Order of the Omni: A Supernatural Romantic Suspense Novel (The Immortalies Book 1) Penny Knight (100 best novels of all time TXT) 📖

My front door opens before I’m even out of the car. Estel, Leo’s maid ushers a group of cleaners carrying trash bags towards the large skip bin.

“Forgot about the break-in,” Topher says with a yawn.

My own yawn mirrors his, and nod in agreement. It helps quell my nausea.

My car door opens, Nadav is there holding it for me. “You need a hand?” His thick Israeli accent offers with his hand outstretched.

“I’m ok, thanks.” I give him a small smile.

It’s not until the door closes behind me and I walk to get inside, I hear screeching tyres. Nadav pulls me behind him and takes out his handgun.

“Incoming!” Lucas yells.

Two men appear on the roof, automatic rifles point to the side entrance of the road.

Fear grips me.

“Get her inside!” Leo roars.

Nadav grabs my arm to obey his command. I don’t resist as they descend on the small orange car that is barrelling towards us.

Wait. Is that the Bug?

I pull my arm out of Nadav’s grip to look.

He grabs again, as he forcefully drags me.

“Wait, stop!” I scream. The orange Volkswagen Beetle. Franziska’s Bug pulls to a stop. But Broderick is there, ripping the driver’s side door off its hinges before the words come out.

“NO!” I scream.

I can’t do anything but watch in horror.

But it’s not Broderick that is the victor. Franziska’s thick Prussian accent speaks a dialect of her ancient Baltic language. Her pupils dilate as her hand waves and spits on the ground. Broderick is propelled through the air, his body smashing through the Fisherman’s Market at least 100 metres away.

This has the rest of the men drawing out their weapon.

“No. No. No.” I use Nadav’s moment of surprise to my advantage and run towards her.

“HOLD FIRE!” Leo bellows.

“I know her. Stop!” I cry out, running to her. Trying to prevent a complete catastrophe.

Movement stops around us as Franziska steps out of the car, followed by Livvy, her niece from Victoria. Olivia, or as she is known to me, Livvy. I have not seen her since we were teenagers. Both are running to meet me with just as much vigour and concern.

Livvy gets to me first. “Oh my god, Elita. Are you ok?”

She hugs me hard.

That throws me off. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her.

I nod in her embrace.

She pulls back, due to Franziska pulling us apart.

She speaks in her natural language, like she does when she has lots to say and not much energy to translate. She had tried to teach me over the years. I get maybe one or two words, but I don’t need to understand the words. I get the gist. Only because she puts her hands on my belly and finishes the rest in English.

“What have you done?” she gasps, her eyes pinned on my rounded belly.

I don’t know what to say.

The only thing that comes out is my dinner. I don’t mean to, but it spews from my mouth and once I’m done, everyone is silent and Franziska’s feet are saturated.

I really had thought I could make it inside.

Air buzzes around us while we stand, in my now pristine living room. There’s not much furniture left, but still spotless.

The door swings open, hitting the wall and bouncing back. Broderick stalks in, covered in a white coat of dust. He has the room’s attention. No one’s speaking while we wait for Franziska to come out of the bathroom.

Broderick closes the door behind him and steps into our impromptu circle. Livvy, Topher, and me on one side. Leo and Nadav on the other. He stands in an open space.

All eyes glued to him.

His eye twitches.

Not sure whether it’s from the dust that covers him, or from being majorly pissed.

Lucas walks down from the spiral staircase with his rifle strapped to his back.

“All clear.” He hits the final step before he looks at our little meeting. Doing a double take of Broderick. “You got a little something stuck.” He points to the back of his own neck.

All heads turn to Broderick.

With his jaw clenched, he slowly pries out a piece of sharp debris. Throwing it directly in the path of Lucas, barely missing him, stabbing the wall behind him with force.

It must have been intentional, because just a few inches to the right, poor Lucas wouldn’t have an eye. Or a life for that matter.

Broderick is definitely mad.

It’s quiet for a good thirty seconds before I catch Livvy looking down at my belly. And I remember I haven’t seen her in a long time.

I didn’t sign up to be in the principal’s office in my own house. I don’t know what everyone is waiting for.

“I can’t believe you’re here. I haven’t seen you in ages.” I break the silence.

She peeks towards the bathroom door before she leans closer. “This is all so crazy.” Her eyes hit mine. “Are you ok?” She looks down. “Are you feeling ok?”

“I guess.” I shrug. “I don’t know.”

She looks back up at me, and her empathy pours out. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help you. If I had known you were involved in all this crap, I’d have been here sooner.”

“Olivia,” Franziska says, ending our conversation walking back in the room.

Livvy gives me the same look from when she’d come stay with us over the summer. The one that said if she could, she would roll her eyes right now. It never made sense back then, but somehow Franziska always knew what we did. Even when our backs were turned.

Now it all fits.

She’s a witch.

There has been so much withheld from me my entire life. It’s hard to know who to trust anymore.

Apparently, Livvy gave her parents trouble for a couple of years, so they would send her off to Franziska to whip her back into shape for the summer holidays. The last I heard she was shipped off to a boarding school because I guess they thought she needed it.

I don’t remember Livvy being trouble at all. She was just