“So you would rather just kill me now then? Is that why you banished Seth so it would be easier? ” Zoelyn demanded.
“I banished Seth because he is a demon and has no place in this world. It seemed the more rational action than the one my sword was hoping for. Ryvenken has several grievances against Seth and would have greatly preferred that I end his existence. I chose the more merciful course instead.” Grim explained with a weary sigh before shaking his head at her. “And no Zoey I am not here to kill you. I’m here to warn you of what you will become. For now you have yourself under control and as long as you can maintain that control I am content to allow you to live in honor of the friendship between us no matter how strained it is at this point.”
“How noble of you.” she muttered sourly as she turned her away from him to gaze into the darkened forest. She didn’t want him to see the revulsion on her face, or the hunger in her eyes.
“I am scarcely ever what would be considered noble and we both know that.” Grim corrected her calmly as he rose to his feet. “I am leaving Delvay tonight Zoey. You have cost me too much time already and for both our sakes I will pray I’m not too late already. I came here to warn you and nothing more. As long as you are in control we are at peace, but the moment I see you slip I will put you down. It is the only mercy I can offer and death at my hands will be far gentler than what others would do to one of your kind.”
“If you try to kill me Seth will stop you.” Zoelyn snapped though she couldn’t say why she spoke the words. Grim wasn’t trying to threaten her. He was warning her to never let her guard slip and she knew he was offering a kindness in his own way. He could have just as easily kept his silence and waited for her to grow careless without bothering to speak with her at all.
“And when Seth appears before me next Ryvenken will greet him personally.” Grim returned with a sad smile. “If I thought for a moment that Neph intentionally created you as you are I would kill him tonight, but I think it was an unfortunate mistake in his desperation to bring his sister back. I am trying to respect the love that he must feel for you to go to such drastic measures, but it is difficult for me knowing you will suffer for his sins. I will pray for you Zoey and I hope you can maintain control of yourself for years to come, but consider what I have said tonight and ask yourself how many should be forced to give up their lives so that you can continue to exist. For now it is the slaying of foes, but once the world is at peace it will be murder. How long can you live with that knowledge and truly be happy?”
Zoelyn watched in silence as Grim turned back toward the city then stared numbly down at the pile of death in her lap. Each stone represented someone Seth had killed to sate her and despite that knowledge she couldn’t keep herself from pulling a stone from the bag and clenching it tightly in her hand. Warmth flooded through her as ecstasy and disgust warred in her mind. She knew deep in her heart she couldn’t live with the knowledge of murder for long, but she couldn’t resist the temptation the stones held either. Anything to silence the ever present hunger was a blessing, and for now at least she had enough stones to sate her curse if she conserved them. Perhaps given enough time she could find another way to sate the hunger, but for now she chose to simply consider Seth’s gift as the spoils of war.
Chapter 17
Sanctuary
The air around him hummed with the familiar voices and smells of his city, yet Shade couldn’t bring himself to bother with any of it. The faint yells of vendors hawking their wares drifted up to his perch on the second floor balcony of what had once been the Copper Penny Inn, but they were so far from his thoughts that he couldn’t even focus on what they were selling.
His eyes were locked on the black gem lying on the rough wooden floor before him and he couldn’t pull his gaze away. It was barely bigger than a hen’s egg with bright shining faucets covering its entire surface and looked so perfectly harmless. Another man might confuse it as something valuable, which Shade himself had in fact done the morning he had awoken to find it resting on the table beside him. Then he had examined it and realized what it was, a memory stone.
He wasn’t sure who had left it for him, but he knew the memories inside too well to cast it aside. His entire life rested inside the harmless looking stone with bitter truths hidden in every faucet. Every failure and every success he had ever experienced in his life was resting on the floor before him with painstaking details on how he had been used or tricked into playing puppet for his family. No matter what choice he had made with his life it all boiled down to one simple fact. Myth had been manipulating him and he had been too blind and stupid to see it until someone hand delivered the proof to him in the form of a gem.