Page 107 of To Free a Soul (Duskwalker Beginnings #2)

Disappointment deflated Jabez entirely, and he fell back from his crouched position to land on his arse. With one arm across his upright, bent knee, he threw his hand up. “Why the fuck not? Isn’t that what you deities want? Peace and control, so the Elysians can eventually take back their realm?”

“Because it has never been about my wants, but my duty.” Weldir interlocked his fingers in his lap and tapped his clawed thumbs together.

“I’ll have to speak with the others first. With their approval, then I can do so, although it would be in a controlled environment.

I have yet to reveal that I have left my imprisonment, so I must speak with them personally about this. ”

Jabez perked his head up. “So that’s technically a yes, pending the approval of the Gilded Maiden? She has awoken, you know.”

“Of course I know,” he stated curtly, snapping his gold fangs with a light growl. “I’m not so detached from them that I am unaware of what has happened.”

That... might’ve been a small lie.

Jabez nodded and then teleported away, now that he had his answer.

Merikh had long ago stood up, holding a sleeping Lehnenia against his chest with her face planted into his neck and shoulder.

He spoke to Raewyn, who appeared to be attempting to drag him back to his family – he was obviously trying to avoid them – by wiggling her fingers to take back their adopted child.

Since Jabez had been absent from her side, Zylah had willingly approached Delora and Magnar alone. She tried to instigate a conversation herself, and her little bunny tail wiggled – as did Magnar’s fluffy fox one, when he responded to her at all.

It was obvious she was becoming increasingly more comfortable with her parents as the many hours passed.

These things take time, she thought, and it had only really been a day of true understanding of what a family was for Zylah.

The fact that Delora had gotten a hug earlier, when Lindiwe still had never received one, made her a little jealous.

But not enough to quell the joy on her face.

“This is nice,” she murmured. “I don’t even care that we aren’t really a part of it. It’s just lovely to see them all together.”

“You know Nathair will likely tell them of the other Mavka,” he pointed out.

“Duskwalkers ,” she corrected playfully.

“But yes, eventually they must learn that the world is larger than they think it is. He’s a little preoccupied, though.

I doubt he’s given it a second thought considering he only just came back to life six months ago and so much has happened for him – a bride, then a family. ”

“That’s true. He likely wants to focus on those in front of him for the time being.”

“They don’t seem to realise how much they care for each other as siblings, and how much they’ve evolved that this was even at all possible. They love their brides so much and are loved in return – it just makes me so happy to witness it like this.”

I wish this was possible everywhere. She lifted her eyes to the darkening sky. A whole day, from morning to dusk, had been filled with this reunion. I wonder if we can wrangle all of them together in the years to come.

She looked down to see Merikh being surprisingly docile as he spoke to Orpheus. Reia and Raewyn smiled brightly as their conversation deepened, then Gideon and Emerie joined in – both rather humorous and quick to stir laughter.

Emerie’s light skin was covered by a simple blue dress – which was so different to the Demonslayer attire Lindiwe had met her in.

The colour made her bright-orange hair brighter, and highlighted her blue eyes as she smiled at Gideon or Ingram, her partner.

Gideon, wearing a white tunic and black trousers, often returned her smile with dimples forming and a softness in his green eyes.

His hazelnut hair was longer on top than the sides, and even from a distance, Lindiwe could note the shadow of hair across his cheeks and jaw.

The silver rings both he and Aleron wore glinted in the sunlight.

Her eyes fell back to those from Nyl’theria.

I wonder how long they can stay here for. She had already overheard that those from the Elven realm only had a Nyl’therian day here, not that she knew how long that was.

Jabez had resumed his seat on the tree stump, but he didn’t appear as stoic as before. Rather, he pensively tapped across his lips with his elbow resting on his knee, likely thinking over what Weldir had said.

“As much as I hate him... I can see that he has changed, and that he cares for Zylah deeply. Maybe there’s something we can do to help bring them here more often? Maybe you could–”

Weldir gently grabbed her hand and held it within both of his own. It silenced her, as she wasn’t expecting it, and she lifted her gaze to his face. He was peering out over the horizon, expression so relaxed that his long, pointed Elven ears were drooping.

A semi-clear bubble, likely a sound dampener, formed around them, giving them some privacy.

His tone was deep and quiet. “I love you too.”

“What?” she rasped, surprised by the suddenness of it.

Why here? Why now, of all times?

She also hadn’t said it more than once, and that had been months ago, when he’d first obtained his physical form.

“I wanted to understand this body, and what emotions truly felt like, before I answered you. I wanted to be able to say it, confident that you wouldn’t disbelieve it due to my lack of experience.”

He lowered his face and twisted it towards her, the sun glinting off his black horns while making the right side of his face a bright-golden skull. Her gaze bounced over his features, noting the intensity of his eyes as she soaked in the gravity of this moment.

She’d never expected him to say it back to her or feel something that sweet, innocent, and pure. At least not so readily, or so soon, considering he’d barely been truly alive for half a year.

She’d been willing to wait, even if it took another hundred years, to know just how deeply he felt. Or even for it to die out within him now that he could experience life and no longer had a singular Lindiwe to keep him entertained.

She didn’t realise just how insecure she’d felt about it because he’d never answered her confession – until now... when it no longer seemed to matter.

Lindiwe, rendered completely silent, was unable to do more than stare at him wide-eyed and listen to his rich baritone speaking so quietly, so gently, and with solemness.

“You were right when you said that my emotions were based on logic and thought. Now that I can truly feel them, they don’t compare to the unyielding obsession I have with you, your beauty, your very soul.

I’ve been trying to decipher it – the depth of what I’ve felt within my heart from the very moment I obtained one and looked upon you.

But now I know, with utter certainty, it’s that I love you madly.

” His expression grew darker, even more serious, as his hands tightened on the one of hers he held.

“I’ve always admired your strength and have been proud of all you’ve done.

It hasn’t been easy, and I know I have much to make up for, but I’m thankful you chose me, chose this new life with me, even when I offered you an escape. ”

“You... love me madly ?” was all she could croak out, since she hadn’t been mistaken and had heard him correctly the first time. Her breaths were shaky and uneven, and her heart fluttered so shyly it made her stomach flip.

“Perhaps a little too much. It makes it... difficult... to refrain from touching you. I have a godly appetite for everything, and it appears it is rather bottomless when it comes to you.” Then his eyelids drooped, highlighting that his gaze had lowered, and she wasn’t sure if it was on her lips, her breasts, or further down.

“Every time I look at you, my chest swells acutely. It makes me want to take it out on you in a frenzy.” He gave a low, humming chuckle that crinkled his eyes.

“I feel rather mortal when that happens.”

He held her gaze, and hers bounced over his mesmerising features, while every word he spoke tended to the wounds over her heart. Those that had lingered for over three hundred years.

“You are the most beautiful creature I’ve seen, from this world or even my home realm.

Your loyalty has never faltered, and has been as unbending as your strength and will, and I have long ago admired you for these things.

I even appreciate your unfair teasing, and have become quite enthralled by it, now that I have a physical form I can punish you with.

You are soft, kind, intelligent, and brave. You are... perfection.”

A voice off to the side tried to steal her attention, someone laughing while a Duskwalker gave a curt growl in response.

The world had been falling away, and she wanted it to entirely. She wanted to tackle Weldir into a hug but refused to do it in front of everyone – as her intentions afterwards wouldn’t be decent for their eyes and orbs.

Because now that he’d said it, Lindiwe wanted to show it with every inch of her body he so boldly admitted he hungered for. She wanted to love every inch of his new body, so he could feel how much she adored him, from his shadowy golden toes to the tips of his horns.

She leaned a little closer while licking at the seam of her lips.

Weldir answered her with a chuckle, and with tendrils attached to their middles, he threw their babies to the side. They squealed and then fell asleep as they disappeared into thin air – likely to Weldir’s mist realm he often tossed them to for safety, or privacy.

“Come here, bewitching female,” he coaxed, beckoning with a clawed hand. “Let me show you and surrender to you, as you do for me.”

Heart excitedly thrumming, the moment Lindiwe’s hand slipped into his soft, warm palm, they both vanished into thin air as well.