Mortal Scream (Harbingers of Death Book 1)

by LeAnn Mason

  Seke’s gaze found Aria’s. “Watch.” Cole’s lip curled as he registered the fondness his captain showed toward the newcomer.

  Aria nodded, eyes wide. Cole noticed they were red around the rims.

  Focusing on Michaels’s outline, Seke lifted both hands. Michaels’s focus centered on the god as if silently listening to a telepathic conversation. Maintaining eye contact, Seke seamlessly shifted into his falcon. Atypically large for the bird of prey, his form nearly filled the corridor, massive wingspan brushing feathers against either wall, sharp curled talons scraping on the floor beside Michaels’s corpse. The ethereal crimson glow he emitted brushed against shadowy walls, reflecting back to center, hidden from any potential onlookers.

  “Holy fuck,” Aria reiterated, pressing against the wall to keep out of the way, hair flying in the wind produced by Seke’s single flap.

  Cole’s corded locks were too heavy to be shifted by Seke’s wings, and he stifled a small smirk when Raven shushed the banshee. The pair should have been keeping watch, but instead, they mutely observed the moment of decision along with Jessica.

  Preternaturally bright eyes trapping his target in place, Seke opened his hooked beak. Flapping his powerful wings once to propel his massive frame forward, he consumed Michaels’s spirit whole.

  Landing gracefully on the other side of Cole, once again a tanned, toned, and clothed human, Seke turned to face the team, each lowering their heads for a moment of silence. A bit of respect for the life ended.

  Not once had he revealed what road their targets took, but he bowed slightly to thank them for their part in getting the poor murdered soul where he belonged.

  “Let us go.” He began striding down the hall. Without turning or slowing his confident stride, he chided, “Not this time, Jessica.”

  She sighed, sucking her tongue back in from his bloody corpse, and stood back up. “Next time?”

  Cole patted her shoulder and pushed her ahead of him. “Leave the blood sucking for the vamps.” He couldn’t agree more with his captain’s decision to leave and stepped over Michaels’s body, ready to be gone. Ember would be reborn soon, possibly even waiting for them at the bunker.

  Pulling out his set of keys, he took long strides to catch up, hand reaching to Aria’s upper arm. He needed to lead her back to her cell now that she’d seen the result of her death proclamations. She’d been enlightened. She could be the institution’s problem now.

  Seke spoke before Cole’s dark fingers touched the banshee’s white skin. “Come, Aria. We must handle your release paperwork.”

  Mutually, the Harbingers of Death Prison Unit gaped at their captain in horror.

  20

  “What do you mean she’s coming with us?” Raven fumed, buzzing to catch up to the falcon man and me as he led us through the prison like he’d walked the path a hundred times.

  I had a similar question. He had merely said he wanted me to witness their abilities when Seke released me from detention. And I hadn’t technically agreed to go with him further than here.

  Yet.

  Should I? Would I?

  As we left the detritus of the massacre, the moans and groans faded as did the odors of desperate sweat and spilled blood. Our footsteps echoed, no longer dampened by the padding of bodies. The crimson light remained dull, and I wondered if Seke kept us shrouded.

  “Yes. She is a banshee, a fellow harbinger, and as such, deserves our assistance.”

  Wow. I felt kinda warm and fuzzy. This whole situation was legit bat-shit crazy, but this guy apparently had a way to get me out of prison… and was making good. I wasn’t stupid enough to pass that up. Even if it was a bad choice to trust them, it was a worse decision to stay behind. And though Seke’s words were more mentor, I wondered if secretly there was any more to it than that. Just because all sorts of batshit crazy was going down didn’t mean I hadn’t noticed that he’d gotten touchy during that death demonstration—

  “But she’s an idiot!” my roomie—ex-roomie—blurted, not even caring about the glare I sent her way. She was too frigid for my icy daggers to do anything but glance off her frozen heart.

  “Bless her heart,” Jessica mumbled as she attempted to clean her gore-riddled face. A finger mopped up pulpy fragments from her cheek then popped into her mouth to emerge clean once more. “Waste not, want not.” She winked when she caught me staring.

  “Enough. We will discuss matters once we are back in our territory. For now, let us make our way there. Raven, you may fly if you need to stretch your wings.” Seke remained unphased by the obvious shade being thrown my way. And when a large black Raven flapped angrily past our group and toward the building’s lobby and exit, he just continued on his path.

  Never rely on anyone else. You can only trust—

  Oh, you can learn how to shut up too, I chided my memory. My parents had betrayed me too, in a sense. The lessons weren’t infallible either.

  Not like the god before me. Seke’s strides were long and confident, shoulders squared, and back straight. The guard uniform seemed like a paltry costume when mounted upon his glorious frame. The suit I’d first seen him in suited him better.

  Yes, the suit suited him. I laughed to myself. Anything to keep from going mad with all the information I’d soaked up in the past several minutes.

  I’d watched a blonde southern beauty actually eat someone! A dead someone. Not to mention everything else…

  Breathe, Aria. Remember, a situation cannot rule you. You must rule the situation.

  The reminder did well to force my thoughts to other, more benign topics like how the fluorescent lighting made Seke’s silky black waves shine like onyx or that his deeply tanned skin glistened almost as if he’d been dusted in gold. I couldn’t tell if it was what I saw in truth or through some kind of hero filter my mind had put on the man—god—in that moment. Either way, it had a heating effect on me.

  Not that this was any kind of time to be having lusty thoughts. Perhaps I walked too close to the semi-sated siren, and lust had glued to my skin like a glitter bomb.

  “Cole, you know what to do,” Seke said cryptically, buzzing the group of us through one of the doors leading into restricted areas—a big no-no for inmates. I didn’t see him use a card.

  “On it,” Cole responded, breaking off to veer down another passageway, which I believed to house staff rooms, without a glance back.

  “Didn’t he have the cloaky thing?” I asked no one in particular, craning my head to follow Cole’s near-silent departure. Man, he was a big dude.

  “You think he’s the only one who can conceal us? Bless your heart,” Jessica patronized with sarcasm.

  “So, now that Raven has flown the coop, you’ve taken over as queen bitch, is that it?” I was pretty sure I was going to combust from all this estrogen. Seemed some things never changed no matter the species. “Wait.” My eyes flitted around the unaccountably depleted group. “Where’s Ember?” Where was bitch number three?

  Jessica hissed like a fucking snake. I thought it was a legitimate question. Didn’t they say they looked out for each other?

  “The fact that Aria is so ignorant is exactly why we need to intervene. She needs to be educated.”

  I hated that he thought me ignorant.

  Seke turned his attention briefly toward the siren at his back before continuing toward his goal… whatever that was. “Ember will return to us, in time,” he told me. “Now, please let me work my magic.” He winked quickly in my direction, turning another corner and into an office I’d never known existed. With an arm barring entry in his wake, Seke effectively told the two of us to remain outside the room.

  Jessica, sensing a few moments of freedom from rebuke, advanced toward where I leaned against the wall opposite the femme fatale. I didn’t trust her and knew I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

  “You’ve seen what I do now.” Jessica licked her plump lips again, smoldering eyes roving my face in obvious desire. Now I realized it wasn’t a sexual lust b
ut one of the stomach. “It’d be my pleasure to give a close-up though if you’re wantin’ it.”

  “How is it that no one notices bite marks on the guy?” I kept my voice even, not allowing her suggestion to penetrate my thickened hide.

  Now that the initial shock of my new world had been absorbed, I wouldn’t let them get to me. My hardcore upbringing had made me remarkably adaptable. I’d only recoil in horror and scream internally. Unless I was in the proximity of some poor schmuck destined to die. Then, all bets were off.

  “I’m very careful,” Jessica purred, her pert nose nearly rubbing along my cheek. Her breath smelled like rot and decay, and I had to choke down on my gag reflex.

  “Back off, biter,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

  I seriously hated having my personal space invaded, especially by those trying to intimidate me. She may have been a supernatural being, but I was a scrappy bitch. I knew how to fight, and my unusual strength may have now found an explanation not formerly known to me. My fists clenched, as did the muscles along my jaw, as I debated throwing a punch. We were one-on-one right now.

  I might be able to knock out a row of teeth.

  Jessica pulled back with a hiss, retreating to the far side of the hall as the door clicked open. Seke’s regal profile emerged, once again clad in a sleek suit. This one was a light beige, almost the same color as the guard uniform he had been wearing when he entered the office.

  “Did you change in there?” I peeked around the god, hoping to get a glimpse as to why we’d come here specifically. He closed the door before I caught sight of anything that would indicate the room was something other than a normal office, but I’d heard murmurs from within, so I assumed he’d met with someone.

  Jessica’s snort was full of contempt. “How quickly your attention wavers.”

  “Shut it. There’s a lot going on that needs acknowledging.”

  “Come,” Seke encouraged.

  “Aren’t we waiting for Ember to catch up?”

  “Ember has fallen. She will rejoin our ranks when she rejuvenates,” Seke said blithely, beginning to walk, again completely assured that we’d follow.

  Well, he sure as hell couldn’t leave me hanging like that. “She’s dead?” I cried in alarm. “Don’t any of you care?” I blinked at the placid Jessica gesturing for me to trail Seke ahead of her. “She was your friend!” My head was spinning. This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t be with them. If they couldn’t find a care about their fallen teammate, then they wouldn’t give two shits about me. These people—these supernaturals were heartless.

  With an eye roll that indicated she was tired of waiting, Jessica pushed me ahead and gave me regular shoves if I didn’t move fast enough for her.

  I would not consider this arrangement permanent. I’d use it as a tool, a way for me to blend in, and once achieved, I’d slip away.

  We weren’t looked at, let alone stopped, as we moved out into the admittance area of the prison. Not even when we stepped out through the thick metal doorways and into brisk air.

  My feet stalled, and I raised my face to the heavens. It had been so long since I’d been freely out under the open sky, and I wanted a moment to appreciate it. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the bite it delivered to my thin regulation clothing. A chilled breeze lifted my unwashed hair with effort, but I felt no need to get out of the sting. I would dance naked in the street if I could, a pagan celebration at its finest. All I’d need was an enormous bonfire and some obscure holiday. Not a few hours ago, I was entering solitary. Now, I was walking outside the barbed-wire fences without shackles.

  A large hand met my shoulder just as a warm whisper met my ear. A faint tickle and the sultry tone sent shivers down my body as Seke spoke. “We can celebrate elsewhere. Now, we must go.”

  I let him steer me toward a blacked-out SUV that looked like what had brought me here. But I didn’t hesitate because ‘away’ was fine with me in any form of transportation as long as it was synonymous with ‘free’. Piling into the vehicle, I noticed Seke wasn’t in the driver’s seat; Cole was. His broad, dark countenance took up more room than one would guess in the large vehicle.

  “Look, Cuddles is back,” I said about the mercurial hellhound.

  He didn’t acknowledge my snarky comment but instead turned his attention to Seke, who answered some unspoken question that passed between them.

  “Let us eat a nice meal. Then we shall meet back at the bunker.”

  I could deal with that. Real food sounded absolutely divine, but... “Jessica and I are still in our prison jumpsuits, and Cole’s in uniform… “

  “That is no matter. There are street clothes for both you and Jessica in the bags in the back,” Seke informed us.

  No sooner had he begun speaking than Jessica had angled her body over the seat to retrieve said bags. With a quick peek into the one she grabbed, she tossed the shiny gift bag at me with disgust and returned to snag a remaining bag from the rear.

  Looking into the paper bag’s confines, I found a pair of black jeggings, red t-shirt, and a gorgeous, studded, black leather jacket. I dropped the bag and sat back against the seat, stunned.

  “Is everything all right, Aria?”

  My smile was strained as I turned it on Seker. “How is it you know exactly what I’d wear and in the right sizes…?” I couldn’t decide if it was creepy or sweet.

  Jessica snorted again but didn’t deign to interject herself further. Cole didn’t veer his attention from his task, still the watchdog.

  “Aria, I have been around for a long time and have become quite the connoisseur of the female form. Think of me as a stylist in that sense. I can look at you and know that perfect fit. It takes a bit of talking to decide what style is appropriate, however.” His dark eyes held my own, smoldering, demonstrating with only a look just how well he knew the female form. He dared me to imagine just what tricks he knew. What would it be like to be ravished by this man—this god?

  ◆◆◆

  Ember’s body lay stiff and lifeless, zipped inside a thick, dark bag, a tag attached to her toe by a thin twine twisted to stay in place. The morgue was burning up though the space was kept at a lower temperature to help keep the bodies from decomposing as quickly as was natural. Higher and higher the temperature rose within the confines of her allotted freezer slot.

  A burst of light indicated the first spark of flame, sending the temperatures even higher. The flame spread quickly to engulf the petite body, making the dark encasement melt away almost instantly, the scent of sulfur and brimstone coiling with the smoke.

  As the heat climbed even higher, the color of the flames shifted from vibrant reds and oranges to an ethereal blue, turning the pink flesh to blistering and bubbling red before turning black. The texture became crispy unless touched—if one could bear the flames. Then, the melted flesh would slough sloppily from the melting fat and muscle beneath like paper.

  Finally, once the fire had worked its way through soft tissues and organs, it attacked the bones. All moisture was out, making them brittle. The entire mass turned to nothing more than a heap of smoldering ashes in the middle of a gaping maw of melted metal that used to be the morgue’s body storage.

  In the compact, confined, airless box, the process shouldn’t have been possible. But this was no ordinary fire, and the laws of nature didn’t apply to the supernatural. Phoenixes were born of death, and from those ashes, Ember rose, an eagle feathered in flames.

  Luckily, the morgue wasn’t attended this late, and no one was around to witness this remarkable rebirth. Though there would be no hiding the destruction of the process.

  Now, the tricky part, getting out.

  “Need a little help, firebird?” a voice crooned from the doorway. Raven emerged from the shadows, a silver ring of keys swinging from her finger. “I got ice cream,” she called, motioning toward the open double doors with a sweeping bow.

  21

  “I can’t see!” My heart was pounding, my breath
heaving in and out of my lungs as if starved. Hands pressing against the cool window and fabric ceiling of the van, I knew I was still in the vehicle with a team of deathly supernaturals I’d only just met… in prison.

  The calm I’d clung to with a death-grip during my flight from prison hell—possibly as a fugitive—after a riot, which left a guard dead, had officially fled. I was damn proud of myself for holding it together this long, maybe because we weren’t exactly fleeing. The hellhound dude was surprisingly grandma-like when it came to driving.

  But like the thought was heard and needed to be proven wrong, my sight blinked to blackness. The motion of our transportation van suddenly veered, picking up speed. Engine revving, the extreme motions flung me around the seat, and that thin blanket of calm, cool, and collected was flung off like a dishrag, panic surging.

  “Gods, can you not scream in my ear?” Jessica made a startled squeak when I slid into her following the momentum of another sharp turn. “No touching unless invited, sugar,” Southern Belle Barbie admonished, pushing me bodily away.

  Her seeming placidity helped me relax about as much as Cole’s deep voice.

  “Settle down, cupcake. You’ll be able to see again when I restore your vision.”

  “You?” I gasped. “You’re doing this to me, dog?”

  Magically blindfolded by his cloaking abilities, apparently, I silently raged at the beings around me who had dominant talents. What could a scream do except hurt the siren’s ears? Whereas Cole could blind me, Jessica could eat my face off if the teeth marks in CO Michaels’s body were any indication. Seke… I had no idea what he could do, but somehow, I felt more comfortable asking the question: what couldn’t he do? The man was a god.

  I would like to see exactly what he could do though…

  The sexy smooth voice added to my out-of-place lust until I registered his words. “Cole, Miss Grey has my permission to know where we are taking her.”