Page 7 of A Soul to Keep

“Reia,” she managed to get out, calming enough to narrow her eyes into a glare once more. “My name is Reia Salvias.”

Orpheus twisted his head at the petite little human he held onto, inspecting her face in detail now that they were inches apart and she couldn’t escape.

Yes. It is much easier to see her like this.She was too far away before, too hard for him to look at bony face to human face.

He was unable to smell her properly since he’d shoved mud and grass into his nose hole to block as much of the scent of fear as he could. It was uncomfortable, and he despised it, but he needed to do this otherwise he would attack the village in a mindless craze because of their stench of fear.

Her hair was blonde, straight and glossy around the backs of his gloved fingers. Her nose was small, but had a defiant upturn to it, which made it appear more dismissive when she’d turned her chin up at him earlier. Her features were gentle around her jaw and chin, but were sharp around her eyes and brows, making herglare,he realised, more prominent.

Her skin was like snow, as though she hadn’t been in the sun much, which he could tell was true by the transparent-like paleness of her skin. If he took her to the Veil, he doubted her skin would ever ripen into the light golden that should have wrapped the warm meat of her slim body.

Her eyes were a forestry green, which pleased him.

Actually, looking upon her was pleasing, but he felt this way about most humans, for various reasons, some more evil and cruel than others.

As he inspected his sacrifice in detail, Orpheus waited for the tantalizing scent of fear to fill his mouth with saliva. He was so close to her. He would be able to taste just a hint of it that his blocked, clogged nose couldn’t. He could only just smell her with their proximity, but it hid the rest of the humans from him.

It didn’t take long. The scent gently lifted into the air from her pores, inciting the glow of his eyes to want to change from his normal blue to red in hunger.

But that didn’t happen, his eyes remained blue.

He tilted his head when he realised the scent wasn’t strong enough to stir true hunger in him.

This female, this human woman, was afraid, but not nearly as much as she should have been while being held like this by him.She appears rather...angry.

“If-if she is not to your liking, we have prepared other sacrifices to become your bride,” the one named Gilford sputtered in haste.

There are others?He lowered her enough that she was no longer blocking his vision, as two humans in white dresses were ushered through the Priests and Priestesses.

A dark-haired man and a red-headed woman.

“There has never been more than one intended offering,” Orpheus stated, projecting his voice through his skull so it could be heard.

He had to actively produce his voice past his own mind, speaking from it since he didn’t have lips or the kind of mouth to talk. He could make noises if he wished to, but they were often guttural and incoherent to others.

“We wanted to make sure we appeased you, is all.”

What is wrong with this one, then?

Orpheus placed the blonde-haired woman named Reia on the ground and twisted his head at her while examining her once more.She appears to have all her parts.He could see she wasn’t missing any limbs and didn’t have the look of deathly sicknesses that seeped from the skins of humans.

“Are you not willing?”

“She is!” Gilford interjected.

“I did not ask you,” Orpheus said, letting his voice come out as a deep growl.

“I am standing here, aren’t I?” she said up to him, rubbing her neck before frowning at her hand as though she couldn’t fathom why him holding her hadn’t hurt.

That is true.

It was obvious she was willingly standing in front of him to be offered while dressed in their strange custom of dressing all his sacrifices in white. He’d never understood that, why they had to be dressed in a similar style and colour.

“If you do not like her, there is Darren.”

The black-haired man bowed to Orpheus in greeting.

He waved his hand at him dismissively, his claws glinting in the sunlight. He retracted them to keep them hidden from the easily frightened humans.

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