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

When she didn’t say anything, or bite off a finger, he continued with the agent. “Oh, did she now? Was there any blood on it? Was that the cause of death for your victim? Do you have any actual evidence tying my client to this or any crime for which you are attempting to hold her?”

The resounding silence was his answer.

“We’re leaving. Here is my number should you need to speak with Miss Grey further. But be warned. If you come at us again without evidence, I will slam you with harassment charges so fast your head will spin.” Seke turned back to his banshee, deliberately dismissing the fuming agent. “Miss Grey.” He gestured toward the closed door and waited while Aria scooted from her chair, rising to move toward where he stood.

“Thank you, Mister Seker, and good day, Agent Lowe.” She flipped her hair dramatically, the bright teal tips flying over her shoulder and swishing to join their brethren at the small of her back. A spicy, almost cinnamon smell accompanied the action as she moved past Seke and through the door he held ajar.

Damn, but he’d missed her... especially that mouth.

Letting the door fall closed, he trailed Aria’s determined sashay back through the busy precinct and out into the brisk evening air. No sooner had she cleared the doors did her feet stop.

Seke pulled up to her side as her head tilted forward, chin resting on her chest. Her silver hair hid her face where it fell in a straight sheet over her shoulder. He didn’t like the defeat in her posture. It wouldn’t do. His protective instincts once again surged to the fore where Aria was concerned. Over thousands of years, no one had moved him the way this surly banshee could.

“Come,” he soothed, tucking her into his side.

He made his way toward the parking lot and the vehicle the local unit had brought for their use. Clicking the key fob to locate the specific vehicle, Seke amended their course when lights flashed to their left.

Aria’s continued silence worried him. The woman didn’t do silence. It was not in her nature. Literally.

He waited for Aria to enter the vehicle once he opened the door for her, closing it soundly and securely after she was seated. The resignation emanating from Aria had his spine stiffening, his movements quick but jerkier than they should have been.

Seke, the millennia-old god of death, was flustered by the unhappiness of a twenty-three-year-old harbinger — a subordinate.

Except... she wasn’t. Not anymore.

“Thank you for coming,” Aria said gruffly once he’d seated himself behind the steering wheel. She wasn’t looking at him, staring toward her lap where her hand rubbed to the right of her pants zipper.

The tattoo. He could just see the lines and curls of the overlaid silver runes, less clean than they had likely been when first imprinted on her soft skin — undoubtedly the cause of the bind’s loss of power.

“You called. I came.” Seke left it at that, not sure he was ready to admit even to himself all of the sappy feelings between those two simple statements. He certainly wouldn’t tell her it was Cole’s idea to come see her one more time.

“But why? You didn’t have to. Hell, you sent me away!”

Her accusatory tone and sharp tongue did the opposite of their intention. That’s what he wanted to see in her: fight. She was not the meek and submissive type. He needed to remind her of that.

Not because it made him feel alive, as he had not in thousands of years, but for her benefit. He may not have been her captain any longer, but he had taught her much and still felt it his duty to support her.

“You needed the space as did the team. Tensions were high and someone, or many someones, was going to snap. I couldn’t have you fighting amongst each other.”

I couldn’t see you hurt. He didn’t say that part aloud. It was too much to admit, especially when he could see she didn’t feel the same warmth toward him.

“I’ve been thrown out of a plane, tossed around on a boat until seasick, drowned, and abandoned in a hospital. I hated each and every one of those places. I’m done.” She finally swung her eyes to meet his across the interior of the SUV. They were bright, almost electric in their intensity.

He revered the fierceness, but he wanted her to look at him with a different kind of spark.

Wrangling his burgeoning desire, he wrapped his fingers tightly around the steering wheel to keep from reaching for her. “No, this is what you are meant for. It is who you are. We just have to find the right fit.”

“No. I’m out. I’m done. I just want to be normal again. Except, the druid idea is fucked. So now, I’ll have to—”

“Normal? You are not ‘normal’. You are far superior to any human. Why would you want to tie yourself to their limited views? You know what the world truly is now. You are very important to its function, to the fate of those humans, and you want to turn a blind eye?”

“Knowing has done nothing but get me locked up and give me fucked-up nightmares. Forcing me to watch the life bleed out of a person — why would I want that?”

“You help people find peace, rest. You see what no one else can. Not to mention the fact that without our help, you will end up behind bars.” Seke was not holding back with this pep talk. She needed to grasp the repercussions of her decisions. “They have their sights set on you. You are in the system, several times over, and will always be looked at sideways until the day when they get you at the wrong place and the wrong time. Again. And I will not be there to help you if you push me away.” His tone softened by the end, nearly pleading with her