The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (54 page)

Neph waved a hand absently around the room
and barked off more words that had the distinctive ring of magic to
them. The air seemed to coalesce for a moment and then the
sensation faded. He leaned back on his heels and looked up at her
with an expression still neutral, but his blue eyes were shining.
Almost reluctantly, he released her hand and ran his fingers
through his blond hair, sending it into a state of dishevelment she
had never seen on him before. Shaking his head with a bit of a
chuckle, he dropped back off his heels and fully onto the floor.
Crossing his legs under him, he looked up at her without a trace of
his usual venom showing.

“What was the spell you just cast?” Jala
asked quietly, more to get him to speak again than any true
curiosity. She had a suspicion of what he had cast but to have him
confirm it wouldn’t hurt.

“The room is secure now. No one can hear
anything we say or scry on us without my knowing,” he replied. With
a flip of his hand, he motioned Jail to take the chair he had so
recently vacated and ran his fingers through his hair again. Jail
sat, obviously bewildered by his friend’s change of attitude, and
waited for Neph to speak again. Neph took a deep breath and smiled
at Jail. “Sovann couldn’t answer this question, eh?” he asked. Jail
shook his head in reply and Neph gave a weak chuckle and nodded.
“Doesn’t surprise me, that line was never very religious.” He
cleared his throat and searched for his wine absently, nodding his
thanks and taking a deep swallow when Jail handed it to him.

“What exactly does religion have to do with
it?” Jala asked, her confusion growing.

Neph finished off the last of his wine and
set the empty glass down beside him. He gave another slight chuckle
and sighed. “Do you know what a Divine is?” he asked. They both
shook their heads in answer and Neph rolled his eyes. “Heathens,
the both of you. A Divine is a god in truth, not an Immortal
playing at god for the commons. A true honest Deity. A Divine can
be known by its blood, which is the purest of silver.” He paused
and looked to both of them making sure they were paying full
attention. “A half-blood will have blood that is pale gold in
color. A child of theirs will have a rich gold blood and so on. The
red slowly returns to the blood each generation making it darker
until the silver can no longer be seen. Most Immortal lines descend
from one of the Divine, though it isn’t an easy thing. Often the
child is too powerful for the mother and the birth will kill them
both. Which is why finding anyone with any hint of silver in their
blood, is so rare. I have read stories of it from books beyond the
Barrier.” He paused and looked at Jala with what seemed to be
reverence. “For her to have gold blood means a Divine is imprisoned
with us. That’s the only explanation, if anyone in the High Houses
had gold blood we would know.”

“So, Jala has Divine blood,” Jail surmised
and looked Jala over with a nod. “I could see that from what I’ve
gotten from Finn’s mind. She does seem to be rather
exceptional.”

Jala blinked under the appraisal and shook
her head. “No, my blood was red before the healing,” she assured
them. “This must have something to do with the magic I used or
something. I promise you that neither of my parents were
Divine.”

“You weren’t fully awakened before the
healing. You had never even entered a trance before. Sovann spoke
with me about your difficulty with concentration,” Neph cut in
before she could offer further objections. “I’m not sure what
triggered it, but something did. Your Divine blood is awake now,
and if Sovann thought you were powerful before, he is about to be
overwhelmed. It’s like magic, Jala. The Bloodline will lie dormant.
If you never awaken it, you never develop the powers.” He turned to
Jail and shook his head in frustration. “That’s not the worst of it
though. If anyone else finds out what she is, the High Lords will
either be screaming for her death or demanding her hand in
marriage. It’s a good thing Finn got her out of Morcaillo’s hall
before this happened. If High Lord Morcaillo had learned of this,
he would have killed his own wife to take Jala.”

“So we keep others from finding out,” Jail
offered.

Neph gave him a look of annoyance. “That is
going to become more and more difficult to do, especially with
Rivana wanting her dead now. From what I understand, there was a
Soul Reaver present when she healed Finn. He will have talked of it
by now to someone and the Rivasans will know when they bring their
dead back. It’s going to take more than Finn to keep her safe,
Jail. It will most likely take all of us, Valor and Wisp
included.”

“Why would you help me, Neph? You don’t even
like me,” Jala spoke quietly, her eyes locked on the drying blood
covering her palm.

“I never said I didn’t like you. I simply
didn’t expect you to be around long, so I wasn’t going to waste my
time befriending you. Now, however, I myself will ensure you will
be around, so it’s okay to be nice to you. I don’t care if Finn
loses interest, you will remain in this hall. Unlike the rest in
this hall, Jala, I am not a heathen. I have the highest regard for
the Divine,” he spoke with finality in his voice

“Okay, so we need to get everyone together
and discuss this quietly. Not now, though. She just woke up, and I
think she deserves some time to sort this out. This can wait until
Finn is awake and she feels better,” Jail said, and Neph nodded his
agreement.

Jala smiled up at the big man with gratitude
clear on her face. “Thank you, Jail, and thank you for explaining
everything, Neph. I think I will go back to my room now. I have so
much to think about,” she said, her voice soft and already distant.
Between Anthae’s words and now Neph’s revelations, she thought the
only safe course ahead of her was to find a dark corner off the
charted maps and hide. Hiding wouldn’t bring her family back,
though, and it wouldn’t restore Merro. If she wanted her home back,
she didn’t have much of a choice. There was still the matter of
speaking with the Lord of Oblivion, as well. She wasn’t sure how
she was going to go about accomplishing that. Not only did she not
want to speak with the man responsible for destroying her home, she
sincerely doubted he would have any desire to speak with her.

The one who left us is outside the window,
I can smell his scent on the air,
Marrow’s words drew her back
from her contemplations. She had been pacing her room for what felt
like hours. Frowning, she crossed the room and pulled the curtains
back. Evening had fallen, and the garden beyond her room was thick
with shadow. Pausing only long enough to glance back at Marrow, she
flipped the locks on her window and pushed it open. Leaning
outside, she looked left and right. The night breeze brushed
against her, blowing strands of her hair across her face. Brushing
it back, she looked around again and spotted him not far away,
unmoving and silently watching her.

“Shade, what are you doing here?” she hissed.
While she understood why he had left, she wasn’t sure if her
companions in this hall would. This was not the safest place for
him to be at the moment.

He crossed the ground quickly, stopping near
her. He looked over his shoulder as if he had come to the same
conclusion and was on guard. “I came to see you to make sure you
were OK. I’m so sorry, Jala, really. I should have stayed. I should
have defied him. I have been kicking myself for leaving since that
day.” His words came out in a hushed flood, thick with raw
emotion.

“I understand why you left, Shade. I’m not
angry with you. That wasn’t your fight,” Jala assured him and stole
a glance over her shoulder. “Marrow, watch the door and warn me if
anyone approaches,” she whispered to the Bendazzi and looked back
to Shade.

I should tell them he is here,
Marrow
grumbled. While she had forgiven Shade, the Bendazzi apparently had
not.

“Shade, you shouldn’t be here, it isn’t
safe.” Jala warned him, hoping Marrow’s threat had been an idle
one. He nodded and took her hand lightly in his. “Jala, it isn’t
safe here for you either. You need to get out of Sanctuary. I’m
leaving tonight. I only stayed to speak with you first. Come with
me.”

Caught off guard by his words, she spent a
moment just staring at him. Shaking her head, she blinked and shook
her head at him again, more emphatically. “I can’t leave, Shade,
and I can’t explain why. At least not yet, but I can’t leave.” She
bit her lip and tried to make him meet her eyes, willing him to
understand.

“Jala, they want you dead or in their
control. I overheard my father speaking with Lord Avanti. My own
father wants me dead, as well. I’m going to the Fionaveir, come
with me. Finn can’t protect you, Jala. It’s only a matter of time
before they get him exiled and once they do he is as good as dead.
Please listen to me, I know you care about him, but staying with
him will just make his life more dangerous. They will be more
determined to kill him to get to you.” Shade’s voice was desperate
as he spoke and his grip on her hand had become painful.

Measuring his words carefully, Jala tried to
sort them in her mind. From what he said it sounded as if the High
Lords already knew far too much about her. Still, if she left now,
she would be giving up Merro and Finn. She shook her head again.
“Shade, I can’t leave. You don’t understand. I wish I could explain
it to you, but it’s too dangerous. I have to stay here,” she said
in a hoarse whisper.

“Jala, please,” he pleaded, and his tone
brought glassiness to her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much Shade
cared about her. “I don’t want to leave you here. If you have to,
wake Finn and I’ll get him out, as well, if that’s what it takes,”
he offered finally.

Lowering her eyes, she shook her head once
more and felt the first of the tears trickle down her cheeks. They
had sent her to the Academy for a purpose and until she knew the
reason, leaving here might destroy future chances. She couldn’t
leave now. She had to know more. “I can’t,” she said again, her
voice barely audible.

His grip on her hand slowly loosened, and she
felt his hand fall away from hers. She didn’t look up. She didn’t
want to see the look on his face right now. “Then take care, Jala,
and remember my warning. You are not safe here,” he said finally,
his tone filled with defeat.

The night fell silent, and she didn’t need to
look up to know he was gone. Leaning heavily on the window sill,
she brushed the tears back from her face and hoped she had done the
right thing. Maybe Fortune had sent Shade to get her out of here,
or maybe he had just come. There were simply too many things she
didn’t know right now. Pushing back from the window, she closed it
and locked it back. Not bothering to reset the curtains, she left
her room silently with Marrow padding behind her like a second
shadow.

Finn was still asleep when she entered his
room, and she gave a wordless sigh as she closed the door behind
her and selected a bottle from his table. Glass in hand she sat
down in a chair near the bed and poured herself a drink. It was
possible the drink could settle her nerves. It would be nice to be
more composed when he did wake up. She needed someone she trusted
to help her sort this mess out, and if that meant waiting until
Finn woke up, she was fine with that.

Sunlight shone down on her cheek warming it
to uncomfortable measures. Stirring sleepily, she rolled away from
the light and encountered an obstacle in her movement. Blinking her
eyes open, she stared down at the arm across her. Turning slightly,
she traced its line back up to Finn’s sleeping form. Her gaze
traveled to the table beside the bed and her eyes locked on the
empty decanter with the glass lying on its side near the edge of
the table. Propping herself up on her elbows, she looked down at
Finn and cringed at the pounding of her head. The blankets fell
away from her as she moved, and the cool air prickled across her
skin. Absently, she rubbed her arms and then looked down in alarm
as she encountered nothing but flesh. Eyes widening, she raised the
blanket and looked down at herself. She was entirely naked, without
a stitch of clothing to be seen. The pounding in her head increased
and she dropped the blanket back down, clutching it under her
ears.

“You told me not to give you the potion to
cure drunkenness again, so I let you remain drunk,” Finn said, his
voice still thick from sleep. His eyes were closed and he hadn’t
moved yet.

“We didn’t…uh…we uh,” she stammered, unsure
how exactly she should phrase the question.

Finn’s eyes snapped open and he looked at her
with an offended glare. “I don’t care how drunk you were, Jala, you
would have remembered if we had,” he said, his tone indignant.

“Well, where are my clothes?” She protested
and raised a hand to her head. Raising her voice had been a very
bad idea and her skull felt as though it was going to split
apart.

“You fouled them rather well when you vomited
in my trash can,” Finn replied, his expression returning to his
usual smirk.

Her jaw dropped, and she felt the blood drain
from her face at his words. “Oh, I did. Oh, I’m so sorry,” she
said, her embarrassment now heating her face with a furious
blush.

Laughing gently, Finn shook his head at her.
“I keep six or seven decanters of hard alcohol in my room at any
given time. Surely, you don’t think I’ve never been drunk enough to
vomit.” He tugged her back down beside him and rested a hand gently
on her temple. “I’m not much of a healer but I can cure a hangover.
It’s a skill I’ve honed to perfection,” he promised, and she felt
her headache easing and then fading completely.

“Did I make a fool of myself?” she asked,
fearing the answer.