A Soul to Keep: Duskwalker Brides: Book One, page 9
He eats people. And yet, Reia could feel the stir of humour in her chest wanting to share in his laughter, because even she knew how humans reacted to being tickled was odd. It was torture, she couldn’t think of anything worse – other than pain – but it would make her giggle regardless.
“I have completed the spell.” Orpheus stood, towering over her before making his way to the door. “There is a cloth for you to dry yourself with. Once you are done, call out, and I will show you to your room.”
When he was gone, Reia lowered herself until her lips were under the surface of the water and blew bubbles of annoyance. She allowed the remaining heat to soak into her tired muscles and let her head fall limp as she rested.
I’m hungry and tired. As much as she wanted to stay here, she worried she’d fall asleep in the tub at this rate.
She sat up and sniffed her arms to find no smell on them. She knew he’d lathered her in something, but she couldn’t find any hint of what it might have been.
Then she got out, wrapping herself in a large sheet that she figured would make do for a towel. She doubted he had the capabilities to make one. Once she’d hidden her nudity, not that it mattered since he’d seen and touched all of her, she called out to him.
He led her down the hallway to the room directly next to the bathing one. The hallway wasn’t in the centre of the house. The bathing room and the one she figured was going to be hers shared the same side of the hall. They seemed to be narrower than the other side where there was a singular door.
That must be where he sleeps. He would need much more room than her considering his size. I wonder if he sleeps on a nest. She wasn’t interested in finding out.
He opened the door for her and ushered her forward with his hand.
“Are you hungry? I am not good with cooking human food, that is something you will have to do for yourself, but I’ll bring you something you can eat now.”
Reia nodded, and he left her alone once more.
She walked inside the room while closing the door behind her and took it in. There wasn’t much. It was small, longer than it was wide, and there was a place she thought once must have had a window but was now boarded up. The only furniture was a small wooden bed that appeared old and worn, as well as side table and a closet.
Because there wasn’t a lot of room, the bed was pressed against the wall shared with the hallway. Three candles had already been lit on the square side table, and Reia walked over to the closet to see what was inside.
Disturbingly, it was filled with white dresses similar to the one she’d worn here. There were no other colours, no pants, shirts, or skirts. Just wedding dresses.
It was off-putting going through them, wishing there was something other than a bride’s dress to wear, but she’d rather not be naked. She picked a simple one that was so plain it didn’t have any lace or sewn designs at all and decided to make it a sleeping gown for herself.
It appeared someone else already had that thought, because it had been cut to be shorter and more comfortable as not to get tangled in their legs while they slept.
Just how many people have died coming here?
Reia couldn’t linger on that thought. That was the past, and they shouldn’t matter to her. They were already dead anyway. All that mattered was her own survival.
She slipped it on with just enough time before he opened the door and laid a wooden bowl on the end of her bed. It was filled with a handful of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and hazelnuts.
“Fruit?” she asked with a hint of curiosity.
She picked up one of the strawberries and took a bite into it, surprised to find it was deliciously sweet.
“I have a garden where I’ve learned to tend easy to grow human food. It’s not much, but I understand you humans must eat regularly. I have maintained it over the eons.” He tilted his head when she frowned at him with her lips pressing together. “Why is it you appear confused?”
“This is all a lot to take in. I wasn’t expecting a house, nor fresh food like this. I was expecting when you said food that you’d throw a slab of meat at me or something. I just...” Reia rubbed her cheeks, weariness making her eyes heavy. “Never mind. Thank you for the food. I’m tired. I would like to sleep.”
He tilted his head the other way, before nodding.
Reia didn’t know how late it was, and even though the bedding smelt musky and dusty, she crawled into it. It was firm, but still softer than her own bed made of hay and straw, and her blanket was actually animal furs that had been sewn together.
Her heart felt heavy in her chest as she curled into a ball, wary about closing her eyes, but allowing sleep to take her regardless.
Orpheus was disturbed from his slumber with his vision going from black to bright blue in an instant before it settled to its usual soft glow. He’d been startled awake by the tiniest footsteps, the obvious creep of a tiptoe, moving across the floor in front of the door of his sleeping room.
She has awoken. Without moving his head from its laid down position as he lay flat on his stomach, his gaze turned to his window.
It was late morning, and he was still so tired since he’d not slept once on their journey. Even though they’d both slept for what must have been unusually long, he barely felt rested.
After checking on her after a short while to find she was truly asleep, Orpheus had felt comfortable enough to seek his own sleep and recovery. Even though he was nocturnal, like Demons, he would now begin to force himself to sleep late into the night while in the future he would attempt to force his human, Reia, to do same. Hopefully their sleeping patterns could align, both compromising until they slept through dawn and most of the morning.
He sighed when he continued to hear the slow creep of just the pads of a human’s toes touching the ground. She was sneaking around his home. What is she up to?
Forcing himself to his hands and knees, Orpheus rose, scratching at his back and chest, itching due to sleeping in the constriction of his clothing. He didn’t mind the pants too much, but he always found it uncomfortable to sleep in his button-down shirt.
He would have to endure since he couldn’t show Reia his body. She would most likely panic, like many others had. He’d learnt a long time ago that his flesh distressed the humans.
Quietly, he placed his boots on and left his room, not bothering to grab his jacket, to make his way to the living area.
The woman was at the door, trying her hardest to be silent as she yanked on the handle only to find it locked. Of course, he’d locked it. He couldn’t have her going outside by herself.
Coming up behind her, he placed his hand on the corner of the door to keep it in place and stop it from rattling at her attempts of opening it.
“Do you wish to die?” He almost sighed at her in irritation.
Sometimes he wondered if the humans were stupid. They always did this, always tried to leave while they thought he was unsuspecting. They are all the same.
She flinched before quickly turning around to face him with her back pressed against the door and her arms behind her.
“No,” she squeaked as her eyes fell to the side, avoiding his gaze while he towered over her and looked down. “I just wanted to peek outside.”
He wondered if that was a lie.
“If you wanted to see what outside was like, you could have looked through the windows.”
He gestured to the room to point to the one in the cooking area, then the one near the fireplace.
When she turned her head back to him, he knew by the deep narrow of her eyes that she was giving him a glare. Cute, he thought. He found the fiery personality of this little, tiny woman, adorable.
He heard something hard scraping against the wooden door and knew she must have something in her hand. He sent his vision to the table to find one of the three daggers upon it was missing, specifically, the one in particular she’d been inspecting the previous day.
“And where were you planning to go with that?” His voice was laced with both anger and curiosity.
She’d been wise enough to grab a weapon to protect herself, although it would have done very little against a Demon.
“I just wanted to have a quick look outside, okay?” she snapped at him, refusing to bring her hands forward. “I wasn’t planning to run away or anything.” Once more, he wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not, however it almost sounded sincere. “I-I thought I could see the sun through the windows.”
Now that sounded like the truth.
He bent away from her to give her space before stepping back.
“I have something for you.” He walked away to go to his room to retrieve something precious to him.
As he was leaving, he heard footsteps before the dull sound of the dagger being placed onto the table.
When he returned, he was wearing his jacket to hide his body better and held a special piece of jewellery in his hand. He led Reia to one of the chairs in the living area covered in fur skins and got her to sit on the smaller one, although it was still large in comparison to her, before kneeling on one knee with his other foot placed against the ground.
She was complying, for whatever reason, to his wishes.
“This is a protection amulet,” he explained as he began to slip a diadem circlet tiara over her forehead. “It will help to keep you safe.”
The metal was silver in colour but was joined together at the front by swirling links and appeared delicate, as though it might be easy to unlink and destroy. Orpheus knew from experience it was very sturdy. Small, clear, sparkling diamonds were threaded through the swirling links with metal twine and adhesive.
The circling arms were straight as he pushed them underneath her hair, so it was buried inside it, before he hooked the thin chain together at the back of her head to keep it in place. A blue sapphire gem in the shape of a teardrop dangled from the V-shaped point of the circlet tiara. It tapped against her forehead just above the centre of her creased brows when she frowned after he placed it on her.
There were two pins right where the straight circling arms and the ornamental loose links fitted together on either side, and he tried his best with his large fingers not to hurt her as he pushed them through her hair to secure it in place.
“You are giving me a crown?” Her voice was laced with confusion when she reached up to touch it when he was done.
He didn’t get up, choosing to stay kneeling in front of her since she didn’t appear distressed with him caging her into the chair.
Her fear is lessening. By the day, the minute, even the second, he could already smell that scent lessening from her. Even now it was far less apparent than before he’d placed the circlet over her forehead.
It was so barely present that he actually had to lean in closer to smell it at all. And he did, not only to try to detect it, but also to greedily take in her elderberry and rose scent.
The concoction he’d layered her in the previous evening was already dull and waning, but it had never prevented him from smelling her. Since he was the wielder of the magic, it didn’t affect him, only others.
I like her smell. If she wasn’t so wary of him, which he could still see, he would have leaned forward and licked her so he could taste it.
All the humans smelt different. Some smelt like plants, others like fruit, and then there had been the few that smelt wildly unpleasant. Hers is one of my favourites so far.
The meanings behind her berry and flowery smell were symbolic to someone who worked with their meanings. He’d used elderberries occasionally for protection in the past, but he’d never worked with roses before.
He gave a snorting huff of enjoyment, which she must have taken as him saying yes, because she asked, “How do you have this? And why a crown at all? Wouldn’t a necklace have been easier?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t make it,” he answered truthfully. Orpheus didn’t know how to create something like this, something so delicate, pretty, and full of this kind of strange, yet strong, magic. “It was given to me.”
She fingered the teardrop sapphire, flicking it to make it sway against her forehead. “By who?”
“I don’t know that, either. I found it upon my kitchen table eons ago with a note that instructed me to give it to my humans for protection.”
He’d been angered at the time that someone had managed to sneak into his home undetected and not leave a single trace behind for him to stalk in revenge. However, he’d done as instructed with the next offering he’d brought here, and she’d survived a little longer than the others before her.
He raised a claw and tapped the V-shaped point of the metal circlet.
“I have discovered Demons refuse to touch it, and any that had were burned by it like they’d stepped into the sunlight. Strong Demons who are able to withstand the sun for a short period of time are able to touch you still, but weak ones cannot.”
It wasn’t perfect, but he doubted anything would be. The stronger the Demon, the harder it was to kill. They were still unable to hold the amulet, but Reia would be fair game, and they’d eat everything other than her head to appease their hunger.
Weaker ones would scream in agony if they tried to touch her at all.
That was enough to bring him comfort as it was generally the weak ones that loitered in this part of the Veil, besides the odd few. They were intelligent enough to stay out of his territory, and he stayed out of theirs, a sort of unspoken truce between them.
“Why are you giving me this though? Is your house not enough protection?”
“It is so that you can go outside, with my supervision, of course.”
“Wait,” she gasped as she lowered her hands, tilting her head at him which made the teardrop sway and fall to the side. “You’re not actually going to trap me inside?”
“Although that would be for the best,” he said, leaning back so he could roll to his feet and stand. “I have learned that you humans go partially insane if you are locked inside.”
He reached his hand forward, hoping she might take it like she had once before.
“My gosh.” Her voice was high-pitched, but he felt a spark of delight when she reached her hand forward and placed it in his own so he could help her to stand. “Just how many have you brought here to know so much about us?”
“I have a sword in my room if you wish to carry it outside to make yourself feel better,” he said, instead of answering her question.
He knew the amount, but it was many. He’d been taking an offering every decade for over a hundred and eighty years. Reia was his nineteenth, and he was beginning to wonder if perhaps she could be the last.
She is not afraid of me anymore. But he didn’t know how to convince her to stay. He could sense it, knew it from her past actions and words, that she was trying to figure out a way to run – just like the others who had been similar to her.
When she was steady on her feet, she swiftly withdrew her hand, but regardless, she’d held it to begin with.
He still refused to allow hope.
“I don’t know how to wield a sword.”
“There is something I must do outside, and it will take me some time to do it. You are welcome to watch me complete this task and explore once it is done, or I can make you a tea and you can sit inside by yourself.”
Her pretty green eyes fell to the window nearest to them next to the fireplace as she began to nibble on the inside of her bottom lip. He’d noticed she did this a lot, and he was growing ever fascinated by the soft, plumpness of her lips that the action allowed him to see.
Orpheus didn’t want to grow attached to her, didn’t want to be given additional pain that losing a human gave him, but it was hard not to lose himself in her beauty.
Her blonde hair was straight and came down to her waist, but it looked like pure streaks of sunlight. He wondered if they would be as warm as they appeared, or glossy against his direct fingertips without his gloves. Her skin was pale, yet he knew it would be remarkably soft, and he wondered how much it would yield under his palms before it pained her.
The gown she was in wasn’t the one she’d chosen to sleep in, but it was white and hugged her curves. He found all humans were squishy, but she seemed softer, like he could squeeze for a lot longer before he crushed her.
She wasn’t thin, wasn’t thick, but was somewhere in the middle. It made the feminine curves that all women seemed to hold more rounded. Her hips pressing against the skirt of her dress showed their width, and her breasts were straining against the material like it was too tight for their larger size.
“I really would like to see outside,” she eventually grumbled, taking his attention when he realised he’d been swallowing her entire body with his gaze – not that she would’ve known since his orbs wouldn’t show this.
“It is decided, then. First, you must bathe to hide your human scent.”
Her face paled, and Orpheus felt the tickle to chuckle in his chest.
After, once again, trying her hardest not move while he washed her with his gloves on, Reia dressed in the gown she’d put on when she got out of bed.
Part of the reason she had wanted to go outside earlier was because she’d truly thought she’d seen sunshine and wanted to know if her eyes were casting illusions. The other reason was because she’d been cuddling into her pillow when she’d awoken and realised, because she’d moved it from pressing against the wall, she had seen marks.
Inspecting them by using her thumb to brush over the carved straight lines, she immediately knew what they were.
Days. They were the carved markings to show how many days someone had been there. That was already ominous, especially since only eight days had been marked, but it was the fact that it appeared as though other people had marked into the same etchings to count their days as well.
Not just one, but a few. The deep gouges of the first three days marked that many didn’t make it that long. Five was next, and it seemed only one had made it to eight.
It was creepy, and she’d felt the urge to flee.
