Page 38 of A Soul to Embrace

“That is your weakness, and a secret of your kind that has been shared with Demons.”

“Why?” she cried, her sight turning white, before flicking to blue. “Why would someone reveal something so horrible to them?” Her hands shook as she pointed to the forest. “I have tried to befriend the Demons but they always hiss and growl. I have always known they don’t like me, but I did not know they...”

A curt whine escaped her at the thought. She didn’t know they’d hated her enough to destroy her.

I have never tried to hurt them.They didn’t always attack. Most were wary of her, like they knew she’d win any battle, but if there were many... they weren’t as fearful.

This had stopped only recently. The Demons hadn’t attacked Zylah since she found Jabez. Then again, they hadn’t come across many. It was like the Demons had been hunting, and no longer were.

When Jabez didn’t answer her, and only silence greeted her questions, she whimpered as she met his gaze.

In that moment, there was something about his expression that appeared deeply strained. Two muscles on either side of his jaw had knotted, and his red eyes held a spark in them – an emotion she’d never seen before. Regret? Perhaps pity? She didn’t know what to call it, what it was.

“Why would someone share such a secret? What have Mavka done so wrong that we deserve to be hurt like this?” An awful emotion clung to her chest, and it caused her sight to shift to a deep blue until the bottoms of her orbs broke. Little droplets began to sparkle in her vision like floating rain. “Not even the humans have been kind.”

Jabez parted his lips, only to close them. His eyes flicked to the forest, and he stared into the shadows with a closed expression for a long while. A gust of damp wind wrapped around them, making her shiver under the sadness of what she’d just discovered.

“Weldir is keeping the Demons trapped in this world, and they can’t escape due to his ward. Killing your kind may be the answer to Demons returning to Nyl’theria.”

His ears twitched, before drooping further until he hid the one closest to her with his palm. He’d never hidden them before, but she was too hurt to decipher why he would.

Zylah whimpered. “What does that have to do with–”

“That’s why it was shared, although that person now realises it doesn’t matter. Nothing will bring down that ward, and they shared it stupidly in anger.” He regarded her from the corner of his eyes. “If it helps, I know they have come to genuinely regret that decision, and what it took to learn that secret, as it has hurt a friend he deeply cared for in the past... and perhaps the present as well.”

Zylah wanted his words to make her feel better, but they only hollowed out her chest more. To do such a terrible thing... and regret it later, just proved how wrong they knew it was to begin with.

“Who... was it?” Zylah asked, needing to know.

His answer was slow to come, and quiet, like he didn’t wish to answer her. “The king of Demons.”

She didn’t even know who that was.

Instead of asking for further clarity or for more information, Zylah lost herself to sadness. She just whimpered with her hands limp in her lap, unsure of how to swallow all this. She wished she hadn’t discovered this truth, despite understanding that learning of her own weakness was vital to the longevity of her existence.

“You know... I only discovered recently that your kind can cry ethereal tears. Regardless if it’s a sign of deep sorrow, it’s rather beautiful.”

Zylah chittered in answer, as hertearsfloated from her faster.

Two knuckles gently stroked her cheekbone, startling her in surprise. Jabez had never touched her skull before, and it was the only reason she pulled her distant gaze away from the grass and pebbles.

Concern laced his expression, and she’d never seen it appear so soft and tender before, as though he...caredfor her wellbeingand sadness. For some strange reason, it only made her whimper more.

“How can I help?” he asked gently, his voice lighter than usual.

She shook her head, producing only a subtle rattle from it now. “I do not know. I feel cold, and... lonely.”

Lonely because it was harrowing to know that the only creature who seemed to care for Zylah was the male before her, when she had so much compassion to give to the world. Cold because that loneliness felt harsh and barren, like the winter they were now in.

Her desired purpose was even more hopeless if the world not only despised her, but wanted her taken from it.

Jabez shifted into a crouching position and came closer while unbuttoning his cloak. He flung it around her back and settled it upon her shoulders, and the blanket of it was comforting, but not strong enough to fight the pain stinging in her chest.

The warmth he’d left upon the material tried to bleed into her. But it wasn’t enough. It didn’t seep into her bones, it didn’t warm her heart.

His gentle, pretty scent flittered into her nose hole when he put them barely an inch apart to place it upon her. Despite the small distance, she could almostfeelhis heat caressing her, and she wanted more of it, more of his scent, a touch that wasn’t a brief caress.

She lifted her hands and slid them around Jabez to draw him close. He stiffened in her arms, but Zylah didn’t care. The moment his heat pressed against her torso, she tightened her hold on him and pressed the side of her skull into the crook of his neck with a high-pitched whimper.

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