Page 16 of To Trap a Soul

Lindi was exhausted, but she’d been through emotional turmoil over the past two days. She was facing her imminent death, and she very much wanted to live. She wanted to die old, happy, and with loved ones around her.

Not here. Not like this. Not because of men who stole her in the middle of the night and ripped apart her life.

“I am Weldir, semidei Custos Tenebris. Or, to a human, Weldir, Warden of the Darkness.”

At least he didn’t say he was the devil.She didn’t know if speaking with thisWeldirwould be considered blasphemous, though. She clung to the idea of speaking with him because it was better than focusing on her impending demise.

She always thought there was only one almighty being. To be speaking to another... one she’d never even heard of – it was shocking. Almost mind-altering.

“Why are you here?” she whispered.

Was he answering her pleas for a saviour?

“The Daekura crawl ever closer,”he said, devoid of any emotion.“We do not have much time.”

Her brows drew together. “Daekura?”

“It’s what we, in another realm, call them. I believe it would translate to ‘dark beings’ in your language, but your kind will one day formulate your own name for them.”

He was speaking of the creatures at her feet, and their disgusting sounds continued to unnerve her. At least his voice was soothing, and she wondered if he was using some kind of magic to calm her. If so, she was utterly thankful for it.

“W-what are they?”

“We don’t have the time to talk about such things. The sun will run out and then there will be nothing I can do to change your fate.”

She nodded as she brought her knees up to lie in a ball, wincing at the pain the position brought. The light, cooling wind was causing chills to break out across her feverish skin, and she was tired of fighting them.

“I come to offer you a choice. Die here or become my mate.”

Even though her gaze was languid, she narrowed her eyes. She’d never heard of such a term before. “Your mate? Like a buddy?”

A strange hum came from him, like a sound one might make if they were thinking heavily.“I don’t know what you humans would call it. A life partner? A companion? Someone with whom you create offspring.”

“A wife?” Lindi scoffed a deadened laugh and muttered, “Suddenly I’m a sacrificial bride.” Not just an offering.

“Human, we do not have time for your jokes.”

“Who are you to tell me I can’t laugh when I’m the one dying?” she grumbled.

“I am offering you the chance to live.”

Her eyelids slid closed against the drowsiness, and her body lost all its fight. She allowed herself a moment to rest before she continued in her journey off the edge.

“You’re asking me to marry someone I’ve never seen, a god I have never heard of. I don’t know who you are or even what you are. You could be the devil asking for my soul for all I know.”

“I don’t know who this ‘devil’ is, but your soul is what I would require, yes.”

“Then no.” Her answer was firm. “I’d rather die faithfully than trade my soul to an unknown god who won’t even show himself.”

A tsk reached her ears.“You sound just like the others. Do you not seek revenge for what has happened to you?”Her eyes peeked open to narrow in his assumed direction, and she received a chuckle.“Ah. That has caught your attention.”

Okay, so maybe having the chance to go off and harm those men for paybackdidsound enticing. “My answer is still no. I would rather go to heaven.”

“Whoever your ‘God’ is, he has abandoned you. And, if you die, you will go to my realm, Tenebris, whether you want to or not. There will be no heaven for you.”

“What?” she rasped, her eyes cracking open even further. “What do you mean, I won’t go to heaven?”

“I am a god of death, and you currently lie within my mist. It is how I felt your presence here on the border of this canyon. If you die, I will take your soul to my afterworld.”

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