Read Online A Toiling Darkness by Jaliza Burwell - Free Book Online

moving
it about in a graceful way as it sliced through the air.
    I’ll slice and dice you until your only one
inch squares. I bet you can’t come back from that.
    I did. Took a couple of years, but I
did.
    A blade was just not going to kill me.
    “No, it’s supposed to kill you.” His voice
wasn’t as completely empty as he wanted it to be and he grimaced,
knowing he failed. Ah, he didn’t have the nerve to hurt me.
How…different. He fought with himself and the blade disappeared
behind his back. His body slowly relaxed as he released a sigh. “I
don’t understand what it is about you.”
    “I can say the same about you.” The tension
I didn’t know I had in my neck and shoulders left. I knew exactly
what it was about me.
    I was the woman he was supposed to kill if
he wanted to release his soul.
    I’ve done a lot of bad things that probably
pissed off a lot of beings. I could come up with at least twenty
beings who wanted me dead and that was only a second’s worth of
thinking. I knew there was a reason I kept this form for so long.
Otherwise I would be fighting someone off every day.
    But with Kalen, there really was something
about him I couldn’t understand. Something that sang to me like a
calming lullaby, keeping back the rage within me. Around him, I
didn’t need to work so hard in controlling it. He was relaxing,
whatever that word meant.
    A boat horn went off, loud and obnoxious, as
the occupants on it cheered, excited to get out to the Atlantic
Ocean for a whale watching expedition. Kalen jumped a little at the
sudden noise. He blinked and watched the boat as it moved out into
the ocean.
    “Why here?” Kalen asked, this time looking
around carefully. The place really did have its charm. This side of
the harbor was older, the history etched in the docks and buildings
surrounding the area. Vines were growing alongside the rusty brick
buildings and trees larger than those in the park towered around
the area in different spots.
    “Why not?” I sat down on a nearby wooden
bench and just watching the view. Kalen’s backside to be more
specific. He was a nice view. I couldn’t even figure out where he
was keeping his blade.
    He turned and gazed at me for a few moments
before shaking his head, perplexed. He always seemed confused about
something or another. What went on in that mind of his?
    Whatever it was, I was unfamiliar with it,
which is saying something. I thought I saw everything I needed to
see and Kalen just kept proving me wrong in small ways. He didn’t
have the fear or anger that I was used to, making it harder to read
him properly. His belief in humans was another amazing trait. He
believed so much in those I couldn’t even look at without
distaste.
    “I have to go. I need to find who killed
that girl.”
    I resisted the urge to shake him and instead
huffed. “Fine. Just don’t get yourself killed yet.”
    He smirked, making himself look boyish and
nodded. While he made his way down the dock, a group of women
stopped and turned to watch as he walked away. Their eyes were
definitely on those jeans and how they hugged him perfectly.
    By the time he made it near the end of the
dock and turned north, I decided to follow him. What better way to
find information than to follow the man who has it all? I stayed to
the shadows, keeping them tight around me and just followed him
around the city.

Chapter Five:
    For about two hours, Kalen just wandered the
streets in no particular order. He did manage to help in some very
weird situations.
    He helped a mother with her groceries while
she held onto her crying baby to comfort it. She looked so
exhausted and tired, but when she smiled in gratitude she was
beautiful despite her rundown appearance.
    He talked with a fae child and showed the
child where his home was. The fae mother was so happy with his
help. She treated him to one of those shaved ice-cream cones,
except she made it on her own with her powers.
    He also talked to humans as if it was