The Crow King's Wife(87)

The look of subdued fury still glinted in his dark blue eyes and Zoelyn could see how much restraint it was taking for him to speak rationally. It didn’t quiet her curiosity though. The fact that Shade had brought both men down with a simple touch was beyond shocking too her.

“What did you do to them?” Zoelyn whispered finally unable to keep silent any longer. Neither man had made any attempt to rise during Shade’s long speech and she was beginning to wonder if they would be able to. It didn’t seem possible that Shade had disabled them so thoroughly but the proof was before her eyes.

Shade flexed his clawed hands once more and then rose slowly to his feet. He continued to stare down at them for a long moment and then glanced back to her. His anger had faded a bit more, but he still wasn’t smiling. “I paralyzed them. The venom should wear off soon.” He answered calmly before turning his attention back to the prone men. “This is how it’s going to be. When the venom wears off we are going to talk like rational adults and sort through whatever issue you apparently have with me Neph. You can both snarl and growl all you like but if either of you so much nudge the other in a fashion I don’t approve of I will drop you both to the stones again, and if you wake up again it will be because I spent my last bit of patience and mercy in allowing you to live. Got it?” He gazed at them both for another long moment and then slowly crossed the room ignoring the silence that followed him.

Zoelyn gazed down at her brother for a moment then looked back to Shade who was pouring a small glass of what looked to be whiskey for himself. Dray stood just behind her still holding the goblin and both of them wore identical expressions of shock. It was clear that she wasn’t the only one amazed by Shade’s actions, even Madren seemed frozen by the events of the past few minutes.

Shade drained the glass and poured another one before turning to look at them all with a raised eyebrow. He gave a faint sigh and sat down on the edge of the table. “I am Morcaillo.” He announced with disgust. “We don’t fight unless we know we can win, and then only when it’s to our advantage. I don’t brawl, snarl or snap at others because I don’t need to and I prefer to voice my anger or push it aside rather than act on it. There are times when even I lose my temper though and I apologize to those who had to witness it.” He bowed his head in her direction and then to Dray and Madren. “But not to those I unleashed my anger on. You both bloody well deserved it.” He added in a harsher tone as his gaze fell on Neph and Grim.

“You bedded a Nightblade.” Neph’s voice was weak and the words were hesitant as he slowly pushed himself up against the wall. Grim was moving now too and a bit more quickly than Neph though he didn’t seem to be any steadier.

“So I deserve to have my jaw broke?” Shade demanded in an incredulous voice.

“You do when you weren’t wearing a bachelor’s ring. The bitch wasn’t trying to kill you Shade. She wanted a child to hand over to Kali and you obliged her with it.” Neph returned harshly. The strength was returning to his voice and he was already pushing his way further up the wall to stand.

Silence filled the room once more and Zoelyn watched Shade down the second glass of whiskey and poured a third with a shaking hand. He had paled at Neph’s accusation, but hadn’t denied it. He swallowed heavily and rubbed his face once more before locking eyes with Neph again. “How do you know that?” he asked weakly.

“Does it matter how I know it?” Neph growled in response.

“So Kali has the Changeling gene to work with now.” Grim said quietly. He let out a long breath and glanced at Neph. “You could have informed him of that before you punched him. Had you mentioned it I probably wouldn’t have objected to you breaking his jaw.”

“So kind, Grim.” Shade said dryly. His head lolled back on his shoulders and he stared up at the ceiling with frustration clearly written on his face. “So we attack Rivasa, rescue your daughter, I break into the prison save Charm, and then somehow locate Kali and steal the child if there is in fact a child.” He spoke the litany in the voice of one that knows he is damned.

“You realize moving against Kali means moving against the entire Nightblades. She is close allies with Hemlock.” Neph growled as he pushed himself off the wall and moved to the table. With a heavy sigh he pulled several more glasses from the cabinet and dropped them onto the table before glancing up at her with a wry smile. “Welcome home Zoey.” He said quietly then poured himself a glass and dropped heavily into the chair across from Shade.