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He gave a hum in thought. “I don’t know how to do that. My soul does not sit inside my chest like yours. It is all of me.”

All of him? Like the same size as he is now?Did that mean it filled every inch of his gigantic, monstrous body?

Linh chose to let it go.

Instead, she focused on her own and nudged it to stand. It was wary as it did, its face turning away from Nathair’s skull with an awkward, inward shift of its shoulders. She made it spin so she could take it in fully, noticing that the dark, near-charcoal section she’d once seen on its back was much smaller than before.

She didn’t ask what it meant, as she doubted she’d like the answer. She also didn’t want to know what the palm print on its right inner thigh meant, nor the singular one that spanned across both wrists.

She did furrow her brows when she only counted two.I thought there were more.Then again, she’d only briefly glanced at it both times before she clutched it in worry he’d gobble it up.

The longer she gazed at it, the more a smile teased her lips. “That is nice.”

The moment felt wildly intimate in the strangest but most spiritual of ways. What other human could play with their literal fiery essence? The fact she was doing so, with a soul eater no less, showed the deep level of trust she had for the Duskwalker pressing against her back.

“Your soul is beautiful,” he signed, before caressing the back of her free hand with the smooth, glossy curve of his claws. “Like you.”

“Do you want to know what I think is funny?” With her small smile remaining, she placed her cheek against the quartz andtried to tickle the flaming version of herself. “My first name means spirit, and here I am playing with mine.”

She managed to get it to come out of its shell a little with a soundless laugh. It crouched to hide from her torturous fingertip until it fell on its side. It kicked and slapped at her, trying to fight her off, which only made her laugh out loud.

Then it bit her, and she yelped when it hurt!

She hid her fingers from it, just as it cupped its own hand to its chest.Did I... just hurt myself?

Which only made her wonder, “If I die, does that mean my soul dies?”

“Yes. It turns white.”

She pursed her lips as she helped it back to its feet so it could hover properly. “Is it possible to harm a soul while the person it belongs to is alive?”

Nathair answered in the affirmative, and she just accepted it. She swiped it behind the knees so it could rest in her palm, like how the back of her left hand rested in his. Linh just held it, wishing she could feel its warmth or life other than pressure. It was light, like it weighed nothing, yet it was so unbelievably important.

I kind of want to give it to him,she thought, taking in Nathair’s scaled arms, his light-grey fins, the way he was, but also wasn’t, holding her.

But I want to go home.She wanted to see her family. She missed her parents, her younger sister, her friends. As much as she wanted to stay with Nathair in his cave, she had a life she wanted to return to.

A life she had been stolen from.

She didn’t think she’d be complete again until she returned to it like she’d always intended. Like she’d promised the day she’d been forcibly taken from it. In the back of her mind, she keptthinking her journey of healing would finish there, like a circle of fate finally reaching its end.

It wasn’t fair that she was being forced to choose.

Her village was so close, just a day’s walk if she didn’t stop to rest. Yet the person shewantedwas here.

Why can’t he just come with me?She didn’t care what anyone thought.

Who cared if she was falling in love with a monster? His kindness and humour were not enough to fall for him, but his unflappable support towards someone who needed understanding was truly admirable. She knew she was broken, even if he stated otherwise.

She wanted to think of herself as broken, because it felt like he was picking up the shards of her mess and piecing them back together bit by bit. The glue he used was all the small things he did to make her feel safe when she thought she’d crumble. Then he held the shards in place as they dried, even when she kept wetting them with her tears.

He’d become her blanket of security from the very first moment she slept in his tail. He not only kept out the monsters lurking outside his shield, but also the memories in the boundaries of her mind. She rested, peaceful, in the middle of him.

No one else could do that for her.

No one else would look like him, feel like him, smell like him.His skull was bewitching, as were his hooked ram horns. His orbs glowed with fiery life, and they were so pretty no matter what colour they shone.

She giggled to herself as she thought,No one else has two dicks like him, either.A bit of a weird bonus, but one she was happy about. She’d beenveryhappy about them last night.