Page 170 of A Soul to Guide

“Yes,” he answered coldly. “She is likely the reason why the twins ended up coming here.” He was trying to change the subject.

“Why do you hate her?” Raewyn pressed.

“Why are you asking me all this?” he asked, appalled.

“I guess I just want to know you better.” She offered him a small smile. “Am I not allowed to be curious?”

He raised his hand from her backside, since he’d been holding it, and she thought he may have scratched at the side of his neck.

“It’s complicated, Raewyn. I’ve never shared my feelings about this before.”

“I’m happy to listen.” She carefully reached up so she could hold the end of his bony snout, showing her acceptance of him. “Please?”

Once more, he grabbed her arse and shuffled her closer. “Will you stay like this if I do?”

She nodded while burying her face against him, and he let out one of his usual sighs.

Ha! She’d won.

“It’s not that I truly hate her,” he admitted while grumbling. “She did take care of me most of the time. It’s just... The main reason I don’t like her is because of Weldir.”

When he went quiet, she poked him by saying, “Weldir?”

He let out another sigh. “It is hard to think of him as a father, but more of a creator. I have only met him a few times, and he is distant. I don’t know if he cares for us, but why he wanted us born is what bothers me.”

He began skating his claws back and forth over her nape. She wondered if he was doing it as a way to distract himself.

“After how I reacted to learning of it, I think she has kept this from my brothers.”

“What did you learn?”

“That we are nothing but a tool for him.” Blue sparked in her vision, and her heart tightened in worry. “Cleansing the souls he harvests from Demons is draining for him, as is maintaining the shield around Jabez’s portal and his realm. He sought out a mate, one he could breed, so that he could make children. We don’t taint the souls we accidentally carry once we’ve consumed the flesh. So, when we return to the Veil, he’s able to harvest them, and they strengthen him exponentially.”

Raewyn’s ears shot back in surprise.This is why Weldir wanted them made? For power?His reasoning could be either malicious or righteous, depending on what it was.

Since he was as stuck on Earth as everyone else here, if his magic dwindled too low, he wouldn’t be able to maintain the barrier on Jabez’s portal. He could be doing it to protect the Elysians, which would upset no one.

There could be other reasons, but she chose not to think on them when Merikh continued speaking.

“To learn that I am nothing but a slave for a master, that I am nothing but a messenger of souls for him, was painful. I thought we were created in want, in love, and instead, this horrible truth left me feeling empty.” His hands tightened on her. “I know she was used as we were. She is like his hands and feet in this world, but still, she went along with it. Like I said, she did try to care for us, for me, but so many other terrible things have happened between us that I cannot find it in myself to forgive her, no matter what she has done to try and rectify it.”

“Like what?” she asked, despite having an inkling already.

“Can this not be enough?” he asked instead. “There are some things I just do not wish to share with you, Raewyn.”

“Why not? It will not change anything.”

“You cannot make promises when you don’t know the truth about them.”

“Sure, I can,” she said with a coy smile.

When he didn’t say anything for a long while, it eventually fell. She brought her hand forward and drew swirling patterns on his stomach to distract them both.

“Is it... is it about the person who died?”

His next breath sounded more like a distressed wheeze with a quiet whine. It struck her all the way to the very core of her essence.

“You said it was an accident. I could never be upset with you for accidentally hurting someone.”

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