Page 52 of A Soul to Embrace

His lips flattened tight.Why am I thinking about this right now?In this situation, of all times?

It didn’t help that Zylah was currently naked beside him, since her clothing had sunken beneath her flesh. He was finding it hard to look upon her, regardless of her being in her monstrous form.

His thoughts and the silence were broken by Delora.

“It doesn’t matter,” she eventually whispered, raising her eyes from the ground to him. “I-I, as her mother, can’t approve of this. I won’t.”

Jabez rolled his eyes so hard it pained him. “Like I haven’t heard that before.” Lindiwe had said something similar once she’d learned of his and Merikh’s friendship. “Come now, you can’t be that forgetful. I already told you it’s solely up to Zylah.”

As if on cue, Zylah said,“I wish to stay with him.”

Before Delora could open that pretty mouth of hers, Jabez spoke over the top of her.

“I’m offering for us to air out some...differences.” He waved to the ground. “Sit with me, and perhaps I can share some insight into the past. Much of it, Zylah should learn. Then we can allow her to make her choice.”

“Why should we do anything you say?” Delora bit out, her gentle features sharpening in hate. He did rather like the defiant glint to her gaze. “I don’t trust you, or that you’llactuallyshare the truth.”

Once more, Jabez allowed a malicious grin to fill his features. “You should take the offer when I’m so willingly gifting it. I can teleport Zylah and I away from here in the blink of an eye, or have you forgotten my abilities, human?”

The emotional woman visibly grew sickened at the reminder of the power he’d once held. He found her terrified expression rather delightful.

“But you–”Zylah started.

“Then I can easily take her further and further from your reach,” he interrupted before she could share his loss of magic. He made sure his voice held nothing but sickly sweetness, digging into the wound he was creating with feigned kindness when the words were nothing but cruel. “If you found us again, we’d be gone before you even reached the end of our scents. You’d never catch us. What would you prefer? Because, currently, I’m feeling inclined to be benevolent.”

“Is this the magic you told me of?”Zylah asked, her teal orbs shifting to dark yellow.

He just responded with a smile and a pointed gaze. His eyes darkened as he brought them back to the pair.

“I’m offering for us to speak on even footing. A temporary truce, if you will, where we all sit in the dirt together.” He waved at the ground once more.

Then, to highlight just how little he feared them, and how he expected them to fold to his whims, he smoothly transitioned from standing into a crossed-legged seated position.

After a few moments of mulling, Delora was slow to sit, each of her movements stilted and wary. She eyed Jabez mistrustingly the entire time, even when she pulled on her Mavka’s clawed hand to make him sit as well.

Zylah, wanting to mimic them, shifted into her more humanoid form. Her dark-grey dress came to the surface as she sat with her knees together and her feet poking out the opposing side to Jabez. Her shoulder brushed his, and he was certain she sat in a way that touched him in order to silently seek comfort from him.

He didn’t mind, and even considered leaning back to help ease her, but refrained due to those before him.

This was one of his favourite positions when having an unpredictable conversation with another. They couldn’t stand over him nor he them, giving everyone the illusion that no one was better than anyone else. It also helped to mitigate agitated body language that could be perceived poorly – especially when dealing with Mavka that didn’t know how to handle their emotions well.

Lastly, it allowed the others to perceive Jabez as indifferent.

He was sitting in filth with them, his shoulders at ease, as though he was relaxed in their presence. Not a king, not a Demon, but a person who was intelligent enough to have a conversation that wasn’t stipulated in cruelty and self-serving gain.

All of it was a lie on his part, of course. At least, before the loss of his magic, that was true. The ability to teleport from one place to another allowed him to also change positions. He could go from sitting in front of them to snapping their neck while standing behind them within a heartbeat.

It was a rather unfair advantage he’d had.

For now, he did this to hopefully reduce their distrust of him by even a little. He lacked magic, and it needed to remain a secret. Acting arrogantly would get him nowhere, although that was his default when faced with any enemy – an enraged being fighting without thought was easier to battle than a cunning and calm one.

Once everyone was as comfortable as they could be in this tense situation, Jabez placed his elbow on his knee and rested his cheek upon the knuckles of his enclosed fist.

“So,” he started, stifling the urge to grin manically like a deviant. “Where shall we begin?”

“There’s much you have done,” Magnar growled, his orbs once more flaring to crimson. “All of it unforgiveable.”

“You... you ate me!” Delora exclaimed, throwing her hands forward.

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