Read Online Demons Undone: The Sons of Gulielmus Series by Holley Trent - Free Book Online Page A

Trucker ordered for them both. “Two whiskeys, double, with chasers. Whatever dark local beer you’ve got.”
    The bartender nodded and moved away.
    Trucker put his elbow on the bar top and rested the side of his head against it, one eyebrow cocked to John. “He tell you any of this?”
    John shook his head.
    “Figures. He does tend to dispense information selectively. Most of what I know I’ve found out by running into our multitude of siblings. We’re easy to recognize, once you understand how to search out the auras.”
    “Auras?”
    He shrugged. “You’ll know what I mean when you see the next one. You probably missed mine, and now you’re sort of colorblind to it. Your eyes and brain have adjusted to it. Anyway.” He held out his free left hand. “Charles.”
    “John.”
    They clasped hands and both immediately drew back.
    “Shit, sorry, John.” Charles straightened up and held up his left hand, palm out. Glowing blue lines stood out in stark relief to the pale cream of his skin.
    John looked down at his own hand — the same one Gulielmus had marked. Now illuminated, he could just barely make out the lines, but had no context to understand them. “What is it?”
    “Source of our immortality. Claude would be able to tell you what it means exactly, but more or less it draws the demonic parts of us to the surface. Without it, we’re just run-of-the-mill Joes.”
    John stared at the fading lines.
Immortality?
He hadn’t considered that. He didn’t know if he wanted to live forever. Wouldn’t he get bored? What would he have to live for? He cast his gaze up to his brother. “Who’s Claude?”
    “One of our brothers. The only one I talk to, really.” Charles nodded as the bartender distributed drinks and pressed two twenty-dollar bills across the counter. “Six-pack when you get a chance?”
    He nodded and moved away.
    “So, what do you want?” John stared at the drinks in front of him, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing with them. Should he mix them, or …
    Charles downed his double like a shot and rubbed his sleeve across his lips. “What do I want?” He shrugged. “Nothing. Truth is, I don’t give a shit what you do.”
    “Then why are you here?”
    “Because Pop commanded it. I try to stay on his good side. Anyhow … ” He pointed to John’s booze. “You gonna drink that?”
    John shook his head. “I’m a teetotaler.”
    Charles grimaced. “Stay in this business long enough and that’ll change.” He drew the brews closer to himself. “Listen, I came because I didn’t know you existed and I figured I’d fill you in the way Claude did me back in nineteen-fifteen.” He downed the second whiskey and shuddered. “Weird shit’s gonna start happening. Abilities will come online that’ll help you do your job. I can’t predict what those’ll be. They’re different for all of us.”
    John formed his bar napkin into a tight tube and rolled it under his palm meditatively.
    Charles gave him a nudge. “What is it? What clicked on?”
    “It may just be a fluke, but I think I made her tired. All I wanted was to slow her down a bit, and she started yawning not long after.”
    “Oh.” Charles took a long swig of beer and fixed his stare on something behind the bar.
    “Oh? Just
oh
?”
    “I don’t have that one, but it’s a documented incubus trait. Makes victims a bit more pliable so you can get them somewhere comfortable.”
    “You’re kidding me.”
    Charles shook his head and drained what was left of the first beer. “No. Sandman is a fucking incubus, baby brother. We call him Uncle Sandy.” He slipped off his stool with the second beer and grabbed the handle of the six-pack. “Nice meeting you. I’ve got a truck driver to seduce.”
    John slid off his stool, too and hoped his furrowed brow conveyed the suspicion he was feeling. “That’s it?”
    Charles tucked the beer package under his arm and sighed. He put the open beer bottle on the counter, rooted a cell