Page 115 of To Trap a Soul

Lindi had questions about Demons, about the Veil, and... about him. She hadn’t asked any of the latter. She gathered Weldir had told her most of it, but there must be more below the surface. Why did he turn on his people? Why did he hate them so much he wanted to build some kind of army like she’d overheard? It sounded like he wanted to start a war.

She was curious about him, just as he was about her.

“How did you ever come to find yourself bonded to a demi-god?” Jabez asked, holding her stare as he lifted a hand and offered a one-sided shrug. “You would have needed to be near the Veil, his mist. There were very few humans near here back then.”

Her features tightened as she looked down at her feet, and subsequently, at the water below.Should I answer that?What harm was there? He already knew she was tied to Weldir – what did her story matter?

So why did she feel this guilt when she opened her mouth to answer? “Remember the day we first met?”

She shyly met his gaze, and he raised a singular white brow.

“I wouldn’t say we met. There was no introduction.”

She tipped her head up to give him a bland look at his facetiousness, and he chuckled in response.

“Okay, yes. You were spying on us. Eavesdropping is a nasty habit, although I guess it didn’t matter, as I doubt you understand Nyl’kira.”

Lindi swallowed and managed to cool her features, not giving away that she’d overheard everything by Weldir’s translation spell.

“That wasn’t on purpose. I just so happened to be nearby,” she answered with a harrumph. She looked back down at the white foam collecting on the surface of the water. “Well, you know how you saved that woman? I... was once her, but I didn’t have anyone to save me.”

“That’s technically not true.”

Ugh! She knew exactly what he meant, and she wanted to kick him for it. “Yeah, I knowhetechnically saved me, but I mean before that. Before I had to make a choice between dying or not.”

“Making a decision that goes beyond lifelong, when under duress, is barely passable. Feels like trickery to me,” Jabez muttered while cupping his chin, a thoughtful hum present in his voice. Then he lifted his shoulders. “Then again, I doubt he would have had any other way to find a mate.”

The fact that he agreed on howunfairit was she’d had to make the decision under duress softened her even more to him. She wanted that validation. For someone other than herself to think it, believe it, say it out loud so she didn’t feel so wrong about her feelings.

Still holding his chin, Jabez tapped a claw against his cheek. “I’ve always wondered why the humans threw each other into the Veil. Such a custom is unknown to us. Even Demons wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“It’s this whole idea of a virgin sacrifice,” she bit out. “Offer the pure in hopes of protection.”

His head reared back, then he scratched at his short hair behind his ear. “Why always women? Men can be virgins too.”

Lindi threw her hands up, enraged and perplexed at the same time. “It’s just the way things are. They can ‘prove’ a woman is pure, whereas with men they can’t. It’s all bullshit.”

And their ‘proof’ wasn’t always valid, nor correct! It was flawed, all of it.

“Sounds like a flawed and misogynistic system.”

Lindi smiled at that, as his words managed to touch a wounded part of her heart. “It really is.” Then she held his gaze as she said, “Thank you. You know, for saving that woman. I was already on my way to do it when you stepped in. I’d been hunting the occultists for a long time to put an end to such madness.”

Obviously uncomfortable with her gratitude, Jabez looked away, fidgeted in his seat, and shrugged. “It’s mostly stopped happening, from what I can tell. People are too afraid to come here. Which poses a problem for my fellow Demons.”

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when she realised what he meant, and it sent a horrible chill down her spine. Hewantedhis kind to eat more humans, like a humanity-growing food source. It reminded her of the danger he did possess, even if his words were kind and his expressions were warm.

He saved one woman, but he saw no issue with the deaths of many more. Then again, that had been a long time ago and his mindset may have changed. If it happened today, would he have saved that woman like he’d done then?

Who knew? But maybe watching him to do that for a stranger, a female of a different species, someone weaker, was why she had returned to this waterfall when he asked it of her. It still resonated with Lindi, and had since that day.

I don’t think I should keep coming here, though.

It did pose a lot of risks, and she didn’t actually know what his motives were. It could all be a ruse, and she knew she’d find that more hurtful than she wanted to believe.

With that thought in mind, and the fact that an all-too-comfortable quiet fell upon them like it did the day before, she looked out across the Veil. Where they were was just high enough to look over most of the trees, giving her a view of endless green. The sun shone over much of it, although where they were was in the shade to protect him.

I guess it feels wrong defying Weldir like this.Her gaze slipped to Jabez, who was looking out at the forest as well.Then again, I’m not really doing anything bad.

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