Free Deadly Dance: A Daath Short Story (The Daath Chronicles) by Eliza Tilton Page B

been reaching out to my contacts—not a word on either of them.”
    Lucy was right.
    “I need to close shop and return home. You’re welcome to stay the night. We can talk more in the morning.”
    “Thank you, but I’m going to stay at the inn. Someone must know something.”
    Beckett nodded. “Goodnight then.”
    I left the shop, questions chasing each other in my mind. Where would they have gone? Jeslyn cared about her family, and she wasn’t reckless. She never would’ve run off, especially after her kidnapping.
    “Believe me now?”
    Lucy leaned against the building, her dark cloak hiding everything but her wicked smirk.
    “What are you doing here?”
    She pushed off the wall and walked beside me. “Looking for my brother.”
    “Why don’t you use magic?” I wanted this witch away from me.
    “Do
you
have a handy locator spell? If not, I’m stuck searching the more traditional way.”
    “Hmpf.”
    “We should speak with the baker.”
    “We?”
    “Whether you want to admit it or not, ‘we’ are on the same path. No reason to fight it.”
    The piercing blue in her eyes shimmered beneath the moonlight. Deceptive, dangerous, and too beautiful for her own good. “Why would you need my help, shifter?”
    While she styled herself as a stunning girl with raven hair, she was a trickster, a shapeshifter—a creature to be killed,
not
regarded as an ally, however temporary the status.
    “Because this little mission is a secret. I can’t have certain people finding out. Plus, traveling alone is so boring.” She patted my chest. “Go sleep and take a bath. You smell like a mule.”
    As she sauntered toward the inn, I sniffed my shirt. I did stink.

    I woke just before dawn in hopes of outrunning Lucy, but when I walked outside, she was propped up against a tree, chomping an apple.
    “Morning.” She winked.
    “Don’t do that.”
    “Do what? Are you hungry?” She tossed me an apple, and I caught it with my left hand.
    “Don’t act like we’re friends.”
    She pouted. “We’re not?”
    “I don’t have time for this. Jeslyn could be in danger.”
    “I thought she wasn’t your problem anymore.” Lucy smirked, and I shoved past her.
    “Baker is over there.” She pointed down the street.
    Which she was—and opening the door as we came near.
    “Good morning,” she said. “What can I get you two?”
    “I’m a friend of Jeslyn’s,” I said before Lucy could—I didn’t like the way she eyed Ms. Gen. “Come from Lakewood for a visit. Do you know where she is?”
    “She’s with that boy, Edward.”
    “What does Edward look like?” Lucy asked.
    “About your height, dark hair, and the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”
    Lucy raised an eyebrow at me. From what I recalled, Lucino was blond, and I couldn’t remember what his eyes looked like, but why did that matter?
    “Where were they going?” Lucy glared at the woman, stepping closer.
    The baker’s eyes glazed over. “They went on a trip.” She recited the words more than spoke them.
    “She’s under Lucino’s charm spell,” Lucy whispered to me. “Tell me everything about the last time you saw Jeslyn. From when she walked in until she left,” she sang, and Ms. Gen blinked.
    My tattoo pulsed, heating my chest and neck. The tattoo covered my left side and traveled over my shoulder, the image of a black, withered tree, dripping blood. My father had no idea I had stolen a few of the blood crystals. The pain made up for it, quite unlike anything I’d ever felt or would feel again if I were lucky, but I was protected. No one would trick me with their voice or bend me to their will. So was the hope. I didn’t know how immune I was since Lucy was the first magic user I encountered, but I prayed to The Creator I’d be protected from all of them.
    “Jeslyn and Edward came in the morning,” Ms. Gen said. “Right before I opened the shop. She said Harold had been kidnapped, and they were going after him.” A tear slid down her