Page 44 of A Soul to Guide

“Are you implying we are murderers?” Merikh asked with a quirk of humour. “Look at us; do we look capable of such things?”

“How do I know that this woman is truly blind? This could be nothing more than a ruse to ensure your admittance.”

“How do you know it is not a Demon?”

“Because a Demon wouldn’t leave a corpse. This person – or there could be more than one – has been leaving headless and heartless corpses around, and a warning has been delivered to all nearby towns.”

Raewyn gasped and jumped back when a thunk sounded on the other side of Merikh. The guard had released a warning shot!They truly shot at us!

“Leave, or I’ll shoot you next,” the guard said as he nocked another arrow.

“Fine,” Merikh bit before stepping back.

He took them away from the town, and Raewyn couldn’t stop the crestfallen slump of her shoulders, nor her expression.But I’m hungry. How can the humans so easily turn away those in need?

“We will have to wait here,” he said as he stopped and swiftly turned to her. “You might as well as sit and rest while you can.”

Raewyn tilted her head. “Why?”

“You think I’m going to let that stop me? The sun will go down soon. I’ll scale the wall once night falls.”

“You can do that?”

She’d heard most villages had walls that were at least five, if not six, metres tall. That sounded impossible to climb.

“Nothing the humans do can or will stop Duskwalkers,” Merikh stated, his voice coming from below, as though he’d sat upon the ground. “They are just lucky wegenerallydon’t want anything to do with them.”

Raewyn reached her hand forward to find a tree to lean upon as she once more removed her shoes.

I guess we’re waiting, then. I hope no Demons find us.

Merikh spooked the Elf when he landed right next to her grassy barrier. Her scent of fear trickled into the night air, but it calmed when she must have realised who it was.

He’d preferred to not have frightened her,but he could only scale up the town’s wall, not down it. He’d jumped from the top and landed next to her after ransacking their crops.

“Any Demons?” he asked as he looked around and listened carefully. His sense of smell was far too diluted to be useful with long distance enemies.

He usually didn’t wear his scent-masking cloth, but he was required to because of her. If she smelled of fear or blood, there was a chance he could turn on her.

Her grassy barrier faded as she unfurled herself from her protective huddle. “No.”

He dug through the bag of food he’d collected to make sure it was still all there before giving it to her. Their hands touched with the exchange. Her flesh was warm, her skin as soft as silk against the abrasiveness of his calloused palms.

“Lucky,” he stated. “Towns are a lure. I was unsure of leaving you out here by yourself, but I hoped you’d be able to protect yourself.”

“You weren’t gone long,” she answered as she dug through the bag herself. “Oh wow, there’s so much here. Thank you for this. You left so quickly that you didn’t give me time to give you money to pay for them.”

“Pay for them?” Merikh bit in disbelief. “All the shops are closed, Raewyn.”

She blinked her spellbinding eyes before they widened, and her bottom lip fell. “You stole it all? You can’t do that!”

“Then they should have let us in when I asked. I had half a mind to go find that guard and bash his skull in while he was asleep.”

He almost wanted to chuckle – warmly, rather than his usual dark and cruel laugh – when her face twisted with guilty concern. The corner of her eyes were crinkled as she bowed them in aversion, her white brows shaped into little wiggles of upset.

“It’s not nice to steal.”

Merikh rolled his head on his shoulders before he sighed. “I picked everything I know is edible without cooking it first. This should suffice until we make it to the temple.”

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