Page 130 of A Soul to Guide

“Is something wrong?”

“I would like for you not to go outside when I sleep.”

He slept a few hours every day, while Raewyn only needed to do so once every two or three days. It was an odd request, and one she didn’t understand.

“If it’s about Ingram and Aleron, I’ll be fine if they return. It’s one of the reasons I got to know them today.”

Raewyn had an inkling he hadn’t liked her spending time with them. She, on the other hand, didn’t care if he thought they were dangerous. They were funny, and oddly sweet.

It was unfortunate the relationship between the three Duskwalkers was obviously poor. She’d been hoping she could help mend it a little, but it seemed impossible to bridge that gap.

Every time he tried to get close, the twins would shirk away. Merikh also wasn’t friendly towards them. He was imposing, even to his own kind.

“Just do as I ask,” he snapped, more short-tempered than usual. The clink of metal hit the bench, followed by the scrape of claws. “There, have the diadem.”

He’d slapped it down, and then stood there. Her shoulders turned inwards.He’s really angry for some reason.

Had she poked the metaphorical bear too much?

Keeping her head down, she pushed it back at him. “I-I don’t actually need it yet. I still need to get the tulips you brought me to absorb magic and change theirphotosyntheticstructure so they will do what I need them to.”

“Take it,” he bit. “The quicker I give it to you, the quicker you’ll figure everything out so we can leave.”

Why does he suddenly want to rush?He’d been dragging his feet about this for days.

“What can I do to help?” he added, completely surprising her.

“Pardon?” She was under the impression he’d thought she’d be able to do this on her own.

“You said you had an assistant, yes?” His tone was colder than usual, but at least his question eased her. That was, until he said, “Or is my assistance not good enough?”

Something is wrong with him.Merikh could be rather curt with her – well, with everyone apparently. Usually, it wasn’t too brutish, but that last question had been a sincere jab at her.

Raewyn slapped on a forced smile and tried to be blasé. “Sure, your assistance would be much appreciated. You can do the honours of pulling your diadem apart while I begin the flower process. It’ll be much faster with both of us working.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said, and the chime of him picking the diadem back up rang in her ears.

Raewyn began plucking a few of her hairs out. She checked each one by pushing magic into it while she held each end. Then she wound them around each flower stem, only needing one strand of hair per plant. Once she was done, she checked to make sure each one was securely in place for the next step to work.

Merikh was silent beside her; it was taking quite a while for him to warm back up to her. She was wary of being near him, in case his quills were extended.

Let’s just say, the whole impaling her hand and then having to be tossed into the lake had taught her a hard lesson about being close to him. His physical aspects were far more dangerous than she’d given them credit for, especially after being safely carried by him for weeks. But now she knew otherwise, even though it wasn’t a lesson she’d wanted to learn.

“Okay, hopefully, this will be enough,” she said. “Now for the hard part.”

“Hard part?”

“I was actually going to ask you for your help either way.” Raewyn rubbed at the side of her neck. “I don’t know how long this will take – it really depends on the flowers themselves, but I’m going to need to pump them full of my own spiritual essence.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Her cheeks heated. “I need you to take care of me. Don’t worry, I’ll make myself some food and rest first, but I won’t be able to stop the concentration of magic; otherwise, I may have to restart.”

“So, you’ll need me to what? Watch you and make sure you’re fed?”

“Yes, that.” Among other – possibly embarrassing – things. She turned away and touched a few of the tulip bulbs. “But you’ll also need to cut away anything that doesn’t survive the process, so they don’t kill or infect the others. You can’t let me fall asleep, and... and even if I get sick, I need you to keep me going and lucid.”

“What do you mean, if you get sick?” His forearm thudded as he slapped it against the table. “You never said anything about you getting sick.”

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