Read Online Burned: Black Cipher Files #3 (Black Cipher Files series) by Lisa Hughey - Free Book Online Page B

ago.”
    Madame’s speech always degenerated into a mix of English with a smattering of French when she was upset or had had a little too much wine.
    Alarm skittered across my neck. What if it hadn’t been Zeke? “What did he look like?”
    “Older, in his fifties, under six feet tall, almost bald, a broken nose, and les yeux a pale, ice blue.” Madame always noticed the eyes, I thought with amusement.
    Except her words kicked in. My heart started thumping in my chest. The eyes were the clincher. Appearances could change but the monster had extremely light blue eyes. She hadn’t described Zeke. Zeke was close to my age with curly blond hair. And his eyes were the color of the ocean. Murky and deep. I should not be thinking about Zeke Thorn’s eyes right now. Focus, Sunny .
    “When was he in the patisserie?”
    “He just left,” Madame responded smartly. “I told you that.”
    “Car or on foot?”
    “Weeelll, I sink on foot, but I could be wrong, we are very busy for an October matin .”
    I shoved back the wrought iron chair and ran for the store.
    I didn’t like this. Two people in one day, two strangers in one day asking about us. What were the odds?
    Not good. Dammit. Not good.
    “ Merci, Madame ,” I huffed into the phone as I ran.
    Had I been wrong about Zeke Thorn? Had he been some sort of advance scout for him ?
    I slammed into the store. Blue appeared to be gone and Mama was dusting the shelves. I flipped the “Be Back in 5 Minutes” sign onto the Dutch door, closed the top half, and bolted the locks.
    My breath came in great gasps, and my heart thundered in my chest, but my mind was calm, almost preternaturally so as I assessed our options and figured out which escape plan we needed to put into play.
    Mama whirled, her eyes wide with alarm. “What are you doin’?”
    “Code Red, Mama.”
    She took a step back, away from me. “Now Sunny, I’m sure you’re mistaken.” But her arm trembled as she lay down the duster.
    “At Madame’s.” I repeated the details as I shoved the minimal cash from the register into a Go Bag stashed beneath the sales desk. There wasn’t much, but I also had more stockpiled inside the bag and it would get us out of town fast.
    “We need to go, now.”
    As I moved around the store, I ticked off the seconds in my head.
    “I...I’ll call Blue,” she said calmly.
    “From the road.”
    “Sunny, wait.”
    I stopped at her sharp tone and gave her my full attention.
    Mama stood in the doorway to the stockroom, twisting her hands, and her big moonstone ring sparkled when it caught the ray of the display light. “I think we should split up.”
    “What?” I stopped moving. Stopped breathing. Splitting up was never one of the plans. We stuck together. Always.
    “Call your friend Zeke and go with him. Zeke can protect you. I’m sure of it. And I’ll go with Blue.” Mama firmed her lips. “He wants me, we both know that. You need to stop running and get a life.”
    Mama’s words stabbed at me with a near physical pain, as if she’d broken off a piece of glass display shelf and jammed it in my heart. “I have a life.”
    “Half a life,” Mama said, her eyes sad, resigned. “All because of him. You deserve more. I deserve more. We need to end this.”
    We didn’t have time to hash this out now. “Can we discuss this while we’re on the road?”
    Mama shook her head and yelled, “Blue!”
    Blue thundered down the stairs and burst into the public area of the shop.
    “It’s happened.” Was all Mama said.
    “Shit,” he whispered.
    Another spear of pain. She’d told Blue. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone. Ever.
    “The plan?” Blue asked.
    “I think we should split up. You can protect me.” Mama straightened her shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “He doesn’t want Sunshine.”
    I watched as Blue grasped Mama’s hand gently. Her fingers appeared so delicate in the clasp of his larger, protective hold.
    Blue shifted his gaze to me, full of