Page 32 of A Soul to Keep

Nowthatsounded like the truth.

He bent away from her to give her space before stepping back.

“I have something for you.” He walked away to go to his room to retrieve something precious to him.

As he was leaving, he heard footsteps before the dull sound of the dagger being placed onto the table.

When he returned, he was wearing his jacket to hide his body better and held a special piece of jewellery in his hand. He led Reia to one of the chairs in the living area covered in fur skins and got her to sit on the smaller one, although it was still large in comparison to her, before kneeling on one knee with his other foot placed against the ground.

She was complying, for whatever reason, to his wishes.

“This is a protection amulet,” he explained as he began to slip a diadem circlet tiara over her forehead. “It will help to keep you safe.”

The metal was silver in colour but was joined together at the front by swirling links and appeared delicate, as though it might be easy to unlink and destroy. Orpheus knew from experience it was very sturdy. Small, clear, sparkling diamonds were threaded through the swirling links with metal twine and adhesive.

The circling arms were straight as he pushed them underneath her hair, so it was buried inside it, before he hooked the thin chain together at the back of her head to keep it in place. A blue sapphire gem in the shape of a teardrop dangled from the V-shaped point of the circlet tiara. It tapped against her forehead just above the centre of her creased brows when she frowned after he placed it on her.

There were two pins right where the straight circling arms and the ornamental loose links fitted together on either side, and he tried his best with his large fingers not to hurt her as he pushed them through her hair to secure it in place.

“You are giving me a crown?” Her voice was laced with confusion when she reached up to touch it when he was done.

He didn’t get up, choosing to stay kneeling in front of her since she didn’t appear distressed with him caging her into the chair.

Her fear is lessening.By the day, the minute, even the second, he could already smell that scent lessening from her. Even now it was far less apparent than before he’d placed the circlet over her forehead.

It was so barely present that he actually had to lean in closer to smell it at all. And he did, not only to try to detect it, but also to greedily take in her elderberry and rose scent.

The concoction he’d layered her in the previous evening was already dull and waning, but it had never prevented him from smelling her. Since he was the wielder of the magic, it didn’t affect him, only others.

I like her smell.If she wasn’t so wary of him, which he could still see, he would have leaned forward and licked her so he could taste it.

All the humans smelt different. Some smelt like plants, others like fruit, and then there had been the few that smelt wildly unpleasant.Hers is one of my favourites so far.

The meanings behind her berry and flowery smell were symbolic to someone who worked with their meanings. He’d used elderberries occasionally for protection in the past, but he’d never worked with roses before.

He gave a snorting huff of enjoyment, which she must have taken as him saying yes, because she asked, “How do you have this? And why a crown at all? Wouldn’t a necklace have been easier?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t make it,” he answered truthfully. Orpheus didn’t know how to create something like this, something so delicate, pretty, and full of this kind of strange, yet strong, magic. “It was given to me.”

She fingered the teardrop sapphire, flicking it to make it sway against her forehead. “By who?”

“I don’t know that, either. I found it upon my kitchen table eons ago with a note that instructed me to give it to my humans for protection.”

He’d been angered at the time that someone had managed to sneak into his home undetected and not leave a single trace behind for him to stalk in revenge. However, he’d done as instructed with the next offering he’d brought here, and she’d survived a little longer than the others before her.

He raised a claw and tapped the V-shaped point of the metal circlet.

“I have discovered Demons refuse to touch it, and any that had were burned by it like they’d stepped into the sunlight. Strong Demons who are able to withstand the sun for a short period of time are able to touch you still, but weak ones cannot.”

It wasn’t perfect, but he doubted anything would be. The stronger the Demon, the harder it was to kill. They were still unable to hold the amulet, but Reia would be fair game, and they’d eat everything other than her head to appease their hunger.

Weaker ones would scream in agony if they tried to touch her at all.

That was enough to bring him comfort as it was generally the weak ones that loitered in this part of the Veil, besides the odd few. They were intelligent enough to stay out of his territory, and he stayed out of theirs, a sort of unspoken truce between them.

“Why are you giving me this though? Is your house not enough protection?”

“It is so that you can go outside, with my supervision, of course.”

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