Wicked Path (The Daath Chronicles Book 2) (14 page)

hells clinked around in the bin as I moved them back and forth under the fine sand, rubbing remnants of the sea away. Grandfather had taught me how to clean the shells by applying candlewax to remove the calcium deposits to bring out the shell’s natural beauty. Strange these once belonged to a creature.

I took out the shells and laid them on a cloth to let them dry. One of the shells moved.

“Oh, no.” I picked it up and squinted, trying to see inside. I thought I’d removed all the snails.

Taking the shell, I walked outside to the purple crabapple tree. Near the bottom of the trunk lived an ant mound. I placed the shell on the mound and waited.

Little black ants scurried in and around the shell, taking pieces of the flesh and returning to their homes. Grandfather didn’t understand why I wouldn’t just drop the shells into a boiling pot and pick the snail out with a wooden pick. In both situations, the snail died, but by letting the ants take the body, the snail was used for food.

On the farm, every part of an animal is used. We couldn’t afford to waste anything.

When I walked back inside, Grandfather sat on a stool at the opposite end of the workshop, spectacle on one eye, staring at a red gem that resembled a ruby with a deeper hue.

I’d learned almost all the different aspects of stones, both precious and not. The more I learned, the more I understood his hunt for the blue eye. Each gem had a specific attribute that separated it from others. While I didn’t really believe the blue eye to be magical, I still thought it would be the grandest stone to ever exist.

Grandfather smiled. His mustache hid his mouth, but not the smile lines on his face. He waved me over.

“What’s that?” I stood beside him, my gaze on the gem in his hand.

He wrapped an arm around my waist. “That, my girl, is a blood crystal.”

My mind sorted through all the gems and stones he’d talked about until I remembered the significance of a blood crystal.

“That disrupts magic!”

He nodded. “These stones are becoming rarer, as The Order controls all the mines and very little of the crystals slip past them.”

The crystal wasn’t pretty, but knowing it could perform such a feat made its color shine with intrigue. In the right light, it did resemble a ruby. “What are you going to do with it?”

“It’s a commission piece. A merchant came to me this morning, asking if I could fashion it into a ring. Normally, I would pass, these crystals are dangerous, but he’s paying well—well enough that I can start my expedition.”

“I’m coming with you then.”

“Oh, no. Your momma would have my head. You’ll stay with Ms. Gen. She already offered. You’ll come and open the shop, then go back to her place at night.”

“Grandfather…”

He put the crystal down and took my hand. “I won’t be gone long.”

“You won’t send me home?”

“Home?” He laughed and grabbed my cheeks. “And lose my apprentice? Never.”

Apprentice. When I came to Luna Harbor, I just wanted an escape. I never expected to fall in love with the busy docks, the salty air, and the workshop, but I did. I missed Calli and wrote to her often, but the farm held too many memories.

he air in Daath had a different smell than Mirth: fresher, cleaner. I took off the bracelet as Romulus appeared next to me.

“We should not linger.” The old man headed to the back of the temple. “I will go to Dune Island. When you have the human, bring her there.”

I nodded. Luna Harbor would be a long journey, but with the invisibility bracelet, I could pass through the underground tunnels to reach it there in two weeks, less if I ran. “Keep your communicator with you in case I need to make contact.”

Romulus grumbled and waved me away, shaking his head. He appeared to be frustrated with his return. He enjoyed his human experiments. The thought made me wonder if he knew the truth of my birth mother. A revelation of that extent would be hard to keep secret around him and all his prodding. When the time was right, I would tell him. If The Council thought I was more dangerous due to my human side, I would need Romulus’ help to understand why. Emotions couldn’t be the only explanation.

We parted ways, him heading to the sea, and me heading to the forest where I would enter a nearby tunnel. I would need a different form to approach Jeslyn. The human figure she recognized was the only human I had killed for their essence, and that had been a very, very long time ago.

Draining the essence from any type of being would affect mentality. There were a few cases in Mirth of Reptilians draining too many different essences, and the changes began to warp their minds. Any count more than five could cause irrevocable damage. I hadn’t planned to drain any other humans or creatures after that first one.

It must be done
, I reminded myself.

Human essences didn’t hinder most Reptilian abilities like other creatures did. If you chose the right one, your power would amplify.

I wanted to see what my dear sister was concocting. With Dago in Daath, Lucy wouldn’t be far from him. I pondered sneaking to the mansion to reveal what plans my sister had laid, but I had no time.

Luna Harbor sat on the southern border of Tarrtainya near the marshlands. Humans went missing frequently in the marshes; the bog monsters and the decaying landscape were inhospitable to anything living. The lord of this land, and his guard, had worked hard to keep the small settlement protected from danger.

Choosing a husk from the marshlands would be less suspicious.

Large weeping trees lined the first bridge heading to the marshes. Rain fell everywhere and my boots sunk into the soft ground with each step. Hidden by the bracelet, I walked onto the wooden bridge, examining the village on the other side. Lights from small house windows resembled beastly eyes staring out from the mist.

Stone houses lined the narrow dirt street, each with its door shut for the night. Bog monsters lived far beyond the village where water mixed with grass until you couldn’t tell which was land and which was not. Lucy and I had travelled to the marshlands during our first years here, more out of curiosity than necessity. Lucy loved the bog creatures. They reminded her of the large monsters on Mirth we used to haul crystals: loyal, dim-witted beings. She even had one as a pet.

Standing in the middle of the street, I looked at the houses and listened to the voices coming from the tavern. I needed someone my age, not an old drunkard, which meant I’d have to find a place to rest for the night and wait until morning.

I stayed near the stables, but not so close to stir the horses. Animals in this world weren’t too fond of me.

The stable doors groaned as a black-haired boy walked into the barn, alone. I followed him and waited behind one of the columns while he gathered hay.

The horses neighed.

“Shhh, doll. It’s all right.” He stroked the horse’s muzzle.

I slipped off the bracelet. To drain an essence, I needed to make eye contact.

With his back to me, the boy reached to take a bucket off a hook, and when he turned, I grabbed his throat.

His eyes widened and he raked my arms with his hands trying to pull me off, but I was beyond his strength. I pushed him against the stable door. His horse whinnied and rammed the gate. Red mist swirled around my hand and my mind whirled from the high. The boy’s skin withered, and his frantic hands loosened their grip until they fell at his sides. When his essence had fully siphoned, his eyes clouded white, and I let his body sag to the floor, a shell of his previous self.