The Diablo Horror (The River Book 7) Read Online Free

Intimidation. He watched as Aka Manah
closed his eyes for several seconds, then opened them. He reverted to his
previous form, the man in the dark suit.
    “Once you removed it from the protection of the place you had
it stored, it reverted to its previous owner,” the man said. “You’ll need to go
get it.”
    “Oh, no,” Steven protested. “That wasn’t the deal.”
    “It was,” the man said. “It most certainly was.”
    “I brought every item that matched your list,” Steven said.
“And I delivered them. We’re done.”
    “You didn’t deliver every item,” the man said. “You let one
get away from you. That’s unacceptable.”
    “I didn’t know it would do that,” Steven said. “I don’t know
what any of these things do. These are your items, you should know how they
work. If anything, you should have warned me it would revert.”
    “I didn’t know it would,” the man said. “But even if I did,
it wouldn’t change your responsibility to return it to me.”
    “I’ve acted in good faith here,” Steven said.
    “That means little to me. Meanwhile your friend in California
is getting worse, I hear.”
    “If you kill her, I’ll never do anything you ask. And you’ll
have an enemy for life.”
    “Why does that leave me so unimpressed?” the man asked. “Is
it because you can become ill as quickly as she did? Maybe that’s why.”
    Steven stopped arguing. He knew it was pointless and would
just make the demon angrier.
    “Where is it?” Steven asked. “The object?”
    “The Agimat?” the man said, enjoying that Steven had
acquiesced. “You mean the Agimat?”
    “Yes, the Agimat, whatever the hell it is. Where is it?”
    “It’s an ancient object, from the Far East. Very important to
me. And it’s powerful right now, because it’s recharging.”
    “It’s recharging?”
    “That means its owner will be active. You’ll want to use
caution.”
    “Where is it?”
    “A hundred and twenty miles north of here, in a little town
called Diablo.”
    “Where in Diablo?”
    “Your friend in California will continue to worsen until I
get the Agimat. Bring it back here, to your home, by tomorrow. No later.”
    “Where in Diablo?” Steven yelled.
    Before he’d finished the sentence, Aka Manah was gone –
disappeared along with the objects in the boxes. Steven saw Jason fall back to
the couch and over on his side.
    “Are you OK?” Steven asked Jason as he helped him up.
    “Yeah, fine,” Jason said, shaking his head. “I think I need
food.”
    “We’ll go get food,” Steven said. “But I have to call your
grandfather first.”

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Roy grumbled as coffee spilled onto his shirt. Steven just
crossed the Ship Canal bridge, and the bump as he hit the bridge deck caused
some coffee to spill up and out of the container.
    “Goddamnit,” Roy said under his breath, grumbling quietly.
“Sorry, I wasn’t listening, I spilled. Start over.”
    Steven backtracked. “There’s an object somewhere in a town
north of here. We’ve got to get it back, by tomorrow.”
    “Is this an additional task from you-know-who?” Roy asked.
Jason, who was in the back seat, leaned forward and tried to hear Steven’s
answer.
    “Yes,” Steven replied. “And no. It’s to finish up from a task
last night.”
    “Is this an object from you-know-where?” Roy asked.
    “I’m right here,” Jason said. “I can hear what you’re
saying.”
    “Yes,” Steven said to Roy, “and apparently once it was
outside of the protection of you-know-where, it reverted to its owner.”
    “Well, that’s a handy way to return them,” Roy said.
    “Return what?” Jason interjected.
    “Well, it didn’t go to the proper owner,” Steven said to Roy.
“At least, according to you-know-who.”
    “This is really irritating,” Jason said.
    “There are some things I can’t tell you,” Steven said to
Jason. “I don’t have a choice in the matter. If I tell anyone, I’ve violated an
agreement