The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(56)

“As close as we are, I wouldn’t have thought there would be many. It appears I’m wrong, though. I won’t pry them all out of you, but I want to know why the herald of Death just took your son without a fight from you,” Neph replied stubbornly and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Are you going to trade me secrets? I’d love to know what War was talking about something in your vaults.” Jala crossed her arms in a mirror of his own and he could see the stubborn glint in her eyes.

“Fine, but not in the hallway. Let’s go to my room,” Neph shot back and waved a hand back down the hall. “The temple,” Jala suggested.

“My room,” Neph insisted and narrowed his eyes. “I may revere the gods, but that doesn’t mean I trust that they are on my side. The Divine watch over all, and I’ve never been anyone’s favorite.”

“Fine. Your room,” Jala relented and followed him quietly down the hall.

Neph waited for her to step inside and closed the door. With a flick of his hand, he activated the protection wards on the room and crossed to his chair. With a sigh, he dropped into the cushions and propped his feet up on the small table while watching her. She still had a frantic look to her eyes, but seemed to be calming a bit. “Why did Seth take your son?”

Jala swallowed heavily and gazed around the room. Her eyes settled on a half-full bottle of wine and she crossed to it in silence. Raising it to her lips she took a long pull and gasped as she lowered it. “It’s a long story in truth, but I will try to condense it,” she began slowly as she walked back to his bed and sat down on the foot with the bottle dangling from her hand. Eyes downcast, she turned the bottle and stared at the label for a long moment before speaking again. “When Jexon killed me, I didn’t expect to come back. Death despised me and I knew once I was in the Darklands I was finished. Within moments of arriving there, however, Seth appeared and took me directly to his master.” She paused and took another drink, swishing the bottle as she lowered it. “It was Finn sitting on the throne.”

“What?” Neph blurted before he could stop himself.

Jala shrugged and nodded her head. “Pretty close to my reaction. I was stunned and speechless and devastated all at the same time. Did you know, when you kill a Divine you take their power and their place?” she asked with a bittersweet smile and chuckled darkly when he shook his head. “Neither did Finn, so now he is the Lord of Death,” she said as she pulled the holy symbol from her night robe to dangle it before him. “Hence, my reverence for Death now.”

“That bastard is responsible for my afterlife if I die?” Neph grumbled and shook his head in disbelief. “Shit. I have seen Finn forget to dress fully before leaving the hall. I shudder to think of my soul in his care,” Leaning back farther in his chair he rubbed his jaw as Jala took another long pull from the wine bottle. She didn’t drink often, but when she did, it usually ended poorly. “So, Seth takes Legacy to see his true father in hell. That’s got to be mentally scarring to a kid,” Neph concluded dryly. “Was this your idea, or Finn’s?”

“Seth’s idea,” Jala said miserably. “And now he has taken Zoelyn and I don’t know why and he kept calling her Undrae. The Shifters in Glis despise her for her powers, Neph, and Seth is a Shifter. What if he kills her? There is nothing I can do to protect her there and she was in my care. She doesn’t deserve to die. She was trying to protect my son from him.” The words poured out of her and she fell back onto his bed, the wine carefully balanced in one hand while her other rubbed her face.

“From what I heard through the door, he didn’t sound homicidal,” Neph offered with a shrug.

“When he was alive and still working as an Assassin, his call name was The Gentleman. He never sounds homicidal, Neph. Seth can smile and wink at you as he slits your throat.” Jala’s voice rose with the words and he could see her panic returning. “I have to get to the Darklands,” she added in a low whisper.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Neph said quickly. “Finn is the Lord of Death right?” he asked as he dropped his feet down from the table and rose from his chair. The last time Jala had journeyed to the Darklands it had nearly killed her and he wasn’t about to let her go again even if it meant knocking her out.

“I just said he was, didn’t I?” Jala snapped as she sat up on the bed with an expression on her face that was equal parts irritation and concern.

“Then pray. Finn will hear you,” Neph ordered.

“Well in that case it would have made more sense to go to the temple now wouldn’t it,” Jala grumbled her eyes narrowing at him.

“Jala, temples exist for our comfort so we have a place to recognize our faith. The gods do not require us to be in a certain spot to hear us.

They are gods, after all. Hold your symbol and pray,” Neph said gently and settled back into his chair once more. He half expected her to bolt for the door at the mention of going to the Darklands, but to his relief she seemed to be listening.

“Fine, then explain what is in the vaults while I plead with my dead husband,” Jala sighed as she wrapped her hand tightly around her holy symbol and closed her eyes.

“It is times like this that I realize my life will never be normal,” Neph sighed and waved a hand toward the bottle. “Share the booze and I’ll pour my heart out.” Wordlessly, Jala handed over the bottle and he took a small drink. She hadn’t left much and he considered grabbing another bottle, but decided a dry throat was better than a drunk Jala.