Page 231 of A Soul to Embrace

“She’s a Demon we adopted from the city,” he answered.

“Adopted?” he asked, tipping his snout to Delora for answers.

Her voice was quiet as she answered, “It means she was a child who lost her birth parents, an orphan, and they have taken her in as their own. She is not related to them.”

“Look,” Merikh stated with a sigh as he handed the child off to her mother. “I’m rounding up all you knuckleheads because my bride wishes to meet you all, andapparently, it would be good for me. Since Zylah is your kid, we figured it was best we left them with you while Jabez and I drag the others here.”

“You... want to have a family reunion?” Delora asked with her voice high with surprise. “Here?”

“Where else?” Merikh asked, raising an arm and mirroring Jabez’s earlier shrug, clearly uncaring that he was intruding on them. “Unless you’d like to do it in the Veil where Demons run rampant. Rather foolish, no?”

Delora’s gaze slipped to Jabez again, then darted between him and Zylah. Her eyes froze and widened before her expression twisted into what could only be distress or anguish. Jabez let his eyes flick up to her antlers to look at the floating green-and-blue flame.

She’s probably only just realised Zylah has my soul.She didn’t look too pleased about that.

“Delora?” Magnar called, turning his head to her once more. “What should we do?”

“I... don’t know,” she mumbled. “I have no issue with people staying, so long as you all don’t intend any harm. However, I do have a problem withhimbeing here.”

Merikh darted his skull to Jabez before rolling it away. “You’re going to have to get over the past. He’s here to stay, and without his help, this isn’t possible.” Then, with a rather mean chuckle, Merikh gestured towards him. “Say hello to your new son-in-law. Congratulations.” He clapped while balancing the demonling on one inner elbow.

“If he can’t stay, then I won’t either,” Zylah bit out confidently. “He is mymate, and that won’t change.”

Jabez noticed how she called him her mate rather than her bride. He’d told her either was fine, as his masculinity wasn’t so fragile to be bothered being called a feminine term, but apparently, she still couldn’t figure out what she felt most comfortable with. She kept changing it, and he was content to let her figure it out on her own.

The little human hid behind Magnar and produced an adorable roar of frustration against his furry back. She even stamped her feet childishly before ripping his arm back so she could propel herself forward by it with renewed confidence.

“Okay, fine!” She stepped out of their home and onto the porch, and her Mavka quickly followed to shadow her like a looming protector. “I’ll be honest, we’ve been wanting to get everyone together again, but everyone is everywhere.”

“If you’re able to call the others close by and let them know, Jabez and I will go play fetch with the others further away. We are already aware of their locations,” Merikh stated. “If they won’t come willingly, I’ll drag them here by their horns if I have to.”

“Well, I know Ingram and Aleron are together with their brides, but no one will be happy to see him,” Delora stated, while pointing at Jabez outright. “He has a lot to pay for.”

“Oh, boo hoo,” Jabez retorted with a sneer, rolling his eyes as he brushed a stray leaf that landed on his shoulder. “Everyone is alive and well, aren’t they? Considering you blew me the fuckup to an inch of my life, I’d say you all dished out your share of justice.”

“You ate me! You broke Faunus’ skull! You tortured Orpheus for years and almost killed Reia!Andyou had Aleron killed!” Delora threw her hands to the sides. “Only the gods know what else you’ve done to the Duskwalkers that we haven’t figured out yet.”

“You did do a lot of nasty shit,” Merikh agreed, leaning back to look at him past Raewyn. “Then again, how many times have I eaten a limb of yours? And how many times have I ripped a Mavka’s skull from his neck? Even Raewyn here likes to go around kneeing Mavka in the seam.”

“That’s not fair!” Raewyn exclaimed. “You were scaring me, and I thought you were a human before you turned all ‘big frightening monster’ on me.”

A laugh burst from Merikh. “What I’m saying is we all have committed our fair share of violence. Our bonds are eternal, and this fuckwit here has decided to have a change of heart. He’s a part of the family, whether we like it or not.”

“I’m starting to get bored,” Jabez interjected with a sigh. “If you like, Zylah and I can leave so you can have a pity party all by yourself.”

“N-no. It’s fine,” Delora quickly said, her tune changing as he thought it would. She reached out to his mate despite the distance between them. “I would like to talk to her again. The last time we went to your cave, you were both gone.”

“So it’s settled then?” Merikh asked. “We’ll leave our females in your hands, and you’ll bring the others close by?”

“I’m surprised you would trust us so willingly,” Magnar commented while cupping the end of his snout. He tapped his foreclaw against the side of it as if he was musingverydeeply.

Don’t hurt yourself there, bud,Jabez thought, mildly worried that thinking so hard may have negative repercussions for the Mavka.

“I wouldn’t if I had another option, but I’d rather not take a child into the wilds. So long as you keep your claws to yourself and keep them protected, all will be well.” Merikh let out a warning snarl as he stomped his right foot forward. “However, if so much as a single hair is out of place on either of them, you will learn justwhyeveryone in this godsforsaken family is so wary of me. I have no issue with ripping the heart out of your bride in anger and making you watch me eat it. Both Faunus and Orpheus know what it’s like to cross me, and that one thing has always been unchanging. I. Always.Win.”

He wasn’t wrong about that.

Even Jabez was stuck evading him in any sparring match they’d ever had. Although he could land a few good hits to the front of his torso, Merikh’s echidna quills made him a formidable and unbeatable opponent. Not even Jabez’s teleportation ability allowed him to get the upper hand.

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