Fatal Sight (Harbingers Of Death Book 2) by LeAnn Mason (book club reads .TXT) 📕

was pretty sure there were some new splatters of blood on the blue mat, which probably accounted for Raven’s shift to her bird. Shifters healed themselves by switching forms. The magic of the change could heal small or superficial wounds.

Behind her, the wall of mirrors was missing a pane measuring about eight feet high and five feet wide. The gray wall exposed seemed almost like a secret entrance to some fantastical land, especially with the bird appearing to be standing guard.

“Ravens tend to go for the eyes,” Cole advised from his spot, lounging against another of the gym’s walls.

Just like that, my vision blinked to black, and my heart rate responded by skyrocketing. “Mother fucker. Seriously, Cole? Give me back my vision!” Blood pounded in my ears so loudly — both from anger and anxiousness — that I almost missed Cole’s response.

“Would you rather I let her actually take those pretty peepers, cupcake? You need to learn to fight while impaired. You did well to dislodge your attacker, but that doesn’t mean the battle is over, let alone won.” I imagined the suave dark-skinned hellhound’s heavy corded tresses swinging as he delivered the reprimand, his golden eyes flashing with his own brand of edgy humor.

I say imagined because… “I can’t fucking see!”

“Get over it,” snapped another impatient audience member. “It’s the only way you will still be functional. Focus. Calm.”

“That was very insightful, Em,” Jessica cooed proudly with the raven cawing its own echoed sentiment from its spot before me.

Each HDPU member was walking a fine line between praise and scorn as they had been regularly the past few months. While their outright animosity seemed to have waned to some degree, they were still quick to poke fun or put me on my ass. I guessed it made them feel better about my continued presence. The only one who seemed to even remotely want me around was Seke. And he was kind of the only one for whom I stayed around. He—

Sudden flapping diverted my attention back to the present “training scenario” and my lack of vision. I needed to do what Ember said and calm back down, focus. I could hear the beating of Raven’s wings, but my eyes may as well have been glued shut for all they showed me.

Calm, Aria. Focus — not strength — wins battles.

Since my training had begun with the Harbingers of Death Prison Unit, my mentally regurgitated lessons tended to sound more like Seke as opposed to the parental teachings of my youth. I had to admit I much preferred his suave, accented voice — like honey — in my head. The downside was that it tended to distract me for a few moments.

In this instance, the momentary basking my mind enjoyed was long enough for Raven to fly into close range so that I not only felt the buffeting of air that her wings produced but the gentle brush of feathers. The tips of her obsidian wings skimmed the outside of my upper arms with each flap that held her body aloft.

Honestly, I was surprised that was all I’d felt so far. I fully expected the wench to try to gouge out my sightless eyes.

I also got a good whiff of BO with each billow of stale gym air.

Taking a step to the rear, I noted that the air didn’t move as much and I no longer felt the feather touch of her wings. The slight change indicated that Raven was moving higher but also closing the distance between us. My unseeing eyes lifted to follow where I thought the bird to be.

“Good. Now what?” Cole’s gravelly voice ripped through the blackness.

The breeze became more of a gust, the beating of Raven’s wings becoming audible… from above me somewhere.

What’s my move here?

Just as I thought the question, something grasped my hair, causing pricks of pain to bloom where something scratched along my scalp. I wanted to cringe, to shrink away, but instead, I threw up an arm to the affected area, my fingers encountering warm, soft, bumpy stalks and, in complete contrast, soft, fluffy plumage.

Taking a chance, I wrapped my digits around the stalks that must be Raven’s legs. I wondered if raven shifters were anything like chickens. Would she just give up, go docile if I held her upside down by her massive-taloned raptor feet?

Feeling my fingers tighten in a bid to trap her, Raven began beating her wings furiously in an attempt to escape before I could ensnare her. Those damn appendages hurt as they repeatedly boxed my ears and slapped my shoulders. The wind it created caused my scalp to burn, so I knew she’d opened up wounds.

Awesome, I guess my silver hair will have some red streaks to accompany the teal tips…

“What exactly is going on here?”

The brusque question had my non-seeing eyes whipping toward where I believed the door — and Seke — to be, my hands relinquishing their prize to let the angry bird flee my grasp. I heard a thump a few feet away and assumed Raven had plunked herself back down on the mat, though I wasn’t sure in which form.

“Training,” Raven answered in a bored tone.

Human it is. I could picture her picking at her nails as she answered, her dark eyes downcast and obscured by a curtain of sleek hair in the same blue-black as her bird’s plumage.

“What is wrong with her?” Seke murmured — to himself or the team, I wasn’t sure.

“Can I get my sight back now? Looks like playtime’s over.”

“Nice pun,” Ember chuckled.

I hadn’t meant to make a joke, but hey, I’d take it.

“Enough now. Restore Aria’s sight, please, Cole. Then, all of you go upstairs to familiarize yourselves with the next assignment. We leave tomorrow,” Seke ordered.

My sight blinked back into existence in time to let me watch the team file past the god and out of the gym, one by one. Not a single one of my teammates made a snarky comment at their captain.

Is that what