“And if you both die in the process?” Jail asked quietly.
“Then they will be slightly delayed on their return home, but they will return, I assure you,” Seth answered firmly. “There is too much that they must do to allow them to rest in peace.”
“And once again we have to trust you,” Neph grumbled.
“Only Jala has to trust me. The rest of you can cry yourselves to sleep every night and chew your fingernails in frustration. It hardly matters to me,” Seth replied with a smirk.
“I trust Seth,” Jala repeated quietly as she stood once more from the table. “Even if he is working for his own interests now rather than mine the goal is the same. Keep Legacy safe,” she added with a shrug to Neph. “Seravae will be taken care of in a week at most. By that time Vaze should be returning from Delvay and we will have the information we need to attack there. That only leaves the Blights to handle and hopefully Shade is making progress there. If we work swiftly we can have this all finished before the council in Sanctuary.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Jail said with a shake of his head.
“Nothing worth doing is ever easy, Jail, and we are saving a world. It won’t be easy, but it will get done,” Jala replied with a faint smile. Her gaze rose once more to meet Zoelyn’s eyes. “You will be staying with Seth longer than last time. A week here is five weeks there, but you will be safe.”
“It gives her more time to learn,” Seth offered with a wink and a nod toward the door. “Let’s gather Legacy and the mountain of toys I’m sure he will want to take. By the time we are done with that, Jala should have her affairs in order here.”
“Be careful, Jala,” Zoelyn murmured as she followed Seth from the room. The day had definitely not turned out as she expected. Jala going to battle dragons, and five weeks in the Darklands. It was enough to keep her awake for days with worry.
“Jala can handle the dragons. There are only two full-blood dragons in Seravae right now. The rest are half-bloods,” Seth assured her as he closed the door behind them.
“I swear you read minds,” Zoelyn mumbled with a faint shake of her head.
“I read expressions and yours screams concern. I had to guess which you were concerned about, though. It could have been Jala, or it could have been five weeks of my company. I chose the answer that was less insulting to me,” Seth explained and gave her a devilish smile. “By your answer, though I was right and you no longer fear my company.”
“I didn’t say that. You are still frightening,” Zoelyn objected quietly.
“Ahh. But from the look on your face in the garden when you saw my messenger, it’s frightening in a good way. Perhaps exciting is a better word,” Seth smiled at her and her breath caught again. It wasn’t the same expression as the one he had used in the council room. It was as if he had two different smiles entirely, one that he showed the rest of the world, and one that was for her alone.
“Maybe,” she whispered and swallowed heavily. “We should get Legacy,” she added in a slightly louder voice, hoping her words would drive his attention elsewhere. She truly had no desire for him to see her blushing.
I could keep you safe. Why do you have to go with him? Dray’s voice echoed in her mind and she turned to look around. She had forgotten about Dray as much as she hated to admit it. Guilt prodded at her as she considered how lost he had been without her the last time she traveled with Seth to the Darklands. It had taken Emily knocking him out to control him until she was back, and she had only been gone for one night.
“I need the time to train, Dray,” Zoelyn explained as she tried to guess where he was. Typically he was near her, but he was using a mental link now, so he could be anywhere in the house. It still amazed her that he was able to use mental links with her at all. Every other person that had tried to use magic on her failed, but Dray somehow managed it.
You could train here, Dray protested, a note of stubbornness rising in his voice.
“I will have longer there to train and Seth knows what I need to work on,” Zoelyn explained calmly.
“Your Blight has an issue?” Seth asked with a smile. He scanned the hallway quickly and his golden eyes settled almost instantly on the wall behind her. “She is coming with me, and she will return when Legacy does. I promise to bring her back in one piece, boy. Surely you can contain your jealousy for a week.”
I don’t like him, Dray informed her coldly. You shouldn’t trust him.
“There are a lot of people that would say the same about us Dray. Don’t trust her, she is Undrae. Don’t trust him he is Blight. I like Jala’s belief of judging on merit,” Zoelyn sighed.
“He is a self-created monster. He wasn’t born a Demon. He chose a path in life that made him one,” Dray said in a quiet voice. It was rare that he actually spoke aloud with others around, and she knew he had only done so now so that Seth would hear as well.
“Everyone can find redemption, Dray,” Zoelyn replied quietly. “If they choose to look for it,” Dray growled.
Seth smiled at the Blight and nodded his head slightly. “Wise for your age. I am a self-created monster. You are correct. Everyone that I murdered, tortured, or destroyed was my enemy. Remember that, Dray before you decide to piss me off.” His smile turned cold as he spoke and he bowed his head once in the Blight’s direction. “We are leaving now. You have a week to exist without her. I think you will survive. Get in my way now, though, and I can promise you won’t.”
“Please, Dray. I will be fine. I promise,” Zoelyn assured him with a smile.
“You have them fooled, but not me. I’m not afraid of you either. When the time comes I will be ready to send you back to hell again,”