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Oh my gosh!Linh’s mind reeled as she patted her flushed cheeks in disbelief. Crouching down in the water’s spray at her washing area, she covered her mouth to hide her grin fromno one.With the oil torch she always left in here giving her light, her gaze flickered over the dancing shadows.

Oh my gosh. He said he loves me!

Well... nothim,not truly. Like always, his thoughts had leaked through, and he never seemed to realise – as if he was too distracted.

I thought he might... but I didn’t want to just assume.He’d asked for her soul, but he’d never stated anything regarding his feelings.

He could want her soul for a bunch of reasons, some of them selfish, others fond. He could have been instinctually possessive, like a neanderthal bashing his chest going ‘mine’ at the first female he saw.

He was also a... Duskwalker, amonster.Love may have been too deep of an emotion.

He loves me.And it didn’t feelwrong.She’d had someone elsesay that to her, and it’d made her skin crawl. It’d made her feel suffocated, like a set of chains around her throat.

But if this was Nathair’s love... then it felt right. It felt obsessed in a way that wasn’t cruel or controlling, but enlightening. It felt safe, like she was perfect – like he’dsaid– and she could feel secure in that infatuation.

Her heart had responded to it immediately.

Little fuzzy balls had unfurled in her chest like butterflies – so light, fluffy, and beautiful. The warmth of it had swirled around in her bloodstream, making her want to do or give him whatever he wanted.

Even her sternum had grown hot, like her soul had been moments from fluttering out of her so he could take it.

As much as she truly thought she needed a shower, as she was covered in seed and a little tender, she’d needed a moment to digest all this. She didn’t feel sick, quite the opposite. Her stomach felt gooey with lingering desire and her returned affections.

I love him too.She’d known at the quartz cave that she’d been falling for him, but she knew it for certain once she woke and wasn’t radiating aches.

Aches she’d suddenly been missing and had hungered to have returned to her. Aches that stiffened her muscles and made her wince, but were the evidence of a well-pampered body.

I want to give him my soul.She wanted to be with Nathair.Hopefully he’ll let me visit my family and will help them with the bandits anyway.Even if it meant Bragg’s men were no longer an issue for Linh if she were to stay here with Nathair, she would still like to help the valleys.He would. He says he doesn’t want to help, but I know he will do the right thing.

She smiled as she thought,I want to tell him I love him too.

She’d like to do it in the sun with the beach beside them. She’d like it to be special, and for her to get all her nervous jittersout first. To feel clean, and hope that he’d already be combing his claws through her hair when she offered her life to him. She wanted to be sitting on his tail, all wrapped up, knowing that would be her life from then on.

With an excited bounce to her steps, she stood to exit the water. She picked up her pink dress and thumbed the green leaf pattern. The bumpy texture made her smile, and she was glad she’d be wearing this today as she spoke with him.

Just as she went to put it over her head, a loud, boisterous roar made her jolt. Linh stumbled, catching her foot on the edge of a rock, and fell to her knees. She popped her head through the neckline and turned her head towards the darkness.

That sounded like Nathair.And it’d sounded...distressed.

Without thinking if it would be wise or not, Linh guided her hand down the wall to go to him. Although she wanted to sprint as fast as her heart was beating, her feet were never steady at the best of times.

She stumbled when she thought,what if it’s a Demon?

Then again... a Demon would have come straight for her.

With her lips flat in determination, she went faster when whines, whimpers, and raspy hisses came from the muted light before her. She entered the main cave, and gasped so hard her lungs seized and her throat stuck together.

Reared back with a dipped torso, as if he was struggling to hold himself up, Nathair squirmed. He clawed at the sides and back of his neck. Then he dipped forward to grab the underside of his skull from behind, claws stabbing deep, and pulled with all his might like he wanted to rip his own head off!

His maw parted, and a chill instantly clutched at her bones. Gut-tightening dread knotted her insides.

“Please, don’t,”a woman cried fromhim, before she screamed.“S-stop.”

Nathair’s yells, as if his level of distress was so strong it broke through his silence, overshadowed the woman as he roared, “No! Make it stop! Not these memories. Not these thoughts!”

“Nathair!” Linh exclaimed when she noticed how muchbloodthere was. Dark-purple liquid steamed down his humanoid torso in rivulets.

She was right. He truly was trying to remove his own head.It’s like the day on the beach.Like Nathair was partially conscious, able to move and react rather than being in what she considered a half-sleeping trance.