The Shopgirl's Prophecy (Beasts of Vegas Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the story about a secret Nevada vampire prison was an urban legend.”
    “All true. I’ve been hunting rogue vampires for the past three months, ever since Olek and Volk were, uh, released. They’ve been infecting people.”
    “Vampires were imprisoned here, and now they’re free?” Coming to America had definitely been a bad idea.
    “You saw him for yourself.”
    True, but the experience had been surreal and starting to fade into nightmare territory.
    For a split second, she was back in the bus, reliving every insane moment. The fire. The blood. Her cousin fighting for his last handful of heartbeats. If she were a normal girl, she would have cried. Instead, she swallowed the grief, as fresh and raw as a wound, and crammed it down beneath her ribs.
    She hardly cried at all anymore. And never in front of people. Ever.
    An hour and a half… “God, I miss my Xbox.” An hour and a half would fly by if she had Medal of Honor and a Code Red.
    “Really?” He finally looked at her again, and her toes clenched. Handsome didn’t even cover it. He was the kind of man that made women reckless. Not her, of course, but other women. Normal women.
    “That’s my favorite kind of day.” Her fingers trailed over the gauze bandage taped to her throat and up to inspect the state of her hair. Good God. Total rat’s nest. Was that dried blood? She patted it down.
    “Don’t move a muscle.” Connor hopped up, and there was a quick changing of the guard. Roz took his place.
    “Thanks for the stitches,” Ali said.
    Roz averted her eyes, mumbling something incoherent.
    Ali’s gaze roamed the woman’s face, glossy black hair, and flat stomach. Cute and pretty weren’t enough to describe her. Ali had to dust off the bigger adjectives.
    She was an island princess. The kind you sacrificed to the volcano gods.
    Connor returned, carrying a chair and a small pack. Ali followed him with her eyes, taking in more details. He had a limp. Not a foot dragging, Igor kind of limp, but a subtle hitch in his gait. Interesting.
    He took a seat beside her, produced a wireless PlayStation controller and pressed a button on a second remote. A decorative panel in the armoire across from her slid down, revealing a large, flat screen television.
    She squealed as loudly as her sore throat allowed. “No way!” Her American family loved DVDs, not video games. She hadn’t played anything more substantial than a phone app in ten days.
    “Here.” He handed her the controller, the gun still clenched in his right fist.
    Her excitement plummeted about 87 levels. “There’s nothing on the hard drive,” she said, not sure whether to laugh or cry.
    “Download whatever you want,” Connor said, putting his boots on the coffee table and settling into the sofa beside her. “It’s all taken care of.”
    “Remind me when I get home to send you some decent titles. Metal Gear Solid , Call of Duty , definitely Grand Theft Auto . You’ll love it.” Thoughts of home only brought up more grief, so she focused every ounce of her attention on the controller in her hands. She chose a FIFA title she hadn’t played before and started downloading.
    “So, uh,” Connor fidgeted, “Maksim Volk had you by the hand today. You want to tell me why?”
    “Who’s Maksim Volk?” she asked, watching the scrolling download bar pass fifty percent.
    “He’s the vampire who attacked your bus. You don’t know him?”
    Finally, the game downloaded, and she clicked through the opening credits. “I’m not really into vampires.” She preferred the digital world to fairy tales, even if the paranormal were now part of everyday life. All those supernatural mutations popping up across the globe didn’t interest her nearly as much as her impressive video game collection.
    Connor grunted. “He was into you. I thought you might know why.”
    “Sorry.”
    He leaned in and pointed at the screen. “Haven’t you played this before?” he asked, a teasing note in his voice. “The