Free Roaring Blood (Demon-Hearted Book 2) by Ambrose Ibsen Page A

could give Agamemnon everything he needs to wage a war against the living? That he'll be able to raise an army of the dead and imbue his soldiers with incredible power? What can we do about it? Is there anything that can counteract the weapon's effects, Mona? Anything that can shut it down?” Kubo seemed desperate for answers; more desperate than I'd ever seen him. I wasn't used to seeing him so out of the loop; nine times out of ten, Kubo was the go-to guy, the one who knew it all. This time, I could see him squirming at the thought of returning to Veiled Order HQ and having to tell Amundsen and his bosses about what Agamemnon had in his possession. And that he didn't have a plan in place to stop it.
    The wise old Mona, talented witch though she was, couldn't offer him much in the way of hope or intel. “My knowledge of the weapon is incomplete. There is an expert I could refer you to, a scholar who specializes in mythical weapons. His name is Germaine Fox, and he operates out of a small book shop in the Underground.”
    Kubo took down the name in a little notepad and tucked it into his breast pocket. Then, taking my arm, he dragged me towards the door and called to Joe. “Thanks, Mona. We're getting out of here. I'll pay this Germaine a visit and see what we can do about this. I have a feeling I'll be in touch again soon.”
    Mona cleared away the supplies she'd used in patching me up and waved weakly. “Do take care, Takeshi. Oh, and Joseph, how's your mother doing? Well, I hope?”
    Joe barely had time to answer as Kubo shoved us out the door. “Fine, thanks for asking! She may not even need her cane much longer!”
    The three of us stepped out of Mona's place, finding ourselves surrounded by majestic pines. Two well-worn footpaths flanked the little house, leading deep into the forest. A pestilential quiet reigned; no birds chirped, no insects buzzed.
    “So,” I chanced as Kubo loosened his grip. “What're we doing, Chief?”
    Kubo spat. “Not sure yet.”
    I eyed the two paths in turn. One of them would lead us back to the real world, to the Detroit alley outside of Yao's. The other, though, led someplace else. Kubo wouldn't tell me just where it went, and it was a source of great curiosity for me. “Hey,” I said, nudging Joe. “Where does that other path lead?”
    “Oh, you're not ready for that,” said Joe with a smirk. He smoothed back his grotty mane, clods of encrusted soil tumbling from his locks.
    Damn it. Everyone knew about that path except for me. I should have been used to being out of the loop, being the team newbie and all, but the feeling of cluelessness still sucked in a big way. “You guys are assholes. How do you expect me to help out if--”
    “Enough,” interrupted Kubo. “No time for that. We're going to race back to HQ.” He gave the two of us a shove down the familiar path, and in the next instant-- literally the blink of an eye-- we were all standing in a dim alleyway behind the Chinese restaurant. One of these days I was going to pick up a physics textbook and figure out how the fuck this little alley could exist in the natural world.
    Kubo was a little pale, his gait less purposeful than was normal. He marched through the alley, leading us back towards the parking lot where the SUV was waiting, occasionally muttering to himself. I hated to see him this way. Kubo was certainly a douche sometimes, but I much preferred to have him act like a confident douche. The stress he was under was kind of catchy; clueless though I was, I couldn't help but get really anxious about what we were up against. If Veiled Order operatives with years of experience were losing their cool over this, then how was a rookie like me supposed to feel?
    The alley opened up into the parking lot. The smell of fried food drifted through the air and visions of sweet and sour chicken danced in my head. “Hey, think we could stop just a minute for a bite? Looks like they're open late tonight, and--”
    One of