A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 8

Every so often, Jabez glanced up at the top of Magnar’s home to the two beings seated upon the peak of its slanted roof. The Witch Owl watched over them all with the spirit of the void beside her shrouded in black sandy mist.

Not once had they attempted to mingle with their children and their grandchildren, nor did anyone try to speak to them in return. But they were there, as if they wanted to join the strange reunion distantly, much in the same way Jabez was being forced to. He’d observed them speaking to each other, but not even he was able to pick up on their hushed conversation.

Two little blobby babies crawled over them. The moment one went too far and began climbing down the slanted rooftop, they would float back to their mysterious father. The demigod barely twitched when he used his magic, as if he was able to search for and feel them without looking.

With them there, the entirety of the Mavka family, including every generation, was present.

“What’s the Elven realm like?” Linh asked him, after some time of humming to Nathair.

Jabez mildly flinched, not expecting her to interrupt his thoughts. Actually, he’d assumed they would get up and leave once they were done.

Today was, oddly, full of surprises.

He eyed the Witch Owl and Weldir one last time before looking down at Zylah between his knees. She’d come to rest her back against the stump he was seated upon, and he’d long ago begun raking his fingertips through the collar of fur around her neck to soothe her, content to have her near.

He didn’t want to keep pushing her away when it was obvious she was growing tired and overwhelmed with everyone. So he’d silently given his approval when she sought to lean against one of his knees to rest. Since Linh had been humming, Zylah hadn’t disturbed the quiet and instead basked in it with them.

Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Raewyn stated, “It’s different to here. Earth is much colder, even in the summer.”

He turned his face to the left to greet her as she walked with a tired Lehnenia rubbing at her eyes while holding her hand. With her mobility cane in one hand and the small hand of her daughter in the other, Raewyn stopped when the round ball knocked against his seat. She sat down with her legs straight, and the demonling was quick to lie down with her head in her lap.

“Yeah. I’d say our winters are warmer than this,” Jabez added, lifting his gaze to Merikh who was fast approaching his bride.

“Move over,” Merikh demanded, while shooing his hand at Jabez.

“Get your own seat. This one is mine.”

“I don’t see your name on it.”

Zylah lazily slid her arm over Jabez’s knee and growled at the male Mavka, who let out a grunt in return. He sat his ass down right next to Jabez’s stump to lean his side against it. With one knee bent to make room for Raewyn, he slipped the other behind her for her to lean against and folded his arms as he made himself comfortable.

“It’s called Nyl’theria,” Jabez started, before he, Raewyn, and Merikh cobbled together a description of the world.

Raewyn answered questions pertaining to the Elysians and Delysians there, their governing system, and their way of life. She and Merikh spoke mainly of the city, and Jabez was able to give insight into the forests and Demons there, since they were entirely unfamiliar with life outside the wall.

Even Raewyn asked him a few questions, as she and Jabez had never spoken about what he knew unless it was within the conference chamber.

It took Jabez quite some time to realise he was surrounded by people. He looked to his right at Nathair and Linh cuddling, then to his left to Merikh, Raewyn, and a sleeping Lehnenia, before dipping his gaze down to Zylah between his knees.

I guess I’m not as unwanted as I presumed, he thought, although it was glaringly obvious that this was as far as he’d be welcomed.

There was a very clear distinction between the group which currently sat with him comfortably, and the vast space between the many of those who refused to join them. He didn’t blame Orpheus, Faunus, Magnar, Ingram, Aleron, and their brides for not wanting to be near him.

He’d done too much to them in particular, and their disdain towards him was justified. He appreciated the fact that they’d left him alone, permitting him to remain as a mostly silent spectator without causing any further arguments.

It was more than he’d hoped for.

He allowed a small smile to curl his lips as he spoke to those around him, and even allowed his own inquisitiveness to come to the forefront. He’d always been interested in what Weldir’s realm was like. He now had someone here who had intimate knowledge of it and was willing to share it with him.

I like Nathair, he thought, as he lifted his eyes to the stars and crescent moon that had recently risen to shine above them. He’s calm.

He liked calm, he liked quiet. Like Merikh, he was intelligent, and already the two Mavka had formed a deep bond while being here. They even allowed Jabez to join it by chatting with him in their combined presence, and the strangest sensation overcame him.

For the first time in his life, he was having a semi-normal conversation.

He wasn’t King Jabez, the tyrant Demons revered and feared. He wasn’t the Demon King the Mavka all hated and tried to destroy. He wasn’t Jabeziryth Kiez, the Demon-Elf hybrid child who was an outcast.

He was just... Jabez.

A friend to the bear-skulled Mavka to his left, the half-brother of the Elven woman before him, a new and friendly acquaintance to those to his right, and the mate of the female he loved between his thighs.

His smile grew as tenderness swelled behind his sternum, and he let out a genial laugh when Linh translated Nathair’s next words.

“He called you a grumpypants,” she said, since Merikh made a negative comment about Weldir and his realm.

“I call him grumpybear!” Raewyn exclaimed with a giggle.

“I call him a bull-headed fuck,” Jabez added.

Merikh snapped his fangs at them all as his arms tightened in their fold, and a loud, bullish huff snorted from his nose hole. That was until the tension fled out of him and he let out a mild chuckle, his orbs flaring bright yellow as he said, “Fair enough. I can’t help how I am.”

Then Merikh wrapped his meaty hand around Raewyn’s narrow side and forced her to lie against his chest. Lehnenia let out a disgruntled noise at the change, but remained asleep as Raewyn patted her hair and horns; the little girl was tired from so many new faces and experiences.

Jabez turned his face towards the others sitting in a circle some distance away.

Most of the brides had now curled up with their Mavka to speak to each other while resting in affectionate cuddles. No one was shy about doing so, as if it was normal to be so open. A few of them laughed, as if his negative presence had been accepted for long enough that he’d been forgotten.

Everything was peaceful, tranquil even.

He was glad this was how the day turned out. He was sure he’d see much more of these people in the long, unending, forever future they were all entwined to share.

He wondered how much of it would change as their children all grew and obtained their own brides. Now that he was no longer hunting them, this family was only going to grow, and many new skulls and faces would join it.

And maybe one day the animosity the others held towards him might fade. What would happen in another hundred years to allow for that healing?

With his arms around the shoulders of the female who had changed everything by embracing not only his rotten heart but also his literal soul , Jabez was looking forward to finding out.