The desire to touch her with a comforting caress was too much for Orpheus to bear. He sheathed his claws and slipped his hand between her knees and head, lifting her face so she’d greet him.

“The Arachnid of Sorrows showed you your family, didn’t she?”

Her lips trembled when they parted on another sob before her head nodded.

“I saw my mother, my father, my baby brother. I heard their voices. I haven’t seen or heard them for so long. Not since I was a little girl.” Her brows drew together and her forehead crinkled into so many creases. He’d never seen anguish this deep on a human before. “A-and they’re all dead, all because of me. Why couldn’t I have died too?”

“How did you kill them, Reia?”

She tried to turn her face away, but he cupped the side of it and kept it firmly faced toward him.

“I brought the Demons to our home.” Heavy tears fell faster. The lines of her glassy eyes pink and raw, her nose and cheeks puffy and red. “I’m a harbinger of bad omens.

That’s why the villagers forced me to offer myself to you.

They wanted to get rid of me because all I do is bring death!”

“What is a harbinger of bad omens?”

He’d never heard of such a term before.

“It’s someone who brings Demons to those around them.

Someone that the Demons don’t kill while eating everyone else.” Her hands raised to clutch his wrist as he continued to hold the side of her face. “I hid in the corner and let my family die. I-I did nothing to save them. It’s all my fault. I think two or three Demons attacked my home, and I brought them there by my cursed luck. I-I’ll probably get you killed too.”

“There is no such thing, Reia,” he answered with a subtle shake of his head while trying to not make it rattle. It was the truth, he knew it to be. “Were you afraid?”

“No? I don’t think so. I just remember sitting in the dark and covering my ears from the gross sounds.”

So, she’s always been with little fear.

“Demons like the taste of fear, and once they have killed, they are consumed by what they are eating. If you weren’t afraid, they were probably too distracted by the blood of your family to even know you were there.” She shook her head, telling him no, as she opened her mouth to rebuff him. “If you were quiet, made no noise and stayed out of sight, without your fear guiding them to you, they wouldn’t have been able to smell you if your scent was already strong in your home.”

“But if I hadn’t just sat there, I could have—”

“Could have done what? Died with them? The moment you moved to help you would have ended up just like your family. You lived simply because you had been lucky to remain undetected, but you did not bring the Demons upon your family. Your home was discovered, and without protection, it was attacked.”

“But my family has lived in that house for generations. We had a protection spell from the Priests to safeguard it.”

He snorted a humourless laugh.

“The magic of humans is weak. If a strong Demon stumbled upon your home, the ward would have done nothing but made it more difficult for it to get through.” He stroked his thumb down the crease where her cheek met her cute nose. “Do not let the lies of what the arachnid said fester inside you. It is not your fault. There is nothing you could have done.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Demons aren’t what humans think they are.

There are many of those that don’t hunt humans anymore since they have done enough of that to become intelligent like me. They live in a town, and if there was the possibility of special humans, they would have spoken about it. I would have known about it.”

“There’s a town of Demons?” Her eyes grew wide in surprise, her tears slowing the more they spoke.

“Yes. It’s closer to the heart of the Veil. You humans don’t know of it because none of you would survive being here long enough to discover it and then leave to tell of it.” He lowered his hand to rest it on the bed next to her feet. “You are not special, Reia.”

To him, yes. Reia was very special to him. But in the terms of what she’d told him, she was not some chosen human with a dark gift. She was normal.

“Thank you,” she whispered, before startling him when she leaned over to wrap her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I feel a lot better now. I just... what they’d said to me felt so real, like the truth.”

He curled his arm around her torso, feeling warmth from her embrace. She hugged me. He almost wanted to crush and squeeze her in appreciation.

“The Arachnid of Sorrows reaches into your deepest sadness and uses the information to manipulate you. She liked the sour taste of it, the salt of tears.”

She’d even begun to wield her power over Orpheus.

“How did she even show me their faces?”

“She, like me, has eaten humans who have magic. It gave her this ability to reach in one’s memories and show you their faces and speak to you with knowledge that only you would know in order to trick you.”

“I-I saw the other humans you’ve brought here.” Tension shot through him like he’d been shoved into an ice-cold bath. She held him tighter when she felt it. “There were so many of them. I’m sorry you’ve lost so many people.”

“It’s fine,” he answered, brushing the side of his skull against her head. “The only one that matters right now is you.”

She gave a giggle that was filled with overwhelming sadness. “That’s very sweet.”

A grumble came from her stomach, a loud one, and she gasped before wrapping her arms around her mid-section.

Pinkness, that had nothing to do from her crying, highlighted her cheek bones.

“Sorry, I’m really hungry. I haven’t eaten in two days.”

White cut through his vision. “What?!”

“All the food was outside. I couldn’t get it.”

Orpheus leapt to his feet, nearly sprinting outside to go to the garden. He couldn’t have his little human be hungry! He yanked a carrot from the ground, knowing enough that they could eat it raw, before picking the remaining strawberries from its bush.

Holding it in his hand, he thought he should have perhaps brought a bowl with him. He did place everything he’d obtained into one, so she didn’t know he had been touching her food with the bare flesh of his hand. Then he dipped a cup into the water and brought it all to her.

“Eat, drink,” he demanded, almost shoving them at her.

“Yes! Water.” She reached for it and gulped it down quickly. She was also swift in eating everything he’d brought her. “Thank you, that’s so much better.”

When she was done, he took the bowl and cup from her, putting them on the kitchen counter before returning.

“I need to wash you. Your scent is attracting the Demons and more will continue to come.”

“But I’m still so tired.” She groaned, wiping her cheek with disdain and grogginess. “Can’t you do it later? I want to sleep more.”

Orpheus shook his head. “The more that come, the more that will linger. If they accidentally brush dirt into the salt circle, it will break it and they could harm you if you are in the yard. You will not be able to sit comfortably in the garden anymore.”