The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (50 page)

“I don’t know Yasny,” Zoelyn began hesitantly
but the dragon waved a hand in dismissal before she could
continue.

“Nonsense. Seth should be grateful that
someone like you cares what he thinks and he is my friend after
all. If he is too blind to realize you care for him, it is my
solemn duty to open his eyes to the fact,” Yasny informed her
sweetly as she began pulling the dresser drawers open one by one.
“Ahh, ha!” she called happily as she pulled a long green dress from
the dresser and turned to face Zoelyn with triumph written clearly
on her beautiful face. “It’s a bit old fashioned in cut, but
beggars can’t be choosers and this color will look wonderful with
the red hair.”

Zoelyn stared at the dress for a long moment
and then smiled widely at Yasny. “I never even bothered looking
inside the dresser. I always just assumed it was empty. I can’t
believe Seth left dresses for me.” She rose unsteadily from the bed
and took the garment from Yasny. The soft velvet of the dress slid
through her fingers as she held it up before her and gazed into the
mirror. Yasny was right. The emerald color of the dress did look
splendid next to her red hair and she couldn’t help but keep the
smile from her face. “It is so beautiful,” she breathed as she ran
a hand down the front of the dress, admiring the delicate stitching
that lined the bodice and skirts.

“You are so beautiful,” Yasny corrected
softly and smiled at her once more. “Well, get changed, girl. With
luck, I can get your hair fixed and have you perfect by the time
Seth returns, and won’t he be surprised to see you looking so
beautiful. There is no way he will be able to ignore you after
this,” she promised.

* * *

Seth slumped against the door as the last of
the visions in the room faded. Anger and grief warred in his mind
as he waited for the seal on the door to release. He wasn’t sure
how much more of his past he could face, but Finn had been adamant
about the penance. Considering his actions, though, Seth supposed
it was the most lenient punishment the Lord of Death could give,
and despite the pain of remembering, he was grateful. Relief washed
through him as the door gave behind him and he stumbled into the
hallway. Quickly, he rubbed his face and did his best to erase all
signs of anguish from his features. Zoey would be awake by now and
he didn’t want her to see him looking so pathetic.

“Are you OK, Seth?” Her voice brought his
head up sharply and he stared in stunned silence at her form in the
doorway of his rooms. It was like looking at a ghost and after the
time in penance it was a fresh wound that he couldn’t ignore. The
dress she wore had been Dashara’s and her hair was the same deep
red. He had never seen Zoelyn’s hair any color but black or white,
and she had never fixed it as she wore it now. His gaze trailed
across the delicate braids and then down to her face and his shock
gave away to anger. There was no way she could have done this by
accident. There were just too many details for it to be
unintentional.

“What are you doing, Zoey?” Seth asked coldly
as he met her eyes and held her gaze.

“I came to find you.” Her voice was hesitant
and a wave of confusion crossed her features.

Uncertainty rose in his mind and his anger
wavered. “Why are you dressed like that?” he asked cautiously. He
tried to keep the desperation from his voice. He needed her to
answer in innocence. He didn’t want to believe she was
intentionally trying to cause him more pain, not after everything
he had put aside to keep her happy. It had taken all of his will to
stay rational when facing Neph, but he had done it for her. Despite
what he thought of the man, he knew Zoelyn cared for everyone she
had lived with in Merro.

“I wanted you to notice me,” Zoelyn murmured
and took another half-step into the room. “I was afraid you only
saw me as a child, and I wanted you to see me as more,” she added
in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

“What else could I see you as, Zoey? You are
a child, though you have never showed it as clearly as you are now.
Do you not realize what I am, you stupid little girl?” Seth
snarled. She flinched at his voice and he instantly regretted his
tone. This was not something he could face rationally right now and
he knew simply walking away would be his best option, but he
couldn’t take his eyes from her.

A breath of desire rose in his chest and his
anger redoubled. He didn’t need this, not with everything else. He
already cared too much for her, though he hadn’t realized it until
she had been wounded. The sheer terror that had seized him when he
saw her fall had prompted his actions, despite how wrong they were.
To save her, he had been ready to face any punishment Finn chose,
but once she was safe, that knowledge had terrified him. If he let
this go farther, Zoelyn was one step closer to becoming a memory to
haunt him in his room of penance. That’s always how it worked.
Everything he ever cared for ended up dead and the only way to save
her was to push her away now.

“I know what you ar, Seth,” Zoelyn answered
at last. He could see the courage it was taking for her to speak,
and a part of him twisted in disgust for his actions. “You aren’t
what they call you, Seth. I know you better than that. You aren’t a
demon,” she added and took a hesitant step toward him.

“Do you?” Seth snapped, his eyes flashing
once more. The desire to comfort her was so strong it almost
crushed his anger, but he forced it down. All he had to do was look
at her now and remember Dashara to know how it would end for her if
he caved in now. He knew she cared for him, and he had fed on that
to reach his goals. He had never even considered that he might grow
to care about her, though. He had thought he was past that.

“I do,” Zoelyn replied and took another slow
step toward him. “You saved me and you have protected me. You
aren’t what they say you are, Seth,” she added with a bit more
confidence in her voice.

“You don’t know me, Zoey,” Seth hissed as he
grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. He had to act now before he
lost his nerve. Turning quickly he pressed his palm flat on the
raven carved door and willed it to open. “You are about to, though,
and maybe it will bring you to your senses,” he snarled as he
shoved her into the room in front of him. He had never shared his
memories before, but this was the quickest way he could think to
save them both. Once she saw what he really was she would be
disgusted, and once he saw that look on her face he could quit
caring about her.

Focusing his will he summoned the earliest of
his memories. “Do you want to see me as the child whore, Zoey?” he
asked as images of a much younger Seth formed. “Do you want to know
how I served the Avanti in the beginning?” He grabbed her by the
jaw and held her face, forcing her to watch as the child image of
him writhed beneath his former master with tears coursing down his
small face.

“I don’t want to see this, Seth,” Zoelyn
cried and tried to pull away from him.

“How about how I killed them all for that?”
he whispered in her ear as the illusion skipped ahead to show the
mangled bodies of everyone he had killed that night. Even the
servant’s children had died under his blade. He had spared no one.
“Perhaps you would prefer to see how I killed my mother?” He forced
the memories ahead to show her the arena where he had fought and
his mother’s pathetic corpse lying below him. He hadn’t shed a tear
for her when he killed her, but his eyes were growing glassy now.
It was taking more effort than he had thought it would to force the
room to show what he wanted. It was designed to play all of the
memories fully, but he couldn’t handle that now and he knew it. He
was already too close to breaking.

“Seth, why are you doing this?” Zoelyn
whimpered, as she pulled on his arm again, desperate to escape his
vice-like grip on her jaw.

“Because you say you know me, Zoey,” he
whispered. He called on the memories again flashing it forward to
the cities he had leveled beyond the barrier. She grew silent in
his arms as she watched him slaughter countless people with a
savage smile on his face. Then seemed to wilt in his arms as images
of disemboweled women and children washed through the room and he
pushed the images past to the most painful. “Maybe you would rather
watch how I let Dashara die?” His voice was softer now and he could
feel her tears coursing over his hand as he held her in place to
watch Dashara being tortured. “I didn’t move a muscle when they
skinned her,” he hissed with as much ice as he could summon to his
voice.

“Enough!” Finn’s voice rang out through the
room and the illusions faded at once.

Seth turned slowly to face the Lord of Death
and wasn’t sure which fact amazed him more. Finn’s presence in the
room, or the sheer power that had echoed in his voice.

Finn glowered at him for a long moment before
motioning to Zoelyn. “Release her, Seth,” he commanded with enough
power in his voice to send most denizens of the Darklands scurrying
for shelter.

Seth’s fingers relaxed and he stepped back
from Zoelyn wordlessly, still staring at Finn in mute fascination.
He had never seen this side of Finn and he wasn’t sure what to make
of it.

“Come here, Zoey,” Finn ordered in a softer
voice.

She rushed to his side at once and Seth felt
his stomach coil at the fear on her face. It was what he had
wanted, but it still hurt to see. He swallowed heavily as Finn
pulled her close to him and wrapped an arm protectively around her.
A flicker of jealousy rose in Seth and he knew he had no right, but
emotions never acted with logic.

“I’m sorry I let this go so far, Zoey. Are
you 0K?” Finn asked softly as he gently pressed a hand under her
chin and forced her to meet his eyes.

Zoelyn sniffled and nodded slightly, but the
hurt on her face was evident.

“She is fine, Finn. I didn’t hurt her,” Seth
snapped before he could stop himself. He didn’t want her comforted
by Finn. He could barely stomach seeing her wrapped in his
arms.

Finn glanced up at him and back down to
Zoelyn and smiled warmly at her. “She will be OK now. She is too
strong to break from something like this.” He spoke in a soothing
voice and Seth bristled further.

Seth knew that voice and that smile. It was
one of his own tricks, and to watch Finn using it on Zoey was too
much. “I said s he was fine, Finn. Leave it at that,” he snarled as
he took another step closer.

Finn glanced back up at him and smiled
coldly. Leaning down he kissed Zoelyn gently on the forehead and
Seth’s anger broke at the sight. He was moving before he even
realized what he was doing with his dagger in his hand. Raising the
blade, Seth drove hard for Finn’s side and nearly fell as Finn
caught his arm in a vice-like grip and stared hard at him. The Lord
of Death had barely moved a muscle to block him and Seth realized
with growing dismay that Finn had baited him and had been waiting
for the attack.

Finn held his gaze as firmly as he held this
arm and smirked. “When you have calmed down, Zoey I want you to
remember this moment. Replay all of this in your mind and ask
yourself who was being the child today,” Finn said coolly as he
slowly twisted Seth’s arm forcing him to drop his dagger. “Jala
will welcome you back with no questions, Zoey, and you will be safe
there,” Finn promised as he summoned the magic to send her from the
Darklands.

Seth watched in silence as she faded from the
room and tried to forget the look of betrayal that was on her face.
She had trusted him, and it had been so long since anyone had
trusted him.

“She didn’t deserve that, Seth, no matter how
disappointed and scared you are,” Finn said quietly once she was
gone. Slowly he released his grip on Seth’s arm and shook his head
at Seth’s confusion. “It must have been difficult to keep your
temper in check once you realized it was Neph that raised her. I
know that had to be devastating to your plans.”

“What?” Seth stammered, eyeing Finn with
suspicion. He had believed Finn was oblivious to everything, but he
was quickly realizing how wrong he was. “Why would that disappoint
me?” he pressed, wondering exactly how much Finn had figured
out.

Finn smirked in response and shook his head
slowly. “Because Neph was my friend in life and he wouldn’t move
against me now. I’m not stupid, Seth. You were searching for a way
out of hell and there are very few sacrifices that would be worthy
of a creature as powerful as you. I dare to say, it likely would
have taken a Divine for you to retain your memories and not become
an Undrae yourself,” Finn explained in a calm voice.

“Why did you allow it, then, if you knew what
I was doing the entire time?” Seth demanded. It made no sense to
him that Finn would simply sit by and do nothing when he obviously
knew that Seth had planned to betray him.

“Because Zoey needed your help and I thought
perhaps she could help you,” Finn answered with a heavy sigh and
gazed around the room sadly. “I was apparently wrong, though.”

“Help me?” Seth stammered and backed away
from Finn shaking his head. “There is no help for me,” he added in
a harsh voice.

“Do you know why I don’t feed you souls,
Seth?” Finn asked quietly. He glanced at Seth as he spoke and
smirked again. “I have been forcing you to face this room and
hoping that one day you might come out of here saying
look what
I did
, rather than
look what they did to me
.” Finn
finished and rubbed his face.

“You are saying all of this was my doing?”
Seth snarled as his anger flared once more. “You think I wanted to
warm a pedophiles bed?

You think I chose to serve the Avanti? I was
a slave, Finn!”

“Life offered you shit, but look what you
made of it, Seth. Your mother handed you over to that monster so
you would live and you slit her throat in thanks,” Finn growled
back and whirled on Seth.