The Crow King's Wife(71)



Zoelyn couldn’t blame her. The sight of the creature was holding her attention as well, and she only hoped Dray hadn’t noticed the look of horror that had crossed her face when he had picked it up. It was like seeing Seth dead, and a part of her was wailing like a child at the sight of it. She knew how Dray felt about Seth however, and she knew she should feel the same way after all of the charm magic the demon had used on her. That didn’t mean she did though.

“It’s just a bird, Zoey. He doesn’t suffer when one of them dies he only loses his sight into our world for a time.” Shade whispered to her in a reassuring voice.

“How do you know that?” She returned softly in a voice she hoped only he could hear.

“It’s a guess based on the fact that Dray is still walking around with a quiver full of black arrows. If Seth suffered when a crow died I think he likely would have killed Dray with the first dead bird.” Shade replied with a faint smile.

“Why can’t my friends just get along?” Zoelyn sighed heavily.

“My sentiments exactly.” Shade grinned and draped an arm lightly across her shoulders. With a gentle tug he began leading her toward the Spellhawk. “It comes with power I think. The more powerful you are, the harder you are to reason with. It’s kind of funny when you think about it though. The higher up the evolutionary ladder we climb the more base and primal we become.”

“Why aren’t you difficult to get along with then? Jala says you are more powerful than most you just don’t show it.” Zoelyn asked softly.

Shade smiled widely and too her amazement gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. There was a faint tingle as her curse nipped at his life force and she mentally scolded herself for not controlling it in time. She hadn’t been expecting Shade to touch her on bare flesh though, but if Shade minded the fraction of lost power he didn’t show it at all.

“Thank you for that. My ego can use all of the bolstering it can get today.” Shade said with genuine gratitude. With a faint chuckle he shrugged one shoulder and gazed toward his ship. The goblin was already milling by the steps and by its agitated stance it had been waiting there for a while. “I don’t follow any of the rules I suppose. I think that’s why I can’t seem to find my place in this world. I keep looking for others that think like me, and I’m slowly realizing I’m a broken mold. There aren’t any others like me. Jala is close, but I still find myself shaking my head at her. She is doing what she has to in order to be a High lady, and I understand that. It simply tells me that I could never be a High Lord.”

“So what are you going to do after you deal with Rivana and rescue the prisoners in Sanctuary?” Zoelyn asked as they paused beside the ship.

Shade grinned at her and dropped his arm from her shoulders. With a heavy breath he shrugged then opened the door and motioned them all inside. “Damn good question. I’m sure I’ll think of an answer when the time comes. I’m good at impromptu.” He spoke cheerfully, but Zoelyn didn’t miss the glint of sadness in his blue eyes as he turned away. His words were positive, but she could see clearly that Shade didn’t fully expect to survive to the end of it all and so he hadn’t bothered to consider what he would do after it. He dropped his arm from her shoulder before she could press the subject and she watched in silence as he opened the door to his ship and disappeared inside it. There was no hesitation or fear in him at all. Her eyes moved from the door and followed Grim and Dray as they moved toward the ship. Neither of them looked concerned either, only determination lit their faces and she wondered how many friends she would watch die before Sanctuary finally knew peace. “Even one would be too many.” Zoelyn whispered as she stepped into the ship.





Chapter 9





The Darklands





The throne room was hollow silence aside from the steady tapping of Finn’s finger on the table top. Seth watched with growing impatience as the Lord of Death stared down at the game board between them. It had been Finn’s turn for nearly ten minutes and Seth was beginning to wonder if Finn was truly contemplating his next move. He leaned back in his chair ignoring the creaking of his leather armor and wondered if he should even bother trying to bring Finn’s attention back to the game pieces. It wasn’t that he truly had an interest in playing, Fiona had informed him that Finn needed to be occupied and so he was trying his best to occupy the man. Ever since his visit to Jala, Finn had been morose and barely spoke to anyone. Even his judgments over the dead had slackened and once more the spirits awaiting his time were lining the streets.

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