Page 127 of A Soul to Keep

“Yes,” she answered flatly.

With a snarl, he started storming in that direction, forcing her to sprint between certain steps to keep up with his agitated strides. He shoved the door open, making it slam against the wall at the same time a bell rang above.

He started searching between aisles of books, looking for the woman she’d spoken of. He looked hostile, like the person might not be safe if he found them.

“There is no one here,” he said to her when he was done. “No one but the shopkeeper.”

Her heart sunk, and she turned her sight to the Demon who was staring at them wide-eyed with cat ears poking up from his head while whiskers twitched on his face. She noticed a long tail swaying from behind him as he retreated behind the counter to hide from Orpheus, who was obviously seething with rage.

“But—”

Her words were cut short when she saw a white feather on the ground near her feet. She bent over and picked it up, twirling it in her fingers when she brought it to her face.

Orpheus covered her fingers to hide them while allowing the feather to be free above their hands. He leaned in to sniff it.

“You saw the Witch Owl,” he said quietly, his eyes turning back to their normal blue. Once more, he looked around. “She must want you to find something in here.”

“A book?” she asked before eyeing what had to be hundreds of them all neatly put away on shelves.

“Most likely.” His head turned to the door. “For whatever reason, she has guided you here.” He looked torn as he stared in the direction of outside. “She has helped me many times, as you saw with the garden, but we must return to the Mavka. He cannot be by himself.”

“Can I stay here while you get him?” When he shook his head, she quickly added, “I won’t leave, and there is no one else here besides the shopkeeper.” She gestured to him. “I also have my sword.”

His eyes flashed white with worry, and she could see tension building in his body.

“Reia, I cannot leave you by yourself.”

“Please, Orpheus? I’ll stay hidden if anyone comes in, and the shopkeeper has already seen you and knows that I’m with you.”

She looked at him and saw he was still slightly cowering behind the counter. He was small, perhaps even shorter than Reia, and didn’t look strong at all.

Orpheus nodded hesitantly and nuzzled the side of her mask.

“Yes, we shouldn’t ignore the Witch Owl. Stay here, do not leave even if she calls you to go somewhere else. I’ll be back shortly.” Then he turned to the cat Demon to give him loud snarl and purposefully flared his eyes red. “Come near her, and I will kill you.”

It took him a moment to leave, staring at her as if his feet were rooted to the ground. It appeared he was unwilling to part from her. Then he huffed heavily with his fists clenched before he sprinted out of the shop. She had no doubt he’d run the entire way if he needed to.

Reia turned to cat Demon. “Did you see someone covered in white feathers?”

“Yes,” he answered shakily, pointing in a certain direction with a thin claw.

She realised she hadn’t needed to ask him at all for assistance as more feathers had been dropped along the floor. She followed them while picking them up one-by-one as they led to three different shelves.

She didn’t know which book to grab out of the many. They were obviously stolen from humans because some were of dancing techniques, others on how to build a house – she took that one for the Mavka, thinking that was what she was supposed to grab.

It was only when she was about to walk away that she noticed something sticking out from the top of a certain book. She grabbed it and found a white feather stuck between the pages.

A fighting technique book?She flicked through it, finding pages upon pages of different techniques and stances to learn how to fight with a sword. There were passages written, explaining how to do them correctly, while drawings aided the reader to explain how they needed to stand visually.

This would be so helpful in learning how to use my sword!Her chest flushed with excitement before she ran towards the next shelf with a feather on the ground in front of it.

She ignored everything and searched only for the book with a feather in it.

Disappointment sailed through her.

A children’s book? Why would she show me a children’s book?It had many tales inside it, some she knew, most she didn’t.

She opened it to the featherand laughed so loud she feared everyone in the Demon village heard it. It was placed at a particular tale. ‘Beauty and the Beast’.Very fucking funny, Witch Owl. More like Reia and the monster.Except, she knew her beast wouldn’t turn into a handsome man no matter what she did.

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