Free The Sunset Prophecy (Love & Armageddon #1) by P.J. Day Page A

promise you, I will find him.”
    The Seraph outside the window shrieked one last time, becoming transparent before disappearing, leaving only a brief pulsating static-like imprint in its wake.
    “ I hate those fucking things,” stated Adam, before turning around and walking toward the elevator.

10
    Fateful Relay
    R affi’s salt-and-pepper hair covered the top of his ears. His curled hairline extended halfway down his forehead, fulfilling his mother’s prediction that he would never go bald. At 65, it was time to close up shop, and move back to Tehran. He wanted to be at his ailing father’s side. He wanted to tend his mother’s plot, but he also had a nagging feeling that he was being observed from a distance. There was no history of mental illness in Raffi or his family, but he did feel the occasional breath feather the skin behind his neck on days where there was no wind. He knew he wasn’t crazy. He knew it was time to go. Home .
    Cindy browsed the sparse shelves near the storefront.
    “Raffi, what do you have for sale today?” she asked. She passed by a couple more shelves before her eyes gravitated toward a fresco hanging on the wall that depicted a raven-haired angel. “Ooh, what’s this?”
    Raffi was hunched over a box. Sweat poured down his wrinkled forehead, even though it was the middle of March. “That is Pairika. She’s a fallen angel. She’s been evil and is now good. Teaching us that even in the spirit world there are no absolutes.”
    Cindy ’s eyes lit up. She sensed Raffi’s haste and pounced. “Please tell me this is discounted, too?”
    “ Tell you what,” he said, standing up and slapping the dust from his hands. “You help me get these boxes into the back of my truck and I’ll let you have it.”
    Cindy rushed the counter. “Which box? Nothing over twenty pounds. I don’t want to break any of your stuff.”
    “ The white one over there,” he pointed. “Leave the box with the funny writing alone. I need to talk to you about that one in a minute.”
    Ecstatic, Cindy picked up the crate. She slumped forward as the weight of the box slightly passed her threshold. “I said twenty pounds, Raffi.”
    “ You want Pairika or not?” he smiled. “Come on, the truck is parked in the back.”
    They both walked through the small warehouse that was connected to the store, which was now completely emptied. The old white bobtail truck was parked in the alley. Its tailgate was opened and almost brimmed to capacity with most of Raffi’s unsold merchandise.
    “ What are you going to do with all this stuff?” asked Cindy.
    Raffi stepped back and placed his hands on his waist. “If I told you, you’d hate me.”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ Cindy, you’ve been very good to my store. Your word of mouth kept me in business when times were tough. But we have to let go sometimes.”
    Cindy stared at all the unusual trinkets which begged for her touch and attention. “But all this stuff deserves a home, don’t you think?”
    “ No, it doesn’t. Some of these things have haunted some and have made many irrationally paranoid. How do you think they all ended up at my store?”
    A faint glimmer through a crease in a box caught Cindy ’s attention. “Can I at least have what’s in that box? The contents look shiny.” Cindy reached in and pulled the cardboard cube out from underneath a table. Like a kid on Christmas morning, she pried open the box with delight. “Holy crap, the diamonds on this medallion look real.”
    Raffi raised his bristly eyebrows. There was no doubt, that by looking at them, he was part of the Mediterranean gene pool. “That one paid for my trip back to Tehran. It’s sold. I need to tape it before FedEx gets here.” Raffi grabbed the box and sealed it with the tape gun. [email protected] was written on the box in Sharpie marker. “I’ll leave it right here, so the driver sees it.” Raffi left it in a nook by the door where parcel companies picked up and