“Are you okay?” she asked, wiping a bit of blood and sweat from his face with the sleeve of her dress.
“Oh Hun, don’t do that. I’m filthy,” Finn said with a shake of his head pushing her dress away gently. “Yes, I’m fine. I just need a minute.” Turning his gaze to her, he frowned and shook his head. “You shouldn’t be here, it isn’t safe here. I thought you had training with Neph tonight. If I would have known you wanted my company I wouldn’t have come to the pits. We could have gone to dinner or to a nice fest hall. This is a horrible place for you to be.”
“I did have training with Neph tonight. It’s just that something came up and I had to talk to you and I wasn’t sure if I could reach you through a mental link. So, Neph brought me here,” she explained.
“What came up?” he asked curiously.
Fishing the note out of her bag for the second time that night she handed it to Finn. He frowned when he saw the writing and glanced at her darkly. With an incoherent grumble, he unfolded the note and began to read. He paused halfway through and looked at her in disbelief. “So, let me get this straight. Shade finds a man-eating creature that he barely knows and sends it to you?” he asked with a bit of an edge to his voice.
“Well, I suppose he assumed that I would be fine with it, considering who I’m married to and what my familiar is,” Jala responded dryly. “Keep reading Finn,” she urged and flipped the paper lightly.
Grumbling once more, he finished the note and handed it back to her. “This could have waited until I got home. You didn’t have to come here to tell me this. Why did Neph bring you here?”
“I thought you said you weren’t mad?” she said, watching him closely.
“Do you feel any anger from me, Jala? It’s concern, not anger. I don’t want my wife in this part of the city,” he said, glancing over to the card table. “I’m leaving, Val, I’m taking Jala back home,” he called in a louder voice.
“I’ll be joining the two of you,” Neph said, rising gracefully from the table.
“Just a moment,” Valor called back, gathering his winnings quickly before standing. By the expression on his face it was obvious Valor was not at all pleased with his surroundings either. “I’ve got to gather our winnings from the bookies,” Valor said as he brushed past Finn.
“Have someone gather that kid I left alive in the pit and have him sent to The Copper Penny. I’ll pay for his room there,” Finn said as Valor headed down the stairs. Glancing back at Jala, he looked up to Neph. “She is walking between the two of us until we are back in the Academy grounds. If anyone even looks at her funny, kill them,” he ordered.
“No, don’t kill them for looking at me funny,” Jala objected quickly, falling in behind Finn as he headed down the stairs.
“I will use my own discretion, Jala. I’m not homicidal,” Neph assured her, giving her a gentle nudge to speed her progress.
They reached the floor quickly and Finn began clearing a path, roughly shoving any who moved too slowly from his way. To her amazement, no one objected to the treatment. As soon as they saw who had shoved them, they moved farther from his path.
“Are they all scared of you?” she asked quietly.
He gave a snort and nodded. “As they should be,” he replied, not pausing in his progress toward the door.
When compared with the close confines of the warehouse, the night air was fresh as the country to her. Inhaling deeply, she cleared the smell of sweat and blood from her senses and looked toward the alley for Marrow.
We will catch up with you. Head for the Academy. We are hunting, the Bendazzi’s voice came the moment her thoughts had turned to him.
What are you hunting? she asked him, half afraid of his answer.
One of Emily’s brethren. She sensed it near the pits. She says he was drawn by the blood smell. We are tracking him to find the hive, Marrow explained.
Be careful please, she urged, though she knew the words were needless. Marrow was a seasoned hunter. He would of course be careful.
I will see you soon, Marrow assured her and his voice faded from her mind.
“Jala?” Finn’s voice broke through her thoughts, and from the tone of his voice she guessed it wasn’t the first time he had said her name.
“Sorry, I was talking to Marrow. He will catch up with us,” she explained and looped her arm through Finn’s.
“Use that cleaning spell on me, Vezradesh, I don’t want to get you filthy,” Finn urged and she quickly cast the spell. Nodding his approval, he wrapped an arm around her waist and began guiding them back toward the portal stone.
“Do you have any idea where Jail or Wisp are tonight?” Neph asked, quietly glancing at Finn.
“Jail is in jail. He punched a Justicar earlier,” Finn answered with a light chuckle and Neph rolled his eyes in response.
“Why? And for how long is he in jail?” Jala asked, her voice filled with concern.
“The Justicar said something he didn’t like I suppose,” Finn replied with a shrug. “He won’t be in there long. Don’t worry. He is a Mind mage. At most it will be a couple of days. He does this shit all of the time. I think he just likes messing with them,”
“I think he craves attention. Perhaps he was neglected as a child,” Neph offered, his tone sarcastic.
“Wisp, on the other hand, I think I saw her with Sovann earlier, not positive,” Finn said, his words drawn out.
“Then we should go to Sovann’s,” Neph concluded.
“Shouldn’t we be waiting for Valor?” Jala asked, glancing over her shoulder toward the Pits as they neared the portal stone.
“We will wait for him at the stone. He is a big boy. They won’t pick a fight with him,” Finn assured her and looked over to Neph. “Why should we go to Sovann’s? Have you seen where he lives now?” he asked, his tone filled with distaste.