Page 38 of My Silent Demon

Osian

Onyx and I appeared in the darkness of an abandoned shed. Our eyes saw in the dark so that wasn’t a problem. The shed was empty except for a few old farm tools, and the floor was made of soil.

N huddled against the door, soaked and bleeding. Tears streaked her face. She shook, whether from cold or fear I didn’t know.

N,I said.

“Osian!” she cried. She lunged in my direction.

I caught her and wrapped my arms around her. She felt so good in my arms. I closed my eyes and hugged her close. I’d keep her safe.

My eyes flew open when, suddenly, the door rattled on its hinges like something flung its weight against it.

“N, what’s out there?” Onyx asked. He went to the window beside the door to look out. Another window was on the back wall.

“A—” she sniffled. “Some kind of dog. The guy who took me said it would eat me. That’s all I know. Oh, it doesn’t like daylight. If I can avoid it till dawn, I can leave.” She pressed her face into my chest.

Onyx made a hmmm sound and kept his gaze out the window. “So there’s one guy and whatever this dog is?”

“As far as I know,” N murmured against my shirt. She sobbed.

Onyx thought aloud, “What leaves dehydrated husks of bodies and can shift into a dog? Has a helper to find souls for them? Werewolves shift but they don’t leave husks. They don’t typically have helpers either.”

An image of a pale human man with empty black sockets for eyes flashed through my mind. A shudder ran down my spine.Soul eater,I thought.

“Osian said ‘soul eater,’” N relayed.

I’d forgotten he couldn’t hear me. I squeezed her in appreciation. She pressed her face back against my chest and shivered. She had to be freezing. I enveloped her tighter in my arms.

Onyx glimpsed whatever was outside the door. “And your guess would be spot-on.”

Soul eaters were created by placing special stones in a person’s stomach and chanting a spell. That person then had to consume souls or permanently disappear. The longer they existed, the paler their skin became and the more their eyes sank in until they disappeared. It was a punishment usually enacted by scorned individuals.

A soul eater could transform into a dog to pursue its prey. They took the souls from their victims’ bodies and hoarded them in their home base, feeding from the souls until there was nothing left.

They were basically invulnerable. Only removing the stones from their stomach and killing them would release the hoarded souls. And they were hard to kill.

A soul eater would fight if we tried to take it down. But we had to destroy it to keep N safe. This wasn’t something we could ignore. The creature had scented N already and would find her soul irresistible. It would always pursue her. Onyx knew that, too. Either Onyx or I, or both, could be seriously injured or killed in this fight. But we couldn’t walk away.

Onyx watched the creature through the window as he said, “N, Osian is going to take you home. Stay with Wynn. Don’t leave the apartment.” He turned from the window. “We’ll take care of this.” He spoke with a confidence I’m not sure he had.

N flew from my arms to hug Onyx. “Thank you.”

He hugged her back. “Anything for my brother’s fated. We’ll be home soon. Let Wynn care for you.”

The door rattled again.

Onyx nudged her toward me. “Take her home. And come back. Soon.” He shot a serious look my way.

I nodded at him.

I wrapped my arms around N and transported her into Wynn and Onyx’s living room.

Wynn sat on the couch, and she gasped when we appeared. “N! Are you okay?” She scurried off the couch toward N.

Please look after her,I signed to Wynn.She’ll heal fast.

Wynn nodded.

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