Page 83 of Soul Forge

“Don’t do that,” Elda yelped, but it was too late. He blinked, his expression becoming vacant when he turned his attention inward. Several long seconds passed, neither of them saying a word, and then his eyes refocused, and he stared at her, his face entirely blank.

“I’ve lost too much blood for this shit,” he muttered eventually, turning and stalking into his room. Elda felt like her boots were nailed to the floor. “Are you coming in or not?” he called out irritably. She forced herself to move, putting one foot in front of the other until she was inside his room, the door swinging shut behind her. The wide space suddenly felt a lot smaller.

“How much did he tell you?” she asked hoarsely.

“Everything. Gleefully.” He was sitting on the edge of his mattress, inspecting the bite at his wrist. She watched him shrugoff his ruined tunic and ball it up, pressing the fabric against his throat. “That explains the blood on your hand.”

She looked down at her stained palm, flexing her fingers against the sticky sensation of half-dry blood on her skin. Another phantom tingle shot up her wrist when her eyes fell on the fingerprints decorating her knuckles.

“I thought the contact might bring you back,” she mumbled.

“You hate demons.”

“I hate the idea of losing you to him more.”

“You didn’t push him away,” he noted. Shame settled sourly on her tongue, silencing her reply. He was right – she hadn’t eventriedto stop the demon from making advances. Her body had welcomed it,wantedit. “Why didn’t you?”

“I was overwhelmed.”And insane,she added silently.

“Hmm.” He shook his head, still woozy. “We can talk about it later. Are you alright?” She nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep a tighter hold on him in future.”

“It’s alright.” She watched him swallow, noticing the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. “You look like you might throw up.”

“The thrall is to blame. One of the side effects is feeling like I drank too much.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I knew what was going to happen the second he bit me, but the thrall was instant, and it was already too late.”

“You were in there for hours.”

“I was unconscious. When I replaced enough blood to wake up, the demon freaked out and tried to bolt.” He rubbed the back of the hand that wasn’t bloody across his eyes. “I was barely able to stop him gutting Clover for getting in my way.”

“You didn’t hurt anyone,” she reassured him. “You should wash off the blood and get some rest. We can think about everything once you’ve had a decent sleep and something to eat.”She forced a smile. “I’ll ask the others not to disturb you unless it’s urgent.”

“Wait.” She paused halfway through turning to the door. “What he did was inappropriate. His actions aren’t mine.”

“I know.”

“Then you know I’d never treat you like that?”

“Of course,” she nodded. “You share the same body, but you’re very different from one another. You respect my personal space.”

“Good.” He smiled tiredly. “Go do whatever you were doing before I interrupted you. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight.”

When she reached the hallway, she let out her pent-up breath and trudged towards the kitchen, praying she didn’t run into anyone else. Her body ached, her brain was spinning, and her stomach still churned with a mixture of hunger and nerves.

Why hadn’t she pushed the demon soul away? The question bounced around her skull in a mocking mantra. She hadn’t stopped him even when he’d almost kissed her. She’d just stayed where she was, letting it happen. Was she losing her mind?

Elda trudged to the kitchen, biting down on a wince when she found Lillian sitting at the wooden table. It was tempting to turn around and walk out again, but her stomach howled in protest, promising no sleep if it wasn’t satisfied soon. She squared her shoulders and entered the room.

Lillian’s nose had been fixed since Sypher smashed it with his forehead. Her bruises had healed, leaving her as beautiful as ever. Elda moved quietly, trying to avoid initiating a conversation with her. She was cutting bread from a loaf on the side when the fae finally broke the tension.

“I saw what happened in the hallway.” The princess scowled, continuing to cut the bread in silence. “I saw the demon soul flirting with you. Why didn’t you reject it?” Elda gritted herteeth, swallowing her retort. “I don’t understand how you could be okay with that monstrous thingtouchingyou,” the fae said, wrinkling her nose.

Her restraint failed. “That’s rich, coming from the resident predator,” Elda snapped, not turning around.

“Big talk for such a small woman,” Lillian scoffed. “Regardless of what you think of me, you saw what the Spirits had to show you. You know exactly why the Compulsion is useful.”

“It’sbarbaric,” Elda growled.

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