Priceless by Shannon Mayer Read Free Book Online Page A

to them , flocked to them in droves, desperate to be heard and remembered. There were times that it was a temporary phenomenon. Children had been known to grow out of their abilities as they hit puberty. But those who didn ’ t were powerful and very, very rare.
    I scrubbed my hands back through my hair and laid my head on the desk, on the paper with all of India ’ s stats. “ Where are you kid? ” She didn ’ t answer, not that I really expected her to. I hated the fact that I couldn ’ t track a child on the other side of the veil. My stomach growled suddenly, reminding me I hadn ’ t eaten since breakfast. Leaving off with the list making, I headed out for something to stave off starvation.
    There were no pizza joints out this way, or any other type of foods that could be delivered , so I settled for gas station gourmet. A bag of chips, two pepperoni sticks and small carton of milk. Carbs, protein and dairy, a nice balanced meal. The night air felt good, cleansing , with the constant wind that was just a part of the landscape , and I found myself walking away from the hotel, taking a side street into the nearest suburbs.
    I walked for over an hour, my growling stomach and the food in my bag forgotten as my mind tried to work through what I was facing. If I wasn ’ t on a salvage, I ’ d be doing everything I could to find out more about the Arcane division of the FBI. How much did they know about the supernatural world, and was any of it true? But more than that, did they even have an inkling of how ugly it would get if the big, bad, uglies of the supernatural world felt threatened? It would be one giant clusterfuck if word go t out about this new FBI division. It was a weight on me that only added to my concern over India. Distraction wasn ’ t a possibility, not when going after a kid. So , for now I would have to put it aside, deal with it after I found her .
    With the d ecision made on how I was going to handle at least that part of things, I headed back to the motel.
    I poked my head back into the office before I went back to my room. “ Hey , John. If anyone comes looking for me, dial me up first , would you? ”
    John frowned and scratched his head under his hat before answering. “ Ain ’ t nobody come looking for you before. You ‘ specting trouble? ”
    I shrugged and bit off a piece of pepperoni. “ Maybe. Hopefully not, I ’ ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow and don ’ t really feel like spending the evening fight ing off FBI agents, no matter how cute they are . ”
    His laughter followed me back out the door and I could still hear him when I got to number thirteen — w here the door stood open, the lock busted, splinters of wood scattered on the floor. Dropping my meagre dinner and drawing my blade, I edged up to the door, keeping my back flat against the wall. For a good two minutes I was silent ; I didn ’ t move, just listened. 
    There was nothing, not a single heartbeat, breath, shuffle , or even any psychic energy thrumming through the air . I stepped into the room, still in a fighting stance, blade at the ready, despite what all my senses told me. I wished now I ’ d brought some of my other toys from the Jeep. I hadn ’ t really been thinking anyone would be gunning for me . Not yet anyway. No one in the supernatural community should have known that I was on the case. By tomorrow, yes, but not by tonight. With only one large weapon between me and hand-to- hand fighting, I was not a happy girl, no matter how good my hand-to- hand was.
    A quick circuit of the room showed nothing, confirming what I already knew : it was empty, the intruder gone. I let out a sigh. Nothing like a pile of problems to make life interesting.
    Then something fluttered to my left . I turned to get a closer look. The curtain had been shredded and was covered in long black hair. I recognized it immediately . It belonged to a very large and very determined werewolf.
    Damn it all to hell and back.
    I