Free Fang Me by Parker Blue Page B

pulled up a map on his Smartphone.
    "Your knowledge of mage demons is impressive," Trevor told Shade.
    "As I said before, it's a hobby. I've been trying to learn as much about demons as I can."
    Yeah, with his ability to bring them through from the other side, I guess he wanted to know what he was dealing with.
    "How did you become a keeper?" Shade asked.
    "My father was a keeper before me. He taught me everything I know."
    "I thought you said your father lost them," I said, wanting to taunt him a bit.
    "Not exactly."
    I turned onto US 90. "What do you mean, not exactly?" I distinctly remembered that's what he said.
    "Actually, it's my father who's lost."
    Crap. Now I felt guilty for trying to poke at him. "I'm sorry. What happened to him?"
    "The books happened to him," Trevor said bitterly. "They ate him."

CHAPTER SEVEN

    I glanced at Trevor in the rear view mirror."They what? They ate him? How is that possible?"
    "Not literally. He's trapped inside them."
    "How can he fit?" Andrew asked in bewilderment.
    "It's magick," Trevor said in an irritated tone."He's stuck in some kind of . . . pocket universe or something."
    I had this strange image of the books hoovering up Trevor's father like a swish of smoke, like in I Dream of Jeannie.
    WOW, THOSE BOOKS MUST REALLY SUCK, Fang snarked.
    I stifled a laugh. It really wasn't funny."Are you sure about that?" I asked."I mean, do you know for certain he's still alive?"
    "Yes. I-I know he's still in there."
    "How did it happen?" Shade asked.
    Trevor looked out into the night, hiding his expression from everyone, so I turned my attention back to the road.
    "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," Shade said.
    Like hell. I pulled over into an empty parking lot under a light and parked so I could make my point. Turning around to glare at them, I said,"No, it's not okay. If those things are likely to eat someone else, we need to know about it right now."
    "They won't," Trevor bit out. He got out of the car and slammed the door, running his hand through his gelled hair as he turned his back on us.
    I grabbed the keys to keep Andrew from doing anything stupid and followed him."How do you know that?"
    He whirled around."I just do, okay?"
    "Not good enough. Those books are loose in San Antonio somewhere, and we need to know as much as we can so we can figure out what to do when we find them."
    Shade and Fang had jumped out of the car as well, though Andrew chose to stay out of the fray. Shade drew his hoodie up over his face then made calming motions with his hands."We're all friends here, right?"
    How could I be friends with someone I didn't trust?
    Trevor glanced at Shade then took a deep breath and breathed it out before saying,"That's why we're out here, together, to find them. And when we do, I know how to handle them."
    I crossed my arms, and tried to sound reasonable."If your father couldn't handle them, why do you think you can?"
    He glared at me but didn't let his pissiness show in his carefully deliberate voice."Because I've had more training than he had. I did a lot of research to figure out exactly what happened. I know what he did wrong and I won't make the same mistake."
    "What did he do wrong?"
    He looked about ready to explode, but kept it together."It's confidential—for keepers only."
    "What if someone else does the same thing ‗by mistake' and gets sucked up into the book as well? Shouldn't we try to keep that from happening?"
    He waved that argument away impatiently."It's something only a keeper would attempt."
    "Then what can you tell us?"
    Trevor paused for a moment."Look, knowledge is passed from one keeper to another, teacher to apprentice. It's too risky to write it down, too dangerous to share. Don't you get it? These books are not safe."
    I shrugged."They were safe with me for many years."
    "Until you gave them up. Now that you know what they can do, they won't be safe with you anymore either. Only with keepers."
    "So, why isn't your apprentice here?" If