Broken Forest: Book One of the Daath Chronicles (28 page)

We stayed in the shadows, stalking through the house, searching for Jeslyn’s room. Jericho wasn’t kidding about Raven’s thieving abilities. She moved silent and fast. No locked door could stop her. Every moment I spent watching the way she worked made me want her more.

She grabbed the handle on the next door and opened it just as we heard footsteps. Having no time to check the room, we bolted inside. It was a massive bedroom with wood paneling and a large canopy bed. A single lantern sat on a nightstand. The low light illuminated the deep red curtains around the empty bed.

Voices accompanied the footsteps. A man said, “This is the room.”

My eyes darted around the room, looking for a place to hide. I grabbed Raven’s hand and pulled her into an enormous wardrobe, while Derrick slid underneath the bed as the doorknob turned. Dresses stuffed the wardrobe, forcing Raven and I together. I strained to listen to the voices outside.

Images of us being slaughtered or tortured raced through my mind. Why had I let Jeslyn go? I should’ve grabbed her, forced her to come with us. What if we got caught? If anything happened to Derrick or Raven … .

Raven’s arms slid around my waist. She leaned into me. I could feel her heart pounding, just like mine. Two near death experiences in one night could make you mad. I enclosed her in a tight hug. I wanted her to know I’d keep her safe.

My head rested right above hers, perfectly. I smelled her hair. Honey and oatmeal.
How does she always smell so good?
It felt right to hold her. Having her close made me calm. I didn’t understand why, but she had this soothing effect on my soul.

I wanted to see her face. To look into those dark eyes and disappear. I listened to her breathing. Why is she breathing heavily? Suddenly, I felt like an idiot. My stupid hands were intertwined with her long hair, twirling them.
My sister twirls her hair
. My stomach constricted. Being this close to Raven and not able to do anything but stand here was torture. Between the anticipation of death and the raw emotion Raven sent through me, I thought I would explode. I shifted my weight from one foot to the next. Then I rubbed my palms on the back of her shirt.

Stupid.

Wiping my fear-sweat off on her wasn’t the greatest idea I’d ever had.

Her hands rubbed my back.

It could have been a friendly gesture, or something more. I put my hand on the back of her neck, cupping it. She gasped and I threw my free hand over her mouth. Any noise and we’d be a sitting target. Her hot breath beat against my palm. She breathed heavy. I listened for the voices. The room was silent … too silent.

I lowered my head, removed my hand from her mouth, and whispered in her ear. “I’m going to see if the room’s clear.”

“Don’t go,” she whispered.

I tilted her face in my direction. “I have to, unless you want to stay in here all night.”

Her warm breath blew against my cheek.

I had to do it.

I pressed my mouth against hers. Her soft, sweet lips parted and every emotion you could feel concentrated in that one spot. She even
tasted
like honey. Her arms snaked around my neck. I slid my hands down her sides, until they were below her tiny waist, and lifted her, bringing her closer. I needed to feel her, all of her.

“What are you two doing?!” Derrick hissed as he swung open the wardrobe doors.

“Uh … .” I had no excuse. I stepped out of the wardrobe, Raven followed.

“Did you even hear anything?” Derrick glared at me. I expected a wallop in the face.

“No. I tried, but it was all muffled.”

“Raven, take us out of here. We’re leaving,” Derrick said and spun around.

“Wait,” I grabbed his arm. “What about Jeslyn?”

Derrick shook me off. “She’s gone.”

What?

“Raven,” Derrick said, and she stepped forward, taking the lead.

What does he mean by ‘gone’?

Raven took us home a different route. I think she got lost in the tunnels and didn’t want to admit it. I understood. Derrick refused to talk to us, and he glared at me the entire trip. We ended at a tunnel near the market. At this time of night, the streets were clear. We walked past a tavern and four men stumbled out.

“Well, well, look who we have here. Our little friend from the alley.”

Raven’s brows narrowed at the man who tried to rob her the first day we met. He stood with three drunken fellows, smirking.

As a sign of peace, Derrick held up his hands. “We don’t want any trouble, just passing through.”

The four men circled us.

“Is this the girl who bested you? She’s awfully pretty,” one man said, licking his lips.

I stepped in front of Raven, meeting his harden stare.
I’d kill all four of them before I let anyone touch her
. Judging by their staggered steps, they wouldn’t be hard to beat, either.

“It’s been a long night and we would greatly appreciate it if we could pass by quietly.” Derrick dug in his pocket and pulled out a coin. “This is for your troubles.” He tossed the coin at one of the drunks who surprisingly caught it.

“One gold piece, huh? You think that will buy your freedom?”

“No,” Derrick replied, “but it can at least buy a round of ale.”

The four looked at each other. The man who caught the coin spoke. “Very well, but next time we see your pretty friend there we might not be so accommodating. My friend has taken a liking to her. Better keep her away from those alleys.”

The man’s friend gawked at Raven. “I can’t wait,” he sneered.

Raven spit at him, and I shoved her behind me before she launched a dagger into his throat.

“You put one hand on her and I’ll cut if off,” I said.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Yes, I am.”

We glared each other. I itched for a fight, but it never escalated. Derrick steered us away while the drunks shuffled into the tavern.

When we reached Jericho’s, Derrick veered off to the right.

“Where are you going?” I called after him.

He ignored me and kept walking.

“Go on back to Jericho’s. I’ll go see what’s bothering him.”

“Okay, be careful,” Raven said.

I ran after Derrick. Luckily he was a slow walker. I stepped in pace with him, debating if I should start the conversation.

Pushing the hair off my face, I took a breath and said, “What happened in there? Where’s Jeslyn?”

Derrick spun around to face me, his face a cross between anger and hurt. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Me? What did I do?”

“How can you even ask that question? Are you that dumb?” Derrick paced back and forth. “It’s always the same with you, over and over. You never think of anyone else but yourself! Especially when it comes to women.”

I thought back to all the times he referred to, but this was different. “You’re the one who told me to use my charms on her.”

“To get information, and I don’t think you can discuss much when kissing.”

I rubbed my forehead. “You misunderstood.”

“No? What were you doing in that wardrobe before I interrupted?”

“She started it.”

Derrick scoffed. “I doubt that. I don’t care what you do with Raven but do it after we save Jeslyn.” Derrick stood in my face, his nostrils flaring. “Get your act together. If you were paying attention, we could’ve done something. Attacked those men and forced them to tell us where Jeslyn was going.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right.”

Derrick walked over to a nearby tree and punched it.

“You’re going to need that hand if you plan on fighting with it.”

“She was in my arms. Why didn’t she come with us?”

I’d been thinking that same thing. “I don’t know.”

Derrick tapped the tree with his head. “I should’ve grabbed her. When she said no … I … it happened so fast. What’s she thinking?” His voice drifted into silence.

“We’ll find her. At least we know she’s alive.”

“What if she doesn’t want to leave?”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Of course she wants to come home. Derrick, she was kidnapped.”

His hands gripped the tree, and he shook his head. “I can’t compete with wealth.”

Hearing the defeat in his voice vexed me. “Are you forgetting the fact Lucino isn’t HUMAN?”

Derrick pushed off the tree and rubbed his bloody knuckles. “You’re right, and I doubt he revealed his true self to her.”

“Do you know where they took her?”

He stood straighter. “Yes.”

At Jericho’s, Derrick explained what he’d overheard at Lucino’s. Jeslyn was taken to a woman named Abigail. In three days, she would be brought to the temple for the wedding. Jericho smoked his pipe, listening. We told him what happened at Lucino’s, but left out the part of Raven almost falling to her death.

“I don’t know who Abigail is. She could be the head mistress at the dollhouse,” Jericho said.

“What’s the dollhouse?” Derrick and I asked at the same time.

Raven said, “It’s where Lucino houses his women.”

“When do we go?” Derrick asked, pacing around the room.

Jericho shook his head. “Oh, no, you two might go in there and never return. Raven, think you can handle it?”

“Of course, no one will even notice me.”

“This is a scout mission only. Any trouble and I want you out. I’ll expect you back by nightfall,” Jericho said.