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

the number from memory into Roz’s cell. It rang and rang, finally triggering voicemail. “Uncle Sully.” How to summarize her day in a sixty-second message? “I’m okay, but something really bad…” She exhaled. “Sully, I’m okay, and  I’m coming back. It might take a few hours, but I’m coming.” She ended the call.
    Still a little shaky, Ali rose slowly from the sofa and approached a set of sparkling French doors leading onto a wide balcony. Through the glass stretched the bright and glittering Las Vegas Strip. Standing became a bit of an issue, so she sank into the nearest deck chair.
    “I need to get to Paradise,” she told Connor, her eyes still on the dazzling view. “My cousin died on the bus, and I have to be with my family.”
    Her whole life her father had been a serious control freak, especially with her, his only child. She couldn’t drive or date until she was twenty. No friends hanging around the house. No sleepovers, period. She’d only moved into her own place about six months ago. And getting that dream to actual fruition had been more complicated and stressful than trying to sneak heroin through Heathrow.
    Since she’d landed on American soil, she’d been keeping to his rules even though he wasn’t around to enforce them anymore. Avoid strangers. 9 pm curfew. Long sleeves and pants. Privacy at all costs.
    Connor crossed his arms, and the muscles in his chest and shoulders bunched. “We’ll drive you.”
    “Thank you so much,” Ali said.
    Roz squared off with him. “We will?”
    He nodded, and some of his hair fell into his eyes. Dark, brown eyes. Strong arms. Faded blue jeans. God, he was addictive. How the hell did someone like him end up in Las Vegas fighting vampires?
    “What’s your story?” Ali asked. “How does one become a vampire hunter?”
    “You’ve heard of the seer Ilvane?”
    There were a lot of seers in the world who predicted the future, but there was only one Oracle. “I know of her. Of course.” The London Telegraph printed and re-printed her prophecies in a little box in the corner of their front page. She had yet to be wrong. About anything she wrote. Whoever she was, her prophecies were mega spooky and lots of times called people out by name.
    He stared right through her. “I’m Connor from Cleveland. The fuck up.”

Chapter Three
    Connor hated complications. Why he’d brought this chick into his home, he had no idea. As if ridding the world of evil and redeeming his name weren’t enough, now he’d volunteered for baby-sitting duty.
    But she’d been lying there, all blonde hair and wide eyes, like innocence on a stick. He knew, just by looking at her, that she’d never seen a vampire before. She’d never been punched in the jaw, stabbed, or worked over with a two by four. She reminded him of home.
    What a moron.
    Ali glanced nervously from him to Roz and back again. “You’re Connor from Cleveland? Really?”
    He opened his mouth to answer, but Roz cut him off, shielding him. All hundred and twenty pounds of her. “You don’t have to explain yourself.”
    “I know that one,” Ali said, her baby blue eyes trained on him. “Something about you freeing a vampire and destroying mankind.”
    Such a thrill meeting fans. “If we’re gonna do this, let’s get a move on,” Connor said. “Only a few hours of daylight left.”
    Not that vampires attacked by the light of the moon. They killed and fed, not necessarily in that order, whenever the urge struck. They weren’t allergic to sunlight or garlic either for that matter, but they possessed better than average eyesight and Connor didn’t. So, he kept a low profile at night.
    “Thank you.” Ali quivered in pure gratitude.
    Jesus. If he looked past the blood and grime, she was the epitome of the American cheerleader. Long blonde hair? Check. Blue eyes? Yep. Hot little body? Oh, yeah. Her clipped English accent only added cool points. But he’d chosen his life’s mission a while ago and