Fatal Sight (Harbingers Of Death Book 2)
Page 24
“Please, gods, let this not be for nothing.”
Seke couldn’t run fast enough. With the vampires on the ground level escorted across the veil, there was just one place left for him. He’d wanted to head there first, but if they didn’t want the vampire’s souls resorbing, his priority had been handling the souls.
But with each trip across the veil, it was a few more minutes he was away from Aria.
For the umpteenth time, he shifted into his hawk the moment he cleared the threshold of the front door. This time, it was for speed. The humans gawked as he swooped past Torgny, careening for the shore. All the way, his heart hammered.
The insufferable banshees had insisted everything would be all right with this plan, that this way, everyone would live. He’d had to trust them, but there had been a hesitation on Aria’s behalf, and he feared there might still be consequences to their mode of attack. Even if they did all survive.
He was forced to shift back to human when he reached the pipe, the opening too small for his oversized bird. The change quenched the red glow that, for a split second, illuminated the tunnel, and he immediately regretted it. The sight he’d seen briefly in that scarlet glow vanished. There was too much noise to pinpoint exactly what was happening after that snapshot; heavy splashing, grunts, and pants met his ears from somewhere further into the black system laid out before him.
“Aria!” His shout preceded him, reverberating throughout the tunneled space as he sloshed toward the scuffle he heard ahead of him.
“Seke!” Aria’s melodic voice boomed toward him, and with his heart in his throat, the shadows responded without his thinking. They spiraled back just enough to allow a beam of light that enabled him to see a woman with long silver hair being dragged through the sewer, a pale hand over her mouth.
He cursed the deep water that slowed his movements as he struggled to reach where he’d just seen her.
When Seke didn’t overtake the pair of bodies before a fork, he presumed the vampire must have known he was there. He must have altered their direction, heaving his quarry… heaving Aria down a different pipe.
But which one?
His emotions were overcoming his logical thinking. He tried to compose himself and think like the leader he was.
The echoing sounds of water sloshing and dripping confused his senses, and his eyes darted around the new shadows blindly. A foreign sense of panic was blooming in his chest, right around his heart. It was as if it was swelling to burst with adrenaline the longer he went without seeing Aria. His lungs, on the other hand, couldn’t take in enough air, and he took quick, shallow breaths, wheezing to keep up with his heart’s galloping. His eyes began to fuzz.
Not good. You are no good like this. Snap out of it!
Getting a grip, Seke forced himself to take a slow, deep breath, then called the shadows to him. Pulling the darkness together into a ball, he siphoned them away from the walls and between his upturned palms.
There. Let there be light.
Aria’s bright silver hair flashed around a bend down the tunnel to his right. Reinvigorated, he rushed after her, all the while gathering the shadows he encountered. Tendrils chased after his feet underwater, yet more swirled around his fists unconsciously.
“Let her go, or face my wrath,” he warned in a voice steeped menacingly in godly power.
Turning the corner, Seke didn’t pause. Releasing the shadows in a blast, he directed them forward with his will, yet instructed them to avoid his banshee. Even if she was hurt by the release, it would be better than losing her to the vampires. That outcome would be unendurable.
Once the shadows reached the end of the chamber, he drew them back, looking for bodies.
But there were none.
Instead, he stared with swelling anguish at a circular picture of serenity. The pipe ended ahead of him, a second opening appearing as if like a painting with crystalline blue waters and puffy white clouds above a distant horizon.
Shock and horror flooding through him, the captain of the HDPU stumbled haltingly down the last stretch of empty pipe, toward the deceivingly idyllic scene.
Counting all the offshoots, he didn’t know if any of them now contained what he searched for. When he reached the end where fresh air tried to brush away the stench of the pipe, he had tallied eight. There were eight tunnels down which Aria might have been taken, let alone that final exit with the tropical horizon. He’d taken too long to catch up to the vampire; even if he chose the right one.
He’d lost her, his love.
In saving her mother and Ember, in taking out a horde of hidden vampires, in saving the humans used as food, Aria had sacrificed herself.
Seke did not even know if the vampire would keep her as a refillable juice box or a hostage to barter with… or if he would drain her dry and make the woman a martyr.
The last banshee discovered may well be the last banshee in history. They had Enid, but in a cruel twist of fate, they had made the acquisition at the loss of her daughter.
The Egyptian god of death let out a wail that would have done Aria proud as the shadows again drew to him, filtering into his broken heart. He would find her. Seke would find his love, and no matter how long it took to recover her, he would find a way. Her abductor would pay with his borrowed life.
It would not be quick.
It would not be quiet.
It would not be mercy.
It would be revenge.
To be continued in
Grave Notice
(Harbingers of Death #3)
I saved my mother but damned myself.
With the supernatural ability to foretell death, I expected to keep deadly company. But I never anticipated being prisoner to a horde of immortality-seeking undead.
I was finally accepted by the HDPU — then I went and traded my freedom for my mother’s. Now, it’s my turn to endure abuse at the hands of the vampires who want my prophetic powers.
But I’m still being hunted. Turns out not all vampires are on board with having a pet banshee on the leash, and some still want me silenced... for good.
Time to kill two vamps with one stone — er, scream. With my mom aiding Seke and the team, we can show these fangers just what the last two banshees can do.
Hopefully, I can complete my self-appointed mission before someone succeeds at putting me in an early grave.
Acknowledgments
We first want to thank YOU, the reader, for following Aria’s story. It means so much to indie authors like us to have you pick up our books. We also hugely appreciate reviews. If you can, please take a minute to leave a written review at Goodreads, BookBub, and Amazon. And we invite you to snag your copy of book 3, Grave Notice, to read the conclusion of the Harbingers of Death!
We’d love to hear from you personally, too! Find our contact links on our websites (LBCarter.com and LeAnnMason.com), and/or you can join our fan group on Facebook: the Carter Mason Madhouse. You can also find information about our independent novels on those sites.
We’d also like to thank your nutters, our VIP team (You guys rock!), our stellar beta readers (Don’t hate us; we love you!), our editor, Dawn Yacovetta (What would we do without you?), and our cover and header designer, Anna at EerilyFair Design (Who also did the rockin’ chapter headers!).
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
Books by
L.B. Carter
Deadly Earth
Hope Drowned
Trust Burned
Love Deserted
Loan Soul
One Loan Soul
Two Sold Mates
Three Broke Souls
Four Poor Souls
The Fox and the Howl
Wolves Wood
Witches Bridge
Standalones
Fish(y) out of Water
About the Authors
L.B. Carter and LeAnn Mason are #writingtwins. They met through the divine fates (books) having been separated at birth (several US states and a couple of years) and decided to join forces (story ideas). Their books, often described by readers as “badass,” drop you right into exciting action with deliciously dark romance, twists and turns, and intriguing characters. When not writing, both are busy-bees with a love for animals, music, and of course, reading.
You can find their books (co-written and individually written) as well as links to subscribe to their newsletters and/or say hello on social media through their websites:
LBCarter.com and LeAnnMason.com.