The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(132)
“No shit, really?” Grim replied dryly. “The gate at Delvay had quite a bit of magic too. I’ll be fine.” He added with a hint of exasperation in his voice. “This is Charm?” he repeated.
“No. I am not Charm.” Lex said with venom lacing his words.
Startled Shade loosened his grip on Grim’s arm and stared at Lex in confusion. As far as he knew there was no bad blood between Charm and any of the Fionaveir, but Lex’s voice spoke of pure hatred. “This is Lex, also a friend of mine.” Shade replied hesitantly.
“Charm is a Guardian. Leave him to rot he deserves it. He helped lock everyone away here to begin with.” Lex hissed and his gold eyes moved to the door of Charm’s cell with absolute loathing written clearly on his face.
“Ok Puppy this is how it is. We came here to rescue Charm. You can be a happy accident that we rescue as well, but if you are going to cause problems when we free the one we actually came here for I will use you as a projectile against the next batch of guards I see coming toward me. I don’t have time to deal with your shit we have to go now.” Grim snarled before Shade could so much as open his mouth to defend Charm.
“Puppy?” Lex growled in response.
“That’s what you call little annoying things that snuffle and growl when they don’t have the ability to truly fight. Which you don’t.” Grim explained as he thumped the cell door separating them to emphasis his point. “Are you going to play good bitch and leave Charm alone or am I going to leave you here to rot? The clock is ticking and my patience is already gone.”
“Why are you in such a hurry Grim?” Shade asked cautiously. His gaze moved back to the door Grim had entered as he tried not to contemplate what it would take to make the Bloody Huntsman nervous.
“The guards that were fighting at the end of the hall broke off the fight and let the prisoners go. I barely caught the end of the orders they received through all the noise, but from what I understood the bloody city is about to be attacked and the Fionaveir can’t waste the manpower on escaping prisoners. I don’t know what is attacking, but if we are going to rescue your friends it would be best to finish while everyone in the city is distracted.” Grim explained quickly then motioned for Lex to step back. His grey eyes traced over the wards on the cell door as he braced his feet. “Step back Shade.” He warned as he wrapped his fingers firmly around the iron bars. Spidery black runes darkened the skin on his forearms as his well-honed muscles began to tense with effort.
Taking several steps back Shade watched in fascination as the wards on the door crackled with bright light and faded into the ink black runes that seemed to be writhing just under Grim’s skin. He could see the Priest’s pain in his clenched jaw but Grim didn’t make a sound as he calmly tore the door from the hinges as easily as he had the others. Casting it aside Grim headed for the cell containing Charm without a moment’s pause.
Shade shook his head in silent amazement before turning to Lex. “I don’t expect you to fight the Fionaveir, but are you in good enough shape to keep up with us while we get you out of the prison?” Lex had always been in peak physical shape for as long as Shade had known him. He had never been the sort of narcissist that Grim and Finn were, but Lex had been in prime fighting shape, now however his body was pale and the muscle tone he had once possessed seemed wasted.
“I will keep up.” Lex replied firmly and Shade could see the emotions warring in his old friend’s eyes. He could imagine the sort of betrayal Lex must be feeling knowing that the people he considered family were the ones that had brought him to the sorry state he was in.
“Good then. I don’t think Charm will be able to so I will be supporting him. If you are willing to help Grim clear a path I would be grateful, but I won’t ask it of you. That’s your choice to make and not a favor a friend should ask.” Shade said with a quick nod as the crack of another broken cell door echoed through the room.
“Do you want the woman too, Shade?” Grim called back to him and Shade turned in confusion.
“What woman?” Shade asked pausing in his steps to Charm’s cell.
“It’s Ingrid. She tried to get Charm out of here a few weeks ago and was caught before she could even examine the door properly. Faramir has been torturing her in attempts to get information from Charm. Are you sure she is even still alive? She didn’t look like much the last time they shoved her back in her cell.” Lex explained with disgust dripping from every word.
“She is living. Her hand moved. If we take her she will need a healer as soon as possible, and she will have to be carried.” Grim explained with obvious hesitation as he looked back at Shade and sighed. “Of course we are taking her. Why did I bother asking?” He muttered the moment he saw the expression on Shade’s face. Once again the Priest set his shoulders and wrapped his slender fingers around the cell door without bothering to wait for Shade’s response.
“I’ll take care of her.” Shade promised. He understood Grim’s hesitation perfectly. It wasn’t that he truly wanted to leave Ingrid behind, Grim simply saw her as an inconvenience they couldn’t afford. He knew Shade would be helping Charm along, and Lex was too weak to carry anyone, which meant as far as Grim could see it he would have to carry Ingrid and still somehow manage to defend them if they ran into trouble.