A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 31

A jerk to his legs stirred Jabez awake, just as another yank slowly hoisted his body off the ground until only his elbows rested upon the dirt. Another brought him to his wrists before he was yanked to dangle higher, then higher still. Upside down, with his ankles caught in some kind of binding, all the blood rushed to his head as he tried to regain consciousness.

His eyelids refused to open, too lethargic against whatever they’d done to put him under.

A throbbing in the back of his head told him one thing for certain: they’d struck him hard, and right in the same spot as when he’d been a teenager. With the strength of an Elf-eating Demon wielding whatever barbaric tool they’d utilised, it wasn’t surprising he’d passed out.

Lucky bastards. If they’d hit anywhere else, his strong skull may have stayed intact. Unfortunately, by the pain he was in, the fuzzy disorientation he felt, and the familiar sensation rippling along his head, he knew they’d cracked his skull. They’d given him a rather good concussion.

He’d not managed to heal that injury well as a teenager, and had to let it do so naturally.

His head felt like it was filled with cotton that was slowly being saturated with liquid. Being upside down, the trickle of blood that had begun to slow started up once more, and when he did crack open his eyes, he noticed a large chunk of his hair had turned bright red.

Remaining upside down caused his face and head to heat from excess blood. His heartbeat quickened to try to orientate itself for a natural flow, which only intensified the thumping in his brain and blurred his sight further.

In the muted background, as if he was below the surface of the water, the distressed roars of a creature reached his clogged ears. It sounded both afraid and enraged, and many voices responded to it in kind. A scream burst through the buzz muting his hearing before it quickly died.

Zylah? he thought, and his features twitched. Fuck. My head feels like it’s on fire.

How he’d gotten into this position wasn’t a mystery, but he sure as hell was angry at himself for it. Had he monitored her position better, she may not have been just out of reach when chaos ensued. He could have prevented all this.

Then again, he’d had an inkling that something was wrong halfway through the village.

There had been far more void-like flesh than he remembered, but he thought perhaps these people had allowed new faces to join. No one had looked similar. It was only when they greeted the leader that he knew something had happened since his last visit here.

The male Demon, Lueka, had been much younger than the previous leader, Szala. That had already raised his hackles, but the older leader had been well into his years, an elder who had been alive much longer than Jabez. It wasn’t that unusual that he may have died, especially as he’d relied on a cane to keep his weak body up.

But speaking with Lueka had only deepened Jabez’s mistrust, especially as he’d seen a scheming glint in the Demon’s red eyes. Lueka had acted too cocky, too arrogant, too much like himself when he’d been king of the Demons on Earth.

To see his own reflection in another meant trusting him was unwise, and the closer the crowd came, the further Jabez wanted to distance himself from them. Not a single face had been familiar, and those he’d met here before had not come to greet him amicably.

It was too suspicious, even before they’d done anything malicious.

Then he’d detected magic right behind him. Although his foe had been invisible, he’d sensed them there – enough to land a killing blow before he could even be touched. The Demon had likely eaten many creatures that had camouflaging abilities.

If one person had the ability, he didn’t doubt more did.

It’s likely another had come along and bashed him over the back of the skull just as he reached Zylah.

If she hadn’t been swarmed, he could have teleported to her with ease. But with so many bodies on top of her that he couldn’t even see her, doing so would’ve had him materialising within someone – which would have instantly killed him and the other person.

Every ability came with a weakness, and that was a risky one for his teleportation. So, he’d materialised above the swarm and landed on top of the middle of it, shoving them aside to get to her.

All this did little to change what happened, but it meant his memory was intact. He needed to think so he could figure out the best way out of this, and he kept as still as possible while waiting for the rope to twist enough so he could see.

A horrible squeal had his ears pricking, and something dark clung to his heart when he knew the source. As he managed to orientate his mind, the buzz in his ears softened so he could properly hear the sharp, agonised whines and whimpers of a clearly distressed Mavka.

Zylah, he thought with a wince, trying to find her. There were too many Demons circling him now, blocking his slitted view of his surroundings.

He took note of his wounds and only registered the one across his fractured skull.

Someone grabbed his face and squeezed his cheeks just as he picked up on the string of conversation.

“He smells like an Elf, but he has Demon features,” a male stated, informing Jabez that his damn scent cloak had broken when he passed out. He forced Jabez’s lips apart to expose his sharp teeth to all. “See? He has horns and fangs, but I’ve never seen a Demon bleed red before.”

“He could be a hybrid,” Lueka’s deep voice boomed from the exact spot he’d originally been standing in, like he’d been a spectator to the fight Jabez had joined. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those Elysians began creating a way to infiltrate our numbers and kill us from the inside.”

Jabez considered two reasons as to why they hadn’t immediately begun eating him. One, they usually did this to those who got caught in their trap – probably to share the pieces of him with all. Or, secondly, they wanted to question him now that his hybrid blood had been revealed.

The fact that he’d fallen for a trap at all was infuriating, but the last time he’d come here, which wasn’t long ago, it was peaceful. It meant they’d only taken over recently. This ruined village made it difficult to decipher that it’d been recently attacked.

“He’s strong and fast,” Lueka continued, lifting a hand to cup his jaw and hide his short goatee. “That ability of his to disappear and reappear in another spot may be useful to us.”

Zylah’s scream overshadowed the conversation, and the pounding in his chest doubled at the pained sound. His gut twisted, and clarity flared in his hazy vision.

He found her, and the heat of rage simmered beneath his flesh at what he saw. Tied down by multiple enchanted trappings, many spears lanced her as she tried with all her might to get free. There was no red in her orbs, as it’d snuffed to white in what he thought was pure fear or agony, or perhaps both.

“You promised us food!” a bystander yelled at Lueka. “We haven’t eaten in two days.”

“We don’t give a fuck about his abilities. Our hunters haven’t returned, and many of us are starving.”

“Feed us like you promised! If he’s part Elf, then his meat will help us evolve more than eating our own kind. We can’t mess up this opportunity. What if he escapes?”

Jabez picked up on the string of arguing, but his gaze never strayed from Zylah. Let her go, he pleaded, just as she let out a roar and managed to lunge forward in her bindings when another spear was shoved through her back.

She didn’t make it far. The Demons holding onto the rope dragged her down and slid her back across the ground. They were too strong as a collective for even her.

“Shut that thing up!” Lueka bellowed, turning to her and the fuss she was creating. “How hard is it to kill one creature?!”

“We’re trying!” one of them yelled in return, just as he lost his grip against her fierce tugging. “It’s strong, and we’ve pierced it in the heart multiple times. It won’t give up.”

Because she’d never give up. Because in order to protect itself at all costs, her body would compensate for any injury to ensure she kept fighting or could flee.

His eyes bowed at the state of her fur covered in purple blood, and the way she fought while crying out.

“Break open its fucking head then. I’d like to see it move with its brains splattered.”

Something cold and painful lanced his chest to the point his heart clenched up. At first, he thought it was a weapon. Yet there was no burn, no slice, and no blood, and he realised it had come from within him in reaction to their words.

The threat to her bit into his mind, and his lungs seized on a pant. Despite the languidness of his useless body, he felt a tremor rolling through him, of sickness, of revulsion, of strength.

Jabez teleported, intending to go straight to her side. Instead he fell against the ground face first, like he’d melted from the bindings, and the thud of his head hitting the hard dirt blasted agony through his mind. Trying to get to his shaking hands and knees to pick his sorry body up off the ground, he attempted to teleport to her once more, only to flicker in place.

Shit. I can’t teleport properly. His cognitive abilities with his magic were disrupted due to his injury.

He managed to get to his feet, only to stumble to the side once he was standing. He staggered, half his body trying to crumple as he fought against the languidness and dizzy vision swarming him.

At least being upright stopped his skull from feeling like it’d implode.

“Let her go,” Jabez demanded quietly with a wheeze, stepping towards her with a hand out.

“He got out of the bindings!” someone shouted with a gasp.

“How?! He should be unconscious!” another yelled.

“Shut up and get him!” Lueka bellowed.

Someone dived for Jabez. He dodged while thoughtlessly teleporting and slammed into a person on the other side of the statue. He knocked them over, and the impact of their collision thankfully stopped him from falling.

“Fuck,” he bit out, since he’d been intending to go to Zylah.

He shook his head, feeling inebriated as he tripped forward. He held the side of his throbbing head, his left eye aching as if there was too much pressure behind it. Each step felt like hell, radiating up his bones to pierce behind his eyes.

But at Zylah’s next scream, sharpness rushed into his senses, and the anger within him exploded.

The reason he hadn’t wanted her to come to this realm with him... the reason he’d tried to go the political route as an alternative... was to avoid this. Her pain, having to hear it, see it, scent it.

The taste of her blood and fear in the air was nothing but fucking sour.

How dare they make him witness this!

“Let her go!” Jabez roared, giving up on his ability to teleport at the moment until he managed to heal himself enough to regain full control.

If he couldn’t use his magic, then he’d use his entire body!

He ran and lunged for the first Demon he could find like an animal. With his feet against their broad chest, a rabid snarl erupted for him as he bit into the side of their neck and ripped their throat out. Blood gushed across his face as he swallowed to steal their essence.

He felt the warmth of a rune right next to his heart lighting up. What he’d stolen wouldn’t do much in terms of healing, but it should help him to start gaining back proper clarity. Right now, he was relying on adrenaline and fury to fuel him, but he was aware his impulsive attacks would only hinder him.

He hissed as he jumped off the Demon crumbling to its knees to evade the swipe of claws coming from his left. He stepped on the back of his attacker’s head, and his weight shoved them headfirst towards the ground. At the last second, he extended his legs to quicken their fall, and the satisfying crush of their skull splattering rang in his ears.

Just as a launched spear was about to connect with his chest, Jabez dodged, extending his left leg and placing his hands on the ground to balance himself.

Just as multiple Demons dived for him, Jabez ran forward and then slid on his side to go between their legs. They swiped as he passed them, but he quickly spun and used his right leg to trip the closest one before they could get their claws into him.

Closing in on Zylah and those still struggling to keep her down, he tackled a Demon to get his fangs into their throat. Their claws rent down his back as he drank from them with quick suctions, and the rune next to his heart turned hot.

The fog at the edges of his vision cleared as he let go, although excruciating pain remained.

Jabez refused to hide his blood scent by cloaking it, instead focusing all his mana on his own healing and his magic strength. Black markings around his ankles lit up green as he sensed for any roots hidden beneath the dirt. The resistance of flora chattered to him through vibrations, and his mana whispered back until the ground cracked open and they shot out.

Reddish roots covered in dirt entangled themselves around Demons who dared to come near him. The bindings were easily broken, as he didn’t focus them on temporarily paralysing any individual, instead slowing down his enemies as a whole.

It gave him freedom to stalk his way closer to Zylah, his mind never straying from his singular task of rescuing her.

A snarl so beastly it ripped at his chest to the point of pain burst from him as a Demon raised some kind of club above her pretty skull. He teleported and materialised next to them while in a horizontal position in the air, and he kicked them so hard they flew above their companions holding her down.

He landed above another one holding onto the rope simmering with some kind of enchantment – likely to stop it from breaking, rather than interfering with magic use. He should be able to get them free from here as soon as he was able to touch her.

A few dived on top of her to shield her from his touch, to prevent him from getting near her. And he knew without a doubt they understood he wouldn’t be leaving without her. He had no intention of abandoning this female, no matter what they did.

And they were right.

Running on pure instinct, he dug his nails into the face of the one he’d landed on top of and tore it open. They gave a satisfying scream, letting their piece of rope go to cover their face. He dived for another, tackling them to the ground to get them to let her go.

Someone grabbed the long length of his hair and yanked him backwards, and as he was dragged, he looked up to find it was Lueka. A grin curled Jabez’s lips, and he teleported. The male came with him, Jabez’s hair a bond to his mana manifestation. They didn’t go far, literally just a foot to the left, but he got what he wanted.

Dizzy, Lueka stumbled and released him, giving Jabez the freedom to twist to his front, get to his feet, and lunge forward. He tackled the big Demon to the ground, flipped over him, and then grabbed his horns. Jabez stepped back, teleporting as he did to evade those coming near them, and landed right next to the broken statue of the Gilded Maiden, where it was mostly empty of enemies.

They underestimated me. What he was capable of, the kind of person he was. How ruthless he could be, and how little life mattered to him.

He’d been fighting against Demons his whole life! He trained his body relentlessly, refusing to be the scrawny boy he’d been when he first escaped his prison cell. He was fast , he was agile, and he knew how to fucking kill.

Not giving Lueka a chance to get his bearings or fight with the strength his large body obviously wielded, Jabez gripped his long horns firmly and twisted. The vertebrae in Lueka’s neck popped as he snapped his neck, then just to make sure, he gave an additional twist until the Demon’s face was pointing in the wrong direction. The tight muscles in his throat snapped his face forward when Jabez let go.

A few of the Demons paused their approach, baulking at how quickly he killed their leader. He stepped on Lueka’s body to walk to the other side of him.

Should have let us go when they had the chance.

But the Demons were savage, and his Elven scent in the air was fuelling them. The death of their leader was meaningless, and they dived for Jabez just to get a taste of him.

He jumped before they could reach him and then teleported to Zylah’s side while he was in the air.

He grabbed the back of a Demon’s pale hair, someone obviously lacking any magical capabilities, and threw them off her. He did the same to another, and another, kicking away those that tried to get ahold of him.

He winced when someone from behind managed to get their fangs into his right forearm, but he pulled it forward with all his strength and let them take a large chunk of his flesh.

Jabez roared as he shoved his foot down and just his toes managed to skim the ground. Get the fuck away from her!

Roots sprang from the dirt and wrapped around all those surrounding Zylah. His roar grew louder as he shoved a large wave of his mana into the dirt so he could use them like limbs, and they picked up the Demons who instantly shrieked in surprise. Dozens of enemies were sent flying as the roots dipped back and flung them away, scattering in all directions and crashing into many others.

But Zylah was freed.

Just as he went to touch her, she lunged for him. He managed to dodge her dangerous maw, but her claws swiped across his face. Spittle sprayed from his mouth when she succeeded in tearing his lips, nose, and right eye apart. The point of a claw sliced through his cheek like butter and even dug around a single back fang to pull it out.

Fuck! Jabez hissed at the agony splitting apart his face, but didn’t allow himself a moment to adjust to it.

Blinded in one eye, he teleported behind her and grabbed her calf. It was severely wounded, her blood instantly smearing against his palm, and he gave a strong wince when she yelped, hating that he was causing her more pain.

He didn’t know why he looked up now that he had her, but he thought it may be due to the multiple gasps he heard.

The one who had bitten his arm had red blood dripping from their mouth. A cold chill crept through him, just as all the void-like flesh upon their skin receded to gift them with the Elysian brown of this world. Others had noticed their strange behaviour and the change.

Jabez had to make a choice.

Kill everyone here in order to preserve his life and goal, despite how that could bring further danger to Zylah, or flee to save her from more pain.

Zylah ripped her leg from his loosened grasp, and turned to him with an ominous, rage-induced growl. Yet her orbs were pale red, her fear strong against her Mavka rage. She dived for him, and Jabez made his decision upon seeing the colour.

He darted forward, greeting her head-on to avoid her claws and maw, and met her tackle with his own. He flung himself downwards to shoulder her waist as she leapt above him. The moment their bodies impacted against each other, he closed his eyes to picture where he wanted to take them.

They disappeared, but a deep, disheartening sense of failure came over him in the split second of darkness.

Had Jabez been alone... had this deep tug in his heart driving him to her not been present, things would have ended differently.

What a fucking waste.