Page 230 of A Soul to Embrace

Merikh turned from Weldir, giving the demigod his back, and his skull darted towards Jabez. He’d managed to stop his orb colour from permanently changing, likely to hide his emotions,but Jabez could hear how hard his heart pounded when he approached.

“Did you get all that?” Merikh grated.

Jabez nodded. “Yeah. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“What are you planning, Merikh?” Weldir asked darkly. “You’ve brought your mate and someone we consider an enemy.”

“You’re no longer needed,” Merikh bit at the demigod with a light snarl. “No doubt you’ll watch regardless. Figure it out on your own, but stay the fuck away from me. Lindiwe too.”

“I think it’s best if we go to the fox-skulled Mavka’s ward,” Jabez stated, eyeing Weldir just to watch him disappear in a puff of black sand at his own child’s hateful ire. He folded his arms and tapped his fingers against his right biceps. “They already know of me, and Zylah has met them.”

“They are my parents, right?” Zylah asked, stepping closer to brush her fingertips against the inside of his forearm. She loosely held him in a way that indicated she was wary.

“Yes,” he answered.

“I don’t know the fox-skulled Mavka, though,” Merikh rumbled in protest.

“No matter who we go to, things will go astray due to my presence. It’s best we first face those who I’ve already spoken with and I know won’t be on the immediate attack.” Then he nodded towards Raewyn holding Lehnenia. “That one won’t attack your bride and child, as he already has his own.”

“Guess I can’t argue with that,” Merikh said as he took Lehnenia back from Raewyn. He turned to their females. “Don’t get into too much trouble while we’re gone. I’m trusting you, Zylah, to keep her safe.”

“I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to,” Raewyn stated confidently, placing her hands on her hips and popping them to one side.

“Yes, yes. A pretty fairy who can protect herself withgrass.” Merikh rolled his head like one might roll their eyes in exasperation before he stepped over to Jabez to be teleported with his child. “You’re as useful in defence as a fish is at walking on the ground.”

Raewyn poked her tongue out at him, and Merikh’s chuckle echoed all the way through Jabez teleporting them to the edge of Magnar’s green ward. He watched to make sure they were able to enter it before leaving. He did the same for Raewyn and Zylah, clasping both their wrists before materialising them there as well.

When everyone stepped through the protective ward freely, Jabez eyed the height of its circumference. He then knocked a foreknuckle against it, expecting it to warble in reaction and not let him pass like in the past. His knuckle went right through it. He dipped his hand inside with his lips pursing in surprise, then stepped through.

I wonder what’s changed.He’d never been able to enter a Mavka’s ward before. Was it that he was now a Phantom and it’d been able to sense that, or was it due to his intention being non-violent?

He eyed Lehnenia and wondered how she’d managed to pass through despite being a full-blooded Demon.Perhaps because she was being carried?

As a group, they walked towards the large log-cabin home.

Just as Merikh placed a foot on the stairs of the porch, intending to knock on the front door painted green, it bashed against the wall when it was flung open. In the doorway, the fox-skulled, deer-antlered Mavka shone red orbs at them and blocked it so they couldn’t enter freely. With neck feathers flared and a long, fluffy tail puffed out, aggression lined his entire body.

“Who are you?” Magnar bit out in English, his snout drifting over them all to show he was inspecting them. He produced a snarl, only for it to die as his orbs shifted to dark yellow. “Zylah?”

Zylah chittered and wrapped both her hands around Jabez’s forearm to shield herself.

“Did you say Zylah?” Delora asked, groggy with sleep, as she peeked around Magnar’s arm in a white nightgown. “Oh gods, Magnar! How did so many strangers get through your ward?!”

“A Mavka will always be able to enter another’s ward, and I imagine that goes for their brides as well,” Merikh answered, folding his arms across his chest to take his usual offensive stance. “I’m Merikh. I’m sure you’ve heard of me by now.”

Frozen and unsure what to do, considering the mixture of people at his doorstep, Magnar did nothing more than stand in the doorway. Delora refused to leave his side, staying a step behind to glance around him, but her fingers did tentatively wrap around her Mavka’s much larger hand. It was obvious when her gaze landed on Zylah that she wanted to greet her, but with so many strangers, she wisely remained where she was.

Her gaze narrowed into a glare in his direction, but he wanted to chuckle that both mother and daughter held their partners similarly to each other. He managed to hide his humour by dipping his gaze back to the fox Mavka’s skull.

“What do you want?” Magnar tilted his head and almost smacked the end of his large antler rack into the door frame.

“Fuck, why is this so awkward?” Merikh bit under his breath, before snapping his fangs at Jabez. “I told you we should have gone to someone else. At least Faunusknowsme.”

He threw his free arm out to the side and shrugged. “Don’t blame me. It’s better we leave Zylah with people she knows. Just pull your bitch panties up and get on with it.”

With an irritated huff, Merikh waved towards his family. “This is my bride, Raewyn. She’s an Elysian from the Elven realm.”Then he jostled the girl in his arms. “This is Lehnenia, our daughter.”

Magnar’s orbs darkened in their yellow hue, and his skull cocked to tilt again. “But she does not look like a Mavka youngling.”

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