Read Online The Shopgirl's Prophecy (Beasts of Vegas Book 1) by Anna Abner - Free Book Online

“We have to call the police.”
    “Can you dig a mass grave?” Roz asked sarcastically.
    Ali blanched. “Of course not.”
    “Listen, princess. We’ve done this before. A funeral pyre is always your best bet. Bodies burn to ash, and you leave no doubt about a new vampire waking up and coming after you.”
    Ali turned away, but she didn’t want to see inside the house. She’d need lithium and a straitjacket after that. What if the vampires had ripped her family apart? What if they’d abused her aunt? What if Roz had decapitated them in case they’d been infected? She imagined the cruelest most deranged acts one person could commit against another.
    “Ali!”
    She jumped.
    Roz was right. She was the only Rusenko left. She lit a match, and it sputtered out. The front door, now empty of her cousin’s body, seemed a million miles away. She shuffled closer and lit another.
    At the threshold she hesitated, terrified to raise her gaze. But she couldn’t not look. She caught sight of the remains of her family. She recognized fingers, strands of hair, and bare toes, but everything else was covered neatly by the paisley comforter that had once lain on her aunt and uncle’s bed. Roz had covered them, for her, and Ali would never be able to hate the girl the same way again.
    The match scalded her fingers, and she blew it out. She lit another. She could do this. They deserved this.
    “Be at peace,” she told them, flicking the match toward the quilt. A wave of heat and stinky accelerant blasted her in the face. For a split second, she considered throwing herself on top of the quilt, on top of Natalie, Sully, and Ron, and being done with the grief.
    One big belly flop…
    Roz grasped her by the wrist and led her away. “Do you have any weapons? Guns?”
    She was numb, inside and out. She couldn’t focus.
    Roz shoved her into the driver seat of a tiny, sky blue Volkswagen Bug before rooting around in the garage for weapons and ammo. “Get the car running. We don’t have time to stare into space.”
    Her hands shaking, Ali fumbled the keys. Twice.
    “We’re going to a gas station?” She’d never slept inside a gas station before. She didn’t want to. But she needed time to breathe and form a plan. She had to get herself together or fall apart completely.
    “No. We’re going to stop Connor before he gets himself killed.” Roz rolled down the window. “And you owe me.”
    Yeah, she did. And Connor, too. They’d both been kind to her when they didn’t have to be. She’d do this, and then she’d say good-bye to the States, to them, to the worst week of her life—for good.
    On the third try, the car sputtered to life, spewing black smoke from the exhaust. Roz hopped in, and they eased onto the eerily quiet road.
    Connor must have driven off at top speed because there was no sign of him.
    “How are we supposed to find him?” Ali asked. In a city of over half a million, it would be impossible locating one hot-headed vampire hunter. With no idea where to go, she slowly headed toward the skyline of Vegas.
    “The Ford has a GPS tracker installed.” She tapped on her phone. “Turn right at the next corner.” Then, under her breath, she hissed, “God, he’s driving fast.”
    Ali followed her directions, turning here and there.
    “Keep your eyes open,” Roz barked. With one eye on the tracker app, she balanced her phone on her knee and loaded weapons, clicking ammo into their slots, but Ali caught the quiver in both her hands. Maybe the lady wasn’t as tough as she pretended to be.
    She was guessing Roz didn’t have much of a family back home or she wouldn’t be in the Southwest battling vampires with Connor. So, how did a seemingly normal girl hook up with a guy like Connor? He had an obsession, but what was her deal?
    Weapons loaded, Roz made a quick phone call. “Natasha? It’s me. Connor went after Olek alone in the Ford. Text me the minute anything pops up.” She murmured something incoherent and then