A Destiny Revealed Read Free

carried as he called after his date. Seconds later when he
received no response the male turned, walked the other way and Dalia breathed
out.
    “You were almost gone, brotha.” she murmured, and laid her
rifle carefully on the concrete. Rolling onto her back, she stretched to loosen
her tense muscles. She'd been watching her target for the last hour and
marveled at the patience she'd learned with her new, albeit unexpected, career.
Sighing, she hefted her body up and packed her gear. Tapping her earpiece, she
called to let her nephew know she was on the way home.
                           
***
     
    "About time," her nephew Julian grumbled when she
walked through the front door of her condo minutes later. He grabbed his book
bag from the floor, impatience and anxiety stamped across his handsome
features.
    Dalia dropped her keys into the bowl on the table at the
door and the sound echoed off of the high exposed ceilings. Entering the
kitchen, she double tapped the wall next her refrigerator and entered a
six-digit code into the panel that slid silently out. Air hissed into the room
as the door swung open, revealing Dalia's weapons storage room.
    “You didn’t have to wait, Julian, I told you that.” She took
the sniper rifle from her pack and with careful deliberate movements pulled it
apart and stored the pieces.  She made a note to clean them later.
Normally it was done as soon as she got home, but with Julian hovering, it was
best not to remind him of what she'd been out doing.
    “And who else is supposed to make sure you're safe while
you’re out sniping dangerous creatures all time of the night?” His was voice
disapproving.
    Dalia closed the door and faced her nephew, one eyebrow
lifted in disdain. “I am one of those dangerous creatures. You don’t have to
worry about me.” She peeled off her leather vest. Her tank top was soaked with
sweat and she looked forward to peeling it off too. She sat on one of the
stools situated at her kitchen island and removed her boots. Tossing them down,
she stood and gave her worried nephew a kiss on the cheek.
    “Ti Ti, one day there will be a monster bigger than you,
then what will you do?” He grabbed her arms to halt her escape.
    “I’m done for the night. Stop worrying and go home.” She
patted his cheek.         
    His hazel eyes studied hers as he released her arm.
    “You should be out doing other things besides worrying over
your elderly aunt.” Dalia teased.
    He snorted and Dalia breathed out a sigh of relief as he
allowed the subject to change. Her nephew was so much like her brother it
brought a lump to her throat.
    “Is this the same elderly aunt that wears tight leather
pants and ass-kicking combat boots?” He smiled. “If I recall, your niece
refuses to go to clubs with you anymore because you pull more men than she
does.”
    Dalia laughed aloud as she thought of Julian’s twin sister.
“Well, what can I say?” She crossed the loft to her bathroom.
    “On a serious note Tía, how much longer will you do this?”
All traces of laughter gone, he held his bag with a white-knuckle grip.
    Dalia turned to him, her face equally serious. “I'll stop
the day Maksim Pontis does.” She shut the door to the bathroom quietly.
Reaching into the shower stall, she turned the water to scalding.
    She went out every night watching for Maksim’s goons,
following every vampire with the tattoos matching hers.  She made sure
they weren't taking women off the street and had been doing it for well over
twenty years. No one should have to go through what she did. That was her vow
when she found out there were others turned vampire unwillingly. She'd spent
three years watching Maksim break his weaker victims and torture the ones like
her who were strong enough to fight back.
    Her nephew worried about her going out every night, but the
only alternative was to stay at home and allow the nightmares to consume her.
Dalia figured she would rather go