Page 99 of A Soul to Touch

“Mayumi...” he pleaded.

“No.”

His orbs turned a swallowing colour of blue, and he clawed at the left side of his chest between his rib bones. He sliced deep enough that purple blood began to well between his fingers.

“It is hard for me to explain.” His following whine revealed he meant emotionally. “And I don’t want you to think of me as weak.”

With her chest heaving, she shook her head.

“I won’t, I promise.” She wasn’t going to go comfort him through it, though. Not after what he’d done. She may have before, may have cooed while snuggling into him to make it easier, but she wasn’t going to give him that. “But if you don’t tell me, I want you gone.”

More blood welled as he dug deeper. She knew his hand was right over his heart, that he was having a physical reaction deep within. It seemed he was feeling what she was, but perhaps much worse.

“You touched my face. I told you not to do that.” Her bottom lip fell when it sounded as though he was blaming her! “I felt you touch the crack.”

“So that gives you the right?”

He shook his head.

“The person who did this to me,” he said as he reached up to touch it. “Also hurt me in other ways. I was reliving those memories when you woke me. I thought you were him, that is all.”

Was this all she was going to get? Some stupid vague answer like always?

“What did he do?” she pressed, narrowing her gaze into a glare.

He shuffled back slightly, like he would rather leave than tell her. Yet, he let out a deep expire, his quaking worsening.

“There is a reason I don’t like your fireplace or your bath.”

She remained silent. She was hoping he wasn’t trying to tell her what she thought he was.

“He was trying to figure out how to kill Duskwalkers. And, because I was foolish enough to stay within the centre of the Veil, he decided to target me in particular. I had no home. Demons had come and claimed my cave when I left it for too long. I had nowhere else to go but try to live among them, even though they were distrustful of me. I was by myself the first time he caughtme since I never thought he’d come for me. When I continued to live among them, the Demons assisted him the second time. I was only able to escape with the help of Magnar.”

“What did he do to you, Faunus?” she repeated.

“The better question would be whatdidn’the do,” he chuckled darkly. “Drowned me to see how many times I would breathe again under the water. Buried me to see if I would claw my way out of the dirt. Dissected me. Poisoned me. Envenomed me. Cut off my head. Burned me alive until I withered away into dust and all that remained of me was my skull.”

Mayumi didn’t think her face had ever drained of colour this intensely before.

Pity pooled in her gut for him. She brought her gaze to the fireplace, unable to imagine being burnedaliveand then surviving to remember how that felt.

“I could not even save myself,” he continued, the backs of his hands falling to the ground. A reddish-pink lifted into his orbs, and she thought that may signal his shame. “My mother had to help me. She is so small, just like you, but she has strong magic. She was able to fight him off and steal my skull, carrying it under her arm so she could flee with me.” His snout pointed the other way. “I was... not myself for quite some time. She helped ease me.”

“Faunus,”she whispered, going to her hands and knees so she could crawl closer.

It all made sense. This she could forgive. This was a big enough reason to be disorientated when waking up.

“Don’t!” he yelped, leaping away from her before she could even place her hand on his forearm. “You promised, and I don’t want your pity.”

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. I don’t think you’re weak,” she cooed while gingerly slipping her hands into his. “I’m actually pretty proud of you. A human would have lost their mind afterexperiencing something like that. Yet, other than being a little wary of a few things, you still laugh. That’s not weakness, Faunus. That’s strength.”

“But I couldn’t save myself,” he stated, allowing her to pick up his hand so she could wrap it around her waist. “And the memories linger. They caused me to hurt you, Mayumi. How can I protect you if I cannot do so from myself?”

She lifted his other hand and placed it over her shoulder, curling into him as she slipped her arms around his torso. Mayumi hugged him.

“I can protect myself. Now that I know this, I’ll be more careful in the future.”

It took him a few seconds, but he eventually picked her up and placed her on his thighs to hold her tightly. He even pressed the underneath of his jaw across the back of her neck and head from behind.

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