Free The Brimstone Network (Brimstone Network Trilogy) by Thomas E. Sniegoski

began to expand and smolder, and the panicked reptile suddenly opened its mouth wide, letting something large fall out to the ground.
    That something began to moan, uncurling from the fetal position and slowly climbing to its feet. Crowley released the huge toad and moved to stand beside the figure as the beast beat a hasty retreat, digging beneath the damp earth again.
    “Elijah Stone never suspected that one of his most trusted had formed a pact with me,” the evil sorcerer said, using some of his magick to blow away the foul-smelling fluids that covered the individual. “Providing me with all kinds of information that made the mighty Brimstone Network so incredibly vulnerable.”
    The young man, now cleaned of stinking toad juices, stood before the circle. His eyes were wide with awe as he gazed about the chamber.
    “Who is this … human?” one of the Circle asked.
    Crowley chuckled, placing a friendly arm around the shoulder of the young man. “May I present Tobias Blaylock, traitor to the Brimstone Network.”

6.
THINGS LOOKED SO PEACEFUL FROM THE AIR.
    The drone of the small airplane’s twin engines as it soared above the thick, puffy clouds was soothing, and as Bram gazed out the passenger window, he imagined what it would be like to lay down upon one of them and drift off to sleep.
    Anger suddenly stirred within. Those were childish thoughts, and his days for that kind of indulgence had long passed.
    “Shouldn’t be long now,” Stitch interrupted his musings, speaking loudly to be heard over the noise of the twin engines. He toggled a control, and Bram could feel the plane starting to descend, that weird dropping sensation in the pit of his stomach.
    “So you think we’ll find what we need there?” Bram asked his companion.
    He was talking about a secret location in the country, specifically installed by his father in case of something like this. Bram felt an intense pang of sympathy for his dad. It must have been extremely hard to live with the constant fear that somebody—or something—could come along and destroy his life’s work, and that he must always be on guard thinking of ways to protect it.
    Bram wondered if that was how his father had felt about him. If that was why he had been sent away, moved from one place of learning to the next, so that he was protected.
    “According to the information I received when I was awakened, this will be the perfect place for us to start,” Stitch said as he began to pull back on the throttle and they descended out of the clouds.
    It became darker in the cockpit, the windshield spattered with fat drops of rain.
    “Seems like the weather in North Devany is a might inclement,” Stitch said, his English accent suddenly much thicker. “What a surprise.”
    He flicked a switch, turning on the windshield wipers to swat away the collecting precipitation.
    “Are you from here?” Bram asked, curious about the sudden change in the man’s speech pattern.
    Stitch smirked as he pulled back on a lever between their seats. “Yes and no,” he said.
    Bram felt the vibration through his feet as the landing gear deployed.
    “Some parts are, while others are from elsewhere,” he explained, the English landscape below a vibrant green. “A true man of the world I am.”
    “How do you know where they’re all from?” the boy asked.
    “Every part, no matter how small, retains memories of its original owner,” he explained. “Sometimes I can be hit by three or four different recollections at a time … while having a spot of tea or even glancing at something in a book.”
    “It must be weird,” Bram marveled. “All those different memories inside your head.”
    Stitch nodded. “It gets a little crowded.…”
    There was an explosion outside Stitch’s window, followed by a flash of fire, and for a moment Bram thought they had been struck by lightning. “What happened?” he asked, making sure his safety belt was fastened tightly.
    The airplane had started to