Page 207 of A Soul to Embrace

He’s like the prickly rose I held in Spiral Haven.

As much as he’d witnessed her bloom into the being she was, watering her with knowledge and care along the way, she knew he was beginning to flourish as well. Sometimes his petals withered, as if autumn had come. Other times, he was frozen and hidden away like in winter, but she hoped the rain of heraffections, like spring returning, helped bring him back to life and regrow.

He was also mesmerising and delicate in his own way. The aroma of bergamot suited him. Sturdy like a tree, but he was also like a flower which could bear thorns. He was mean and cruel, but that didn’t have to detract from his beauty so long as she held him just right.

He is my enchanting thorn.Her mesmerising Elvish-and-Demon bride.

Just as Zylah stroked the back of his shoulder, Jabez’s parted fangs snapped shut to let out a half-hearted growl. It quietened quickly as his hand reached out to clasp her thigh before slipping off, like his unconscious reach had been expecting to throw the weight of his arm over her entire body.

Worried that if she continued to touch him, she’d disturb him from the sleep he obviously needed, so she left him be.

She pulled his soul from between her antlers to look at it again, as she had many times since she’d woken. She stroked the back of her index finger under its jaw, pleased that its body had returned.

His soul sat exactly how it had before and looked exactly the same. The only difference was the spiral of its blue-and-green flames rotated in the opposite direction as if it’d...changedin the smallest way. Its horns were still green, its long ears and hair blue, and she realised all the physical parts of him were differently coloured.

Those that were obviously Demon were green, while those that were Elvish were blue. Everywhere else, like its arms, legs, torso, and even half of its face were split with the spiralling colours.

Eye-shaped sharp red looked up as it tilted its face to her. It never seemed to sleep or rest, since every time she handled his soul, it always sat in a cross-legged position. Occasionallyits hands and arms would move in reaction to her touch, often grabbing at her fingers when she tried to stroke it, but it seemed to tilt its head back in welcome when she caressed under its jaw.

I love his soul.She adored staring at it, and she knew she’d greedily covet it and do so forever.

She placed it back between her antlers and glanced at Jabez. The urge to touch him again itched at her fingertips, so she turned away before she gave in.

What else can I do then?She’d already tried to press her skull against the glass to look at the city below, as well as the ocean in the distance.

The first sun had already risen, and a smaller blue one had also peeked over the horizon.

Her gaze slipped to the door at the back of the room. She let her curious nature take her feet there, and she opened the space. It was small in comparison, and she had no idea what any of it was.

Almost square with rounded corners, the entire area was made of obsidian with smelted bronze ore keeping the stone in place.

There was some kind of seat with a hole in it to the left, but it looked wildly uncomfortable. There was also a counter with a shallow bowl fitted into it and some kind of silvery spout. The only other thing in the room was an empty space that had a much larger and wider spout that towered over even her height.

She sniffed at an unusual sweet scent and found multiple wooden containers had been placed on a shallow shelf next to the taller spout. Just below it, she noticed a small pulsating purple light.

What is that?She touched it inquisitively. As soon as her hand made contact with it, warm rain suddenly fell over her, and she squealed and slipped.

Her arms swung and flailed, and she grabbed some kind of pole that had a fold of fluffy material over it to steady herself. It broke under her weight, and Zylah fell to her backside as the water continued to sprinkle over her miserably slumped form.

With her orbs white and her fur completely drenched, she scrambled to touch the purple light again.What is happening?!Unsure how she’d managed to turn on raininside, especially as she’d never had the power to do so before, she couldn’t help panicking that she’d broken something.

Before she could even rise from her knees to her feet, they came out from under her again. She fell forward with a squeal to smack her chest and the underside of her jaw against the wall.

With one last attempt, her claws gouging into a sheet of obsidian to steady her shaking arm, she reached up. A chunk of black crystal broke off, but she did manage to get the rain to stop before she slipped forward again.

A hand snaked out to protect her forehead from bashing against the wall. On her knees, Zylah gasped and darted her face to the side just as Jabez crouched down beside her.

His eyes glinted with mirth, as he flashed her a humour-filled – although groggy – smile. “Having fun?”

“No!” she exclaimed, wondering how pitiful she looked sitting on her backside with her legs bent to her sides, drenched from head to toe. Her orbs shifted to blue and the bottoms of them wavered. “I don’t like this thing.”

He caressed the top of her skull soothingly, then reached his hand out to her. “Showers can be slippery.”

“Did I wake you?” she asked as she placed her palm in his and let him help her to her feet.

“Hard not to wake up with you screaming,” he answered with a hint of laughter. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

She threw her arms to the side, causing water to shoot off her fingers and splatter against the ground. “A little. Now I’m just wet.”

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