The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(95)

*





The sound of a door opening brought Zoelyn out of her chair at once. Legacy had worried himself into a fitful sleep hours ago, and she had been waiting on pins and needles since then. Moving swiftly she crossed to the bedroom door and pulled it open. Her eyes searched the darkened entry room frantically until she spotted him by the small window. His back was to her, and she couldn’t see the expression on his face, but from the way he was standing she could tell he was in pain.

“Seth,” she whispered hesitantly.

“You should be asleep by now,” Seth replied quietly without turning.

“I couldn’t sleep until I knew what happened,” Zoelyn admitted softly. Taking a cautious step forward she tilted her head trying to get a look at his face. The cut on his cheek had bruised badly and swollen, but the angle that he stood from her and the shadows prevented her from seeing any more than that. “Are you OK?”

He inhaled deeply and crossed his arms on the windowsill. “I’m fine, little Undrae,. You should get rest,” he replied in a flat voice. He hadn’t called her Undrae in days and the word gave her pause.

Zoelyn watched him for a long moment, but his gaze never left the window. She had no idea what held his attention so fully, but he apparently found more interest in the shadows than in her. “Should I take Legacy back to Finn, first?” she asked cautiously.





“I will do it,” Seth informed her and pushed back from the window. Turning, he crossed the small entry hall and opened the bedroom door. There was a hint of hesitation in his posture as he stepped through the doorway and then he was returning with Legacy held carefully in his arms.

She studied him as he passed her and swallowed heavily at what Finn had done. Bruises lined both sides of Seth’s face and by the way he was moving she could tell he had other injuries. Her gaze moved to his hands and she stared at the unblemished skin on his knuckles. She had helped Dominic patch up enough brawlers to know what marks fighting left. Seth had none, which meant he hadn’t fought back at all.

Seth paused in the doorway to the hall and glanced back at her. He chewed on his lower lip for a moment and let out a sharp breath. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I regretted my lesson the moment I released your arms. I realized I had pushed you too far when you hit me, and if I could take it back, I would. The only solace I have is that you gained ground on controlling your power. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me, but I doubt I will ever forgive myself. It wasn’t right to force you as I did.” His voice was low and the expression on his face was pained. He bowed her head and turned to leave the room.

“Seth, wait!” Zoelyn gasped. The bruises and the obvious suffering were too much for her. He had suffered enough already for the lesson; it wasn’t right to leave him wondering if she truly hated him. He paused once more and turned to look back at her with a questioning look. “You don’t have to wait for my forgiveness, you already have it,” she said quietly. He bowed his head at her words and a faint smile formed on his broken lips. “Just please, Seth, don’t ever do anything like that to me again. I know it helped me overcome part of my curse, but you terrified me so much,” she added in a voice laced with pleading.

“Never again, you have my word,” he murmured in a low voice. “Sleep, Zoey. Let’s put this day behind us and pray tomorrow is better.” “It will be. I will never lose faith in myself again, and I will learn to master my powers,” Zoelyn whispered as the door closed behind him.

Turning, she moved back to the bedroom, a faint smile on her face.

It had been a horrible day, and both of them had suffered, but tomorrow would be better. She knew the cost of giving up now, and she knew she could control her power when she focused herself. That knowledge alone gave her more hope than she had ever known.

At first, she had believed Jala would be her savior. The High lady seemed capable of any miracle, and yet she couldn’t seem to overcome Zoelyn’s failings no matter what they tried. She knew the truth now, though. Jala was her friend and she had helped her find her place in the world. Seth was the true savior, though. He had given her life and purpose, and had yet to ask for anything in return. Dray didn’t trust him at all, but then he didn’t know Seth like she did. He had never seen the sweet smile Seth had, or heard the whispered words of encouragement. Seth was a demon. That was true, but he had been serving penance for so long that he was well on his way to redemption. Dray might not be able to see it, but she did, and she would help him any way she could. Perhaps with her help, Seth could find a new lease on life as well. It would be the perfect way to repay him for everything he had done for her.





*





Seth paused outside the door and let out a long sigh. With a smile, he straightened his posture and summoned enough healing magic to wipe the bruises from his face. The wounds had served their purpose with Finn as well as Zoelyn. Both had reacted exactly as he expected. Finn, of course, had delivered the wounds, but it hadn’t taken long for the Divine’s fury to fade once he realized Seth wasn’t going to fight back. The urge to fight back had been there of course, and he likely could have wounded the Divine, but that wouldn’t have benefited him at all. He knew people well enough to know that Finn wasn’t the sort of man that enjoyed a one sided fight, and it was better for Finn to feel guilt than satisfaction. Seth could work with guilt and he intended to use it as fully as he could.