Order of the Omni: A Supernatural Romantic Suspense Novel (The Immortalies Book 1) by Penny Knight (good english books to read txt) 📗

you.” It takes a moment to think what to order, but just settle on Topher’s favourite. “A Cosmo, please.” He chuckles in my earpiece.

“Not a problem. I can take it to your table.” She nods towards where I was sitting. Talk about five-star service.

“Oh no, I need a break from work,” I sigh and wave off my table.

“Then I won’t scrimp on the vodka.” She laughs and winks. She sashays towards the rear end of the bar to make my cocktail.

Maybe it’s the situation, what happened outside, I don’t know, but I can feel my temperature rise. A faint heat emanating from my neck. Oh God, not again. I thought the pain was subsiding. Now it comes back with a vengeance. I wince and grit my teeth.

I hear a message tone, then from the corner of my eye. I catch Carrington reach for his phone inside his trouser pocket.

“E, I see a potential vixen walking towards the entrance,” Topher says in the earpiece. Vixen being our code name for the other woman.

That explains the message. He stands and reaches inside his suit coat pocket and pulls out a yellow envelope that fits in the palm of his hand. A regular patron could miss it, his that slick and practiced. But all my focus is on him. I even notice him hide the envelope in a crevice in the leather barstool and in the same movement push the chair under the bench.

The bartender comes back and places my drink in front of me. Smiling and thanking her, I watch as Carrington walks off back through the lobby. I peer over my shoulder and catch him heading to the restrooms.

“She’s walking in the hotel now,” Topher says.

“Did you see that?” I whisper as I bring the straw to my mouth before taking a sip.

“See what?” he replies.

“He left an envelope in his chair.”

“Did you see what’s in it? Can you try to look now?” he asks.

I’ve turned so I’m slightly facing the entrance. I clear my throat and mumble into the straw. “Is the potential Vixen a blondie with red heels?”

“Yep, that’s her. She’s walking towards you now.”

I get my phone out and pretend to look at it, hoping to create a false sense of security as she approaches. She doesn’t even pretend to order a drink or make it subtle. She pulls out the chair, takes the envelope, and walks straight towards the exit.

“What’s the bet the cash is inside?” Topher verbalises my exact thought. Six hundred and fifty dollars, to be exact.

Heat hits me again, causing me to straighten in my chair, right behind my neck. It burns. I wince and turn to watch her walk away.

“She’s heading to reception,” I say through clenched teeth. “Are you in the system yet?”

“Nah, not yet. Give me a bit, they have good security here. Shouldn’t take too long, though.” If there’s a way in the network, Topher will exploit it. There’s no doubt.

I take a longer sip of my drink. It goes down too well. But it does nothing to quell the heat that burns up from my neck. It gets stronger and stronger. I lean my hands on the bar. The marble offers cool relief. How weird would it be if I lay my head down. Just for a bit.

A bead of sweat falls from my forehead, the pain intensifies to a peak I’ve not experienced before.

I want to scream.

I want to cry.

“That’s an interesting mark,” says a deep voice behind me. I close my eyes for a moment to gain some composure and inhale. This is the last thing I need.

I turn.

“God fucking damn!” Topher whistles in my ear.

For a moment it all stills. Standing in front of me, I look up to intense deep blue eyes with flecks of a chilling ice blue around the irises. His thick black hair is in the perfect place, showing control and order, but contrasts with the scruff of stubble on his face. His white crisp shirt shows some muscled, tanned skin thanks to his two loose buttons. And to top it all off, he owns his blue vested suit like a model walking for Tom Ford. If my temperature wasn’t already rising, he surely could make it jump.

“E, the target is making his way into the lift. We need to find that room number. And I still need time to crack their system.” Topher brings me back to reality.

“Thanks,” I mumble to the hot guy and turn back to the bar, grabbing my cocktail and preparing to bolt. Besides the explosion in my head, I’m not interested in small talk.

When I turn back, I realise he is still there and is not alone. A familiar face stares back at me. The porter from outside.

I sensed her before I could see her. A feeling unbeknownst to me in all my years, which is telling. Not the sensing her, my abilities are unrivalled with that, but the feeling that followed. Hope. Today could be the day my immortal life changes. One that could alter the fate of all humanity. Intense is an understatement. My expectations were high, they would be. I’ve waited two thousand years on the Oracle’s words. But that was the first thing that left me, my words. When she turned and I saw her beauty right in front of me.

Seeing the mark branded on her, finally baring itself to me, it was hard not to get excited. I’ve waited so long with too many disappointments recorded. This could be a trick. A sick one, but something that I must consider.

I need this to go well and handle the situation with precision. Too much rides on this encounter.

She turns around after initially blowing me off. Recognition flashes across her face when her eyes land on Steve. A loyal employee, and the one who reported it to me.

This brown-eyed vision in front of me is clearly in duress. There’s something ailing her. Pain? Fatigue?

Her face is shiny from perspiration and