Muse (Descended From Myth) by Erin McFadden Read Free Book Online

Plus, my parents are perpetual worriers and cling to the belief that if they haven't heard from their offspring (biological or adopted) for more than 48 hours, then they must be either dead in a ditch somewhere or the victims of some nefarious form of foul play. I've learned the hard way that it is easier to just answer the phone. Anyway, with all of this running through my head, I was adamant that I needed to be in my own room.
    Daniel's room then developed a “plumbing” issue, perhaps caused by the fact that he went into the bathroom and disconnected some pipes that looked important. He used his own powers of persuasion on the desk clerk to get a room on my floor. It wasn't quite as close as he wanted, but I was relieved. The sharp stabs of jealousy I felt the whole time he chatted up the girl at the front desk I c ould have done without, though.
    As we loaded all of the luggage from Henry's room into the elevator, (okay, really Daniel moved it all, he refused to let me do anything but hold the elevator door open), I decided to go ahead and ask some more personal questions.
    “So, that was pretty smooth with the girl at the front desk. Do you have some kind of influence yourself?” I asked awkwardly. This was such a surreal situation, and being in close confines with Daniel just threw me off even more.
                  Daniel grinned and said, “Nope, not a bit. Sometimes being polite and friendly is all you need.”
    “Yeah, and being hot doesn't hurt either,” I muttered to myself, and then immediately flushed when I realized that in such a small space he obvio usly heard me. Dumb. I am dumb.
    Daniel just laughed, but he looked kind of embarrassed, too. I tried to recover by asking something else. “I thought you told her your room was under the name Daniel Thorn, though. Why is that?” I was sure that I hadn't misheard him, but he had also told me that Henry was registered under his name. So either he had given me a false last name, or they had given the hotel one. But why?
    “Lyoncourt is my real last name. Thorn is one of my aliases. All of the ID I have with me says my name is Daniel S. Thorn and I'm from Michigan. If you can get me in with the production company, that's the name we'll need to use.” He leaned against the side of the elevator, giving me some space but still stayin g closer than a stranger would.
    “But why the fake name? Are you on the America's Most Wanted list or something?” I meant that to sound like a joke, but it came out slightly strangled sounding.
    Daniel turned to look me straight in the eyes and lowered his voice, sounding very serious. “I give you my word that I'm who and what I say I am. I know it's asking a lot for you to believe me, let alone to trust me, but I will do everything in my power to prove myself to you. You don't need to be afraid of me.” He sounded so sincere that it sent chills up my spine. Maybe sincere isn't the word I'm looking for, but I'm sticking with it. Regardless, his grand declaration distracted me enough that I let him slip out of the elevator before I realized that he never actually answered my question.

Chapter Seven: Daniel
     
    I finally got Anna safely locked inside her room and managed to get her to promise that she would text or call me before she went anywhere, but I still couldn't shake my nervous tension. I had already gone through the whole hotel and checked for any security issues, then pulled everything I could find out of Henry's rental car.  I should have been settling in to review all of his paperwork, but my mind just wasn't able to focus. Too many questions kept rattling around in my brain, too many to concentrate properly.
    I knew that I should call and check in with Mom and Kaitlin. What was I going to tell them though? “Oh yeah, by the way, even though I promised I wouldn't get wrapped up in this Talent and end up obsessed like Dad did, I'm dangerously close to throwing that promise out the window.” I mean,