Mortal Scream (Harbingers of Death Book 1)

by LeAnn Mason

If Cole heard that term, I’d bet he’d use it differently.

  “The director.”

  “But who’s the director? What kind of harbinger are they?” Or were they a harbinger at all? So. Many. Questions.

  Instead of answering, Seke ushered me through some doors into a gym.

  Yeah, it had a gym. It took up half of the ground level space and had just about every piece of equipment imaginable… along with an impressive array of small, versatile, and concealable weapons. My parents would have been impressed.

  Our discussion was quickly pushed to the back of my mind as I was forced to focus on my delectable opponent. Though, not well enough.

  “You’re too easily distracted,” Seke admonished as he peered down at me from his looming position without offering a hand.

  “Well, sir, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a defense lesson. You know, having no parents and no home can do that to a girl.” I sprang back to my feet, throwing condescension toward my self-imposed teacher with a glare. Despite the cushy bed, in which I slept peacefully without Raven, I still hadn’t gotten enough sleep. I was extra cranky. “Not to mention these newfound Banshee screams, which decided to show up out of the blue and get my ass thrown in prison.” I was going to be holding a grudge about that one for some time.

  Would it have killed my parents to tell me about, well, me before it had arisen to bite me in the ass?

  “One would argue that being in such a scenario should give cause to improve your defensive maneuvers,” Seke returned coolly.

  “Is that so, Oh-Wise-One? I hate to break it to you, but I’m more than people can handle. I’ve won more than my fair share of brawls.” In truth, I was rattled by how easily this dude could put me on my back… and not in the fun way.

  I was weak. I was out of shape. I was defeated.

  Not anymore, Aria. Buck up, bitch. You’re a supernatural, too. This is your day.

  The pep talk infused a bit of steel into my spine, and I stood taller as I stared Seke down. “You’re a god. Not exactly a fair fight,” I grumbled, remembering just how large a disparity was between us.

  “You need to find your strengths and utilize them. A banshee’s scream can be a weapon. Her forbearance one also. True, you cannot manipulate reality.” He twisted his hand, and bars slammed down around where I stood atop the blue exercise mat, fully enclosing me in a cage only large enough for my current position.

  Reaching to grasp the magically conjured bars, I found that, though they came from nowhere, they were definitely not insubstantial. These bars were disturbingly similar in height, width, and texture to that of the penitentiary I’d only just been sprung from. My breath came heavier. A cage this size would surely drive me mad.

  And then, poof, the cage was gone. The cold steel evaporated beneath my panicked grasp in a wisp of smoke—or shadow.

  I pulled in a deep breath, not wanting to acknowledge just how badly that had unnerved me.

  “You must control your reactions to unwanted situations. Panic will be your undoing every time.” Seke’s large hands had found their way to encase my shoulders, his hazel eyes holding me hostage, begging for me to understand.

  “You sound just like my parents,” I said in a much breathier voice than I meant to.

  After a weighted pause, he answered. “Your parents sound like wise teachers.”

  And back to earth I crashed. Yeah, they had been good teachers, but only for whatever they deemed I needed to know. How could my supernatural genetics not warrant a mention?

  I stepped back, out of Seke’s steady hands. “Why wouldn’t my parents have told me about any of this? Why train me, warn me, but only vaguely? What happened to my family?” The last question was the one that had haunted me for almost a decade and cracked my heart when I woke, beguiled into thinking my new location was another stop on my parents’ flight.

  What happened to my parents?

  A crash exploded, pulling me from my self-pity as the doors to the gym were thrown open to admit two angry birds in human form. Storming into the room, their eyes promised retribution. They looked like a deadly threat, backed by a watchful hellhound and siren.

  I scoffed at the idea that they could best the god. My aching tailbone could vouch for his fighting skills.

  The sound pulled the women’s attention to me instead of Seke, where it had been originally aimed, but only for a moment.

  “How could you do this?”

  “Brenna,” Seke returned calmly.

  “You should have consulted us. All of us. Hell, any of us!” The small woman flapped angrily, causing her sleek black hair to swish like a shower curtain being tugged along a rod.

  Ember stewed silently, her fiery eyes boring into Seke then me and back. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. Her anger was palpable… and heat rose swiftly, emanating from her skin.

  “No. I do not have to run every decision by you, just as the Director does not need to run things by me. I do what is best for this team, and we needed a seer. I don’t care if you don’t like each other.” His eyes flitted my way, including me in his statement, before once again pinning his angry subordinates with hazel intensity. “You will work together, and you will look out for each other. If one of you gets hurt because another didn’t protect them, I will be forced to reevaluate that member’s place on this team. Am I clear?”

  This was a side of Seke I hadn’t seen but knew had to exist. He was proving himself to be a firm and commanding leader. One who would make hard decisions if needed.

  But it meant I couldn’t mess up. If I wanted to stop running, to know who and what I was, I needed to be here with this crazy group of supernatural harbingers of death. And I didn’t really want a betrayed god chasing my ass. Well… in one sense, I wouldn’t mind it. But that was just more reason I had to rethink my plan to ditch. Seke was giving me a chance. I owed him that much in return.

  “C’mon, Raven. Let’s finish the ice cream,” Ember coaxed. Her voice was low, persuasive, in an attempt to sway her friend. Either Seke was losing his cool and she saw it, or Ember was less opposed to my new role than Raven.

  Reluctantly, Raven allowed herself to be pulled from the room, her strides short and stiff, indicating her mental struggle. A few moments later, they cleared the room, leaving Seke and me staring after them.

  “Well, should we get back to business then?” Seke didn’t seem phased by the encounter, acting as if there hadn’t been one at all. His demeanor seemed politely inquiring. With arms in front of him, a hand clasped around the opposite wrist, appearing like a giant V.

  It was a strong but relaxed pose that accentuated his broad shoulders and slim waist. He looked good in black. Barely concealed in a tank top that exposed the muscles his tailored suits hid, along with loose-fitting pants, the dressed-down look made the god seem almost… approachable.

  “Now, make contact,” he ordered, no tension bunching his body. He wasn’t worried.

  He didn’t think I could.

  I looked for a weakness I could exploit. Not finding one, I decided I’d rush with quick feet and even quicker hands. Two large strides, and I was in striking distance, my fists moving out like vipers, ready to bite whatever they contacted. Left jab. Another. Right hook.

  He blocked the jabs, moving before the hook could connect and delivered a short, powerful hit directly to my kidney, pushing me forward and causing vomit to burn up my throat. “Fuck. Those bastards hurt,” I growled through clenched teeth.

  His grin was condescending as he bounced from foot to foot, continuing to circle around me but waiting for me to make the first moves. “You need to protect yourself. I’m not even using gifts. I figure right now, we will focus on human fighting strategies, seeing as those are who you will be in contact with most often. And, when in the view of mortals, we do not show our talents.”

  Jab.

  He dodged. “Understand?”

  “I understand.” Jab. “I’m only used to being human, so that’s ho
w I know to fight anyway,” I returned, keeping my hands up and eyes on the circling god.

  Another rush, but this time I used my hands as a distraction to get close, pushing forward with a flurry of quick strikes. Then, while he focused on my upper body, I lifted a knee. I didn’t break eye contact and remembered not to shift my weight until I struck, and I was rewarded with contact… to his man bits.

  His beautiful eyes rounded with surprise and pain—definitely pain. He withheld from yelling but groaned as he folded around his wounded pride, a hoarse cough erupting from his throat. Shadows pulled from the dark corners of the large room to swirl around Seke’s wounded frame, swelling to obscure him from view.

  In the moment right before his eyes vanished, I flashed back to the dangerous man peering at me from the depths of the dark jail cell when I’d first walked into prison. He’d been watching me from the beginning. His gaze had been menacing behind bars, cold and calculating. It was a duality that I hadn't seen from him since. I wanted to back away, in case that lurking dark side reappeared, but I couldn't help the guilt at the low blow.

  “Seke? You all right? Well, shit. I didn’t mean to unman you…” I felt guilty as I crept toward the undulating darkness. It had been a cheap shot, I knew that, but I needed to make contact somehow.

  My breath came heavier as I reached toward the mass enveloping Seke. I had no idea what he could do with the shadows, if touching the inkiness would have some crazy, ill effects, but seeing the bronzed god in pain drew up sympathy. Who knew I’d be so affected? I’d drilled plenty of guys in the family jewels. I’d rejoiced in their crumble, each and every time... until now. “Seke?”

  The moment my hand encountered the shadow, an offshoot branched from the mass, wrapping around my hand. Reflexively, I pulled back, but the smoky snake dragged with me.

  “Seke?” I asked again, more panic entering my voice. I hadn’t heard a peep from him for a minute, and the black fume twisting up my arm was starting to freak me out. “Seke? I thought magic was a no-no!” I yelped, staring wide-eyed as the tendrils coiled and writhed, snaking up my arm in an attempt to envelop me.

  If this was a harbinger ability, would it affect my soul? Would it kill me? The dreadful thoughts had my heart pounding in my chest and blood rushing in my ears. I was going to pass out if I couldn’t hold it together, and what message would that send?

  “Look at her. He’s got her, and she doesn’t even know it.”

  Opening my eyes at the catty remark, I cut my focus to where we’d apparently gathered an audience. When my gaze connected with the birds, Ember winked a cinnamon eye, a Cheshire grin splitting her face around the spoon in her mouth as she watched from their line along the mirrored wall. It wasn’t until, as one, their attention shifted over my shoulder that I realized the shadows had withdrawn.

  Following in the stares of the team, I found a recovered Egyptian god of death standing tall, proud, and remarkably mild, a few paces from me. Before I could blink, he was on me. A leg striking to sweep behind me, ensuring I fell on my ass, my head following with a heavy thud as he pushed his weight across my chest. My hand reflexively gripped Seke’s strong arm where it banded across my girls as we fell together to the mat.

  “While I applaud your willingness to play dirty with human males, I suggest you do not again try that on a supernatural,” Seke advised, voice deep and husky as he pulled a hand through some silver locks that fell across my face in the takedown. His attention followed the track his hand made across my skin.

  Heat rose in completely unrelated areas as our position became prolonged, my eyes laser-focused on his full bow lips, on that triangle patch of hair at the base. I knew just what those little guys could do to sensitive skin.

  “All right, boss. I think you can get up now. The banshee might just get the wrong idea about boundaries around here. And I just might want to join in the action,” Jessica’s provocative drawl cooed, heels clacking as she sauntered toward where we lay tangled on the floor. Stopping by our heads, the siren squatted, a feat in her tight black dress. It befit the deviant better than the prison garb ever could. I jerked away from her pantiless crotch, which hovered way too close to my face for comfort. “Did you sleep well, Screamer?” She winked, trailing a filed fingernail, now painted cherry red, across my hip.

  “What—?”

  Seke’s confused tone pulled my attention from the creepy flesh-eater who was blatantly threatening me as his hand traced the skin Jessica had uncovered. He pulled the elastic waistband far enough out of the way to expose the skin low on the inside of my right hip where my tattoo was inscribed. His other hand whispered over the inked flesh, once, twice.

  “I know why you don’t know what you are,” he said, “why your abilities never emerged.”

  The change in mood effectively doused whatever heat had been coursing through my body at the light touch, replacing the warmth with terror. I had a sinking feeling I didn’t want to know how he now had answers. I pulled myself to a sitting position, forcing Seke to do the same. If my tattoo was the key, it meant my parents had something to do with keeping my banshee powers suppressed.

  And I wasn’t sure I could handle that.

  “Raven, would you come here, please, to double-check my translation?”

  Seke’s request pulled the entire group from their distant voyeurism. The lot of them sidled up to where I now sat, bewildered and concerned, on the floor of a gym in a surreal place touted as The Bunker that housed a group of supernatural death dealers I’d met while in prison.

  Nothing screwy about this situation.

  “Aria, would you mind showing Raven your tattoo? She is much more familiar with Celtic runes than I.”

  “Celtic runes?” It was some Chinese symbol… wasn’t it?

  Reluctantly, I shifted so I could expose the tattoo to the entire harbingers team, feeling my cheeks heat for an entirely different reason than before. Ember continued to take scoops from her carton as she moved closer, and Cole was unreadable but serious, keeping his girls within reach. Raven startled me when she moved closer, kneeling in front of me and zeroing in on the figure that looked to me like a bunch of slashed and squiggly lines. I was even more surprised when her frail hand tentatively reached out to trace the black lines marking my skin.

  “What does it mean?” Cole finally asked, breaking the tense silence we’d fallen into.

  Raven, pulling back to sit on her heels, sighed deeply. She sounded almost… sad. Not something I associated with her, especially not toward me.

  “It literally translates to ‘bind death’. I’ve never seen these runes used together like this.” Her black eyes moved to capture mine. “Who put this on you? When?”

  My eyes fell to the inscription, my mind crawling a million different directions that all converged at the exact point I didn’t want. “My parents had a friend mark me with this symbol when I was a child. Before my mom… left. I thought it was our family motto in Latin or something.”

  “It is not Latin or a motto. But it does explain everything,” Seke rumbled from my side. “And it means you have a decision to make, Aria.”

  “And what would that be?” I asked incredulously, bouncing my question from face to face.

  “Do you want to be a banshee? Or go back to hiding?”

  Well, damn. Was he telling me I had a choice?

  To be continued in Fatal Sight (Harbingers of Death #2

  I am a banshee. I know. I just learned about this too. I also just found out that my being a supernatural makes me a member of the Harbingers of Death.

  Recruited to the Prison Unit, my job entails the exact thing my parents always warned me against: getting caught. But when I get my first assignment, it’s not that part that goes wrong. Deadly wrong. My haunting guilt and my new team’s hostility are enough to turn me away -- so I try a few new teams. Until I want to scream.

  Time to pack up and hunt down the being who can rebind my powers. But it turns out, I’m not the only one doing the huntin
g, and suddenly, my mysterious past is catching up to me after years of living on the move.

  Who will get to me first? The vampires with a lust for immortality who thought they’d hunted banshees to extinction? Or the human detective after the serial killer linked to several deaths?

  Can banshees announce their own deaths? I have a lot to learn. Fast.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much for reading our first co-write venture! It was a blast for us to take our #writingtwin similarities and mash them into this creation, and we hope that you enjoyed reading it! It would mean a lot to us if you’d take a minute to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or BookBub. Let us know if you want more joint ventures into storyland! We also invite you to grab book 2 in this series.

  If you liked this book, you may like our independent novels. Take a gander on our websites (LBCarter.com and LeAnnMason.com). We also invite you to say hi via the social media/email links on those sites! You can also find us in our fan group on Facebook: the Carter Mason Madhouse. We love to hear from readers. Honestly. No biting. (I mean, we can’t; it’s virtual.)

  Thanks to all those who helped us take a step into co-authorhood: Dawn Yacovetta for her hawk-eye, the Atomic Indies for support, our nutters and loyal readers who were willing to mash together for this endeavor, Anna from EerilyFair Designs for her patience and genius with the covers, Trish from Burning Phoenix Covers for putting on the hat of tattoo artist, and of course, our families. And you, the reader!

  Other Books by the Authors

  Books by L.B. Carter & LeAnn Mason

  Harbingers of Death

  Mortal Scream

  Fatal Sight

  Grave Notice

  Books by

  LeAnn Mason

  Minefield Enforcers

  Illusionary

  Fragmentary

  Revolutionary

  Tales of Grimm Hollow

  Scarlet Huntress

  Golden Beauty

  Ivory Inferno