The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes by Melissa Myers Read Free Book Online Page B

Wisp said, her voice filled with
concern.
    Sovann nodded slowly and then smiled
brightly, looking over at Wisp with decision clear on his face.
“All right, where is Neph?” he asked sweetly.
    “Overseeing the grain that’s being stored and
he is in a foul temper because of it. Apparently the flour has been
cut with sawdust, or so he says. The last I spoke with him, he was
planning to ride north to Brannaford to… How did he put it? Ahh. Strangle the crooked bastard with his own innards . Yes, that
was it,” Wisp replied with a faint smile of her own.
    “Fetch him and tell him to deal with the
Fionaveir.” Sovann said with a firm nod and started to go back to
his work.
    “But I love my brother! Why would I sick Neph
on him?” Wisp objected with a hint of a whine to her lovely voice.
She shifted where she stood and twisted the fabric of her green
tunic in her hands.
    That, too, was a habit Emily had noticed time
and again. She didn’t need to hear their words to know their
feelings. She had studied these immortals far too often. Wisp
always twisted at her cloak or tunic when she was upset.
    “Neph won’t kill him Wisp, and Victory will
be less apt to press Neph for answers than he would you. Chances
are, once Neph walks into that room Victory is going to accept
whatever comes out of Neph’s mouth without argument, and hurry home
just to avoid further conversation,” Sovann assured her with a
wink.
    “If you say so,” Wisp agreed, though she
didn’t sound at all sure of the plan. Motioning to Devony she
turned back toward the door. “Come on Dev, let’s go find Neph.”
    Devony leaped up from the ground at a sprint
and was through the door before Wisp had taken more than three
steps.
    Sovann shook his head and let out a long
sigh. “I really wish you would help us ease her fear of you a bit,
Emily,” he said softly as the door closed.
    “Sometimes fear is healthy, Sovann. That
child should be terrified of the unknown,” Emily replied in her
customary whisper and moved silently to another perch in the
room.
    “The unknown, yes, but you, no. You are one
of us, remember?” Sovann pressed gently and lifted his pen once
more. A book lay sprawled in front of him, filled with random marks
that Emily had never been able to decipher. Every time she had so
much as glanced into the pages the ink seemed to writhe on the
paper and made her head ache.
    “If you say so,” she agreed in a skeptical
voice. With Jala and Marrow here, she had felt as though she
belonged. Now, though, it was harder to believe. She felt no
connection with these people, not even with Jail who had helped her
work through some of her more base instincts with his mind magics.
They were one thing, and she was quite another. They are prey
and you are predator , a small voice whispered inside her and
she hushed it quickly. It had been whispering things in her mind
for days and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was another’s words, or
her own thoughts that she had been repressing.
    “I do say so, Emily. I know you are out of
sorts right now. We all are. The loss of Finn, and then Jala and
Valor, combined with trying to get things started here, and we are
all under tremendous stress. We have to work together and rely on
each other now, though, and it is important to remember you are one
of us,” Sovann said, his gaze locked on the book his hand, moving
quickly as he added more notations.
    “If you say so,” Emily repeated, moving her
position again as she spoke. She never stayed put after making
noise. It just wasn’t safe. Sovann wasn’t that paranoid though, she
noted as she came to a stop right behind him. His head was still
bent forward, his attention fully on his project. He didn’t worry
at all about what was around him, or what might happen. One
quick blow to the spine and he turns from annoying mage to
meat , the voice whispered again and Emily stared hard at the
bronzed skin on the back of Sovann’s neck. His hair was pulled