Page 238 of A Soul to Embrace

“He isn’t what you think,” she said defensively.

“He cracked my skull,” Faunus growled. “I knowexactlywho he is. Let alone what he’s done to the rest of us.”

“Guys, please stop,” Delora pleaded, letting go of Magnar’s hand to turn to them with her palms out.

“No, she has to learn what he’s done,” Reia said to her with her lips pulled back into a sneer. “We have no idea why he’s bonded with her, what games he’s up to. Have you considered this might just be another ploy or tactic to get to us?”

“He’s asked us all to join his war, even me,” Mayumi cut in, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword like she found it comforting and natural to hold it in tense situations. “What if he’s using her? She can’t leave him now, unless the spirit of the void knows how to break a Duskwalker’s bond.”

“If you could all just wait a moment,” Raewyn said softly as she stepped forward.

“What if he hurts her?” Reia asked Delora as she waved in Zylah’s direction.

With her heart pounding in anxiety and anger, and her orbs threatening to flicker red in reaction to it, Zylah growled, “He wouldn’t!”

“You don’t know that,” Reia said, turning to her with a shake of her head. Her eyes bowed beseechingly as she looked up at Zylah’s rabbit skull. “We’ve seen what he can do, how cruel he can be. He uses people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s trying to manipulate you as well.”

“Has he even explained to you what he’s done to us?” Orpheus asked with the undertone of a growl.

“Of course he has,” Zylah bit out, her orbs flaring bright red.

“Truly?” Orpheus let out a dark chuckle that held not an ounce of humour. “He revealed how he and Katerina tortured me for years? How they almost killed Reia and took her away from me forever?”

“Yes, I know all that,” Zylah admitted.

Reia’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “And youstillbonded with him?”

“He’s changed.”

“People don’t changethatmuch,” Mayumi sneered. “Jabez’s heart is rotten to its core. Whatever he’s done to manipulate you will only hurt you, Zylah. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t already–”

“Shut up!” Zylah roared with her claws bared, and all the humans flinched. “I don’t care! I don’t care what he’s done to you all! I only care about how he treatsme.”

They all wanted her to care about how they felt, but none of them were considering her feelings and how they could be hurting her with their words. And Zylah didn’tknowhow to share her innermost thoughts now that she was upset.

More than ever, she wished Jabez was here to help soothe her when she felt like she was drowning.

Orpheus shoved his female behind him protectively with his orbs deepening in their crimson hue and a snarl coming from him. Faunus yanked the back of Mayumi’s shirt to draw her closer to his body so she was a safe distance from Zylah. The female gave a surprisedeukas the collar tightened around her chest momentarily.

“I know what he has done,” she snapped out, her fur puffing all the way down her back until her tail tremored. “I know how he has hurt our kind, but he feels regret and guilt over it. You don’t know him like I do, nor do you know what we have been through. Your past is not my own, and I don’tknowany of you.”

Delora ran between them and placed her hands out on either side of her to act as a divider. “Everybody stop!” she screamed with her eyes clenched tightly shut. “She’s right! We have no idea what has happened, nor is it our place.”

“If you won’t accept us, then we will leave today and go be by ourselves while the rest of you gather,” Zylah warned sternly. “We only came because Merikh neededhishelp.”

“Zylah,” Raewyn softly called from the side.

With a snorting, enraged huff, she darted her skull to her with her orbs bright red, worried that Raewyn would try to convince her otherwise. With her hands balled into tight fists to the point her claws stabbed into the palms of them, she snapped,“What?”

“C-could you please help me find some shade? Lehnenia said the sun has risen.”

She wants shade?She looked around, and the annoyed tension she directed upon the Elf diminished like a sharp and sudden gust of wind.

Zylah hadn’t even noticed the dappled light peeking through the trees, although there was no direct sunlight to be seen. It was still too early morning for the sun to truly touch the Veil.

Despite being rather irritated, when Raewyn reached her hand out, Zylah immediately took it. She ignored the others as she guided the female to a spot beneath a tree that would shade them permanently.

She wished her fur would stop being puffed. Her breaths were hard and shallow, her heart hot and racing with aggression. All her muscles were locked, like her veins were filled with stone. She hated having her back to these people, but she also didn’t want to look upon them right now.

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