Page 57 of A Soul to Embrace

A danger that, funnily enough, didn’t exist in his heart.

Something else was beginning to form, and he had no idea why, what it was, or what it meant.

It was only a few minutes before he heard Delora’s wailing, distressed sob coming from partway down the small mountain.

A smile crested his lips.

Today has given me hope.

Sitting underneath a tree, Zylah allowed the winter midday sun to bathe her in muted heat. Her spot was situated a few feet higher up the mountain, the cave mouth just below her, and the dense forest chirped and played its pleasant songs.

She liked hiding here, and hiding she was. For the better part of three days, she’d been avoiding Jabez for a multitude of reasons.

Firstly, she’d struggled to come to terms with the gruesome truth she’d learned. But... leaving with two strangers had been daunting, and her heart told her remaining was in her best interest.

It explained why death seemed to matter so little to him, as well as his indifference to the destruction he’d caused by increasing her humanity. It was because he’d done many horrible things, and she was certain there was... more.

How much more? Just what had Jabez done to make herparentsso fearful of him? Her mother’s wariness had now been deeply ingrained in Zylah’s thoughts.

Yet she couldn’t deny how much she understood Jabez’s side.If he’d truly just been trying to survive... what would she have done in his position? Zylah didn’t like pain and could be quick to react negatively to those harming her.

The book about war she’d been reading had shown only the hero’s side, but the villain had been so assertive in his schemes – and had believed in his course of action until his fateful death. What if the story had been told from the other perspective? Would she have deemed the hero evil for trying to get in the villain’s way?

As much as she wanted to believe it was why Jabez had procured such a novel for her to consume – a way to be manipulative – he’d stated he didn’t know its contents when he gave it to her. Reading the summary shared little, so if it was just a coincidence, then it surely was a favourable one.

But something nagged at the back of her mind constantly. The way guilt nipped at her was one of the main reasons she’d been avoiding him.

I don’t care what he did.Not when it meant he was here with her now. Even if he’d hurt people, potentially those unknowingly close to her, how could she see him as anything but... good? He’d done a lot for her when she’d been insanely lost – and she hadn’t known just how much.

He eased her loneliness and gave her someone to care for. He’d always shown immense patience by listening intently to her, even when she’d had little or nothing to say. Jabez didn’t make her feel lesser for not knowing something. Instead, he shared knowledge and taught her the correct way to say or do things. He’d been honest, despite the fact that she knew he was hiding things.

He could’ve denied what they were saying, yet he’d chosen not to. Although she’d been conflicted with her decision, she’d made it because of that fact. She’d sensed no lies from him.

Rather... she felt closer to him, in the strangest sense. If he shared more of his dark past, would she long to embrace it? Or would she wish to flee? How much could she handle before something within her broke?

Was it possible to feel betrayal due to actions that had never affected her? If so, then a part of her didn’t want to know. She’d rather live in a fantasy that Jabez was good, that he was aswonderfulas she thought him to be.

Zylah sighed, her bony maw parting to let it be loud as she lifted her snout away from her book. She couldn’t concentrate on it. Something in the story would remind her of him or her parents, and her thoughts would spiral back to reality.

I wonder... if I can help him.She didn’t know if he needed fixing or not, but if Jabez had done bad things... could Zylah’s affection change that in him? She wanted that to be possible.

Her sight turned a reddish pink, and she squirmed a little. It was a silly notion to think she could hold such power over him, but she’d like it to be true. Maybe he just needed someone to be kind to him, to be onhisside rather than disgusted by his actions.

So long as he doesn’t do those things with me...So long as he wasn’t hateful and violent needlessly while being Zylah’s companion, she thought she may be able to forgive all he’d done.I can teach him to be good. To heal instead of hurt.

Or was that just foolish?

He does seem to be rather... forlorn.Although he’d admitted to doing horrible things, he didn’t appear to be excited by them. Then again, he never apologised for any of it – not even when a person he’d hurt had been in front of him.

Ugh!She groaned, snapping her book shut.I do not know what to think!

It didn’t help that Zylah felt out of sorts as of yesterday; she was feverish, her body warm and her mind a little foggier than usual.

She’d felt these things before.

It’s cold.Winter.

She only remembered one winter, although not well, and a sort ofsicknesshad overcome her. At the time, Zylah had curled up in her burrow during the worst of it with her body hot and pulsating – not knowing why or how to fix it.

---