Page 101 of A Soul to Keep

She eyed her sword that lay on the ground near him and out of reach.He has others.Sprinting inside, she went to Orpheus’ room and grabbed one of the other swords that was a little heavier than she was used to.

She dragged it along the ground, her right arm too sore and tender to lift it properly. Then she faced the closed door while standing inside, ready to hold it up and spear him with it if he managed to get past the barrier and burst through the door.

Time passed slowly, a long length of it, as she waited while listening to his horrible sounds. He sounded like a frothing rabid bear and wolf mixed together. Sweat dripped down her temple and back, more from the aches and pains she felt while trying to stay there rather than in exhaustion.

Her heart pumped, but she refused to feel afraid because that would only make him try harder.

I just need to wait him out.Orpheus had been crazed and injured, and he’d managed to calm down.

He didn’t want to hurt her, and she was sure he’d be upset when he realised he’d eaten her.

The animalistic noises just past the door eventually settled. Reia waited a long while before she eventually gained the courage to peek open the door. The sword was dragged beside her when she leaned against the doorframe and ducked her head outside.

A tall heap was lying at the foot of the stairs. Deep huffs of breaths came from him as he faced away, ending with more of those little whines that sounded awful, like he was in terrible pain.

“Are-are you okay?” she asked with just her head outside.

He turned his head to her, and she was thankful to find his eyes blue, like he was sad rather than an anger-filled red.

“It hurts.”

Stepping outside slowly, she came forward so she could see him better. There was a small pool of blood forming beneath him, and his wounds looked severe. There were a few bite marks around his neck and shoulders while his torso was covered in deep gashes.

“I want to help,” she told him, her eyes bowing in sympathy for him. “But I can’t. I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t risk getting hurt because he lost it again. She couldn’t wash his wounds or bandage them like she had for Orpheus.

Shit, I really trust that big bonehead.

“It’s fine. I will heal soon enough.” Then he curled into a ball as he hugged his midsection and shuddered slightly. “Can I stay? I will be attacked if I leave. I do not want more pain.”

“Yes, you can stay there.”

Reia kept the sword firmly in her hand as she slid her back against the wall outside and sat. She stayed there and watched him. Part of it was so that he didn’t have to be alone while he went through this. Another was so that she could, maybe, protect him if another flying Demon came.

I’ve never seen one before.She eyed its headless corpse on the ground, black feathers like a sea around its body.

“Thank you for saving me,” she said quietly when his movements settled, and his shaking eased.

Fortunately, the puddle had stopped growing a while ago as the day grew into the mid-afternoon.

“I did not mean to attack you, Reia human person.” He finally pulled away from his curled-up position to sit while leaning on an arm and hip. “I am sorry.”

“All good,” she said with a laugh because itdefinitelyhadn’t been all good. “It’s not the first time I’ve been attacked by a Duskwalker.”

“He has attacked you?”

“Orpheus has tried to eat me multiple times.”

“And yet, you are his friend? I do not understand.”

Reia gave him a smile, knowing her eyes were glittering with the brightness of it.

“You did not mean to attack me, just as he didn’t mean to attack me. He has protected me multiple times, and he is very sweet which makes it easy to forgive him.”

He groaned as he continued to steady himself, touching his wounds on his chest to check them.

“But sweet is a taste. What does that mean?”

---