Page 155

Story: A Soul to Protect

Linh’s brows drew together so tightly they knotted her forehead. “She tried to make him leave?” Linh asked in disbelief. “Even after he brought me here with the intention of saving me? Why?”

She looked out the window as a dark pit swelled in her stomach.I wanted to prove to him that he was wrong and my people would accept him.Yet, they’d told him to leave when he’d done something selfless and noble, just for her sake.

“I think that’s what makes this so hard,” Glenda stated quietly, her mask tilting towards the window as well. “The bandits... if you were sick, I think they’d just abandon you as a lost cause.”

Linh’s heart clenched at the truth of those words. Bragg and his men wouldn’t care for her wellbeing if she became too much of a liability.

“But the Duskwalker... it brought you here,” Glenda continued. “Your father doesn’t want to listen to us and refuses to let us talk to it again to make it leave.”

“Stop calling him a fuckingit,” Linh bit out, her eyes narrowing at the sun. She turned her glare to Glenda. “Have a little more respect for someone who saved me.”

Taken aback, a small gasp echoed beneath her mask and was accompanied by her head rearing back. Linh didn’t think she’d ever sworn in front of another, except Nathair, so she wasn’t surprised by Glenda’s faceless reaction.

“I’m sorry,” Glenda immediately offered. “How long hashehad you? As far as we knew, you were still at the bandits’ main camp.”

So Bragg didn’t tell dad that I’d run away, or probably died.Her lips tightened in annoyance.I doubt he would have evertold him the truth, and just used my safety to keep up his manipulations, even with me missing.

He really was a bastard.

Linh’s features twinged, and for some reason, her pussy spasmed. She cupped her pelvis with a cringe.

“Almost a month?” Linh guessed, before giving a light moan as she keeled forward. Two seconds later, the pain dissipated.

“Here,” Glenda offered, reaching for a cup on the side table. “You got your period yesterday. This tea should help with any cramps.”

Linh drained it so fast she almost drowned. “Thanks.”

I didn’t even think about what would happen if I got my period with Nathair nearby.She figured he would have slithered off somewhere so he didn’t fall into a bloodthirsty rage.

I kept forgetting how much danger I was really in.She still didn’t care. Nathair was quick-witted, so she assumed he would have figured out a solution. She snorted a quiet laugh at herself.I really do have too much faith in him.

“We were relieved when you got it,” Glenda stated, and even Linh could hear the hint of a sad smile in it. “It would have been devastating going from one monster to another, only to end up pregnant.”

Linh nearly choked. She patted her chest as she placed the cup down on the table. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We cleaned and examined your body when you arrived,” Glenda said, and once more, darkness entered her tone. Her voice became quieter. “We found trauma between your legs, as well as seed. It’s why we wanted him to leave.”

“Excuse me?” Linh whined, clenching her thighs together. She fisted the blanket in disbelief.

Trauma between my...Oh gods!She’s likely talking about his body-altering spell!She understood this was a natural part ofbeing in an infirmary, but the idea that someone went poking around her lady bits while she was unaware was concerning!

“He also placed some kind of spell on you. It took us a while to notice it, as it was deep beneath your skin.” Glenda sighed as she shook her head. She lowered the volume of her voice even more. “I can only imagine what happened at the bandit camp, but to be forced upon by a monster would have been horrifying. I’m–”

Linh jumped forward, almost falling out of the bed, as she slapped both her hands over Glenda’s masked mouth to shut her up.

“Stop,” Linh pleaded. She eyed the door, worried someone would overhear. “Have you told anyone?”

Glenda shook her head. “No. We were waiting for you to wake up before we made any decisions. Due to you being an adult, it’s not our place to speak on your behalf, or to inform anyone of private matters.”

Thank goodness for that.

Leaning back to kneel on the bed with the blanket twisted around her legs, Linh placed a singular finger to her lips.

A coy, sheepish smile curled her mouth as shy mischief swirled in her gaze and heated her cheeks. “It was consensual.”

Even if it was embarrassing, the last thing Linh wanted was for them to think Nathair was a cruel monster. His outsides may be different and scary, but he was truly a sweetheart.

I don’t really care who knows I have feelings for him.She once thought she might, due to the oddity of their relationship, but telling Glenda of the perverted truth... she knew she didn’t care. She adored that serpent Duskwalker with all her heart, and people would figure it out eventually when she told them all the truth.

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