The Crow King's Wife(64)

Zoelyn nearly dropped the tea pot as she whirled to face him with a look of shock on her face. “Dray? No!” she gasped and shook her head quickly. “Aspects no, Grim. Dray is barely more than a child himself. He is like a little brother in my eyes. He watches over me and I try to look out for him.” She explained quickly then frowned as her eyes moved to the faint dawn light outside the window. “Though in truth he has been spending more time with Vosha these days than me.” She admitted with a sigh.

“Vosha?” Grim queried and she could see him turning the name over in his mind trying to determine if it belonged to a man or woman.

“He is one of the Dragons that serves house Merrodin, and before you ask, no the dream was not about Vosha either.” She answered quietly and turned to set the water to boil. She spent several minutes busying herself with mixing tea herbs and thought he would let the matter go, but when she turned back to him he was still watching her with narrowed eyes. “For the love of the Aspects, Grim you are not even kin to me. Why are you so protective?”

“Who else do you have to look after you, Zoey?” he asked calmly. He ran a hand through his dark hair ruffling the white tips before moving back to the table. “The least I can do is make sure you will be ok before I go.” He added quietly.

“I will be in Delvay. Neph won’t let anyone near me there.” She assured him with a sigh. She wasn’t really sure what Neph would think about Seth’s promise though. The memory of the last time Seth had appeared in Delvay was still very clear in her mind, and it had been apparent then that the demon had her brother over matched. If it came down to a fight between the two of them Neph didn’t have a chance.

“Why would NephonDelvayon care about you? He barely cares for anyone aside from himself.” Grim objected mildly.

“He is family.” She answered simply as she pulled the hot water from the stove.

“Why were you in Arovan if he is your family?” Grim demanded with more anger in his voice than she expected.

The look on his face was one of quiet fury and Zoelyn was glad she had mentioned it before they arrived in Delvay. At least this way she had time to explain everything before it could come to blows. Grim wasn’t the sort that sought out a fight, but he wasn’t one that shied away from violence either. If he thought someone deserved to have their teeth knocked out, he would happily do just that.

“He thought I was dead, Grim. He would have come for me had he known I still lived, and I had amnesia remember? I didn’t contact him, and he had no way of knowing otherwise.” She felt a pang of guilt as she spoke the words, but she wasn’t ready to admit to him what she really was. Grim had always treated her fairly, but then he didn’t know everything about her. He knew she carried a curse, but he didn’t know exactly what it was, and she wasn’t ready to explain it to him yet. Just the thought of having him look at her with the same disgust his father had shown made her cringe.

Footsteps sounded from the hall before he could speak more on the topic and Zoelyn cocked her head at the sound. It was too quick of a pace for Jala or Valor, and Legacy was too small to make that much noise. The door burst open as the steps grew closer and despite herself Zoelyn jumped. She let out a faint sigh as Shade fairly skipped into the room and shook her head slowly as she pulled another cup down from the cabinet. She gazed at the goblin trailing along behind him with amusement. Shade was the only person she could think of that would tolerate the creature. Even Jala had seemed uncertain of it.

“Good Morning to you both.” Shade chirped in a voice that was far too cheerful for a man that had been crippled hours before. “Are you ready to destroy a country, save a child, make an alliance with people that despise us, and break into the best protected prison on Sanctuary?” He asked brightly with his gaze directly on Grim.

“Yes, yes, no, and no.” Grim replied calmly. He was watching Shade cautiously. “It’s rather early to be drunk or on whatever drug you are partaking of.” He pointed out calmly.

“I have two eyes. I can walk and I have insanely stupid goals ahead of me. Why wouldn’t I be in good spirits?” Shade responded with a grin that bordered on madness. “How about you Zoey? In good spirits today?” he asked turning his attention to her when he realized Grim’s opinion of the day apparently wasn’t going to change.

“She started her day off with a dream about a man she won’t mention and nearly gave herself a concussion from falling on the floor.” Grim informed Shade before she could even open her mouth to reply.