Marked For Death: A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel by Becca Blake (english novels to improve english .txt) 📕

I tried to ignore the unhelpful thought that the AC probably worked fine in Jacob’s car.

“So why did they do it this time?” he asked.

“I’ve been trying to figure that out,” I said. “How’s that infernal wound doing, by the way?”

He rolled his shoulder. “A bit sore, but not too bad. It wasn’t as deep as it looked. I’m sure they wouldn’t have let us get any serious injuries,” he said.

“Plenty of people did, from what I heard. Some of them died. The same could have happened to you.”

Jacob had nothing to say in response to that, but when I stole a quick glance at him, he looked unusually pale.

The last hour of the drive dragged on, stretching into what felt like forever before we finally crossed the river and found ourselves in Omaha. Jacob put the address for the old warehouse into his phone, and the GPS directed us twenty miles south of town.

I turned into the parking lot of a run-down gas station down the road from the warehouse. The pumps were rusted and filthy, and someone had broken out one of the store’s windows. The plastic wrap that covered the hole fluttered with the gentle breeze. If not for the shiny blue pickup truck parked in front and the red open sign flickering in the doorway, I would have assumed it closed years ago.

I stepped out of the Cavalier and stretched my legs. It was only four o’clock, so we had plenty of daylight to work with before we would need the flashlights I kept in my pack. I checked the bag a final time, then slung it over my shoulder.

“I’m going to run into the shop here before we head over. Do you need anything?” I asked.

“No, I’m good.”

The inside of the gas station was almost as neglected as the outside, so I didn’t waste much time browsing. When I was ready to check out, I found the cashier resting against the wall, a hat covering his eyes as he slept.

I cleared my throat and dropped the two bags of chips on the counter in front of him.

He mumbled an apology as he started ringing me out. “We rarely get customers all the way out here.”

“Didn’t a kid go missing over this way recently?” I asked, trying not to sound too interested.

“Yeah, they found him at that old warehouse a few days ago. The police have been in and out of here. Waste of time, if you ask me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Kids are always breaking in there to shoot up. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. I’ve been trying to get the county to tear it down for years.”

I stuffed the chips into my backpack. The more we learned, the more it sounded like we were dealing with a mundane case that involved drugs, but we’d still need to check out the warehouse to do the job right.

“So you haven’t seen anyone unusual or anything, then?”

“Not really, other than the two girls who keep coming around. Just more teens sneaking around for a good time, I suppose.”

I thanked the man for his help, then joined Jacob outside. He was leaning back against the car with his hands in his pockets, but he straightened up as I approached.

“We can walk to the warehouse from here.” I grabbed my sword from the back seat and adjusted the buckles on my harnesses. “If there is anyone there, we don’t want to drive up and alert them we’re coming.”

“You don’t think we’ll actually find anything in there, do you?” Jacob asked.

“Honestly? No, I don’t. But we have to be thorough and have a look. If that doesn’t give us any leads, we can spend tomorrow tracking down the kids who supposedly saw this stuff happen. Most likely, it was a load of crap, and we’ll be able to go home tomorrow night.”

We followed the back road that led to the warehouse. The bright afternoon sun beat down on us as we walked, and I wished I hadn’t decided on wearing my full gear to a dead-end mission.

“Should we go in with invisibility up?” Jacob asked.

It was probably an unnecessary caution, considering how unlikely we were to find anything, but this was our first mission together. We needed to do things the right way.

“That’s not a bad idea. Do you want to do the honors?”

Jacob shook his head. “I’m not the best at holding my focus.”

I thought back to the failed sleep spell he’d used on the hellhound during the evaluation. It worked great at first, especially for such a complex spell, but it hadn’t lasted long. If he’d had a normal evaluation without a dangerous encounter, would he even have passed? I didn’t much care for the thought of being partnered with someone who couldn’t hold up a simple invisibility spell.

“No worries,” I said. “I can take care of it.”

I waited for a car to pass us by on the main road, then sealed away my emotions. The annoyance I’d felt earlier disappeared, replaced by the familiar cool and collected sense of tranquility. I channeled my energy into the spell, letting it wash over both of us. The air shimmered around us like summer heat on the pavement, then returned to normal.

I couldn’t see Jacob anymore, but thanks to our connection from sharing the spell, I sensed his presence beside me when I pulled away my hand.

“We’re good?” he asked.

I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me anymore. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

The front door of the warehouse hung lazily off its hinges, whining as the wind pushed it back and forth. Graffiti covered the building’s exterior, complete with language that was as colorful as the various hues of spray paint. Though the building had been abandoned for a long time, the disturbed dust and dirt everywhere made it obvious that people had passed through recently.

“Let’s scout the outside first,” I whispered.

We made our way around the perimeter slowly, careful not to make any loud noises that would give