and no longer hovered above her palm but rather lay on it. It was cold, no heat to be found, and pieces of it seemed to be missing.

At the whine that left her, Jabez groaned and dug his nails into her back lightly. “Please don’t make that sound right now,” he grated out, his voice hoarse and laden with emotion. “I can’t take it.”

As much as Zylah tried to be quiet, her distress only grew when more pieces of his soul broke off and withered into nothingness. It started at its hands, feet, and face, before more and more slowly chipped away until there was nothing but a torso.

Zylah leaned back when her heart clenched so hard it felt like it was about to burst.Why is it disappearing?!She fretted, her hands shaking as she watched it with no idea how to stop it.Then its torso caved in and cracked open, revealing a tiny flame of blue and green that floated out of its chest.

It hovered there, nothing else remaining but the tiniest sputtering flame.

It floated away, trying to go back to between her antlers, but she grabbed it and stopped it. She stared at it once more.

“Jabez?” she asked, lifting her skull to his face.

His body flickered and vibrated between solid and transparent, as if it wanted to turn ghostly, but the golden bands around his wrists shimmered bright pink. She wondered if they were stopping whatever was happening to his physical body.

Seeing that his soul was no longer changing, but was at least still alive in some form, she returned it, then rose up on her knees and grabbed his cheeks in both her palms. She forced himto look away from outside, but his eyes refused to leave it until she turned his head so far to the left that he had no other option.

His gaze landed on her, and she found it just looked...hollow.

I don’t know how to help.

She didn’t even know what she was fighting against.

Zylah dived forward, wrapped her arms around Jabez’s neck, and clung to him. She trembled as she held him, wishing she knew what to say or do in this moment. Something was wrong with him – he obviously wasn’t okay – and more than ever, she wished she knew what had been said within the conference chamber.

The only solace was that he slipped his arms around her midsection to hug her, but she couldfeelthe distance between them. Even with their torsos tightly meshing together, it was like he was slipping miles away.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered, as she dug her claws into his shoulders. “Please tell me what is going on.”

“Sorry, Zylah. My mind isn’t well, and I can’t think clearly,” he answered, his arms loosening. She hated how deadened his voice sounded.

Unsure of what else to do, she drew her tongue up his jaw and then his cheek, licking to show him that she was there, that she cared, and that he didn’t have to do this alone. She wished he’d seek whatever he needed from her, rather than retreating intohis head. She understood that he’d been this way for a long time, alone and unable to trust anyone else but himself, but it was hard for Zylah to know whatshecould do to bring him out of it.

When I was upset, he distracted me from my sadness.But her sadness had revolved around him, and being intimate with him had helped to ease her loneliness and fears.

“Is it my fault?” Zylah asked, her voice rising an octave.

His body reared back, forcing her to let go when he stared at her with his brows furrowing.

“Not at all,” he answered, and she didn’t know whether to believe him or not.

She let out a whine and leaned forward to lick across his lips, kissing him the only way she knew how. When he didn’t respond other than flinching, Zylah did it repeatedly, feeling his closed lips move under the power of her tongue.

He let out a small sigh. “Zy–”

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