“So I deserve to have my jaw broke?” Shade demanded in an incredulous voice.
“You do when you weren’t wearing a bachelor’s ring. The bitch wasn’t trying to kill you Shade. She wanted a child to hand over to Kali and you obliged her with it.” Neph returned harshly. The strength was returning to his voice and he was already pushing his way further up the wall to stand.
Silence filled the room once more and Zoelyn watched Shade down the second glass of whiskey and poured a third with a shaking hand. He had paled at Neph’s accusation, but hadn’t denied it. He swallowed heavily and rubbed his face once more before locking eyes with Neph again. “How do you know that?” he asked weakly.
“Does it matter how I know it?” Neph growled in response.
“So Kali has the Changeling gene to work with now.” Grim said quietly. He let out a long breath and glanced at Neph. “You could have informed him of that before you punched him. Had you mentioned it I probably wouldn’t have objected to you breaking his jaw.”
“So kind, Grim.” Shade said dryly. His head lolled back on his shoulders and he stared up at the ceiling with frustration clearly written on his face. “So we attack Rivasa, rescue your daughter, I break into the prison save Charm, and then somehow locate Kali and steal the child if there is in fact a child.” He spoke the litany in the voice of one that knows he is damned.
“You realize moving against Kali means moving against the entire Nightblades. She is close allies with Hemlock.” Neph growled as he pushed himself off the wall and moved to the table. With a heavy sigh he pulled several more glasses from the cabinet and dropped them onto the table before glancing up at her with a wry smile. “Welcome home Zoey.” He said quietly then poured himself a glass and dropped heavily into the chair across from Shade.
“I’ve dealt with Hemlock before.” Shade pointed out calmly before sliding into a chair as well.
“In conversation or in actually moving against him?” Neph asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Conversation.” Shade admitted with a frown. He ran a hand through his auburn hair sending it into a tousled mess which only seemed to add to the look of frustration that clung to him.
“Hemlock is a master of time magic. Even if you manage to rescue the child there is a chance he can manipulate time and counter whatever measures you took to be successful in your mission.” Grim pointed out coldly as he joined them at the table. His dark eyes flicked from Neph to Shade and then lingered on the whiskey. He seemed about to pour himself a drink but looked away after a long moment. It spoke volumes for the stress he was under. Zoelyn knew he only drank alcohol when he was at the end of his wits.
“So even attempting it is pointless? Is that what you are saying?” Shade asked in exasperation.
“Unless you kill Hemlock first it is.” Grim replied calmly.
“I don’t even know who Kali or Hemlock are.” Zoelyn pointed out calmly as she joined them and motioned Dray and Madren to do likewise. “By the way you are all acting I’m assuming they are very bad.” She added lamely as she looked at each of them in turn.
“That’s putting it mildly.” Madren sighed as he took a place beside her and rubbed the back of his neck. It seemed to be a habit when he was stressed, and by the expression on his face the skin on his neck would be raw by nightfall. “Hemlock is the leader of the largest Assassin guild on Sanctuary. He is a man with no moral grounding at all and a very sadistic nature. Kali however is the more dangerous of the two. She is chaos incarnate with a knack for life magic that makes every other life mage on Sanctuary pale in comparison. She devotes herself to the creation of new creatures and is responsible for the Bendazzi, the serpents, the goblins, as well as the Blights.” His eyes moved to Dray with his last words and he gave a mildly apologetic shrug.
“And with the Changeling gene she can create new enemies that can hide themselves flawlessly amongst us. The Blights nearly destroyed three countries with their camouflage. Can you imagine how well they would have succeeded had they been able to mimic our leaders?” Grim added sadly.
“Why would she want to destroy us though?” Zoelyn asked in confusion.
“Because she is bloody well insane.” Neph grumbled.
“She was a pariah amongst the Elder Bloods even before the prison was built. It may be some sort of revenge.” Madren offered quietly.
“Because the magical energy from the Elder Blood is what holds the Barrier around Sanctuary and if she can manage to kill all of us off it will weaken the barrier enough for her to escape.” Shade said in a matter of fact tone. All eyes turned to regard him and he shrugged on shoulder in response. “That is my Father’s goal at any rate so I assume it’s what Kali is after as well.”