The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (32 page)

“Are you okay, Sovann?” She asked.

He blinked a time or two and nodded. “Just
shocked. I’m fine,” he replied hastily.

“Come closer if you wish to know as well, I’d
rather just do this once,” Jala said in a voice that was filled
with exhaustion and dread. Sovann quickly moved his chair closer.
Fortune had told her to not speak of where she was from, but that
no longer seemed an option, and her gut told her the brothers could
be trusted.

She reached inside for her magic and shaped
it to her will. A pale form began to take shape before them,
featureless at first then slowly coalescing into a mirror. She let
her life play out before them in that mirror, showing them her more
important memories as far back as she could remember till her
arrival at the Temple. They watched in silence. She fought back
tears as she watched it all again. She had never actually called
these memories forward on purpose, before. Normally, she forced
them back and tried not to think of them. The mirror faded slowly
out with the last memory and silence remained for a long while. She
sipped on her tea again as she stared down at Marrow. The Bendazzi
was awake now and watching her with those cool, yellow eyes.
Somehow it was easier to push back the tears and be strong when she
focused on him.

“
You have always been strong
,” Marrow
said.
“But even the strong feel pain. To be hurt, is not to be
weak. To let the pain destroy you, is weak, and you have not been
destroyed.”

“Thank you,” she whispered to him, her
gratitude for his words thick in her voice.

“So, who are you really?” Finn asked, now
that the silence was broken.

“I just showed you,” she answered turning her
gaze to meet his.

“You showed me where you grew up and who
raised you, but not who you really are. Bendazzi don’t bond with
farmer’s daughters, Jala,” Finn objected gently.

She gave a slight nod and let out a long
sigh. “Other than what I’ve shown you, I don’t know,” she answered.
She had been thinking along the same lines but hadn’t had the will
to voice it. She leaned back against the couch and gave a slight
shrug then fought back a yawn. She had pushed the memories back
again, and now fatigue was taking their place once more.

“We should let her rest now, Finn; we can
figure this out later. You know enough for now,” Sovann said
quietly.

Finn nodded his agreement and stood slowly,
stretching as he did so. She tried not to stare, but it was hard.
Immortals as a general rule were beautiful. Shade had laughed when
she had asked him about that. ‘Why wouldn’t they all look their
best, they have limitless magic,’ he had replied. Finn Sovaesh was
an exception even to that though every bit as much as Cassia Avanti
was. His body was as toned as one could be. He was slender yet
powerful of build with broad shoulders and the grace of a cat. His
skin was well tanned and showed no sign of scars despite the life
he led. His tawny hair was tousled at the moment and if anything it
added to his appeal. She wrenched her eyes away hoping he hadn’t
noticed and found Sovann watching her with amusement. She blushed
and thanked every god she could think of when Finn left the room
without noticing.

“All women look at him like that. Don’t
trouble yourself over it,” Sovann said quietly.

“It’s not like that,” she objected. Her words
sounded pathetic even to her ears. With Shade, it was simple; she
had never allowed herself to feel true attraction to Shade. He was
a High Lord’s son and so far out of her grasp, the notion of him as
anything more than a friend was laughable. She had, of course, felt
attraction to Shade. One would have to be blind and deaf not to,
but she had pushed it aside.

Finn, however, was not so far above her, and
he had always been so nice to her.
And he is so nice to look
upon
. Her blush returned with the thought and she forced
herself to consider him with logic, reminding herself that he was a
womanizer. He has no interest in women beyond entertainment. He has
admitted that many times.

“So quiet and still blushing, of course it’s
not like that,” Sovann said dryly. “You can have my room to rest.
I’ll show you to it,” he added with amusement in his voice.

“I don’t want to take your room,” she
objected.

“Nonsense,” he said with a smile and motioned
her to follow as he stood.

“We will get some sleep on the couch, Sovann.
Go ahead and go to bed,” Finn said as he entered the room and
tossed a couple of blankets down on the couch.

“We?” She asked at the same time as Sovann,
their voices echoing the question perfectly.

He looked between the two of them and
chuckled lightly. “Jala and I, Sovann. I’m afraid you aren’t
included in that ‘We,’” he clarified, ignoring Jala’s look of shock
completely. She watched him spread the blankets across the couch,
still ignoring the looks both she and Sovann gave him. Marrow made
that curious growling sound that reminded her of laughter. She
looked down at him with a raised eyebrow, and the Bendazzi seemed
almost to grin at her. She could feel his amusement at her
discomfort, and frowned at him.

“Finn,” Sovann started to object.

“Goodnight, Sovann, or good morning, rather.
Turn out the lamp on your way out, please,” Finn said, cutting him
off. He dropped lightly back onto the couch and lay back against
the arm of it. When Jala didn’t move from where she was seated, he
let out a heavy sigh and sat up again. Her eyes widened as he
lifted her fully from where she sat as if she were a doll and sat
her back down in the middle of the couch. “You really aren’t much
help here,” he complained mildly as he turned her legs to face the
same direction as his own, neatly trapping her between him and the
back of the couch. “Good night, Sovann,” he repeated again before
pulling the blanket over himself and lying back down.

She sat there frozen and watched Sovann shrug
and turn off the small magical lamp lighting the room. Obviously he
found it to be a moot point to argue with his older brother. He
left the room and closed the door behind him in complete silence.
Jala remained frozen in the darkness, unsure how to take this odd
turn of events. She stole a glance at Finn who was lying on his
side, eyes closed, looking quite peaceful. She shifted her weight
slightly, and his eyes flicked open.

“Have I ever given you reason not to trust
me, Jala?” he asked quietly.

She gave a slight shake of her head. “No, you
haven’t, it’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m just...” She paused,
unsure what she wanted to say.
I’m afraid of being too close to
you, of getting hurt
, she thought, but kept the words to
herself. Finn had done so much for her that the thought seemed
unfair.

“Just what?” He asked after a moment’s
silence.

“Unsure. I’ve never slept by anyone. I’m not
used to being close to anyone,” she explained, not sure that was
the best answer for her current situation, but maybe it would
do.

He gave her a smile that she seemed to feel
more than see. “You think too much, Jala, and I’m too tired to
think,” he said with a sigh and tugged her down beside him,
covering her with the blanket as he did. “Easier for me to watch
out for you if I know exactly where you are,” he said in a voice
that was barely a whisper.

His arm moved to rest across her waist, and
she stiffened for just a moment. He made a sleepy sound of
amusement but did not open his eyes. Hesitantly, she relaxed and
rested her head on his shoulder. His skin was warm and soft and
smelled faintly of soap and sweat. She closed her eyes finally and
allowed herself to relax and simply enjoy feeling safe. It was a
feeling she hadn’t even noticed she had missed, but now that it had
returned, she realized it had been gone since before the fall of
Merro, before she lost her family, and before her entire life was
placed in other’s hands. Between Marrow and Finn, she didn’t think
the gods themselves could reach her now. She smiled at the thought
and drifted into sleep knowing there would be no nightmares
tonight.

The night was cool for summer and the strong
breeze cut through his cloak as if it were made of lace. Charm
pushed back farther into the eaves of his rooftop perch and kept
his eyes locked on the warehouse. Jala had entered hours ago after
wandering through the streets barefoot. She hadn’t even noticed
when he had quietly dispatched the two men that had been shadowing
her. He wasn’t sure what had her so upset, and it was quite
irritating. He had no way to see inside Shade’s hall any more than
he could see inside Sovann’s warehouse. Both had wards upon them
that would let the owner know when magic was used.

He could, of course, attempt to sneak inside
the building, but had yet refrained from doing so. Lex would tell
him tomorrow whatever had upset her, and as for Sovann’s warehouse,
she was most likely just seeking the comfort of a friend. Perhaps
more than typical comfort, he added silently. He had watched Finn
enter the building not long after her and the young man had a
reputation with women. That would certainly explain why she had
been in there so long and why the building was so dark.

A brief hint of movement from across the
rooftops caught his eye and he noted the faint outline of a figure
before it disappeared once more into the shadows. Isador was
drinking with the Avanti tonight, and even if it had been her, she
knew where to find him and would have come to him directly. He kept
his eyes locked on the distant rooftop, his body tense and as still
as a statue. He would not give himself away with any movement.
Several minutes passed, before he found the figure. It was perched
as he himself was, with a commanding view of the warehouse. Charm
rose slowly, keeping his body shrouded in the deepest of the
shadows. There were very few people that could hide that well and
only two of them were in Sanctuary. With Isador occupied that left
only Hemlock. He loosened his daggers in their sheaths to reassure
himself they would come free easily when he needed them. With the
grace of a hunting cat, he began his slow prowl toward the
Assassin. His movements were slow and precise, and he moved with
more care than he ever had before, but then a man of Hemlock’s
caliber was not exactly easy prey.

“I don’t know who you are, but you are very
talented,” Hemlock whispered as Charm approached. Silently, Charm
cursed the man and stepped calmly from the shadows. There was no
point in hiding since the Assassin knew he was there. He could, of
course, have simply thrown his dagger and hoped Fortune would grant
him enough luck to land a killing blow, but then he wouldn’t learn
why Hemlock was here. The Assassin could simply be waiting for a
convenient time to kill Jala, or there could be other reasons.

Hemlock studied him, his expression hidden
beneath the cowl of his cloak. “How interesting, the farmer’s
daughter has both Sovaesh brothers wrapped around her finger,
despite how they dislike each other, and a Fionaveir guardian.”
With a grace to equal his own, Hemlock stood and faced Charm
directly. “And not just any guardian, but Charm himself.”

“Which should tell you that if you mean to
kill the girl you will not have an easy time with it,” Charm
replied. Hemlock was dangerous, there was no doubt of that, but he
was far from scared of the man. In truth, if a reason came to kill
the Assassin, Charm would hardly be upset by the death.

“I’m not sure I want to kill her yet.”
Hemlock drawled the words and seemed to consider it a moment.
“Maybe hear her scream a bit, perhaps, but not kill her. She is
such a pretty little thing and so perfectly innocent from what I’ve
heard. She would make a nice toy, I think.”

“Make any move at all to harm her and I will
bury you,” Charm promised in a voice as chill as the night air.

“How gallant,” Hemlock breathed, his voice
high and whimsical. “Can I decide what is put on my tombstone?” he
asked, his tone mocking. “How about ‘He fucked my ward before I
could kill him,’ what do you think Charm?”

“I think I’ll feed you to the serpents
instead,” Charm countered. “And before you can so much as look on
her face again,” he added.

“I’ve never actually heard of anyone being
talked to death, Charm. Are you actually going to do something
other than threaten?” Hemlock asked, sounding bored.

A wave of magic washed out from the
warehouse, and Charm glanced that way, unsure of what was just
cast. Hemlock was gone in that brief instant his eyes flickered. He
dropped to a crouch, cursing himself for a fool. Frantically, he
searched the rooftop, looking for the Assassin. He was more than a
match for Hemlock, he knew, but only when he actually knew where
the man was. As silent as he could be, he moved, changing his
position and still searching the area, but there was no sign of the
guild leader anywhere. He couldn’t abandon his post and leave Jala
unprotected, but then he couldn’t remain here, either, without
knowing where Hemlock was.
I have a problem
. He sent the
words to Isador through a fragile mental link and continued to move
away from the failed encounter.

What kind of problem
? she asked, her
voice barely a whisper in his mind.

With effort, he relayed the encounter to her
and his current situation, while trying to keep as much of his
focus on remaining hidden as he could.
Can you leave what you
are about? I may need to leave here, and I don’t want to leave her
unguarded
, he asked, hating to admit defeat in this, but
accepting that he might have to.

“
Already on my way, Charm. I excused
myself when I heard the name Hemlock
, she assured him, and let
the mental link drop so he could focus everything on his current
predicament.