Page 68 of To Trap a Soul

Looking down at her hands, she picked at her nails.I’m nervous, but...She looked at Weldir through her long, dark lashes.He’s not asking, not really.She’d already agreed to do this.

It was part of their deal.

“Why do you look so concerned?”

Her lips parted, and she looked up in surprise that he would even ask. She shrugged her right shoulder in answer.

“You can choose their animal variations. Perhaps when orifthey gain enough intelligence, you can rekindle a bond with them, teach them your ways, and how to act human. One day you may even be able to speak to them.”

She hugged her elbow and hid her face behind her hair, confused as to why, after so many years, she still felt so unsure in his presence. He was the only one who made those innocent feelings arise, even when she tried shedding them. She was older, more mature, even if she was stuck in this body.

“I guess I didn’t consider that.”

“I know you have been lonely in your solitude, Lindiwe. You have not made any lasting companions and only speak to other humans briefly.”

“What is the point in knowing anyone when they grow older and I do not? That seems foolish.”

Weldir came closer until he was less than a foot away from her face, as if he wanted to see it through her curled tresses. “Yes, but from what I’ve seen in humans, such isolation can twist one’s mind.”

“I’m fine.” She tried to laugh it off, even though her lips didn’t smile, nor did her tone indicate anything more than panic for the conversation to end.

“Should I speak to you more?”

I’d rather you didn’t speak to me at all,Lindi’s mind retorted callously, although she’d never utter that.

“Whatever you wish,” she muttered, stifling the urge to curl her upper lip in distaste. “If you want more children, then that’s what we’ll have. That was the deal. In exchange for life and your magic, I would collect souls and make you...servants.”

“That is all very true.”

“Then why bother with the explanation?” Lindi stated coldly. “Just tell me what you want from me, and I’ll do it, rather than making it out as if I have a choice.”

As if her words struck a touchless being, he flittered away from her swiftly with a grunt. “This was your choice to begin with. I told you the requirement.”

“I know,” she bit back in a whisper. “And I’m doing it.”

Doesn’t mean I can’t complain the entire time.She’d grin and bear it because that’s what she had to do. Because Lindididstupidly make the decision to agree to all this, and that wasn’t his fault, but hers.

She wouldn’t punish him for her own mistakes.

A sigh slipped from him, just as his mist sprayed out from his humanoid form. “So be it. We will do it like before. Do you want to undress, or should I just evaporate your clothing?”

Lindi gasped and lifted her arms to look down at her winter gear. She quickly crossed an arm over her breasts and covered her pubic mound with her other hand, as if to further shield them from him, like he could peer through her clothing. She sincerely hoped he didn’t have that ability!

“What? Now?!”

His head cocked to the side so sharply it didn’t appear like a natural movement, but a forced one. “Why not now?”

Give a girl a chance to wrap her head around the idea of being impregnated!The man, or god, or whatever, had no decorum!

She cringed. “Couldn’t you just give me a few days?”

“What does a few days matter?”

She could ask the same thing!

She shied her gaze away when her cheeks flared with heat. “I’d like some time to process this.”

“The sooner we do this, the sooner we can create another offspring. If their development is the same, then I can begin finding additional mates, knowing this is a tried-and-true process.”

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