The Crow King's Wife (62 page)

“Finn said to ensure he lived no matter what.
This is the only way I can do that.” Exodus said firmly then turned
her attention back to Shade. With a deep breath she pressed her
fingers tighter against his skull and pulled on the power of her
Aspect once more to steal the gift of mind magic from Jin Han’shy.
She smirked as she imagined the High Lord’s reaction to his sudden
loss of power, but figured it served him right for refusing to use
it to help others.

Leaning forward she used Jin’s gifts to
dominate Shade’s mind and his body began to shift at her command.
It took all of her focus to manipulate the Changeling’s body and
she marveled at how much work was involved even in something as
minor as darkening skin. Several long minutes past before she
slumped back from the prone figure before her, and she smiled in
delight at her handiwork.

“Are you certain this is what Finn meant?”
Nix demanded again in a voice that was several tones higher than
his normal voice.

Glancing up Exodus met Nix’s wide eyed stare
and smiled widely before gazing down at the woman on the floor
before her. She ran a finger lightly across the bronze cheek then
idly twirled a strand of the long mahogany hair around her finger.
“Would you ever guess who she truly is?” Exodus asked quietly as
she admired her work. The woman was a work of art with high
cheekbones and full lips not to mention the figure that curved in a
way that could not be ignored. Men would fall over themselves to
help Shade in his new form. There would be no lacking of protection
for him either. Men would die for a beautiful woman. Jala Merrodin
was a prime example of that fact.

“Just a few minor touches left to do.” Exodus
murmured as she drew on her Aspect once more to borrow memories
from a scattering of people in the city above. Hastily she crafted
them together into a patchwork of memories and planted them
carefully in Shade’s mind. He was horrible with keeping secrets,
and Exodus knew if she didn’t hide the truth from him as well he
would waste the effort she was putting out on his behalf.

It was a simple matter to store his true
memories in the back of his mind and arrange for them to slowly
trickle back to him over time. She wouldn’t steal his identity from
him indefinitely. That would make Finn’s request to save Shade a
moot point. Perhaps though in the time it took for all of his
memories to return Shade would learn how to keep a secret from his
friends. If he was going to survive he would have to. With Myth
hunting him letting even a hint of his true identity slip could be
fatal.

“I sincerely hope you are sure about this,
because I most certainly am not.” Nix sighed as he returned to
dressing the dead man with only occasional glances toward the
beautiful naked woman that lay inches away.

Exodus smiled widely at him and nodded. “It
will work perfectly just you wait and see.” She murmured.

* * *

Pain throbbed through her skull as she slowly
sat up and spat sand from her mouth. Blearily she gazed around at
the rock strewn beach trying to remember why she wasn’t in the
city. Her hand rose to press gently against the throbbing pain in
her skull as her eyes landed on jagged piece of metal before her
then followed the deep gouge in the sand to rest on the remains of
a battered Spell Hawk crumpled against a jut of black rocks.

Scattered memories flittered through her mind
and her eyes widened as she remembered watching the Spell Hawk
plummeting from the sky. “Shade.” She gasped the name and felt her
pulse race. Memories of the man filled her as she scrambled toward
the ship stumbling over the skirt of her sodden dress in her haste.
Frantically pushed her way inside through a gash in the hull and
scanned the remains of the ship.
Shade was a friend from the
Academy. Shade was important. She had seen his ship fall and had
tried to reach him but fallen on the rocks
. The thoughts
circled through her skull refusing to be pushed aside as she moved
clumsily toward the front of the ship. The dress caught at her legs
once more and she had to resist the urge to rip it free. It was
cumbersome and pointless, and she couldn’t remember why she hadn’t
simply worn trousers today.

She stumbled to a halt and all annoyance
faded as she stared down at the broken corpse in the pilot’s seat.
Her heart lurched painfully. “Shade.” She whispered the name as her
knees gave beneath her dropping her roughly to the blood slick
floor.

Despair filled her more deeply than she could
ever remember feeling before as the stinging burn of tears filled
her eyes and the first sob tore from her lips. She couldn’t explain
the complete devastation she felt. Shade had been a friend, but the
agony tearing through her was worse than the loss of a lover. It
struck deeper even than the death of a beloved parent. Her mind
couldn’t settle on any rational reason why seeing Shade’s blankly
staring blue eyes made her want to die beside him, but it did.

Leaning forward she rested her head against
Shade’s cold leg ignoring the blood that smeared along her face as
she shook with violent sobs. It was as if just seeing Shade’s life
end had somehow ended her own and she wasn’t sure how she could
summon the strength to continue.

“Shade! Damn it no!” A man’s voice rasped
behind her and she barely managed to slip out of his way as he dove
for Shade’s body and frantically searched at the neck for a
pulse.

With tears streaking down her face and sobs
tightening her throat she slid further back from the man and
watched as he frantically sought for any sign of life. She knew it
was a useless endeavor. She had felt the cold clamminess of Shade’s
skin. He was dead, and there was no bringing him back. Another wave
of despair coursed through her at the thought and it was all she
could do to keep from curling into a ball of the floor.

The dark haired man fell back away from the
seat with a look of devastation on his face that mirrored her own.
She studied him through her blurry eyes silently noting his pale
grey eyes and the white tips on his hair.
Caleb Faulklin
.
The name rose from her memories with the barest details of the man.
He was from Arovan and had been Micah Arovan’s guard, but she had
no idea why he was here with Shade. His eyes shifted to her and she
looked away quickly and huddled against the wall ashamed of the way
she had been staring. Her mind was grasping for anything to cling
to aside from Shade’s death, but even in her grief stricken state
she knew she had been unbearably rude to watch Caleb so closely as
he struggled to control his own pain.

“Who are you?” Caleb demanded in a hoarse
voice.

She stared back at him but knew her throat
was too tight to even attempt speaking. Silently she shook her head
before leaning back against the wall of the ship as the sobs rose
in her chest once more.

“Who are you?” Caleb repeated louder with
anger clear in his voice. He lunged toward her and grabbed her
wrist then froze as if he had been struck. His pale grey eyes
widened as he stared down at a thin leather strip on his wrist and
then slowly looked back to her. His mouth parted slightly and the
sudden desperation in his eyes made her mouth go dry. Scrambling he
moved closer to her and placed a hand on either side of her face
forcing her to meet his eyes. “Do you know me?” Caleb asked with so
much emphasis on the word
know
that she could only stare at
him in confusion. “Just nod you don’t have to talk yet, but answer
me please. Do you know me?” There was a pleading note to his voice
that she couldn’t ignore.

“Caleb Faulklin.” She replied in a broken
whisper and the desperation in his eyes turned to grief as he
slowly lowered his hands from her face and fell back against the
wall opposite her. She stared at him and for a time her grief was
lost in her confusion. Shaking her head slowly she brushed a strand
of hair from her face then froze as she noticed Caleb’s gaze locked
on her hand. Frowning she slowly lowered her hand to stare down at
the slightly crooked little finger on her hand. Her eyes narrowed
as she tried to remember how she had broken the finger. It had been
crushed and hadn’t healed right, she remembered that much.

She glanced up to see Caleb staring down at
the leather bracelet once more with a pensive look on his face. He
sat in silence for a long moment then slowly rose to his feet. His
face was blank of all expression as he leaned over and firmly took
her wrist. Still silent he led her toward the back of the ship and
knelt beside a nearly naked man who was so battered she didn’t see
how he could possibly be alive. Her gaze dropped to her wrist where
Caleb still held her. His grip wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t gentle
either. She doubted she could twist free from him even on her best
day, and between the numbness of her mind and the throbbing in her
head today certainly wasn’t her best day.

“Charm. Wake up.” Caleb said gently as he
shook the battered man. The man groaned and rolled to his side
revealing horribly mangled wings that drooped pathetically from his
back.

“Charm I need you to wake up. We need to go
and you are the only one that has the magic to get us out of here.”
Caleb said more urgently as he shook the man once again with more
force.

Groggily Charm rose to a sitting position and
looked blankly around the ship in confusion. “We lived?” he
mumbled, the words barely coherent.

“You and I did. Shade didn’t.” Caleb replied
hoarsely and she saw Charm’s face crumple in response to Caleb’s
words. “I need you to put the ship in a storage gem and take us to
Delvay, now.”

“Who is she?” Charm struggled to form the
words despite his missing tongue as he gazed up at her then looked
to Caleb in confusion. “What about the city?” he mumbled.
Struggling he rose to his feet and peered into the front of the
ship. His eyes filled with tears as his gaze found Shade and he
turned back to Caleb still waiting for his answers.

“The city can burn for all I care. It is in
the hands of the High Lords now. We already paid our dues for
Sanctuary and the price was too high.” Caleb returned in a cool
voice.

“And her?” Charm said as he motioned a hand
toward her.

Caleb’s grip tightened fractionally on her
wrist and his eyes narrowed as he regarded his comrade. “She is my
concern and nothing you need to worry about. I need to get to
Delvay now and you are the only one that can take me. If you do so
I will make you my concern as well and if anyone tries to stick you
back in a cell for being what you are I will gut them.” Caleb’s
voice was calm and rational, but the glint in his eyes was quite
the opposite.

Nodding slowly Charm glanced around the ship
once more then motioned them outside.

“Delvay?” she mumbled as Caleb tugged her
wrist gently and led her from the ship.

“You will be fine I promise. I will devote
every ounce of my power to keeping you safe.” Caleb said softly and
his words struck a faint note in the back of her mind.

Frowning she tried to remember where she had
heard the phrase before but the memory eluded her. Nodding slowly
she followed meekly behind him and stared up at the city. The
battle had begun and she could see the light of fire dancing across
the rooftops. “I don’t think I have anywhere else to go.” She
mumbled then stared down at Caleb’s hand on her wrist once more.
“Or anyone else to go with.” She added softly.

Sanctuary

The stones of the ceiling shuddered above
them and Hemlock fixed his gaze firmly on the dust drifting down
from the rafters. Anything was preferable to looking at the
grotesque figure that was writhing on the table. The woman had been
one of the most beautiful creatures Hemlock had ever seen until he
had handed her over to Kali. He felt a moment’s remorse as he
considered the wasted talent. She had been a skilled Assassin with
a face so sweet that the men she killed died with a smile. Then he
had sent her after Shade Morcaillo and turned her over to Kali
afterwards.

“Excellent.” Kali murmured and Hemlock
grudgingly lowered his gaze once more to watch Kali prod the
woman’s distended stomach. His eyes traced over her flesh carefully
avoiding her swollen face. Every inch of her was deformed now.
Whatever Kali had done to her had taken perfection and turned it to
ruin.

Shaking his head Hemlock turned his gaze back
to the ceiling and refused to look as the woman’s scream tore
through the room. Whatever Kali was doing to the creature was her
business. He just wished she would hurry and finish it so they
could get the hell out of this city before the High Lords tore it
apart.

Another scream echoed through the room
followed by the harsh wail of an infant. Clenching his jaw Hemlock
gave into his morbid curiosity and glanced toward Kali as the mage
carefully wrapped the squirming bloody child in a blanket.

“Take care of her.” Kali order brusquely as
she stepped away from the writhing woman on the table and Hemlock
let out a sigh of disgust.

“My baby.” The creature on the table mumbled
through lips so swollen she could barely form the words. “Please.”
Her hand stretched after Kali but her body was too distorted for
her to even attempt to rise.

“Sorry Love, but that was never your baby.”
Hemlock whispered gently as he pulled a dagger from his belt and
crossed the short distance between them. His gaze flicked to the
torn remains of the woman’s stomach. Kali had cut the child free of
the womb with no regard to the woman’s life. If he left her as she
was she would die slowly and painfully that fact combined with the
deformities Kali’s magic had cursed the woman with killing her was
a mercy. He met her eyes briefly and shook his head slowly.