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“Long enough for her to know I’ve been here the whole time,” Mayumi said, pointing to Lindiwe. “So, this is your fucking plan, Witch Owl? Has no one considered how this will make Ingram feel?”

“Of course I have,” Lindiwe snapped back, before biting her plump bottom lip and lowering her head. “As long as my children are all safe, I don’t care if everyone...hatesme by the end of this. I will wear it, as I have with Merikh.”

“Have you truly thought on this, though? Because, to me, they are bonded except in freaking soul. Hasn’t he already lost his twin? Now you want to throw her out of his life as well.”

“I have no other option.”

“I never said I would give Ingram my soul,” Emerie muttered, although shehadbeen considering it.

How could she not? She wanted what everyone else had here. She wanted to be loved and adored, and Ingram often made her feel that way. She was also completely and utterly fond of him.

After watching everyone else be happy together...

She would have followed him wherever he wanted to go, even if it was on a wild and foolish goose chase to bring back Aleron. She’d kind of just been waiting to see if their bodies could be compatible.

It’s why she’d asked Delora earlier in the day how his dick was supposed to fit and not pulverise her to death.

“I know there’s no other option,” Mayumi said in a sharp and brutal tone. “It’s why I’m not stopping this. However, I just wanted you both to take into consideration how much this will hurt Ingram.”

“Please stop,” Emerie said as she turned around when the tears came back, hotter and more despairing than ever. “I know, okay?! I know. But at this rate, it won’t just be his twin that has died, it’ll be all of you. He... he can find someone else. There’s plenty of people in the world.”

“I like you, Emerie,” Mayumi said with a sigh. “And the only reason I’m not stopping you is because I have a family to think about. Call it selfish, but something in your brain changes when you’re a parent. You will throw yourself and anyone else between your kids and the enemy. It’s probably the only reasonsheis asking you.”

“Then why the fuck are you shouting at me for?” Emerie snapped back.

She wasn’t really shouting, but her tone was harsh and painful against the fragile emotional exterior she had right now.

“I don’t know,” she grumbled back. “Maybe because I think this is fucked up and I wish we didn’t have to do this? I’m angry because we shouldn’t even be in this shitty situation in the first place.”

Emerie spun around and narrowed her stare at Mayumi. “Then can we think of a solution for keeping Ingram away so I can do this utterly fucked thing?”

“Faunus will help,” Mayumi stated. She threw her hand up when it was obvious Lindiwe was about to protest. “He will. I’ll be honest with you. None of the Duskwalkers care about anyone more than their brides. Each of them would throw each other under the carriage if it meant protecting them. Orpheus may be the most selfish and protective, but Faunus is cunning. He will find a way to get the other three to leave, Ingram included.”

Rubbing at her arm, Emerie turned her face away. “Sorry, Mayumi, but I don’t think I can wait.”

She lowered her hand and stomped forward a step. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t wait for you. I know the longer I’m here, the more I’ll cave. I’ll either back out, or if Ingram asks me for my soul, I’ll give it to him in a heartbeat.”

As long as he was okay with Emerie not being able to give him children... of course.

“You’re kidding me,” the woman almost growled. “Are you really telling me I have to stay behind?” When Emerie winced, she threw her hands up. “Why now? Why when I’m pregnant? I could wring Faunus’ neck so hard right now.”

“I’m sorry, Mayumi,” Emerie muttered with her shoulders falling.

“We can do this without you,” Lindiwe stated. “Reia and Delora would be enough of a diversion to keep the worst of the Demons away with Weldir’s magic protecting us.”

“Do you want to know what I’ve been dying to ask since I met his stupid chalky face?” Mayumi sneered with spite. “Why the fuck isn’t he doing anything to help?”

“Because he is unable to. In order to just have avisibleform in this world, he must consume a soul totally, destroying it in the process. It weakens him every time afterwards. He also cannot touch anything here, so he cannot even hold the stone unless he is in Tenebris.”

“Well, isn’t that just convenient?” Mayumi bit back. “I was wondering why the deadbeat hadn’t been helping more.”

Lindiwe’s glare turned so sharp, it was like she wanted to stick daggers into the short woman. “You think this doesn’t pain him? He watches over all of them, and it eats at him that he cannot help. I am both of us in this world, and it’s his magic I use in order to protect everyone. That is how he contributes, because it is the only way he can. Even though it weakens him for me to do so, to the point that sometimes he is forced to sleep to conserve his energy while I drain him more and more. He is at risk of death every time I do so, which will endanger not just us, but the Elves he has sworn to protect.”

Mayumi rolled her eyes and walked to Emerie. “Say I believe you, he or you better figure out how everyone is supposed to make it to the Demon King’s castle within the span of a day, otherwise none of this will work.”

“Like I said yesterday, I have a way.”