City Of The Damned (Darkly Devoted Series, Book 5)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"It's working," Julian whispered after Grismal left us. "You have him wrapped around your finger."

I was about to open my mouth to tell Julian I wasn't acting, but he shushed me. He retrieved my cloak, which had been in the loving care of one of my personal goblins that followed us everywhere.

"Here, put this on," Julian ordered, holding the cloak up for me. My fists were still clenched at my side. He must have seen that none of my rage was, in any way, an act. Yet, he sighed in an irritated fashion as though none of that mattered, only that I got dressed immediately. "We're going to the top side, back to the world of the living. He permitted me to leave Mearnox, so that means I can take you to see your son."

"What?" I hissed. Suddenly, the ghosts of past wrongs fled from my mind. Was Julian going to take me to see Ian? Did he mean it?

"Yes, hurry before the old bag of rocks notices you're missing."

"He'll notice. His servants are everywhere. They hear everything."

"What's Grismal the Dismal going to do? Kill you?" Julian scoffed at the thought. Then he smiled knowingly at me, and his dimples were working overtime. It was the kind of smile he used to flash at women so that they forgot all common sense. "You have changed. The girl I once knew was never afraid of breaking the rules."

I bit my tongue and allowed him to wrap the cloak around my shoulders. Before I could step away from him, Julian took the liberty of fastening the silver chain around my neck. Even the dim light of the palace couldn't hide his ubiquitous fox-like smirk from my sight. His nimble fingers brushed against the hollow of my throat as he did so. His touch was warm and gentle, which was a striking contrast to the sight of his muscular shoulders and arms. I tried to keep my eyes off his tan muscles, which bulged from under the fabric of his tattered robe.

"Ready?" Julian asked and took my upper arm. He saw that I was in a trance of deep thought, so he simply dragged me from the dining room. Even now, despite my age, he was still treating me like some stupid teenage girl he found at a high school dance in Remin. "Off we go."

I didn't protest as he led me out the back door and back toward the caverns. I vaguely recalled that path led out of Mearnox. I told myself I was going along because it was an educational experience. He was showing me the way out of here if I needed it in the future.

All I could think the whole time was how I should have killed him half an hour ago. Now, he was dragging me about like an old doll. Even so, I had to admit. I missed this — being treated like a much younger, more naive me. My husband and I were middle-aged. He would never treat me with such abject disrespect.

Then again, Blake's grip on his left hand had been different since Julian cut off his fingers twenty years ago. Even though his lost fingers had been perfectly reattached, sometimes things just slipped out of his grasp, so much so that Blake tried to avoid using that hand.

"Is leaving Mearnox really so easy?"

"Yes, if I have Grismal's permission, but I can't allow myself to be seen by any mortals. That's not his rule. It's a rule that has been set by a higher power."

"Who?"

"Even the Gods have people they answer to," Julian chuckled. "Don't worry about it. We won't stir up too much trouble. No one will see me. As for you, don't worry your little head over it. You're not dead yet."

"Grismal showed himself to me during the Blight Rain and then at my father's cottage."

"Yes, he did so at a significant cost to himself. He only took that risk because he no longer cared about his fate or that of his kingdom. The dead and the living are two worlds that were never made to intersect. You'll see. One day you too will die, Melody."