Read Online Roaring Blood (Demon-Hearted Book 2) by Ambrose Ibsen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ambrose Ibsen
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up with for a name like that? 'Hey there, Aggy? ' 'How's it hangin', Memnon? ' Just doesn't work.”
Kubo picked up the file and flipped through it. “We don't know his real name. Frankly, we know next to nothing about him. This man surfaced more than twenty years ago. Ended up on the Order's radar for practicing necromancy. Necromancy is, to put it lightly, taboo. It's a forbidden art, and anyone with more than innocent scholarly interest in it ends up on our watch-list. This guy, though, was something of a religious zealot. Got picked up for raising the dead and recruiting them as soldiers for a supposed war in the name of the god of the dead. He got locked up, shuttled away to some dark corner for his agenda.”
I sniffed the air, standing up and pushing the chair back in. “Right, so why was he in the graveyard tonight?”
“Because ten years ago,” began Amundsen, “Agamemnon escaped.”
I chuckled. “For a minute there, I thought you were going to tell me this guy was once on the Veiled Order's payroll. He broke out of the pokey though, huh?”
“When one escapes into the Beyond, it is difficult to track them. The world of the Beyond is vast, Lucian,” explained Amundsen. “We had feelers out, but he was a low-level criminal. Though a necromancer, the organization had more pressing threats to address. He faded into obscurity, surfacing once every few years but never stirring up enough trouble to warrant a deeper investigation. When bodies turned up missing here in Detroit and the dead were found to walk the Earth, I suspected he might be behind it. Necromancy is an incredibly rare skill. Its forbidden nature makes it a hard thing to learn. Schools of necromancy exist only on the fringe, are hard to access. Somewhere along the line, Agamemnon picked up those skills. And it seems he's been honing them all this time, in the underground. Now he's resurfaced, announced himself, and it's quite possible that his old plans of waging a war with an army of the dead have been put into motion. I can think of no other reason why he might be pillaging the city's graves.”
Kubo tossed aside the file folder. “Agamemnon's the only practitioner in centuries to bring this sort of death magic to the world of men. The Veiled Order hasn't had to take out a necromancer since before the days of the Inquisition. This is a big deal, and if we aren't careful, word's going to get around about this. Agamemnon could blow our operations wide open and reveal to the general population the existence of a world beyond the one they know. It would be pandemonium. Not to mention the fact that, if he gets his way, he'll have many thousands of powerful zombies to do his bidding. Imagine the havoc he could wreak.” He cracked his knuckles and took to pacing. “Detroit, I'm sure, is only his first stop.”
I was listening. To be sure, this was all riveting and I love learning about my enemies as much as the next guy. The constant throb in my side was making it really hard to focus, though. My vision was getting a little spotty, and the pain was getting hard to handle. “Good stuff, Chief,” I managed. “Can we... can we do something about this cut now? It hurts like hell. Getting worse, actually.”
Amundsen rushed for the door. “I'll bring a medic at once.”
“No,” snapped Kubo. “We'll get him off to Mona's. We're leaving now. Joe, help Lucy along. I'll drive.”
Joe offered me his arm and I took it like an old lady crossing a busy street. “How sweet of you,” I said. “You're a regular boy scout, Joe. There's a shiny nickel in store for you if you can get me all the way to the SUV.”
“Shut up and walk, dude,” said Joe, quickening his pace.
The three of us left Amundsen in the file room and made haste to the parking lot outside. Kubo unlocked one of several parked SUVs and hopped into the driver's seat while Joe loaded me into the back like an invalid. I sprawled out across the seat, feeling dizzy. I blinked, trying
Kubo picked up the file and flipped through it. “We don't know his real name. Frankly, we know next to nothing about him. This man surfaced more than twenty years ago. Ended up on the Order's radar for practicing necromancy. Necromancy is, to put it lightly, taboo. It's a forbidden art, and anyone with more than innocent scholarly interest in it ends up on our watch-list. This guy, though, was something of a religious zealot. Got picked up for raising the dead and recruiting them as soldiers for a supposed war in the name of the god of the dead. He got locked up, shuttled away to some dark corner for his agenda.”
I sniffed the air, standing up and pushing the chair back in. “Right, so why was he in the graveyard tonight?”
“Because ten years ago,” began Amundsen, “Agamemnon escaped.”
I chuckled. “For a minute there, I thought you were going to tell me this guy was once on the Veiled Order's payroll. He broke out of the pokey though, huh?”
“When one escapes into the Beyond, it is difficult to track them. The world of the Beyond is vast, Lucian,” explained Amundsen. “We had feelers out, but he was a low-level criminal. Though a necromancer, the organization had more pressing threats to address. He faded into obscurity, surfacing once every few years but never stirring up enough trouble to warrant a deeper investigation. When bodies turned up missing here in Detroit and the dead were found to walk the Earth, I suspected he might be behind it. Necromancy is an incredibly rare skill. Its forbidden nature makes it a hard thing to learn. Schools of necromancy exist only on the fringe, are hard to access. Somewhere along the line, Agamemnon picked up those skills. And it seems he's been honing them all this time, in the underground. Now he's resurfaced, announced himself, and it's quite possible that his old plans of waging a war with an army of the dead have been put into motion. I can think of no other reason why he might be pillaging the city's graves.”
Kubo tossed aside the file folder. “Agamemnon's the only practitioner in centuries to bring this sort of death magic to the world of men. The Veiled Order hasn't had to take out a necromancer since before the days of the Inquisition. This is a big deal, and if we aren't careful, word's going to get around about this. Agamemnon could blow our operations wide open and reveal to the general population the existence of a world beyond the one they know. It would be pandemonium. Not to mention the fact that, if he gets his way, he'll have many thousands of powerful zombies to do his bidding. Imagine the havoc he could wreak.” He cracked his knuckles and took to pacing. “Detroit, I'm sure, is only his first stop.”
I was listening. To be sure, this was all riveting and I love learning about my enemies as much as the next guy. The constant throb in my side was making it really hard to focus, though. My vision was getting a little spotty, and the pain was getting hard to handle. “Good stuff, Chief,” I managed. “Can we... can we do something about this cut now? It hurts like hell. Getting worse, actually.”
Amundsen rushed for the door. “I'll bring a medic at once.”
“No,” snapped Kubo. “We'll get him off to Mona's. We're leaving now. Joe, help Lucy along. I'll drive.”
Joe offered me his arm and I took it like an old lady crossing a busy street. “How sweet of you,” I said. “You're a regular boy scout, Joe. There's a shiny nickel in store for you if you can get me all the way to the SUV.”
“Shut up and walk, dude,” said Joe, quickening his pace.
The three of us left Amundsen in the file room and made haste to the parking lot outside. Kubo unlocked one of several parked SUVs and hopped into the driver's seat while Joe loaded me into the back like an invalid. I sprawled out across the seat, feeling dizzy. I blinked, trying
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