The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (26 page)

“When I know your name, I will use it. Zoelyn
is not your name. Until I learn who you truly are, you are Undrae,”
Seth respon ded calmly.

“I don’t know Seth is truly your given name
should I call you
demon
instead?” Zoelyn grumbled.

“Call me Crow king. Call me Demon. Call me
bastard,” Seth shrugged and smiled at her. “They all fit and none
of them offend me. I’ve earned those names. Finn believes my
current existence bothers me for the wrong reasons. It’s not what I
am that pisses me off, it’s the fact that I died to become it. I
was called a demon long before I actually became one. The word
itself has lost all insult. What I hate is the reminder that I
lost.”

“In the stories, you are an evil spirit,”
Zoelyn said with a glance in his direction. She wasn’t sure how
well he would welcome the topic of his reputation, but the
conversation was keeping her mind from her aching body and her
exhaustion.

“I think I’ve been dead for so long that most
have forgotten who I was in life. Only the High Lords truly
remember me now. In their stories, I am so much worse than an evil
spirit.” His voice had a wistful quality and he shrugged again.
“Water under the bridge. I don’t care what they say about me now.
They can believe I’m simply a spirit and it works in my favor. They
will think I’m weak and can be bound. By the time they recognize
their error they will be dead.”

“Who?” Zoelyn asked with concern. From his
words it sounded as though Seth wanted to kill everyone that spoke
of him.

He paused on the landing of the next stairs
and motioned to a step. Zoelyn watched him in confusion until he
lowered himself gracefully to sit and motioned once again for her
to join him. His gaze dropped to her feet and the blood smeared
tracks she had left on the stairs. “You complain about what I call
you, but you don’t complain about wounds. It makes no sense,” Seth
sighed.

“
Undrae
is more painful than scrapes,”
Zoelyn replied softly as she eyed the stair with longing. “I’m not
sure I will have the energy to get back up if I allow myself to
rest. Can we please just continue?”

“Yasny is waiting near my door. I can sense
her there. I’m inclined to let her stew in her curiosity. She has
to be frothing at the mouth to know who I’ve brought to my tower. I
never bring others here.” Seth grinned, his gaze moving to the top
of the stairs and back to Zoelyn. “Sit and rest. If you don’t have
the strength to continue, I will help you.”

“Who is Yasny?” Zoelyn asked cautiously as
she lowered herself to the cold stone beside him.

“You saw her flying above the palace in her
scaly form. In life she was known as High Lady Yasnara. Her husband
Kaverax is the one circling with her. They were the former leaders
of the Dragons. Yasny is still social. Kaverax no longer cares
about anything,” Seth explained. He leaned back against the wall
and his eyes trailed across her once more.

“How can I touch you without hurting you?”
Zoelyn asked hesitantly. It was obvious he wasn’t going to answer
her question about who he wanted to kill, and she wasn’t sure he
would want to answer this one either. She needed more information,
though, to understand what was going on, and if he wouldn’t answer
this one she had a thousand more to follow it up with.

“Your body craves life and I don’t qualify. I
exist somewhat like you on both sides of living and dead. You have
one foot among the living and one among the dead. For me, it’s
closer to one toe among the living, the rest with the dead. I
breathe. I bleed when wounded. I sleep, and that is about all I
have in common with the living. I don’t eat food or drink or worry
about other bodily concerns. I feel pain, but not pleasure; I know
anger, but not joy. I have just enough life left to remember what I
lack.” He spoke the words nearly in a monotone voice with no
expression at all on his face.

“How do you know so much about what I am?”
Zoelyn asked, her voice faltering again. She couldn’t bring herself
to say the word
Undrae
, even if Seth said it had other
meanings. To her it would always be an insult.

Seth smirked at her and seemed amused. Slowly
he shook his head and turned his gaze to the top of the stairs.
“Lady Yasny led the dragons for two thousand years before Lady
Nerathane betrayed her. I was old before Yasny was hatched. I have
forgotten more knowledge than most people in Sanctuary will learn
in their entire lives. That’s one answer and I could leave it at
that.” He paused and adjusted his dagger before shifting to more of
a slouch against the wall. “I will give you a better one, though. I
knew Uindraely Merrodin far better than most, and you are not the
first Undrae I’ve known. The ones she raised were brutal creatures
with less personality than you have. They were like the Blights;
their thoughts revolved around survival alone.”

“And you are going to help me just to find
out who created me? I don’t understand why it’s so important. I
don’t see how a single soul could mean so much to Lord Death. He
has thousands of souls outside his city.” Zoelyn’s words were
barely a mumble. Her mind was still fully awake and filled with
questions, but her body was failing her. She knew she was
exhausted, but didn’t expect her body to surrender this quickly to
rest. It was taking everything she had just to keep her eyes
open.

“It may not be important to Finn, but it is
very important to me. Uindraely’s magic was supposed to have died
with her. The fact that it didn’t, is a matter I’m afraid I will
obsess over.” Seth spoke quietly, his amber eyes still watching her
every move. “You really do have incredible stamina despite your
current weakness. You should have passed out by now. I have been
dusting the stairs with
Dreamsweet
for the past two flights
and I know you must have absorbed enough of it to knock out a
horse. Yet you are still talking.”

“Why?” Zoelyn managed to gasp as she
struggled to keep her eyes open once more. His words made her want
to panic, but her sluggish body refused to respond to her demand to
stand.

Seth grinned at her coldly. “Because I want
you to be dependent on me, little Undrae. I intend to replenish
you, but I won’t let you know how I did it. If I give you the
secret, you have the power to help yourself. We haven’t reached
that point yet. Until I decide otherwise, you need me if you want
anything resembling a normal life.” He pushed off the wall and
leaned toward her.

Zoelyn shook her head and tried to force her
eyes to focus. Her tongue was thick in her mouth and she wasn’t
sure she could even talk. “You said you would help,” she mumbled as
her vision blurred further. Her thoughts were racing with a
thousand words, but just the few she had spoken had been nearly
impossible to voice.

“I will, but in my own way. I’m not doing
this for you, little Undrae. I’m doing this for me. In time, you
might even understand what I mean by that,” Seth whispered. “That’s
a good girl. Take a nice long nap,” he murmured as her body
surrendered at last and she slumped forward against him.

Zoelyn struggled to open her eyes once more,
but it was taking everything she had just to remain conscious.
Seth’s arms wrapped around her and she felt him lift her carefully.
Her head lolled against his chest as he began climbing the stairs
slowly.

“I was beginning to think she had a poison
resistance,” a woman’s voice echoed from above them on the
stairs.

“This one is strong despite her current
condition. When I am done with her she will be nearly unstoppable,”
Seth replied. “And yet, still under your control,” the woman
purred, sounding entirely too pleased with the idea.

“This is my project, Yasny. Don’t waste your
time attempting to decipher what I have in mind. This girl isn’t a
tool for the sunlit world. She is mine and that is all you need to
know.” Seth’s voice had grown cold with the words.

“I can help you, Seth. Don’t be so hasty,”
Yasny pressed.

“I have never needed anyone’s help. Not now.
Not ever,” Seth replied stubbornly.

“Fine. Be that way,” Yasny sniffed
indignantly. Her voice was much closer now. A hand brushed across
Zoelyn’s face, moving her hair back and the faint smell of roses
mingled with Seth’s spicy scent. “She will be a pretty little thing
when you get her fixed. I thought you said she was from Glis,
though. She doesn’t look Shifter at all.”

“She has about as much Glis blood as I do,”
Seth replied and Zoelyn could hear the smirk in his voice. “I don’t
know where she is from, but I will find out,” he added as he
shifted her once more in his arms.

Zoelyn didn’t struggle at all in his arms.
She didn’t think they realized she was still awake. If she remained
limp and silent they might continue to talk. The more she learned
of Seth’s plans, the better chance she had of pleading with Finn
later.

Seth balanced her for a moment with one arm
and the faint click of a key turning in a lock sounded clearly in
the hall. “Goodnight, Yasny,” Seth murmured and Zoelyn wondered if
he had read her thoughts. It seemed too much of a coincidence that
he had ended the conversation at the exact moment she had been
hoping he would continue it.

“We will talk tomorrow,” Yasny said in a tone
that suggested the words were closer to an order than a
request.

“Most likely,” Seth replied nonchalantly. The
air grew warmer around them as he stepped into the room and closed
the door. He shifted her once more in his arms and chuckled
faintly. “Give up little Undrae. Give in to the
Dreamsweet
and admit I’ve won. I know you can still hear me, no matter how
hard you try to pretend. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t have
used
Dreamsweet
. That particular poison is a royal pain in
the ass to gather. All I want from you is sleep and you have my
word you won’t be harmed.”

“Bastard…liar,” Zoelyn mumbled as he lowered
her to a chair. The soft velvet seemed to cradle her and her body
screamed for her to listen to Seth and give in to rest. Sleep crept
closer as she slumped farther into the cushions.

A faint rustle of feathers sounded to her
right and she could feel Seth crouched beside. He lifted her hand
from her lap and slowly pulled her glove off. The sensation of warm
skin against her own flesh was almost enough to pull her back from
sleep. His fingers traced a gentle path across her palm and her
breath caught in her throat for a moment. It was the first time she
had ever felt flesh against her own without her wretched curse
killing someone.

“I am a bastard in every sense of the word.
At the moment, however, I am your best hope for survival. Jala is
talented with magic, but she has limits on what she can or will do.
I don’t, little Undrae. Remember that.” His voice was as gentle as
his touch as he lowered her hand back to her lap and slowly removed
her other glove. “We are each other’s salvation,” he added softly
as he stood and moved away from her chair.

Sanctuary

Everywhere Hemlock looked, his city was
changing. For centuries, he had been a power player in Sanctuary,
and now the Fionaveir and their wretched Empress were destroying it
all. More screams erupted from the street below and he leaned
forward on his roof top perch for a better look.
The Copper
Penny
was as good as gone. For years, the Tavern had functioned
as a safe haven for thieves and cut-throats and now the Fionaveir
were cleansing it. Three members of the Ravens guild already stood
in manacles while the Fionaveir still fought inside to bring more
of the rogues out. It was the third district of the city that had
been purged in less than a week. It wouldn’t be long before Empress
Symphony was looking in the direction of his own guild.

With the Justicars, Hemlock had known
everything. That organization had been so corrupt that infiltrating
their ranks was child’s play. The Fionaveir, on the other hand,
were impossible for him to infiltrate. Everyone knew everyone among
their ranks and the damned tattoos they wore couldn’t be
duplicated. He was just as clueless about what was going on in his
city as the average citizen, and he hated it. The only advantage he
had over the commoners was his talent with Time magic. That was
chancy at best, though. The future was constantly changing and
while he could look forward to see the possibilities, he had to
guess which future was most likely. It had been days since he had
even bothered to use his magic, though. The last three visions he
had called had been unsettling, to say the least. In two of the
three he had died; in the third he had been stripped of his powers.
So he was stuck gathering information the old fashioned way, by
sitting on roof tops and watching.

With half a night wasted watching petty
thieves suffer, the only truly useful information he could say he
had gathered was the fact that certain key people were missing.
Hemlock made it a point to know the power players of every
organization. It was simply good business when you never knew who
you might have to kill. The Fionaveir had several people that were
on his list to be wary of, and several of them had been missing
from the city for weeks. Vaze being the foremost of his concerns,
and Charm a sharp second. Both men were dangerous, and both seemed
to have vanished from the city entirely. There were others as well:
Isador, Remedy, and Lex. The last two could have been incredibly
useful if the gossip that was circulating was correct. By the
rumors, Lex was, in fact, the younger brother of the Empress and
Symphony was apparently in love with Remedy. Either would have made
an excellent bargaining chip, if he could manage to find them.

Even his gift with Time magic hadn’t helped
him locate those that were missing, however. Vaze was always
elusive and Charm was completely out of the picture. His luck with
the others had been equally disappointing. All in all, life was not
going in a direction he liked.