What You Can't See by Allison Brennan, Karin Tabke, Roxanne St. Claire Read Free Book Online

the fight against evil. He couldn’t do it as a priest, and he couldn’t do it within the rigid structure of the church. There was a place for men like him, and that was fighting against the most insidious evil of all.
    That which preyed on the innocent.
    People would die if he did nothing. That was his fate, and a charge he did not take lightly.
    With a deep breath, he stepped from the car and into the cold spring night, snapping on his flashlight. He walked parallel to the mountain, the slope treacherous and overgrown with saplings that slapped him in the face. He tasted blood on his lip. The moonless sky aided his disguise, but thwarted quick movement.
    Help us.
    The whispers of the dead told Anthony he was close. The path to the mission was steep, but his years of physical labor aided his journey up the mountainside. He spied the three-story bell tower under the dim light of an ancient lamp. Faint, subtle, like everything about the mission.
    He paused at the tree line, trying to sense where the guard was while catching his breath. All he sensed was evil.
    Help us help us help us
    Rafe had been extremely worried these last few weeks, otherwise he would never have contacted Anthony in the first place. Anthony wished he’d asked more questions, pushed Rafe for answers. Now, he had to think like his friend. Had he kept a journal? Where would he have hidden it? Had the police found it? Would Skye tell him if they had? The police had no weapons to fight incorporeal beings, but if Rafe had left a clue, a message, anything, it might help Anthony in this battle.
    His cell phone vibrated in his pocket shortly after he crossed the tree line and walked through open space. “Hello,” he said quietly, kneeling low to the ground to avoid being seen.
    “Anthony, I found what you’re looking for.”
    The voice of Father Philip gave Anthony the only sense of home and family he’d ever had. The image of the demon on the wall of the sacristy had haunted Anthony because it wasn’t a common demon, one he was familiar with. He’d spent most of the afternoon trying to figure it out, but he didn’t have access to his books and papers and so had called the one man who knew more about demons than he did, the one man who had never let him down, the one man who had saved him.
    “Is it Aabassus?”
    “No, but you are close. Ianax.”
    Anthony’s heart turned cold. Ianax was an ancient demon rumored to be one of the most powerful under Satan until a falling out with the devil himself had sent Ianax farther into the pits of Hell.
    “Are you certain?”
    “I am. You were correct that three human souls are needed to summon him. The interior circle shows the powerful connection between the three, and how that connection creates a second sight. An energy, for lack of a better word. They can use that energy to control inanimate objects.”
    “But only when they’re together, correct?”
    “They are most powerful when all three are together and the demon is at their center. But I suspect they are long practitioners of demonolatry and black magic.”
    Anthony feared the same. “Anything else?”
    “Ianax can’t survive long without a body. Are you sure he hasn’t claimed Raphael? Perhaps the coma is his way of fighting the demon.”
    “No,” Anthony insisted. “I was with Rafe this afternoon. I would have sensed the demon.”
    “Yes, my son, yes, you would have.” Father Philip sighed. “The danger of these people is they believe they will grow stronger with the demon at their side. And for a time, that is true. Perhaps one of them offered their body to him.”
    “Why? Why would they willingly give up their body?”
    “It is said that those who willingly sacrifice their body to a servant of Satan will be given rewards in Hell. Some believe aiding the demon will give them the key to the fountain of youth. Immortality.”
    Walk with the willing dead. The phrase took on a dangerous new meaning.
    “But it’s not a