Free A Toiling Darkness by Jaliza Burwell Page B

magic to drive it home. “Kalen is under my protection.”
The air around us shifted, accepting my official words.
    Chris stepped back, looking at Kalen again
for a moment, swallowing again.
    “Under protection?” Kalen sputtered. “I
don’t need someone to protect me.”
    I turned to him. “You have no idea what
you’re saying.”
    Protection from a being meant any threats to
those they were protecting go to the being instead. I pretty much
claimed Kalen, telling Chris that if any harm came to him, I was
hunting his ass down and destroying it. When I’m done, there will
be nothing left of his ass to hand back over to him.
    “He doesn’t want your protection,” Chris
pointed out. I rolled my eyes.
    Men—stubborn mules to the max.
    “I could care less what he wants. If any
harm comes to him, consider yourself dead.” I smiled, making myself
look just like a child. It had the affect I wanted. Chris
swallowed, paled, and was ready to make a run for his life.
    “Darkness! Enough,” Kalen growled. I just
stared at Chris, smiling.
    “I understand,” Chris finally said.
    “As long as we are on the same page.” I
turned to Kalen. “I have shit to do. Don’t get yourself
killed.”
    He glared at me, angry. I shrugged.
    He was in a new world. He was going to be used, no
doubt about it. Looking at Chris, I couldn’t help but think he was
the one who was going to be doing the using if Kalen didn’t toughen
up soon. Necromancers were never up to any good.
    I watched as the shadows engulfed Darkness.
She was still smiling at Chris, her blue eyes cold enough that even
polar bears wouldn’t be able to withstand her stare. When she
disappeared it was as if my body wanted to go back out into the
city and keep looking for something.
    What was it about her? She wasn’t Akhlys.
She was just a child, a little girl. Nothing like the being my
master wanted me to find.
    “Do you know what she is?” Chris asked and I
turned to him with a frown.
    “I think I’m beginning to figure it
out.”
    Chris shook his head. “It’s better to just
avoid her, save yourself the trouble.”
    “Why? Who is she?”
    Chris shrugged and pulled Tracy into his
arms. Tracy looked at me with such sad grey eyes that I wanted to
ask her what was wrong. I bit my tongue and followed as we made our
way back down the side street, getting back to where people
were.
    “Where do you live?” I asked them.
    “Not far from here,” Tracy replied with a
small voice. She looked exhausted, and definitely still scared. I
didn’t blame her.
    We walked in silence for a few minutes. I
kept my eyes on our surroundings, taking in the small hotdog and
ice-cream vendors, the families on their way towards some touristy
attraction. I picked out each homeless man, assessing their risk
and finding them lacking. Nothing dangerous stood out and I
couldn’t sense anything.
    “She’s Darkness,” Tracy finally spoke as she
stopped and turned around at some apartment complex. It was a small
one, about three stories, newly built with a doorman and bushes
planted around the front. “She showed up a couple of months ago and
within three days, everyone knew to stay away from her. She keeps
to herself so there isn’t much anyone knows about her. Some have
tried to look into her past and found nothing. It’s as if she just
came into existence three months ago.”
    “Why does everyone stay away from her?” I
asked, my interest now peaked.
    “She made Vernon disappear. He’s a powerful
bison-shifter. When she first went to Baron’s Tavern, he decided to
pick on her and then the next day, no one could find him. Still
can’t. We all know she did it.”
    “Did anyone actually ask her if she did
it?”
    “No.” Tracy shook her head.
    “Then you can’t possible know she did,
right?”
    Tracy looked at Chris and he frowned. She
looked back at me, her eyes unblinking. She was so deeply rooted in
her belief that Darkness did something to this Vernon she
mentioned.