Read Online Raw Power: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Demon-Hearted Book 1) by Ambrose Ibsen - Free Book Online Page A
Book: Raw Power: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Demon-Hearted Book 1) by Ambrose Ibsen
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ambrose Ibsen
Ads: Link
lights and switched on the projector.
Damn. I'd been conscious and in control of my body for, what, an hour? It seemed a little early to start slamming me with fresh work. I perched my chin atop the back of my hand and slumped forward as the briefing began.
ELEVEN
The Veiled Order, I'd been told, was committed to hunting down denizens of the “Beyond” who chose to meddle in human affairs.
I guess that made us like the Ghostbusters; killing zombies, beheading vampires and banishing frisky poltergeists.
But as Kubo began his brief presentation, I found myself annoyed at the lack of background details. Everyone else in the room seemed to know about this coven already, was comfortable with the idea that witches, demons and other baddies were as real as you and I. Me? I'd only just learned their names, had only gotten a proper explanation of the Veiled Order's mission statement moments ago. It was like being the new guy at the office; it was business as usual for everyone else, but I was going to have to work my ass off to keep up.
Kubo's slideshow was mostly there for illustrative purposes; he wasn't going to make us read detailed slides or anything. I gazed up at the screen and paid close attention, deciding to give this thing a proper shot, lest I appear any more clueless than I already did. When the first photo came across the screen however, I wished I hadn't looked.
“What the...” I muttered. It was a photograph of a room in a house. The fixtures looked old; there was a table, a shuttered window, the edge of something like a shelf or mantle. I wasn't really focusing on the décor, though, so much as the vibrant, red smears that covered all of these surfaces. The table was marked in black streaks of what appeared to be ash, and the streaks joined to create what I could only guess was a magic circle of some kind. Within it, in a puddle of half-clotted blood, was an arm.
A tiny arm.
My guts did a somersault and I felt like I was going to be ill. I looked away, then quickly glanced back at the screen to make sure I hadn't mistaken it.
Nope. That's definitely a baby's arm.
The other three didn't so much as flinch. Joe and Isabella looked to the screen, poker-faced, while Kubo paced and started into his spiel. Maybe this kind of thing was normal in their line of work.
If that was the case, then I was definitely having second thoughts about joining up.
“We've been tasked with tracking down the coven of Mater Agatha,” began Kubo. “They've been busy of late, kidnapping kids and carrying out charming little rituals like this one across town. This photo was taken at a crime scene eight months ago. Since then, seven other local infants have met the same fate.”
Kubo slowly brought up seven more crime scene photos of similar grisliness, pausing on each one to make his point.
I'm going to spare you the specifics. To be frank, I couldn't even bear to look at half of them, and by the time he clicked over to a less distressing picture, one of the old, burnt-out house I'd just woken up in, my face must've been paler than the white screen. Suffice it to say the photos were fucked up. Pictures of dead bodies were one thing, but photos of kids all broken up like toy dolls was something else entirely. If Kubo was trying to get us worked up with his little presentation, then it was working. Through my disgust, I was getting pissed.
Kubo continued. “Last we tracked them, the coven was using this abandoned house in Flint as a center of operations. We interrupted them during their nightly worship and they scattered. Our team had expected more resistance, however as the witches are nearing their goal, they're getting more defensive. They need to sacrifice only one more child to succeed, and it is our job to hunt and kill each and every one of them before they do so.”
I nodded, peering cautiously at the screen. “So... what happens, then, if they manage to get their hands on another baby and,
Damn. I'd been conscious and in control of my body for, what, an hour? It seemed a little early to start slamming me with fresh work. I perched my chin atop the back of my hand and slumped forward as the briefing began.
ELEVEN
The Veiled Order, I'd been told, was committed to hunting down denizens of the “Beyond” who chose to meddle in human affairs.
I guess that made us like the Ghostbusters; killing zombies, beheading vampires and banishing frisky poltergeists.
But as Kubo began his brief presentation, I found myself annoyed at the lack of background details. Everyone else in the room seemed to know about this coven already, was comfortable with the idea that witches, demons and other baddies were as real as you and I. Me? I'd only just learned their names, had only gotten a proper explanation of the Veiled Order's mission statement moments ago. It was like being the new guy at the office; it was business as usual for everyone else, but I was going to have to work my ass off to keep up.
Kubo's slideshow was mostly there for illustrative purposes; he wasn't going to make us read detailed slides or anything. I gazed up at the screen and paid close attention, deciding to give this thing a proper shot, lest I appear any more clueless than I already did. When the first photo came across the screen however, I wished I hadn't looked.
“What the...” I muttered. It was a photograph of a room in a house. The fixtures looked old; there was a table, a shuttered window, the edge of something like a shelf or mantle. I wasn't really focusing on the décor, though, so much as the vibrant, red smears that covered all of these surfaces. The table was marked in black streaks of what appeared to be ash, and the streaks joined to create what I could only guess was a magic circle of some kind. Within it, in a puddle of half-clotted blood, was an arm.
A tiny arm.
My guts did a somersault and I felt like I was going to be ill. I looked away, then quickly glanced back at the screen to make sure I hadn't mistaken it.
Nope. That's definitely a baby's arm.
The other three didn't so much as flinch. Joe and Isabella looked to the screen, poker-faced, while Kubo paced and started into his spiel. Maybe this kind of thing was normal in their line of work.
If that was the case, then I was definitely having second thoughts about joining up.
“We've been tasked with tracking down the coven of Mater Agatha,” began Kubo. “They've been busy of late, kidnapping kids and carrying out charming little rituals like this one across town. This photo was taken at a crime scene eight months ago. Since then, seven other local infants have met the same fate.”
Kubo slowly brought up seven more crime scene photos of similar grisliness, pausing on each one to make his point.
I'm going to spare you the specifics. To be frank, I couldn't even bear to look at half of them, and by the time he clicked over to a less distressing picture, one of the old, burnt-out house I'd just woken up in, my face must've been paler than the white screen. Suffice it to say the photos were fucked up. Pictures of dead bodies were one thing, but photos of kids all broken up like toy dolls was something else entirely. If Kubo was trying to get us worked up with his little presentation, then it was working. Through my disgust, I was getting pissed.
Kubo continued. “Last we tracked them, the coven was using this abandoned house in Flint as a center of operations. We interrupted them during their nightly worship and they scattered. Our team had expected more resistance, however as the witches are nearing their goal, they're getting more defensive. They need to sacrifice only one more child to succeed, and it is our job to hunt and kill each and every one of them before they do so.”
I nodded, peering cautiously at the screen. “So... what happens, then, if they manage to get their hands on another baby and,
Similar Books
