Lethal Blow: (Succubus Hitwoman Book 2) by Eliza Hendrix (love books to read TXT) 📕

sounded like your landlord at first. You know how he gets. But then it got pretty bad and the door started shaking. So, Rachel here panicked and started reading off the sheet of paper in her hands. I thought she was making shit up, but I guess not.” He wipes a line of sweat from his scaly forehead. “It all happened so fast. This pack of four vampire dudes broke down your door—”

“My door!” I snap.

“Alexis,” Veerka says, and I realize I’m being a bit ridiculous given the fact that the three of them almost died.

“Yeah, they broke it down,” Drax says. “They were vampires, Alex. Since when do vampires want anything to do with you?”

“Fucking Jamieson,” I say under my breath.

“What?” Drax asks.

“Nothing, keep going.”

“So, when they burst in, Rachel here finished reading her spell or whatever, and this huge fucking griffin with red feet and a red beak appeared in your apartment! It was so fucking big, Alex. It could barely move around.”

“I panicked,” Rachel chimes in.

“You panicked?” I repeat.

“I created a portal with the bit of powder I had left from last time, and, well, it took us to you.”

Stretching my neck sideways, I feel a soothing snap. “Great. This is fucking awesome.”

Drax and Rachel exchange a look.

Why are they looking at each other like that? What the hell else is going on that I don’t know about?

“Come on, spit it out!” I say.

“There’s something else,” Rachel says.

No shit.

I clench my jaw.

“When the griffin started freaking out inside your apartment, it snapped its beak at me and knocked my book out of my hands.”

What is she talking about? She’s holding the book against her chest, so what could be the problem?

Then, pulling it away from her chest, she opens it up. Inside, it looks like half the pages are missing.

“The tip of its beak sliced right through it and a bunch of papers went flying out before I grabbed it again.”

Admittedly, I’m freaking out inside and about ready to fly down to the Las Vegas strip and get wasted. I can’t deal with this shit.

“Are you telling me,” I say through gritted teeth, “that the vampires who were looking for me now have half of the Book of Origin in their possession? A book which, let me remind you in case that thick skull of yours forgot, is the most powerful book known to shadow dwellers?”

With tight lips, she nods fast like a kid caught doing something wrong.

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

Chapter 4

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“How long am I supposed to hang out in Las Vegas?” Rachel asks.

“As long as it takes,” I say. “Now that those vampires have half the Book of Origin, someone will hunt you down for the rest of the book any time now.”

Veerka crosses her arms and stares at Rachel. “She’s a witch. Can’t she place some sort of protective spell on the thing?”

Rachel glares at her. It’s apparent that she’s tired of people thinking she can do anything with her magic, and I don’t blame her—the girl’s still learning. Half the time, she guesses her spells. I’m willing to bet if she tries to put a protective spell on the book, it’ll blow up in flames.

“Well, you can’t keep walking around with that thing in your arms,” Veerka adds. “Do you have any idea how dangerous—”

“I know,” Rachel cuts her off. “Alexis told me. I get it, okay? This thing’s powerful. It’s not like it’s my fault the damn griffin tore it to shreds.”

“Well—” Drax says, his tone heightening in pitch.

Rachel glares at him.

“There’s no use arguing about this,” I say, losing my patience. “Rachel, Drax, and you—” I point to Riskus. “You guys come with me. We’re going to see the Great Witch, Zerachu.”

The corner of Rachel’s lip pulls up. “Zerachu? Is that some sort of Pokémon?”

I make my eyelids go flat. What’s her problem? Why does she always have to make stupid comments? It’s like she enjoys the negative attention.

“You’d better show some respect if you want to meet one of the most powerful witches I know,” I say.

This shuts her up.

I’m hesitant about bringing Rachel and the Book of Origin to Zerachu because I know what she’ll say: “Vat da fuck is wrong with you, Alexis?”

Letting Rachel keep her damn book was beyond stupid. All right, taking it in the first place was the stupid part. But I was torn between not wanting the kid to kill herself and not wanting anything to do with the book. Zerachu won’t miss a beat with me—she’ll make sure I understand exactly how stupid I was. She’ll say something like, “You foolish twit! Vy did you not bring the book to me?”

The funny thing about Zerachu is that she sounds like a vampire, but she looks like an old hag. I guess that’s stereotyping—not all vampires talk like that. She’s from Europe somewhere, and her accent never left her. And although she’s blunt and can come across as a bit of a bitch, she knows her shit.

And the best part is that she’s always in Vegas—just our luck.

“Where is this witch?” Rachel asks.

“The Dark Hall,” I say.

Rachel gives me a stupid look that says, Is that supposed to be a funny joke?

Drax leans into her. “It’s a casino.”

“How do you know she’ll be there?” Rachel asks.

“She’s always there,” I say. “She does tarot readings for people. Charges an arm and a leg, but she’s famous around here.”

I glance up at Veerka, who hasn’t said a word over the last few minutes. I know why she’s being quiet—she knows she can’t stick around and is trying to figure out how to say goodbye.

“When will I see you again?”