The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4)(84)

Hours seemed to pass as Donrey slowly peeled the flesh from his daughter and salted the wounds, adding agony to her already unbearable pain. By the time she finally faded to unconsciousness her voice was raw from screaming. Seth stared silently at what remained of her, trying not to picture how her eyes locked on him once the pain had broken her mind. Her screams had turned to pleas for help and then finally curses before she had fallen silent at last. His gaze slowly lowered, tracing a path down the carved chair to the pool of blood beneath her.

“Kill the boy and take the girl back to my house. I’m afraid the boy already has too much of his mother’s taint, but we might be able to salvage the infant,” Donrey ordered as he stood back and surveyed his work.

“According to the rules I set for Seth, if he behaved well his children lived,” Hemlock said quietly as he watched one of the guards take Davihni from Uindraely.

“I don’t give a f*ck about your games. Kill the boy,” Donrey snapped. He was paying more attention to the jeweled dagger he held than he was either of his grandchildren. Carefully, he wiped more of the blood from the blade and glanced up at Hemlock.

Hemlock nodded once and shrugged. “Sorry, kid,” he murmured as he drew his dagger from his belt.

Seth moved with every ounce of speed that had earned him his deadly reputation. His sword was in his hand and swinging at Hemlock’s neck before the Assassin had so much as moved Dominic in his arms. With a curse, Hemlock dropped the boy and drew both of his blades. Seth slid gracefully to his knees and caught his son with one arm before the child could crash to the hardwood floor.

“I’m sorry,” Seth whispered as he kissed his son’s head softly and summoned magic. Within a breath the boy was gone from the room and Seth was on his feet once more, blades flashing as he parried Hemlock’s attacks with ease.

“Where did you send him?” Donrey demanded, but Seth didn’t even spare him a glance. He would die here and he knew it. He could already feel magic pulsing off Uindraely. It wouldn’t be long before Merro’s most formidable mage unleashed her spells on him. Dominic was safe, though, in the care of the only person aside from Dashara that he had ever trusted. Rose would know him on sight; she had helped during his birth. The healer would keep him safe in Sanctuary and be his shield against Avanti. The only thing that mattered now was taking some of these bastards with him when he went. With a snarl, Seth picked up the pace and smiled as Hemlock staggered back under the assault. It was clear by the muffled curses that Hemlock no longer wanted a fair fight.

“I am going to make you my toy, Seth,” Uindraely promised as her magic lashed out, wrapping him in tendrils of darkness. He s truggled against the magic as the spell attempted to immobilize him.

“Where did you send the boy?” Donrey demanded again in a louder voice filled with fury.

Hemlock moved in quickly as one of the tendrils pulled his arm back and Seth felt the bite of a dagger in his side as the Ass assin took advantage of his current situation. Flicking his wrist quickly, Seth managed to bury a dagger in the man’s leg before he could dodge.

“Like a little puppet,” Uindraely chirped behind him as the tendrils wrapped around his wrists and ankles with bone breaking strength.

Seth knew magic, but the sort that Uindraely worked was the most complicated to counter. It was dark magic that had been forbidden by every culture aside from Merro. Hemlock started to move in again, but Donrey raised a hand to stop him.

“I want the child dead. You don’t allow weeds to grow. Keep him alive until we find the child,” Donrey snapped.

“Going to be rough to do,” Seth informed him with a savage grin as he glanced down at his side. “That dagger was poisoned. I can already feel it coursing through me. The tendrils holding me in place are draining me as well. I just sat in silence while you killed the woman I loved and you think you can break my will in the amount of time I have left to live?” Seth spat at his feet and nodded firmly. “Come try, Donrey,” he urged as he summoned his own magic. This was the exact delay he needed. Uindraely’s magic was complicated to counter, but not impossible.

“I’m going to make you a broken one, Seth. You won’t even remember Dashara,” Uindraely purred in his ear. The woman had actually moved directly behind him. Seth had to fight back the smile as he continued his spell in silence letting them all believe he was simply avoiding answering them. With as much magic as Uindraely had summoned there was no way they could sense his own spell, and not even Donrey knew how adept he was with magic, despite the years he had served House Avanti.