Read Online Night of Demons - 02 by Tony Richards - Free Book Online

magical. By the way your friend went after it, important too. A stone killer’s gotten hold of it. How good does that sound?”
    A pair of huge eyes suddenly sprang open beyond Hampton’s shoulder. I practically lurched back. It wasn’t just the sheer abruptness with which they’d appeared. When I had last met with Raine, they’d been a golden yellow. Now, they’d turned considerably darker, practically a glowing bronze. And the pupils, although still slitted, had shrunken to a smaller size. As if they were diminishing into the distance. Physically retreating from our world.
    A shudder ran through me. There was no use trying to hide it. What had brought about this change? Whatever, I was pretty certain he was getting worse, his madness devouring him and growing more intense.
    He didn’t move. The twin orbs hung there in the dimness. Then his voice came oozing out beneath them.
    “This is not a matter for the general public’s gaze, Devries. Whatever has happened is the sole concern of those involved. And we can deal with it perfectly well, without any help from your sort.”
    My what? He might have always been a self-important little S.O.B., but he’d never spoken to me that way before. Even Hampton looked embarrassed.
    But Raine’s attitude was catching my interest far more than offending me. The way that he was behaving made one thing pretty obvious. Whatever might be going on, it was something major. The fine hairs prickled on my wrists when I realized that.
    “Go away,” he snarled at me.
    But I just stood there, waiting to see how far he’d take this.
    “Go away before I make you go.”
    Which was the first time that he’d ever really threatened me. He’d always been a stickler for old values like hospitality. But it seemed even that was gone. Those incandescent eyes of his were not even blinking. I had no doubt that he could do something pretty awful to me if he got a mind to. But I’ve always stood up to adepts, and wasn’t about to let him brush me off like this. I wanted the satisfaction, if nothing else, of having the final word.
    I tipped my chin.
    “Your property, your rules. Okay. But knowing you, Woods, if you’re taking charge of matters, things are going to get out of hand pretty fast from this point on. When that happens, you know where I am and how to contact me. You understand?”
    He made a faint hissing noise. And I have to admit, I tensed up slightly when he did that. But it turned out to be his only response. His eyelids slid back down, so that to all intents and purposes he disappeared again. And then, the heavy doors swung shut, apparently under their own steam.
    I got one final glimpse of Hampton’s face, still looking decidedly unhappy. And then, I was staring at blank panels of wood, and nothing more than that.
    A rattling noise from high on the roof told me one of the gargoyles had woken, and was scuttling about on the tiles up there. I’d never seen any of them climb down, but there was a first time for everything. So I went back to my car, still wondering what the big secret was.
    I was sure that I would find out soon enough, though. And a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, especially in a place like Raine’s Landing.

CHAPTER 8
     
     
    My mind was buzzing by the time that I got home. But then, it often is. Living where I did, and doing what I do, tends you keep you more mentally active than is sometimes comfortable.
    The street was silent around me when I pulled up on my drive. A black diorama of surrounding houses, with no lights on in any of the windows. And once inside, it was even worse. Without my family there, the place had the echo of a crypt.
    The silence wormed into me, stopping me from pondering the whole thing for a moment. But then it came rushing back insistently. Exactly what was going on? I’d become so used to that question the past couple of years, though, that it didn’t have the power over me it used to. I managed to ignore it, threw myself