Fatal Sight (Harbingers Of Death Book 2) by LeAnn Mason (universal ebook reader txt) 📗

like the rarest of gems. Was I the actual last? Was that why my parents had run?

They’d trained me to keep on running. My mother had turned from the Harbingers and traveled alone to protect herself and her family. That felt like validation for my decision to do the same.

Keep moving, Aria. A sitting duck is a dead duck.

My words of wisdom were still a little rough, but the sentiment was there. If my parents died trying to keep me from getting caught by the vampires, then I should do my best to remain un-caught.

Nodding my head, I turned for the door and paused.

Right. No car. And no cash for the bus. Stupid cops ‘confiscating’ my wallet because the names on the cards didn’t match my current alias. I pulled out my phone and stared at it. I only had a few numbers, and anyway, I couldn’t call them. I was going solo. But... maybe I could sell it?

I sucked my lip ring into my mouth, unsure if I should go so far as to lose all contact with the HDPU.

Hmmm. The lip ring?

It was tiny but silver. It might be worth enough for a bus ticket. Spinning to find my bra and check out, my eyes alighted on something glinting on the bedside table. Had one of my piercings fallen out? My fingers touched all of them, finding them in their places. I frowned, the lip ring popped free from my unsettled mouth, and I shuffled toward the shiny object to inspect it.

It was a ring, but not a piercing — the kind you wore on a finger. Welded from intricately interwoven bands, they coalesced into a design at the top that seemed to resemble a Celtic knot. Three clear-cut stones sat in the loops. They sparkled mesmerizingly as I inspected it beneath the lamp. Had Seke taken it off to sleep and forgotten to put it back on?

I debated with myself for another minute before pocketing the bling and strode out the door. I wasn’t going to be seeing him again to give it back.

I beelined for the motel’s reception. Rapping on the desk, I demanded, “Hey. Is there a pawn shop around here?”

The bored man behind the counter didn’t look up from the pornographic video playing on his phone, rattling off directions barely heard above all the spanking and moaning.

“How far is that?” I asked.

He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and typed the address into my phone. Yep, the phone was definitely worth keeping. The map suggested the shop was only a ten-minute walk. I wasn’t surprised that somewhere like that was near somewhere like this. There was probably a bail bondsman right around the corner, not to mention the police station.

There was a method to the madness.

“Hey.”

The man finally glanced up with a questioning brow raised, annoyed that I was still there and interrupting his... focus. Thank the gods I could see both his hands above the desk… for the time being.

“Put me down for another night. Room four. Charge it to the credit card you have on file for last night.”

He sighed and typed in the system. “Mister Seker’s card?”

“Yes.” I grinned, feeling justified, then swiveled on a heel.

My phone directed me on my quest, dictating my movements. The area I traversed was rundown, the buildings and sidewalks cracked with age and abuse. I passed some prostitutes, homeless, and a gang of young boys roughened into early maturity, who threw me some lewd catcalls and associated gestures my way. After memorizing the directions, I pocketed the phone, keeping it, and the ring, out of sight. I needed those. Otherwise, I was fairly comfortable. I had bigger sharks on my tail these days. No one followed me, which was all I really worried about. These thugs were human, and with my past and additional training, I knew I could take them if it came to that.

In my pre-HD life, this setting was my ‘hood. It was almost reassuring to be back, like I was home. I’d felt a bit out of place in the lavish accommodations of my brief stint with the HDPU, like a pauper dressing up and stepping into a ball to which she wasn’t invited.

Certainly, the rest of the team hadn’t wanted me there. We’d gotten along okay at first, but after Jessica’s passing, tensions ratcheted right back up to someone-might-die levels.

And I didn’t mean our targets.

Rounding a corner, I spied the tiny shop. Its windows were barred, and with many signs papering the door, I couldn’t see in. But the flickering sign overhead insisted I was in the right place.

A bell jangled announcing my arrival when I stepped into the small space. The main room was framed by a u-shaped counter, me in the middle. A door in one wall led off to what was presumably an even tinier office.

An older man looked up, a small magnifying glass set over one eye of his glasses. He tucked whatever he’d been inspecting beneath the counter and gave me a smarmy grin, rotating the lens above an eyebrow. “What can I do for you today, miss?” His hand swept over the glass case beneath his forearms. “Perhaps a nice necklace to go with your other jewelry?” He eyed my piercings.

“I’m not here to buy. I’m here to sell.” I kept my face hard and my stance wide. This wasn’t a fight, but some of the advice Seke had imparted into me about intimidating an opponent came to mind anyway. I’d negotiated with pawn folks before. I’d needed enough cash for a quick getaway after Dad vanished… and to ditch his few material possessions. Selling his clothes had accomplished both tasks, though not much else.

“Ah.” The portly man’s smile grew slimier, showcasing a missing tooth on the left side of his mouth. “What have you got for me?”

I kept the ring cupped in my palm, still hidden inside my pocket. “A ring. Platinum.”

The man’s brows shot up. “Platinum?” He licked his lips. “You sure, girl? Not