“There,” he stated, uncrossing his legs while simultaneously pushing off the ground to stand. “You have your answer.”
Delora and Magnar were quick to rise, so he didn’t tower over them, and the Phantom readily took a defensive stance. She’d become rather stupidly brave over the last few years.
“Zylah,” she rasped, but immediately quietened when she received a growl in response.
“I have made my choice!” Zylah exclaimed, and Jabez knew by the shaking tone of her yell, and the way her fur puffed, that she was agitated and likely very confused. “I wish for you to leave me...us... be!”
Zylah rose to a crouch before quickly leaving – as if to say she’d hear no more on the subject. She didn’t enter their shared cave, instead escaping into the forest to put as much space between her and them as possible.
He was surprised she’d abandoned him with strangers nearby, since she could be rather protective and possessive of his presence.She must be extremely upset.
His chest tightened in sympathy, causing his forehead to furrow in deep concern for her.
Looking away from where Zylah ran off through the ferns and shrubs, he connected eyes with Delora. Her pain-filled tears did nothing for him. Jabez refused to allow his victory to be worn on his face like a prick, but it sure as shit radiated in his chest cavity.
He had been chosen; it’d been a long time since someone had done that for him.
And she will be presented with that choice again... and again.
“You...” Delora sneered in his direction.
Jabez folded his arms across his muscled torso and let his head fall to the side. “Me.”
“What you’re doing here is wrong.”
“How so?” he asked, cocking a brow at her. Confidence widened his stance and straightened his posture, but he couldn’t deny his cautiousness at being alone in the presence of enemies – a Mavka, no less.
He hid his wary regard of Magnar by lowering his lids in abject boredom.
“You know what you’ve done to us!” she screamed, making him wince at the high-pitched, eardrum-vibrating tone. “To them!” She placed her hand over Magnar’s wrist, clutching it as if she needed additional support.
My poor fucking ears.They twitched as they rang, his sensitive hearing making it far worse.
“I’ve done many things. It comes with living for centuries.” Growing tired of the conversation now that Zylah was no longer present to hear the truth within it, Jabez gave them his side as he shooed them with a wave of his hand. “I’m expecting you to take your leave now, and you best do so to prevent upsetting her further. She will only turn on you should you try to fight me or go after her.” Yet, his arms loosened their fold as his lips thinned pensively. “But... you are welcome to return.”
Delora’s brows twitched as they furrowed, and she rasped out, “Pardon?”
“I have no intention of getting in your way. If you wish to visit, you are welcome to.” He raised the forefinger of his right hand. “However, you must do so alone and without the others, or I will see it as an attack – and Zylah likely will as well. I’ll make sure we’re gone before you even reach us.”
Another lie, but a threat nonetheless.
Magnar tilted his head at Jabez, his orbs taking on a curious yellow glow. It was nice to see something other than red. “Why would you allow this?”
He shrugged as if he didn’t know, but he did. Whether it be he was indebted to Zylah, or just felt...guiltover what he’d done, something inside told him this was best. With him nearby to control any situation, what harm would there be?
“The likelihood of us being here past winter is low. But if you come searching for her, I won’t interfere,” Jabez informed themas he straightened once more, before letting a rather vicious glare fill his face. “But know that if the Witch Owl is within sniffing distance of me, remember who it is at my side.”
He let that open-ended threat loom over the pair as they eventually – unwillingly – departed. They were slow to retreat, as if their feet were stuck to the earth, but they understood there was little that could be done to change it.
They could fight him, could argue or chase after her, but they had to know it would be a stupid move. It would only enrage Zylah, and it would damage whatever relationship they wished to build with her.
Perhaps they aren’t as idiotic as I first thought.
Turning his gaze up to the blue sky with his cloak shielding him, he took in a fluffy white cloud and a random pair of birds chasing each other.
Weariness set in, the day late for him, and his lack of sleep from the previous day weighed heavily.I wonder what you’ll do when you hear of this, Lindiwe.
That woman was no fool. He doubted she would come near him, not with one of her offspring’s children in potential danger.
