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

woman’s blood-drained body — the real version, not the reanimated one in my dream — sprang to the fore of my mind. “That.”

Point to the vampire. The druid was dead. And so was my dream to become human again. The only lead I’d had for maybe repairing the rune tattoo on my hip was a literal dead end.

“I take it your rotations in the other units didn’t go well if you were seeking to rebind your powers.”

I turned away from Seke’s curiosity. He wasn’t my captain anymore. I didn’t have to explain myself to him. “No,” was all I said.

He sighed and stood. “Well, I need to get you back.”

Panic flooded my veins, and I gripped the blanket. “Back where?”

He turned to consider me. He hadn’t brought anything with him, so he’d been forced to sleep in his underclothes. His shirt, vest, and slacks hung neatly in the closet. But shadows clung to him, concealing his narrow hips and toned legs, thankfully. Or regretfully, depending on whether you asked the little angel or devil perched on my shoulders. “The director will have a new assignment for you.”

My jaw clenched. This was why he’d come. He just wanted to drag his recruit back into the ring. The rare banshee. I was a hot commodity and the Harbingers of Death couldn’t let me go. Seke was just like the cops. Catching me. Trapping me.

“I’m not going back there. I appreciate that you got me released, but I’m not going. There must be other druids I can find.” Though, if I had a vision about any of them, then it wasn’t a great sign that I had all that much time to find them either. This would be a lot easier if they weren’t so secretive.

His arms crossed. “It’s not safe. That agent may not have enough evidence to charge you right now, but based on his reach and your inclinations, it won’t be long until he finds a way to at least hold you as a suspect.”

I shrugged. “I won’t get caught.” I knew how to live on the streets, how to avoid the law. It had been my powers that ruined that, but now I’d had some training. I could keep a lid on it until I found a way to do so permanently. That was a plan. In theory. Now, it seemed, I just needed to also keep from getting caught by the HD. I’d been weak and stupid to invite Seke here, to let him back in. Working solo seemed to be the only way to avoid getting snagged like a mermaid in a net.

Keep moving. Don’t get caught.

You got it, Dad.

Seke wasn’t convinced. “You don’t know that. I’ve met types like that agent before. He’ll chase you no matter where you go.”

Not his problem. I shrugged, rolling out of bed in my underwear with no shame to pull on my jeans. When I looked up, I expected Seke to have turned his back like a gentleman. Instead, he stared at me with a vague sort of passion in his vivid eyes.

“No different than my old life,” I told him. My parents had been fleeing... fleeing what? Had mom attracted any cops during her screaming days? Maybe they were hiding from the HD mom had defected from? Or did they know about the vampires? Whichever the reason, they’d been killed. And I would be stalked. “Even if I come back with you, I won’t be safe.”

He shook his head. “The director will find a program for you far from the legal system.”

I bit my lip at another wave of rejection crashing over me before I turned it into something useful. “How generous,” I snarked. “I’m not talking about the law.”

I was heated in an altogether different kind of way than when I first saw the god again. I snatched up the rest of the discarded clothes and threw my bag over my shoulder. “I’m talking about the vampires. Thanks for the rescue and the motel. Feel free to stalk me too if you want. But it’s pointless. I’m not coming back. And don’t worry. I won’t request your assistance anymore.”

Never get involved with anyone. You can only trust yourself.

It seemed to be my father’s voice that rang in my ears whenever it came to leaving Seke, almost as if he was with me, projecting fatherly disapprovals. I rolled my eyes at the wishful thought. Only I would hear voices in my head and think it a normal parental relationship.

Lesson learned, Dad.

I flung open the door and stomped out into what appeared to be early morning based on the rising sun.

“Wait,” Seke called over my shoulder.

I didn’t stop. There was nothing he could say to make me stay. I was done with him and with the Harbingers of Death.

“Aria! What do you mean ‘vampires’?”

16

“Aria?”

I jerked at a touch to my shoulder, pulling away while my left fist aimed for the offender… who just so happened to be Seke.

“Shit! Never grab a girl from behind unless you want to get hit,” I scolded.

“Especially one I have trained to do so,” Seke quipped without missing a beat before sobering, his smoldering hazel eyes meeting mine.

“Just let me go.” I wrenched away, resuming my dramatic exit.

“When did you see a vampire? Aria. Please.”

The reminder of the encounter, of the death, of the coldness… I shivered. Maybe it couldn’t hurt to have the HD taking out the vamps. It’d keep the HD busy and reduce the number of vamps on my tail. I stopped walking. “At the house.”

Seke had already caught up. Guess he was taking my ‘Stalk me if you want’ taunt at its face value. “What house? You were assigned to a hospital unit last, were you not?”

I turned to face him. “I was, but that definitely wasn’t a good fit. So, that was when I decided that I didn’t want to be a Harbinger of Death anymore.”

My anger rose back up as I watched Seke. He seemed