Page 92 of To Free a Soul
A frown pulled her face tight. “Weldir. Did Jabez not give you his name? You know, the spirit of the void?”
“What?!”he snapped out, backing up a step. Then Merikh cupped the end of his blunt snout and tapped a foreclaw against the side of it. “I see. He would be interested to learn this.”
Her brows furrowed deeper. “You aren’t upset by this?”
“Yes, but if you are telling the truth, then it makes sense as to whyhedoes not know where I come from, why I cannot die, why I am the way I am.” His bull tail swished side to side. “I thought you did not like the spirit of the void? Sexless, Jabez said.”
Lindiwe’s cheeks flared with so much heat she was surprised the ends of her hair didn’t catch fire. She couldn’t believe her ownchildhad said that to her or knew such a thing!
“I don’t.” Then Lindiwe quickly corrected herself. “I mean, I didn’t. It’s... complicated.”
“Younglings are usually made from affection, yes?” Then he scratched the side of his snout, with his orbs darkening in their yellow hue. “But not for Jabez. No, he only knows pain.”
A weak and panicked smile rose. “N-not always from affection.”
“I was not created that way? No love? Then how is it I am here?”
I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with him.This wasn’t how she’d expected it would go. She thought there would be stomping, huffing, and growling. That he would be angered to learn all this.
He just seemed... curious.
Should she be giddy about that? Honestly, she was just happy they were talking without it being an argument.
“Part of the reason I bonded with Weldir – uh, the spirit of the void – was due to a transaction. My soul and my presence and usefulness on Earth in exchange for servitude. One of the requirements was that I make children for him. Y-younglings, I mean.”
His orbs flickered with blue, and her heart squeezed in sympathy for him. She didn’t think he would have cared that he wasn’t born from love.I’m surprised he would even know that or want it.
His shoulders lost their tension and fell as the solemn hue remained in his orbs. “Then why is it I am here?”
How do I explain this to him?He wanted to know, but he might not find the answer... pleasant.But he has a right to know.
She gripped her left forearm to distract herself and averted her gaze to the side. “He wanted servants. Younglings who would collect souls to help empower him. None of you know it, but each time you eat a Demon, you take the souls they’re unwittingly carrying on their person and cleanse them. When you return to the Veil, to his mist, he takes them from you, and it strengthens him.”
Nothing else was said, and the silence between them weighed heavily on her. His breaths drew in and out, deeper with each one, and she found her own mimicking them by accident.
Their increasing rate made her heart flutter nervously.
“Thatis why I exist?” he asked with a dark, foreboding tone. He pointed a claw at his chest, and when she brought her gaze back to him, his orbs had returned to their normal scarlet hue. Then they shifted to crimson. “Thatis why I am here? To be a fucking servant for a being of the void?! I fuckingaidhim?!”
“He’s very thankful for it,” Lindiwe said as she lifted her hands placatingly. “He also cares about you all very deeply. He watches over you.”
“Thankful? I don’t care if he is thankful!” Merikh roared. “He is our enemy!Youare our enemy. Being created by you is one thing, butthis?! This goes against everything.” Then he placed his hands over the top of his skull and gripped his bull horns. He turned to the side with white flashing in his orbs. “Jabez will be enraged when he learns of this. Iempowerthe very being in his way!”
Lindiwe was thankful she was still incorporeal because when she reached out in hopes of placing a soothing hand on his biceps, he slashed his hand out and his claws went right through her head. She retreated, putting much-needed space between them.
“You don’t have to tell him,” Lindiwe suggested.
“Of course I do! He is myfriend, and he will want to know. He will hate me if I withhold this from him and he learns of it.”
“Merikh...” Lindiwe didn’t know what to say or do to calm him.
“Leave!” he bellowed.
Lindiwe cupped her hands to her chest. “Merikh, please.”
“Is that all I am? A fuckingtoolto be used by you? By him?! I have seen what servants are, how their wants matter little tothose above them. If that is all I am – not created from affection but to be used – then I have nothing else to say to you.”
“I care about you!” she shouted, thankful she couldn’t cry in her Phantom form, as tears would’ve spilled by now. “From the moment you were born, I loved you.”
