The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(54)

“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.

Zoelyn stared at him in accusation and narrowed her eyes before turning to look at Shade. “It was just a dream, and my spirits are decent considering.” she answered as she carried the tea to the table and sat a cup down for both of them.

“Noble? Vosha? Dray? Who are we dreaming about?” Shade asked as he settled in a chair and smiled at her. There were no signs of his former wounds, and he was freshly showered and dressed well. By just looking at him no one would ever guess he had been on death’s door when he had arrived. It was the good cheer that amazed her most though. She had fully expected Shade to be angry or depressed when she saw him. Instead he was buzzing with energy and apparently in a very good mood.

“None of them.” Zoey sighed in frustration and shook her head at Shade. “Shade how can you possibly be this happy knowing what today holds in store for you?” she asked in confusion.

Shade raised an eyebrow at her as he tossed a piece of dried meat to the goblin. The creature scurried from the door to snatch the morsel and then settled beside his chair to devour it. He smiled again and shrugged. “I don’t really see the downside of what today has to offer.” He admitted with another shrug and then busied himself tearing more pieces of jerky apart for the goblin.

“Grim intends to commit suicide and you have to assassinate someone.” Zoelyn reminded him stubbornly.