Page 113 of To Trap a Soul

Strangely enough, he went quiet, when she’d expected him to spout furious words at her or childishly growl some more. She and Jabez shared a silent, tranquil – although tense – momentas the sun dipped further behind them. The area grew more shaded by the moment, but she also felt more at ease with each second that passed.

All she could hear was the chirp of a few birds, bats beginning to squeak as they woke and prepared for their nightly flight, and the sound of crashing water. Each noise bled into her being and soothed her, lulling her when she should have more wisely stayed alert.

Only when Lindi chose to speak, as if that was what Jabez waited for, was the silence broken.

“I used to be afraid of the Veil,” she said quietly. “I thought it was evil. But the longer I see it and the more I find places like this one, the more I appreciate it. It’s... picturesque, in its own way.”

“It’s the mist,” he responded. “It makes it eerier than it’s supposed to.”

She huffed a laugh. “Yeah. But that just means it’s really healthy. Plants need water to survive, and there’s so much of it here in the air that you can see it. I think most humans would think it means something haunted might peek out from behind a bush.”

Jabez chuckled at that. “That doesn’t happen here. I’ve only seen one or two Ghosts, and they tend to be above on the surface, or attached to an item belonging to a deceased human a Demon has brought in.”

So there are Ghosts in the Veil.That was handy for her to know, as she’d been collecting them.Then again, Weldir’s mist has been drifting further into the Veil.Surely at some point he’d be able to collect them himself.

The reminder of him made her wonder if Weldir was still watching or if he’d chosen to completely ignore this. She lifted her palm to produce a black flame, checking to make sure he hadn’t momentarily rescinded his magic.

He hadn’t.At least he isn’tthatchildish.She would have rolled her eyes otherwise.

“How long have you been alive?” Jabez asked nonchalantly. “I’ve been here for almost a hundred Earth years. Time seems to pass so quickly here.”

Her eyes widened, and she turned her head to him to find he’d leaned back on straightened arms. It gave him a boyish air of indifference.

“What do you mean,quickly?I’ve beenalivefor almost eighty years and it feels like forever!” She wanted to fall back and pretend to faint with fatigue at how long it’d been.

His eyes crinkled as he let out a boisterous laugh. “For a human, maybe. My kind can live an exceedingly long time in comparison. I think I’ve lived around three hundred human years, but I’m almost twenty-two.”

Ah, so she’d guessed his age pretty well then.

She pouted. “I was two and twenty when I stopped ageing.”

His lips drew back into a grimace. “Who the fuck says their age like that? That’s so complicated.”

Her cheeks heated in embarrassment, and she threw her arms up. “I don’t know?! Humans, I guess? It’s how we’ve always said it.”

“Why not just say the number? I hope you don’t count to a hundred that way.” He let his head fall to the side. “By the blessed night, that would take forever if you did. Three and fifty, four and fifty... End me now.”

The gentle needling softened her more. It reminded her of the banter of her childhood friends, especially Marcus, who had always been a bit of a jokester, incapable of having a serious conversation.

“You make an excellent point.”

“Of course I do. Anyone with sense would make that distinction.”

An accidental laugh escaped her, and for a moment, Lindi completely forgot what he was, Weldir’s warnings, and a few of her troubles. He sounded so normal, and not like the Demons she’d come to know. He felt like another person, just one who wasn’t human and bore a strange accent.

She’d matured so much that it was nice to feel young again, like her physical age. She’d almost forgotten what it was like, and how human it made her feel. She’d only ever felt that way with the Anzúli, but they weren’t usually so carefree or light-hearted.

They were rather stern people, all on a mission to help the humans.

“So, why come to the Veil when everything in it wants to eat you? Bathing here seems suicidal,” Jabez quipped while tilting his face to her. “Although the view wasn’t unwelcome.”

When she gave him an untrusting glance, his lips pulled back into a mischievous grin, and not even his sharp fangs prevented her from unwittingly letting her ire fall. He even gave her a cheeky wink.

He seems so much more human and personable than Weldir.

Jabez was playful and suave in a way that made it hard to dislike him. If Weldir had been even a fraction this approachable, she may have shaken her distrust and anger at him long ago.

Lindi rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know it’s rude to sneak up on a woman bathing?”

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