Phoenix Contract: Part Five (Fallen Angel Watchers) by Melissa Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

finally got what he wanted,” Mariah whispered.
    “Shhh,” her killer shushed, stroking her dark brown hair with a kind hand.
    Mariah whimpered, and tears trickled down her cheeks. She didn’t want to die, but it was coming. Death, certain and inevitable, would claim her life.
    But no! A soul stronger than Mariah’s stirred within the girl’s injured heart.
    With the last of her strength, she grabbed for her killer’s cloak. Dragging his hood aside, she gazed upon his face. Those golden eyes stared back at her with curiosity and complete inhumanity.
    “Magnus,” she hissed with her dying breath. Her use of his name caused a glimmer of surprise in his lovely yellow eyes. Mariah had not known her murderer’s name.
    “There will be a reckoning for what you’ve done this night,” she promised him.
    “There always is,” he replied with a slow smile.
    With a gasp, Mariah died.

    “That bastard! I’m going to kill him!” Aiden exclaimed, bouncing to her feet as her awareness returned to the right time and place. She was covered in a cold sweat, and the jade bowl slipped from between her numb fingers into Madame Ah-Loi’s waiting hands.
    “Gentle child,” Madame Ah-Loi soothed, shushing Aiden. “Did you learn what you sought?”
    Biting off more invective that the old woman did not deserve to be subjected to, Aiden sputtered and reined in her anger with a monumental effort. She’d deal with Magnus later.
    “Yes, I did. Thank you,” Aiden replied, continuing to adjust to the startling transition from past to present. Had she really been there or was the whole thing just a dream? Aiden watched as Ah-Loi returned the jade bowl to its place upon the table. “I am in your debt.”
    “It is an honor to serve our rightful leader,” Ah-Loi said with a graceful bow of her head. “House Baraqijal is loyal. We have foreseen and awaited your return for five centuries, Phoenix.”
    “Oaths of loyalty are a bit premature, considering,” Aiden replied, resorting to irony because awe had robbed her of poise.
    “The sun sets,” Ah-Loi announced.
    “Already?” Surprised, Aiden looked up and wondered how long had she had been in that trance.
    “It is time to go claim your destiny,” Ah-Loi instructed, herding Aiden toward the door.
    “Great, no problem,” Aiden said. “I’ll just go ask nicely for the return of the Heart, and I’m sure the thousand-year-old vampire will be happy to give it back.”
    “You must bring unlikely allies to aid your cause,” Ah-Loi said. And with that final piece of cryptic advice, the seer shooed Aiden through the shop’s front door. Outside, it was indeed early evening.
    “There’s a reason House Baraqijal has such strong ties to the fortune cookie industry,” Aiden muttered. She shoved her hands into the pocket of her coat and ducked into the nearest subway, trying to decide where to go next.

Chapter Twenty-Five

     
    Aiden wound up on the Faulkner University campus. As she made her way toward the Archaeology Building, an impending dread grew in her gut. She meandered and dragged her feet, because the prospect of what awaited her in the study was daunting.
    Halfway across campus, a dark figure, separate from the shadows, headed in her direction. Aiden stopped, expecting Magnus, but then a second shady form joined the first.
    Uneasy, she changed course and veered off toward an overgrown walkway that led between thick hedges. Her suspicion morphed into real fear when the pair followed her, eliminating the possibility that they were fellow students.
    Aiden quickened her pace and tugged her cell phone out of her pocket. She pulled up her call list and scrolled down to Magnus’ number, the second to last one she’d dialed. Information was the most recent.
    Magnus answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
    “I need help. Someone’s following me,” she whispered, darting off the path and ducking down to hide behind a low hedge.
    “Where are you?” he asked.
    She heard the