Page 84 of A Soul to Guide

“Why are we having this uncomfortable conversation? I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

Raewyn struggled to fold her arms underneath the cloak, since it was a tight fit.

“I’ve already told you I’ve had sex, and not just once, as you so rudely implied. I’m just curious, after what happened.”

With his fangs, Merikh clamped the end of her hood and tossed it back enough to reveal her face. She couldn’t reach up to fix it even if she tried.

“Fine. If you are so nosy to know about it... Yes, with a Demon.” When she didn’t say anything, thinking on what she wanted to ask next, he said, “You don’t seem bothered by that.”

Raewyn’s brows furrowed. “No, I’m not. Like I already told you, there are Delysians, Demons, that live among us. As long as it was consensual, then it’s whatever.”

His snarl was far more menacing than Raewyn appreciated. “Are you implying it wasn’t?”

“Oh no!” she quickly interjected, trying to wave her hands and failing. “That’s not what I meant at all. I didn’t mean that you would do something so horrible. It’s just... Demons aren’t always pleasant, and there have been some cases where they... you know. Anyway! I thought you said you had no one who cares for you, but what about this Demon, then?”

“She’s dead,” he quickly and coldly answered.

“Oh.” She couldn’t tell if he was bothered by that fact or not. “I’m sorry. Was she close to your heart, then?”

Merikh shrugged as he stepped onto something – maybe a fallen tree. He jumped down, a lot further than they’d risen, like he’d walked off an edge. He made no sound as he landed, and he just kept moving.

“Not particularly. She was curious about Duskwalkers, perhaps a little too curious. She liked collecting skeletons. Half the time, I thought she would try to kill me to collect mine, but she never did.”

“Okay,” Raewyn said with a weak smile, horrified by the idea of being intimate with someone like that. “H-how did she die, if I may ask? Demons are hard to kill if they are that intelligent.”

She didn’t like the eery silence that fell over them.

“Merikh?”

A flicker of orange sparked in her vision before the usual red took over.

“The other Demons killed her upon learning what we were doing,” he answered in a dull voice.

“Oh.” Raewyn couldn’t keep the hint of sorrow from her voice, her ears drooping.

“It’s why I’m not fond of them. Even to them, I am something to be disgusted by, despite their own despicableness.” She bounced in his arms when he tossed her. “Why the hell do you look sad for? This was over a hundred and eighty years ago. It’s over, and there is no point in feeling anything over it. I got her revenge.”

He hates humans. He hates Demons. He doesn’t even seem fond of his own kind.

“Do you hate Elysians for leaving the Demons here?”

“Can’t hate what I’ve never met,” he easily answered. “Then again, maybe I should, considering a particularly annoying Elf.”

Raewyn pursed her lips when they tried to curl in humour, but her darkening thoughts won.I need to know. Ihaveto know.

“Was Jabez one of the reasons she died?” What had her kind truly set upon this world?

“I thought he was, but no. I discovered he had no part in her death.”

She turned her face down to hide it. “How do you feel about him?”

“Jabez?” Yellow sparked at the edge of her sight before it faded. “My relationship with Jabez is complicated.”

She hadn’t expected that response. Honestly, she thought it would be a boast of hatred, that he’d start spilling the terribleness of Jabez’s crimes.

“How so?” she dug, trying to come across nonchalant. She even lifted her chin, weirdly defensive despite the curiosity that ran rampant.

“It’s nothing.”

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