Echoes of the Past (Demon Squad) by Tim Marquitz Read Free Book Online Page B

understand any of the gibberish.”
    She shook her head. “Only that it was used to lock something inside, but you already knew that.” She ran her hand along one of the intact panes. “It’s two problems in one. I’ve no clue what language it’s written in, so not knowing that screws me out of understanding the manner in which the spell is being applied.”
    “So, it’s still a mystery,” I mumbled. “Maybe Lucifer has some information stashed somewhere that sheds a little light on his ex-trophy.” A bit frustrated, I headed toward the fiend room. Karra followed me after a moment, clearly reluctant to leave the case.
    Once we were back in my uncle’s private chambers, we split off and headed to different sides. I’d been in here a bunch of times recently, but I’d never really torn the place apart looking for anything. I’d always felt it was some kind of violation of my uncle’s private space to be digging through it all. Now, having learned about his efforts to keep me and Karra apart—and his lies to me—that feeling was long gone; dead and buried. It was one thing to play errand boy and stash the book he’d sent, but it was another to believe his world was sacrosanct any more. If hiding the tome helped the Earth, I was all for it, but I wasn’t gonna worry about his feelings when it came to me rifling his shit. Karra didn’t care to begin with.
    She was perusing the shelves across the room, pulling each book off and shaking it out, then dropping it before moving on to the next. Normally, I’d have said something, but I had the fiends to clean up the mess. If trashing Lucifer’s chambers made her feel better about all the crap he put her through, then I was all for it.
    I went to work.
    Hours later, I’d found squat to do with the case or the strange language, and absolutely nothing about any dimensions beyond ours. My eyes blurred and my back throbbed. I fell back into a pile of scattered papers and growled. The beer I’d missed out on earlier was calling my name.
    I listened to the carnage Karra was creating for a while, and it took me a minute to realize she’d gone silent. Thinking she might have moved on to another room, this one being our third, I rolled my head and looked for her. She was standing stiffly by a hefty pile of tossed books. A small leather case was in her hand. She peered inside it with a fierce intensity, her fingers spreading it open. I noticed her hand trembled.
    “What is it?”
    “You need to see this, Frankie.”
    I got to my feet and went over with slow, deliberate steps. Something in her voice told me I didn’t want to rush; I didn’t want to know what she found. When I got there, she let out a loud sigh and took me by the arm. She wouldn’t hand me the case.
    “What is it?” I repeated, and she ignored me again, guiding me to the bed. I knew right then it was bad news. No woman in her right mind would lead me to a bed if she wasn’t about to tell me something that would kill my libido.
    I dropped on the mattress and Karra kneeled down before me, handing me the case, at last. She stared into my eyes, hands on my calves, rubbing them gently, almost unconsciously. Whatever she’d found had to be horrific for her to cling to me as though I’d fall apart. She swallowed hard, and I couldn’t bring myself to take my eyes off her, as if I could will away whatever she found and chase away the worry that had so infected her expression. At last, I looked to the case in my shaking hands and pulled out what was inside.
    It was old parchment: letters of some kind. Written in faded ink, the writing was plain, lacking confidence, but it had the graceful line of a woman’s hand. It struck me as familiar, but I couldn’t imagine how. I read the first line:
           Dearest Lucifer,
           I have missed you these past moons, and worry for your safety. I pray you are well.
    Still unsure what Karra had read to worry her so much, I continued on, skimming the